Gaming Podcasts: A Thread about Listening to Others

[Julius]

4 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said:

@Julius Any idea when the EZA 2019 GOTY show will be? Ben mentioned it briefly during Frame Trap but i'm not sure when it's scheduled for. I love it how the guys have this format. Rather than trying to rush out their awards like pretty much every other outlet, they give the games of last year, especially those released late on, time to breathe and then have a discussion about which were the best.

Yeah, it's next Tuesday (the 28th)!

Deliberations and final awards are going to be pre-recorded this time around - though I the deliberations going first previously, it certainly makes sense that if they're going to have GOTY content come out that it comes out on the same day, and it gives them more time to polish it to their standards - and personal picks will be live on stream iirc (which I also think makes perfect sense). 

100% with you on the love for their format. The discussions are great, and it's just nice for them to be open and actually gain some understanding about how GOTYs were deliberated. Agreed on the timing too: if the Oscars had a mid-November cut-off date, then films like Star Wars don't end up with sound and costume design awards and nominations. Would be a huge thing with Dune this December, and with Avatar in the December slot in the coming years. 

What's everyone going to do if BotW 2 does manage to sneak into this year, but is late November? 

Quote

The other podcast I listened to was Frame Trap. The Kill Your Babies game they played to decide what game would win the game of the decade was absolutely hilarious. Ben's reactions to certain games being killed off early and then getting revenge on Bloodworth was priceless. I usually don't care for the silly games the EZA crew tend to play but this one was gold purely to listen to Ben's agony of what was happening before him.

Oh man, Ben's reactions and the betrayal by Blood, and his subsequent revenge against him, was glorious! I've watched them do Kill Your Babies several times on a number of shows and it always seem to get too hostile and lose some of the EZA purity which they bring to the table, but loved this one.

I think the crew generally has a great sense of wit and timing, but some of their bits on the main podcast (This Week in Joker News, Pro Strats Only Please: URGH...) just try too hard for me. The funniest moments are always the unexpected, and I tend to check out EZA Weekly Clips or SomeGameNews for some great stream highlights (doubt I'm the only one here without the time to sit through all of the streams they put out). 

Did you check out the special podcast a few weeks ago with Kyle's parents? I thought it was great to get the curtain pulled back a bit more on an Ally by someone so close to them, and there were definitely some great moments in there. 

[Hero-of-Time]

18 hours ago, Julius said:

Did you check out the special podcast a few weeks ago with Kyle's parents? I thought it was great to get the curtain pulled back a bit more on an Ally by someone so close to them, and there were definitely some great moments in there. 

Nah. I fell out of love with the regular podcast a while back and I now only listen to it on occasion. The only podcasts I listen to on a regular basis are Frame Trap, Sacred Symbols and RadioFreeNintendo, although I did drop RFN for a few weeks at the end of last year due to their banter become quite stale. James was essentially having to carry the show on his own.

 

[Nicktendo]

14 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

...RadioFreeNintendo, although I did drop RFN for a few weeks at the end of last year due to their banter become quite stale. James was essentially having to carry the show on his own.

The game of the decade episode was a lot of fun. I agree that they were becoming stale but it seems to have picked up a bit recently. 

[Hero-of-Time]

Just now, Nicktendo said:

The game of the decade episode was a lot of fun. I agree that they were becoming stale but it seems to have picked up a bit recently. 

Yeah, I really enjoyed it. I was worried nobody was going to pick Super Mario Galaxy 2 but Greg swooped in and saved the day. The British lad done us proud.  

[Julius]

Easy Allies 2019 GOTY time!

Deliberations start at 18:30:

GOTY awards video is up at 02:00 in the morning to avoid spoiling the fun:

And Personal Picks will be up (hopefully) not too long after they're streamed live on Twitch! 

[Hero-of-Time]

I watched the EZA GOTY awards this morning. I can't say i'm that surprised by what took home the crown. 

[Ganepark32]

Just a heads up on a newer podcast for those who may be interested. Play, Watch, Listen is a monthly podcast released on the last Friday of each month chaired by Alanah Pearce (IGN, Funhaus) with Troy Baker (Voice Actor, The Last of Us, Uncharted), Austin Wintory (Composer, Journey, Abzu, Banner Saga) and Mike Bithell (Game Director, Bithell Games, Thomas Was Alone, Volume, John Wick Hex) where they talk about all manner of games and topics within the medium while bringing in their experience from their respective fields within the games industry.

They've only put out 3 episodes but I've been really enjoying the style of podcast they've been doing. It's a more laidback conversation that definitely jumps about between different mediums and topics (last month they talked about the impact of The Game Awards and this month they've talked about game delays amongst other things) but is insightful for those who want to have that different perspective on the industry.

Thought it might be interesting for people wanting to hear about different sides of the industry. Alanah put the video of the podcast up on her YouTube page and it's available as a podcast on Spotify and the like for audio listeners. There's little teething issues but yeah, I've been enjoying it a lot for the more casual chat and because I've always been interested in the stuff that consumers don't see as often with regards to the games industry. This month's one has even given me this idea to look into the psychology of how consumers react to delays which is something I may work into a write up or article or something. So recommended by me anyway. I've linked the playlist on YouTube below.

