Gaming Podcasts: A Thread about Listening to Others

[darksnowman]

When on the Gameinformer site last week to look at their Xenoblade Chronicles 3 review, I noticed a link to a Nintendo podcast. So of course I made a mental note.

Quote

All Things Nintendo is a weekly podcast covering all the biggest games, news, and topics surrounding the most beloved name in gaming. Join host Brian Shea and different guests as they talk about the past, present, and future of Nintendo. New episodes release every Friday.

https://www.gameinformer.com/allthingsnintendo

It's been going since October 2021 so there's plenty to get through. I  put one on today and it seemed like easy enough background listening.

[Hero-of-Time]

I've actually been looking for another podcast to listen to. I only have Sacred Symbols on my weekly list and so having a Nintendo focused one will offer a nice contrast. I'll give it a whirl.

[Hero-of-Time]

I listened to an episode of it yesterday evening while I was grinding levels in Children of Morta. Not bad but not great either. I chose the Live A Live episode to listen to which may have been a mistake giving my dislike of the game.  There were only two of them on the episode which isn't a great number. I usually prefer at least 3 so that the conversation has a lot of back and forth. I'll download another one and give it a listen.

It's been too long since I listened to a decent Nintendo podcast. There seems to be lots of them but finding one that appeals to me has proven to be pretty hard.

[darksnowman]

I listened to one and a bit yesterday and a bit and one today. Seemed all right without going overly in-depth. I quite like that they take time to touch on their own experience of discovering Nintendo rather than just regurgitating the news of the week. Makes it a bit more personable. Another voice in the mix might be nice, you're probably right about that.

[Julius]

Started listening to the early Patreon release of this week's Easy Allies Podcast this morning, and it starts out with Blood mentioning that their income is getting a little on the lean side; it's been plugged a lot more in recent months (especially after last month's credit card issue on Patreon), but this is the first time I can recall it being said straight up top.

I'm trying to look on the positive side, but while we've talked about it on here before, the impression that I'm getting is that the days left of the Allies - in its current form, at least - are growing severely limited 

Edited August 12, 2022 by Julius

[killthenet]

It's a shame but the writing has been on the wall for a while, basically since the start of the pandemic, keeping on top of the costs of running the studio in the face of dwindling financial support was only feasible if they eventually saw an upturn in supporters. Unfortunately their Patron drives and the announcement of a shake up in how they operate only brought the numbers up temporarily and they were still nowhere near the $50k a month they were drawing in when they moved to the studio. 

The departures obviously haven't helped matters, losing Kyle was a big blow that they didn't really recover from, and then the double whammy of losing Brandon and Ben really damaged morale and scuppered any momentum they might have had. But even if all 9 allies were still there, they would still be facing an uphill battle to cover their outgoings. The cost of living crisis that is affecting people all over the world will surely have hit their Patreon numbers but the Allies would have been directly impacted by the crisis too, energy costs for running the studio will surely be pretty steep, so they're being squeezed on all sides. 

I cancelled my pledge at the end of July, I've been supporting them ever since 2017 but have definitely been drifting away from them for a while, so I didn't feel like I was watching enough of their output to justify the monthly cost. I hope they continue on in some form, it would be a shame if they all had to split apart, but I think it was a mistake to try and emulate everything about Game Trailers, they definitely needed to leave the garage but I think investing so much in the studio was unnecessary. Having multiple cameras has been detrimental to the quality of their podcasts for a start, I never understood why they needed to have someone operating the switcher, it was a silly hangover from the GT days, most of their shows would be fine with a single camera (it's only really Mysterious Monsters that took advantage of it). They just needed somewhere with a bit more room than the garage, there was no need to go all out on building a 'professional' studio, besides being a huge money sink it created a different expectation in viewers minds, making them seem more like a corporate concern than a bunch of friends doing what they loved. 

[Julius]

Kojimacast inbound:

 

[Julius]

EZA's 2022 Awards Deliberations are up, coming in at 5½ hours:

And the edited awards showcase: 

Bit of a shame this awards season has been a pretty uncompetitive one compared to recent years (not that Elden Ring doesn't deserve to bring home GOTY, mind you), so I'm kind of glad it's at an end.

At least the Allies do a good job with their discussions and adding in some sillier categories to keep things fresh 

[Jonnas]

Finished watching it recently. The discussion side of things felt a lot more succint than usual, what with there being fewer allies than last year.

Still the best GOTY ceremony you'll find anywhere. Even their sillier categories actually feel like they're looking to evolve how the medium is discussed. A lot of gaming outlets insist on repeating what the film industry does ("Best Direction" is one that pops up often, despite nobody being able to tangibly define what that means in a videogame), instead of trying to reframe things properly. Like, why are EZA the only outlet to put forward a "Best Boss" category? It's such a no-brainer for this medium!