 

[Julius]

Listened to this week's Frame Trap yesterday and really enjoyed it.

The old logo and music making a return for the 100th episode was a nice touch, and it was great to listen to Ben, Damiani and Kyle be introspective about Easy Allies, especially with us getting some hints about why Don isn't as involved on-screen. In particular with hearing their thoughts about the future of the company, and Damiani talking about some of his struggles and anxieties of being a creator with such a wide audience on such big platforms, it's great to see that the guys are still very much down to Earth. 

Easily my favourite gaming podcast, here's to 100 more! 

Edited February 3, 2020 by Julius

[punio75]

I've certainly warmed to Frame Trap over recent months- I think Ben is great and although not liking all the games they discuss its generally of a high standard.

After many years I've just unsubscribed to RadioFreeNintendo. As noted above I do find it a little stale. Joh is never on which is a shame as he brings some humour. I find James and greg tiresome now (just dull) as they seem to 'compete' for knowledge which comes across as a little braggy! Its been a few years but now is the time to wave goodbye for a while- time is precious! IGN is hanging on... but its getting less interesting and more annoying.

Perhaps I'm just getting grumpier 

Are there any other recommendations people have? Mainly Nintendo focused but I do like other formats too. 

[Londragon]

Are there any other recommendations people have? Mainly Nintendo focused but I do like other formats too. 

N-E Café? Got to get a cheeky plug in now and again.

[Londragon]

I do like the ‘Power Pros’ Podcast, too.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Hero-of-Time]

34 minutes ago, punio75 said:

After many years I've just unsubscribed to RadioFreeNintendo. As noted above I do find it a little stale. Joh is never on which is a shame as he brings some humour. I find James and greg tiresome now (just dull) as they seem to 'compete' for knowledge which comes across as a little braggy! Its been a few years but now is the time to wave goodbye for a while- time is precious! IGN is hanging on... but its getting less interesting and more annoying.

This is actually something I do enjoy from RFN. James and Greg both have cracking knowledge about what games are coming out, past games and things across other formats. I think it's why those two are the ones that talk the most because they actually have something to bring to the table. Jon is rarely there now and when he does show up he hasn't played much. Gui just seems to only play a certain set of games, which makes his new business pretty boring and predictable.

I got rid of IGN/Nintendo Voice Chat a while back now. Most of the people over there are annoying and haven't a clue about what they are discussing. 

40 minutes ago, punio75 said:

Are there any other recommendations people have? Mainly Nintendo focused but I do like other formats too. 

Honestly, there's not a lot out there, especially if you just want Nintendo banter. You could give Friendcode over on Easy Allies a try. Damiani knows his stuff but the issue is that a lot of the time he can come off as a bit of a fanboy, which can be pretty agritaving. Of course you have other Allies on the show to help balance things out a bit.

Both Frame Trap and Sacred Symbols are the best ones out there, IMO. Ben is a fantastic host on Frame Trap who plays on all consoles and has a wide ranging taste in video games, the guys have meaningful discussions about what they are playing and the episodes are a good 2-3 hours long. Sacred Symbols has Colin hosting it and, like Ben, he has a fantastic knowledge of the things he discusses. Plus, the banter between him and Chris is always hilarious. However, it just deals with PlayStation so it may not be your thing.  

[Nicktendo]

On 04/02/2020 at 1:25 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

Both Frame Trap and Sacred Symbols are the best ones out there, IMO. Ben is a fantastic host on Frame Trap who plays on all consoles and has a wide ranging taste in video games, the guys have meaningful discussions about what they are playing and the episodes are a good 2-3 hours long. Sacred Symbols has Colin hosting it and, like Ben, he has a fantastic knowledge of the things he discusses. Plus, the banter between him and Chris is always hilarious. However, it just deals with PlayStation so it may not be your thing.  

Even though Sacred Symbols is a PlayStation Podcast™, I feel it touches on the other consoles and industry as a whole enough to be enjoyed by any gaming fan. I certainly enjoy their hot takes on Nintendo, but they absolutely give praise where it's due too. It's one of the most balanced podcasts I've ever listened to despite Colin being a self-proclaimed Sony fanboy. 

Edit: how the hell do you remove colour from behind text?
Edit 2.0: done. 

Edited February 7, 2020 by Nicktendo

[Ronnie]

It's funny thinking back to old episodes of Kinda Funny where Colin talks about Nintendo, the Playstation Pro, the Vita... and how utterly wrong he was on all three of them. At the time his arguments were so compelling and I believed all of them. He put out a "Same old Nintendo" video after the January Switch presentation about how the Switch would be a failure and Nintendo haven't learned from their mistakes and didn't know what they were doing etc. It savaged them. Turns out, totally wrong. Same as he was for many, many things.

I like Colin and he does great work but it's just made me (personally) stop hanging on YouTubers' opinions (like I used to) because that's all they are.