Anyway, sorry for the tangent, EZA did a great show as per usual. Love the quirky reads from Brandon Jones as well.

[Julius]

Slew of updates for EZA's Patreon:

Am I the only one who gets nervous every time we get an update from them these days? 

[Julius]

Easy Allies is going part-time, and Brad is going to be leaving come the end of the year  this follows Damiani going back home to Texas and starting to work remotely a few weeks ago to be closer to family. 

Frame Trap is getting bundled into the main podcast and the Allies don't sound like they'll be sticking to hard review deadlines to focus on working around each other.

Very sad to see Brad go, he really stepped up to the plate with Frame Trap and elsewhere after Ben left last year – unfortunately, it felt like he was the only one to really make that step up, so it's not a surprise to see him have an offer on the table and be ready to go. Curious to see where he lands, especially after the very messy Last Stand Media stuff about a month ago. 

Feels like yet another nudge in the direction of the beginning of the end, though perhaps this one is more of a shove? I've been revisiting old Frame Traps and main podcast episodes the last few weeks and man, I really miss all the members who have left so far (Kyle, Brandon, Ben) and it's just gutting to see things start to wind down; but I guess it's the journey and not the destination, and all that. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

Not surprising, really. We've called this happening every time EZA got brought up on here. They've been in steady decline ever since Bosman and Jones left. Ben leaving was another massive blow and now this.

The whole fiasco with Last Stand Media was hilarious. They have the most successful PlayStation gaming podcast (Sacred Symbols) out there and Dustin is a good friend of Brad's. The fact that EZA felt they had to apologise goes to show how fragile their audience is.

I wonder if Brad will be heading over to LSM? He'd be a great get for them. When I last listened to them (early this year) their subscibers were continuing to grow at a fast pace and so getting more staff to help out would probably be on the table. Plus, with him being mates with Dustin, it would make for some good banter between the two. 

[Jonnas]

On the other hand, I've never been a big fan of Brad I do, however, have to admit that non-Frame Trap EZA content really slowed down this year.

Like, talent leaving for whatever reason is par for the course, it happens, and it is expected. But EZA never really had a backup for that, with the only new member they ever brought in being Gabby. It's lead to a real dearth of passion projects for the channel, and that's a shame. It does feel like Isla is the one ambitious member left.

Going to be curious how this year will pan out for them.

[killthenet]

I've completely dropped off from watching their output, I still watch the occasional preview but haven't touched any of their podcasts for a while - I think the last thing of theirs that I genuinely enjoyed was Huber & Gabby's video about their trip to London which was ages ago. It makes sense for them to pare things a bit so it isn't surprising to hear that they're going part time but hanging onto the studio seems like a bad idea - it must eat up most of their income at the moment, I can only imagine that's going to get worse now that they've lost another member and will surely be creating less content, meaning more Patrons will likely be cancelling their memberships. 

I watched a few of their older videos the other week, some of the clip compilations somegamenews posted on Youtube, and it underlined just how much they lost when Kyle, Ben and Jones left - the first couple of years were a real golden age and things started to go downhill as soon as they got the studio, they never really kicked on and took advantage of the new facilities. When they did lose members there was also no real effort to change how things worked, they just kept doing the same things they were doing before just with less energy and enthusiasm.

[Julius]

6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

They've been in steady decline ever since Bosman and Jones left. Ben leaving was another massive blow and now this.

Absolutely, though the way in which Ben left still shocks and hurts me the most looking back, and felt way more sudden. 

Kyle makes some level of sense, I think he burned himself out creatively I think using EZA as a creative outlet for something which would always have performed better as a solo venture, and needed a recharge. I genuinely think there was a chance he could've returned if not for COVID delaying his course plans and his solo stuff then taking off, it seemed like he needed a recharge. 

Jones makes sense to me too, leaving when he did: kid being born and having health problems; the stress of having his home become his workplace for the company pre-COVID, finally transitioning everyone out and to the studio...only to end up stuck back at home thanks to COVID; a laundry list of creative things he wanted to do (like write some books); and likely still sitting on a pretty penny or two still from the GT acquisition. 

But Ben leaving so soon and in such a hurried way after being announced to step up as overseeing copy alongside Blood, finally finding his voice and announcing reviews would be getting voiced by the writer, and so on, is such a shame. His relationship and wellbeing obviously has to come before all of this, I think he was thinking of where his future lies and hopes for raising a family and seemed to be the worst hit by COVID mentally and so on, but it hurt to see one of the best writing talents in the industry just...vanish. Not even go remote, or to a new place; he was just gone. 

I think it stings even more seeing as Kyle at least comes into town for SGF and TGAs, and so will turn up once or twice a year on Frame Trap or the main podcast, we also get his thoughts and everything else through his own content, whereas Jones still voices a fair bit for the Allies, and heck, I wanted to know what his thoughts were on the GTA VI trailer and they just called him up in their reactions yesterday. Meanwhile, there's not even a hint of Ben wanting to have anything to do with the industry. Maybe it hurt him so much to leave, we'll probably never know, but where I think Kyle was essential for the podcast to flourish, it's genuinely disheartening that one of the more nuanced voices (did Ben seriously ever have a hot take which didn't come from a place of understanding of and passion for the medium?) in the industry just isn't heard anywhere anymore. 

Anyways, Ben rant over. It still stings, I guess. 

Brad has hard-carried the Allies as of late with his number of reviews and keeping Frame Trap going, so it's yet another case of arguably their most talented leaving the company. It sucks, plain and simple. 

6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

The whole fiasco with Last Stand Media was hilarious. They have the most successful PlayStation gaming podcast (Sacred Symbols) out there and Dustin is a good friend of Brad's. The fact that EZA felt they had to apologise goes to show how fragile their audience is.

Yeah, unfortunately I think this was down to Gabby reacting very quickly with the initial apology and Blood jumped on the grenade – but took a while to really think it over and clear things up. Damage was done as soon as it took longer than 24 hours to be honest and communicate how they felt about it and what was going on. 

6 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I wonder if Brad will be heading over to LSM? He'd be a great get for them. When I last listened to them (early this year) their subscribers were continuing to grow at a fast pace and so getting more staff to help out would probably be on the table. Plus, with him being mates with Dustin, it would make for some good banter between the two. 

This was my first thought too, and while I don't think it's impossible, I do think it'd be a weird look if Brad were to leave EZA for LSM after everything that went down. 

Nothing I'd personally take issue with when it comes to Colin (I don't give an iota of an f* about silly American politics so that's not it, we have enough problems closer to home, and I find it hard to care enough to listen to the lost cause over here as it is), he just seems too low energy for me personally when I've watched his stuff (going the other way I think KFG can be very, very guilty of feeling like they're faking hype, especially Tim), and I'll likely check Brad out wherever he goes – at least for a little bit. Whatever he does it has to be him and his future first and foremost, and not for someone on either side to be "taking a stand" or what have you. 

It seems unlikely to me that Brad would look to move location for a number of reasons (not least because it'd mean leaving Huber after all of the stuff he's been through, though the vibe I get from Huber is that he'd 100% support Brad to go wherever) to another outlet, so I could see the role being remote or not too far from where he's currently located in LA if that is the case. 

I think if it's a spot in journalism then it's realistically down to LSM, IGN, and KFG – Brad at least has a friend in Dustin at LSM, plus I swear he's said before that he listened to Colin and Greg back in the day, so there's half of that duo; he's been friendly with KFG historically (Greg and Tim in particular); and IGN, while it's not what it once was, is still pretty much the biggest of the bunch, and I could see Brad moving there to feel like he's moved up. Then you've got MinnMaxx, which is probably too small and too far afield to be seriously considered (also, besides Ben Hanson, just not quite consistently there). GI is dead. 

It also depends a lot, I guess, on what his role is going to be. He's churned out reviews like a bit of a mad man while also hosting Frame Trap, so is it going to be a case of him wanting to be a reviewer first and foremost, or a personality? No idea 

But the way he phrased it definitely makes me wonder if it's perhaps something beyond gaming journalism, and actually getting into the biz in some kind of way. He's fostered excellent relationships with Square Enix and From Software over the last few years, so if he is to leave the Allies for pastures anew, why not hope that it's something even better than staying in the journalism game? Compared to the time when he would look up to journalists growing up and then got into the business, the path to "the top" and long-term job security is so cloudy in gaming journalism. 

6 hours ago, Jonnas said:

On the other hand, I've never been a big fan of Brad I do, however, have to admit that non-Frame Trap EZA content really slowed down this year.

I mean, that's fair, I didn't used to be his biggest fan either!

I don't know how much of his content you've watched since Ben left but he did seriously step up as Frame Trap host, it took a little bit of time to warm up to the hot seat but I think he really delivered, and he's basically carried EZA's review game this past 12 months or so.

Almost as if after seeing Kyle, Jones, and Ben leave that he knew the writing might be on the wall, so he's done everything he can to get him some security in the future. 

Personally, it probably helps that after Ben left, Brad was the closest to me in gaming taste and also just having a bit more nuance and a bit less blind allegiance and hype than some of the others at EZA. 

6 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Like, talent leaving for whatever reason is par for the course, it happens, and it is expected. But EZA never really had a backup for that, with the only new member they ever brought in being Gabby. It's lead to a real dearth of passion projects for the channel, and that's a shame. It does feel like Isla is the one ambitious member left.

They got a community manager in far too late, I think, and as much as they like to deny it, Gabby 1000% was brought in because she was already friendly with them. Nothing against her personally, but I think she's the wrong fit for the vibe of that group. 

It's true, they never really had a backup for losing talent, but I still get the feeling that they could've convinced Kyle to stay way back when and have avoided a lot of this mess. I think the problem with having 9 members share the company is that no single voice is strong enough to persuade another and they don't want to step on the toes of others. It's totally a vibe thing, but who on earth in that room would be going "no, Kyle, stay. If you need a break, by all means, but we want and need you here?" Jones maybe, but his approach to EZA - much as I appreciate Jones - felt very hands-off and like a transition into stepping away and retiring more than anything, he simply wasn't driving the thing forward (and that, again, perhaps is in part due to no longer actually being The Boss™). 

Isla is a weird one for me to have left as arguably the only ambitious and creative member, simply because so much of her ambition and creativity lies far away from what I think made EZA and GT successful as producers of content – I think she adds plenty to the existing content and the ideas of others, but not necessarily as someone built to design and create long-term stability through excellent and consistent content. Because of this it has always been an odd one for me to see her running the shop alongside Blood, because while I think she's definitely a great shoulder to lean on from the outside looking in (like supporting Huber in a tremendous way when he's gone through several rough patches), I ultimately don't think her - or Blood, for that matter - really got what made EZA a success to begin with. 

5 hours ago, killthenet said:

It makes sense for them to pare things a bit so it isn't surprising to hear that they're going part time but hanging onto the studio seems like a bad idea - it must eat up most of their income at the moment, I can only imagine that's going to get worse now that they've lost another member and will surely be creating less content, meaning more Patrons will likely be cancelling their memberships. 

The impression that I've been increasingly under over the last 18 months or so is that the studio was on a long-term contract, and then hanging onto it going into 2024 suggests to me it was a 5 or 6 year deal (with some potentially weird caveat for the year or so of not going into the studio due to COVID?). In a way that hurts to think about and is unfortunately very ironic, their main goal of landing the studio seems to have been doing nothing but biting them in the ass ever since COVID stepped in and forced them out. 

5 hours ago, killthenet said:

I watched a few of their older videos the other week, some of the clip compilations somegamenews posted on Youtube, and it underlined just how much they lost when Kyle, Ben and Jones left - the first couple of years were a real golden age and things started to go downhill as soon as they got the studio, they never really kicked on and took advantage of the new facilities. When they did lose members there was also no real effort to change how things worked, they just kept doing the same things they were doing before just with less energy and enthusiasm.

Firstly: love SomeGameNews, they're who I've been checking out the last few weeks (and years, really!) to get a taste for how things used to be again. If you don't already, would very highly recommend also checking out EZA Weekly Clips for covering a good chunk of their funniest stream moments from 2018 to 2021. 

Yeah, we've talked about it a fair through the years as people have left, but I totally agree. I do think COVID really messed up a lot of their momentum and plans for the studio, because that first year in the studio, for me, was a pretty solid transition out of the garage and into a new space – it just took a while to get things going, I think. But since they returned to the studio after COVID, it did noticeably become a case of "business as usual", and I definitely could feel at times that they were a bit at a loss with what to actually do with the space.

I don't think there's anything wrong with having a studio, and I think without COVID they'd be in a much better space both financially and mentally (and likely still have Ben around, I think, at the very least), so it made sense as a next best step. Similarly, the reason that I think that they were right to not immediately resort to just continuing working from home and podcasting via Zoom or what have you is because, regardless of the fact they'd be wasting money on a studio that they're not using, the next best way to upgrade your podcast - and any creative content, for that matter - is to do it in-person rather than over video call. The vibes of doing something in-person are so subtly but enormously different to doing it over a video call, and I can speak to this in spades for many, many reasons, both personally and professionally. 

Kyle, Jones and Ben leaving left a gaping hole, and I think Brad leaving only makes that hole wider.

Kyle was always down for a bit, and while that wasn't for everyone, he was also an excellent podcast host (and guest) capable of pulling so much more out of whatever panel he found himself on; I've listened to a lot of podcast hosts over the years, and for me, even if you don't vibe with his bits and sense of humour, Kyle is absolutely one of the best podcast hosts I've ever heard covering any topic, period. He just gets it. I mean, how many podcasts or podcast shows have you watched or listen to that forget that the audio part of the podcast and LISTENERS are at the absolute base level who you are trying to remember and please? Think about just how many times over the years Kyle went "for listeners, ..." and explained what was going on. Podcasts are about audio first and visuals second, and that Kyle remembered this in a time where so many podcasts forget this and are looking for multiple angles with switchers, 4K cameras, and so on, really just shines the light for me on how many don't understand the most basic principles of the medium they find themselves working in. 

Jones was and is unapologetically a huuuuuuuuuge open world, toys-to-life, and mobile game fan at a time when so many hardcore gamers and journalists don't give these things a second look or serious consideration, is great at filling dead air (in the kindest way, and probably the only ally besides Kyle capable of really doing so on the fly; an essential co-host), and I was genuinely praying that he would somehow be part of their GTA VI reactions – yeah, Huber has been getting more amped for that game over the years, but Jones is a diehard Rockstar fan and it's clear as day to me that very few people would react as genuinely as him to what we got the other day. 

Ben was the best traditional copy-writing review in games journalism by the time he left, period. Had he been around some 10 or 15 years earlier, there's zero doubt in my mind that he'd be at the top of the pile as an editor-in-chief at a place like IGN or Game Informer. He had the most diverse game taste of the bunch, easily played the most games, and most importantly for me, had the most nuanced opinions. It is so incredibly easy and reductive to hate or love a thing in this day and age where extremes are the norm, so to see Ben struggle with his passion for games and some terrible decisions by developers over the years was a strange delight, and something like Death Stranding comes to mind as a prime example of what I mean: I think he scored that game a 6 (or something like that), despite enjoying so much of what it was and was trying to do? 

And then Brad, who after Ben probably had the second most diverse taste in games of the bunch (read: excellent taste, no bias here) coupled with being great at playing games, meant he's probably the one of the Allies who saw the most growth from when EZA started to when him leaving at the end of the month, spurred on most perhaps by Ben leaving last year. 

What you're left with without those Allies is virtually no interesting discussion, period. I will always appreciate the Allies in any form for what they've given me, personally - a safe escape I can freely go back to - but with Huber being the hype man, who out of Blood, Isla, and Don, in all seriousness, can match that energy and challenge Huber to be more than just the hype man, but look at games from new perspectives in the way that those no longer at EZA instilled in him? 

This entire post got long, but yeah, it's a very sad day, I think, to learn all this. More than anything else I'm genuinely concerned for Huber, as he's found himself battered from all sides by one traumatic life event after another these past few years, and now is losing the chance to work side-by-side with his childhood best friend who he's watched soar, while he - through no fault of his own, and I'll never blame him for this - has found himself slipping. 

It's funny that in life there are these weird inflection points where you move out or that show you watched for years on end gets cancelled and suddenly everything feels so...foreign. Garage era Easy Allies will forever and always be the pinnacle of gaming channels, so knowing this in my heart of hearts...do I even bother to try to look for a replacement? Or do I find myself stepping away from listening to gaming podcasts in general? Very interesting to have this news land at what is naturally a very reflective time of year, going into the holidays. 

Anyways, I find that this is always applicable, so: 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

5 hours ago, Julius said:

Nothing I'd personally take issue with when it comes to Colin (I don't give an iota of an f* about silly American politics so that's not it, we have enough problems closer to home, and I find it hard to care enough to listen to the lost cause over here as it is), he just seems too low energy for me personally when I've watched his stuff (going the other way I think KFG can be very, very guilty of feeling like they're faking hype, especially Tim), and I'll likely check Brad out wherever he goes – at least for a little bit. Whatever he does it has to be him and his future first and foremost, and not for someone on either side to be "taking a stand" or what have you. 

I get that. Thing is with Colin is that he's been in the industry for so long he has become quite jaded with the way things are and there's not a lot that he hasn't seen before. If he does get excited for something then you know it's a genuine reaction rather than the click bait that most other places do. Also, he suffers from depression and has done for a while (talks very openly about this and his counselling sessions) and so this also factors into his general negative attitude at times, which is something I can appreciate and relate to.

5 hours ago, Julius said:

I think if it's a spot in journalism then it's realistically down to LSM, IGN, and KFG – Brad at least has a friend in Dustin at LSM, plus I swear he's said before that he listened to Colin and Greg back in the day, so there's half of that duo; he's been friendly with KFG historically (Greg and Tim in particular); and IGN, while it's not what it once was, is still pretty much the biggest of the bunch, and I could see Brad moving there to feel like he's moved up. Then you've got MinnMaxx, which is probably too small and too far afield to be seriously considered (also, besides Ben Hanson, just not quite consistently there). GI is dead. 

It's crazy how many of the big outlets have either shrunk in size or collapsed altogether. Signs of the times, I suppose. I imagine a lot of these places had their numbers butchered by YouTube creators. How people get their news/reviews has changed massively over the past few years and it seems more people are less interested in having an open and honest discussion about the games they are playing and instead just want to listen hot takes. I think part of the problem with watching single YouTube creators (not just in gaming) is that it's easy to find someone that has the same views as you but then you end up getting tunnel vision and not getting perspectives on different opinions. It's why I think that the best gaming podcasts that I listened to were always the ones that had people on who had different tastes.

5 hours ago, Julius said:

Because of this it has always been an odd one for me to see her running the shop alongside Blood, because while I think she's definitely a great shoulder to lean on from the outside looking in (like supporting Huber in a tremendous way when he's gone through several rough patches), I ultimately don't think her - or Blood, for that matter - really got what made EZA a success to begin with. 

This is how I feel as well. I mean no disrespect to them because they all have obviously worked hard to get the company to where it needed to be but both them and Damiani were the ones I feel could be replaced. Ben, Kyle, Huber, Brad and Jones were the core team for me and ones that brought good discussion, heart and banter to the table. The whole thing kinda reminds me of Top Gear. BBC may have the name but without the personalities of Clarkson, Hammond and May it's just a shell of it's former self and pales in comparison to what came before.

5 hours ago, Julius said:

Ben was the best traditional copy-writing review in games journalism by the time he left, period. Had he been around some 10 or 15 years earlier, there's zero doubt in my mind that he'd be at the top of the pile as an editor-in-chief at a place like IGN or Game Informer. He had the most diverse game taste of the bunch, easily played the most games, and most importantly for me, had the most nuanced opinions. It is so incredibly easy and reductive to hate or love a thing in this day and age where extremes are the norm, so to see Ben struggle with his passion for games and some terrible decisions by developers over the years was a strange delight, and something like Death Stranding comes to mind as a prime example of what I mean: I think he scored that game a 6 (or something like that), despite enjoying so much of what it was and was trying to do? 

Ben's discussions on Frame Trap were second to none and he is sorely missed in this industry. It's crazy how he left and just hasn't been heard of since. In some ways I respect that. In this day and age it would have been so easy to keep his followers up to date on a social media account but he chose to have a clean break. Good for him. 

[Jonnas]

23 hours ago, Julius said:

I don't know how much of his content you've watched since Ben left but he did seriously step up as Frame Trap host, it took a little bit of time to warm up to the hot seat but I think he really delivered, and he's basically carried EZA's review game this past 12 months or so.

I kept listening to it, as they're good company for car trips. I respect the energy Brad brought to the show, even if he's no Ben. I respect that he tried something new with Sort It Out, and wisely recognized it brought down the tone of the show if he didn't introduce Keep It Up shortly after. He's also good as a host, keeping discussion focused, and he doesn't let his stuttering-while-reading weakness stop him.

So yeah, I do respect him professionally. My dislike is more like being annoyed at specific quirks of his, which isn't that big of a deal. There was also a time where most of his takes about the industry felt very shallow, but even that he's been able to improve a lot.

23 hours ago, Julius said:

sla is a weird one for me to have left as arguably the only ambitious and creative member, simply because so much of her ambition and creativity lies far away from what I think made EZA and GT successful as producers of content

For a group like EZA, reviews and podcasts are the main dish. Isla's content is more like dessert. As you say, it's not the sort of thing that can carry the channel (or a full meal).

Don is the Wasabi on the side.

23 hours ago, Julius said:

Kyle, Jones and Ben leaving left a gaping hole, and I think Brad leaving only makes that hole wider.

I'm only quoting this part, but I 100% agree with the rest of your post. Excellent summary of the whole situation.

In recent times, I've been gravitating a bit towards GVG, which features plenty of individual passionate content (though their podcast is surprisingly poor), and the Minnmax podcast shows some promise. But both of these finds were definitely me trying to find the peak days of EZA again.

[Julius]

The penultimate and 199th episode of Frame Trap is up, and sees the return of Ben Starr (who was an awesome guest in his last Frame Trap appearance)!

Brad mentioned that lately he's been checking out WoW Classic's latest stuff along with Ben Moore, and also teased that the last episode of Frame Trap will come with guests – that's right, plural. Kyle and Jones are on the main podcast tonight following TGAs (Kyle in town to help Keighley, and Jones is always around), so maybe they're the final guests, but for the 200th and final episode of Frame Trap? Do we dare hope for Ben Moore to turn up one last time in the podcast he kicked off all those years ago? 

We can only hope 

On 12/6/2023 at 7:48 AM, Hero-of-Time said:

Thing is with Colin is that he's been in the industry for so long he has become quite jaded with the way things are and there's not a lot that he hasn't seen before. If he does get excited for something then you know it's a genuine reaction rather than the click bait that most other places do. Also, he suffers from depression and has done for a while (talks very openly about this and his counselling sessions) and so this also factors into his general negative attitude at times, which is something I can appreciate and relate to.

That makes sense to me, for sure – and I do appreciate more genuine hype (man, you can just tell when it's not, and I hate it; I think it's what EZA overall is and has easily been the best at, just being honest with their reactions).

Not really knowing the ins and outs of what he's dealt with or much about the guy (think I caught him on Kinda Funny here and there before everything went down, remember him way back on IGN here and there too, but obviously all before I was consistently checking in with gaming) - but being able to relate in a very broad sense - I can see how depression would factor into his general vibe, but I definitely appreciate you mentioning him being open about it and his counselling, because I think these are always important things to talk about 

On 12/6/2023 at 7:48 AM, Hero-of-Time said:

I think part of the problem with watching single YouTube creators (not just in gaming) is that it's easy to find someone that has the same views as you but then you end up getting tunnel vision and not getting perspectives on different opinions.

Absolutely – the echo chamber is a bit of a killer in just about every sense imaginable these days, whether it be gaming, modelling, law-making, water-providing, etc., and so many are very quick to pick up an opinion and run with it at face value, without any context or nuance; without any further consideration for others; and without any consideration for themselves. 

Problem is, these days, so little of the content being put out there is about the content, especially on platforms with a social aspect built in (like YouTube or Instagram or TikTok): it's (seen as) a reflection of who we are, in our totality. People's characters are often being defined by the thoughts and opinions they put out there, and while in some extreme cases that may be valid, I think it's very dangerous. 

That film isn't just a film by X, it's a film by X who committed this atrocity 10 years ago by saying XYZ on X, formerly known as Twitter (). That video on that game by X is made by the same X who went off and did this or said that, or who before said they hated this game and now they like it and I can no longer trust them! And so on. 

By putting people in a very 2D box they're immediately more accessible and relatable because so much of their personality is dragged out of the equation, and so much of ours is dragged in and projected onto them. And this you end up with diehard keyboard warriors who have formed toxic parasocial relationships with people they don't even know, who are willing to jump higher than they ask, and stoop lower, too; and, obviously, the level of loneliness these days doesn't help that in the slightest. 

I find this stuff absolutely fascinating. Abso-freaking-lutely terrifying, but fascinating nonetheless. 

On 12/6/2023 at 7:48 AM, Hero-of-Time said:

The whole thing kinda reminds me of Top Gear. BBC may have the name but without the personalities of Clarkson, Hammond and May it's just a shell of it's former self and pales in comparison to what came before.

A very apt comparison, I think, yeah. 

It's funny, too, because even though I still enjoy Kyle's stuff the same way I can still enjoy the Grand Tour...it is undeniably, wholeheartedly, not the same. 

On 12/6/2023 at 7:48 AM, Hero-of-Time said:

It's crazy how he left and just hasn't been heard of since. In some ways I respect that. In this day and age it would have been so easy to keep his followers up to date on a social media account but he chose to have a clean break. Good for him. 

It really is. I feel like I can respect it, but the parasocial part of me definitely just wants to know that he's okay (even if relayed by the guys at EZA), if only because they've mentioned once or twice that they've not heard back from him, etc., since he left, and he left so abruptly that it did give off the vibe that maybe everything wasn't okay (I think more because of the exhaustion of the COVID era than anything else). 

I do still find it really funny that Ben leaving social media wasn't planned, his Twitter got hacked and he was itching to get it back but then it kind of just faded as time went on and he left it? And seemed in a much healthier place by the end of it. I think everything can be healthy in certain doses, but yeah, social media generally I'd vote in favour of leaving. 

Did produce my favourite tweet of all time, which I don't think will ever change, though: 

You've got to be one cool ass dude to type something this aggressively in all caps while drunk at your own bachelor party AND SPREAD A MESSAGE ABOUT PEACE AND LOVE 

21 hours ago, Jonnas said:

For a group like EZA, reviews and podcasts are the main dish. Isla's content is more like dessert. As you say, it's not the sort of thing that can carry the channel (or a full meal).

You guys are on fire with these apt comparisons. 

21 hours ago, Jonnas said:

Don is the Wasabi on the side.

Okay, maybe Don is the one on fire 

21 hours ago, Jonnas said:

In recent times, I've been gravitating a bit towards GVG, which features plenty of individual passionate content (though their podcast is surprisingly poor), and the Minnmax podcast shows some promise. But both of these finds were definitely me trying to find the peak days of EZA again.

It's funny you say that about GVG, because it's only after seeing you mentioning it that I've noticed that I feel the exact same way: excellent individual content, maybe not best served as a combo? 

MinnMax I've been following since the start simply because of watching Ben Hanson (Hanson, an excellent podcast host forever without a consistently decent podcast panel) for years on The Game Informer Show, but it's just never had the same vibe for me; whereas Kyle and maybe Damiani would stay on top of leaks and news at EZA, they speak to people excited abd knowledgeable about the industry, so it drives conversation, but over at MM, with the wrong panel, you can hear a pin drop. I do still need to go back and listen to those Kyle-hosted episodes from earlier in the summer, though, think I only got half way through the first one  

Weird recommendation if you use gaming podcasts to stay on top of the news, as they'd be super outdated, but if you want something fresh-to-you that actually gets somewhat close to EZA from time to time, I genuinely think the GI Show when hosted by Hanson was up there. It would just really depend on the panel, but because they'd have the GI cover stories and such, there are some really interesting conversations had and tidbits to squeeze out of them; I'd say, on average quality-wise, it's falling flat in the middle between mid-2010s IGN podcasts and EZA. 

[nekunando]

Only now seeing that Brad is leaving EZA..

Those guys are finished!

They have definitely lost their most important, and entertaining, voices over the last few years and I feel like they have effectively lost Huber too with how life has been treating him for the last couple of years.

Brad was the strongest ally remaining and while Blood has come out of his shell a little more over the years, so has Isla to the detriment of the few things that I watch or listen to from them now. I think her style of humour just doesn't quite gel with me 

Interesting to see what happens next, I guess, but the writing has been on the wall for a long time.

The early days were fun.. but it's over!

[Julius]

Got to plug the 400th episode of the main Easy Allies Podcast after the news of them winding down and the conversations we've had here:

Kyle and Jones turning up for this one with Huber in the host seat and it serving as a bit of a farewell to Brad (on the main podcast, at least) really drove home so much of what we've said on here over the last few days, and I think it's one of the best podcast episodes they've had in a very, very long time (no doubt added to by some tiredness-induced hilarity)  I'm also fairly sure this is the longest podcast episode to date, getting firmly into prime Frame Trap minutes territory here, and quite possibly the first to be over 3 hours long? Anyways, some great stuff in here, and Huber surprised me at points with just how great a host he was! Including the smoothest, pro move transition I think this podcast has ever witnessed 

Their reactions to the TGAs with Jones in tow is also easily one of their best reaction videos in the last 18 months:

All feels like a great way to say "goodbye and farewell", by going out with some of their better content after the return of some of their best members 

Still praying for Ben to turn up in that final Frame Trap ep, certainly not expecting it, but I think it would be a great way to wrap things up. 

One final thought: very curious to see how they handle their GOTY/awards discussion next month, don't think I've seen or heard anything about it, but with Brad leaving and then being down to 5 members, then considering Damiani is in another state and Don doesn't really take part...it'd just be a discussion between Huber, Blood and Isla? Maybe Brad turns up for it considering the work he's done this year and wanting to rubber stamp that final GOTY discussion, but still, seems like it'll be a strange one (if it happens)

Edited December 10, 2023 by Julius

[Happenstance]

All this talk of long running podcasts starting to die out has got me in a Giant Bomb nostalgia mood again. Going back into my archives and watching their 2011 Holiday Stream tonight.

[Jonnas]

On 10/12/2023 at 6:07 PM, Julius said:

Got to plug the 400th episode of the main Easy Allies Podcast after the news of them winding down and the conversations we've had here:

I'm finally done listening to it. Man, that was fantastic. Even the GTA VI discussion (a series I could not care less for), was great to hear. I really miss Kyle and Brandon on the podcast.

[Julius]

On 12/13/2023 at 12:08 AM, Jonnas said:

I'm finally done listening to it. Man, that was fantastic. Even the GTA VI discussion (a series I could not care less for), was great to hear. I really miss Kyle and Brandon on the podcast.

It really was  after seeing that Ben didn't turn up in any way for the 200th and final episode of Frame Trap (it sounds like Brad asked, at least?) with it instead just being the same old we've got used to, I think that I'm pretty happy to have that 400th podcast episode be my personal jumping off point

Haven't been too well lately so have been revisiting old Hall of Greats wrapped up in a duvet on the sofa, and man, what great, great times the HoGs were (until Kyle disappeared, at least). Very, very heavily recommend checking them out for some classic EZA goodness 

Edited January 1 by Julius

[Julius]

It just hurts to read stuff like this  

[Hero-of-Time]

15 minutes ago, Julius said:

It just hurts to read stuff like this  

Dude has been through so much in recent years as well.