[Nicktendo]

3 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

It's funny thinking back to old episodes of Kinda Funny where Colin talks about Nintendo, the Playstation Pro, the Vita... and how utterly wrong he was on all three of them. At the time his arguments were so compelling and I believed all of them. He put out a "Same old Nintendo" video after the January Switch presentation about how the Switch would be a failure and Nintendo haven't learned from their mistakes and didn't know what they were doing etc. It savaged them. Turns out, totally wrong. Same as he was for many, many things.

I like Colin and he does great work but it's just made me (personally) stop hanging on YouTubers' opinions (like I used to) because that's all they are.

Yeah, I went back and watched that video the other day. Hilariously wrong. He does often admit to being wrong though, instead of sweeping it under the rug, so fair play to him.

I'm still waiting for his apology about BOTW and Mario Odyssey being bad though. He's in good company with half of this forum...   

[Ronnie]

Just now, Nicktendo said:

He's in good company with half of this forum

Half this forum don't like BOTW? They should say so more often, I've not noticed. 

[Glen-i]

55 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Half this forum don't like BOTW? They should say so more often, I've not noticed. 

Hey you! Listen.

I don't like Breath of the Wild.

You're welcome.

[Hero-of-Time]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

It's funny thinking back to old episodes of Kinda Funny where Colin talks about Nintendo, the Playstation Pro, the Vita... and how utterly wrong he was on all three of them. At the time his arguments were so compelling and I believed all of them. He put out a "Same old Nintendo" video after the January Switch presentation about how the Switch would be a failure and Nintendo haven't learned from their mistakes and didn't know what they were doing etc. It savaged them. Turns out, totally wrong. Same as he was for many, many things.

I like Colin and he does great work but it's just made me (personally) stop hanging on YouTubers' opinions (like I used to) because that's all they are.

Well, yeah, what else are they going to be? It's up to the person who is listening whether you agree with them or not. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being wrong. All a person can do is say is how they feel at the time and use the evidence they have in front of them to help come to a conclusion. When it comes to predicting the games industry any of these people who put out gaming podcasts have guesses that are as good as our own. Hell, professional analysts have a hard time reading what will happen within the industry and that's their full time job.

I think his PS4 Pro and Vita arguments/predictions were pretty justifiable. The middle of generation upgrade was a complete unknown and it really could have gone either way. The Vita was coming off of the hugely successful PSP and it was only Sony's own incompetence that killed the thing off ( memory card prices, not securing Monster Hunter, lack of support ). Out of the three things you mentioned there was only the Switch one that he was way off on. There was no way the thing was going to be a failure purely because Nintendo have a monopoly in the dedicated handheld market and Japan loves their handhelds.

His did actually make a positive Nintendo video ( HERE ) at the end of 2017 but his feelings didn't last and he has simply accepted that Nintendo are no longer for him. Just this week they talk about juggling playing on multiple consoles and he was saying how his PS4 meets all of his gaming needs. He's only played 4 games on his Switch since buying it. It's a shame that he has fallen out of love with the company because he has a wealth of knowledge and experience with Nintendo consoles up until the Wii and I would love to hear him talking on a Nintendo podcast focused on the retro side of things.

1 hour ago, Nicktendo said:

I'm still waiting for his apology about BOTW and Mario Odyssey being bad though. 

Time to bring back #ColinWasRight  

 

2 hours ago, Nicktendo said:

Even though Sacred Symbols is a PlayStation Podcast™, I feel it touches on the other consoles and industry as a whole enough to be enjoyed by any gaming fan. I certainly enjoy their hot takes on Nintendo, but they absolutely give praise where it's due too. It's one of the most balanced podcasts I've ever listened to despite Colin being a self-proclaimed Sony fanboy.

I think with Colin knowing both Nintendo and Sony so well and Chris knowing the Xbox and PC market, they really have their bases covered which allows for lots of interesting conversations about all aspects of gaming. It's why Easy Allies and Giant Bomb (at least used to ) works so well because they aren't just familiar with one console or company and are able to draw from a range of experiences and compare one consoles offerings to another.

Also, I find their random banter/emails to be hilarious. The guy who kept writing in after soiling himself on a date has been a fantastic journey to listen to. This weeks email about a guy using a public toilet also got a good laugh out of me. I do love me some toilet humour.  

[Ronnie]

5 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Well, yeah, what else are they going to be? It's up to the person who is listening whether you agree with them or not. There's absolutely nothing wrong with being wrong. All a person can do is say is how they feel at the time and use the evidence they have in front of them to help come to a conclusion.

Of course it's up to the person listening whether to agree or not. All I was saying was I don't put as much stock into the bigger name YouTube opinions and hot takes as I used to, especially with all the hyperbole you get in the gaming/entertainment industry.

[Hero-of-Time]

I had a podcast slot to fill and decided to check into SegaBits/Sega Talk and see what they had been discussing over the past few months. I was happy to find that they had done a podcast about Phantasy Star Online and so I gave it a listen. It was a great trip down memory lane. They discuss things like the MAG system, how bad the hacking was and interacting online with people from around the world for the first time.

One of the points that is brought up is that Sega should jump on the World of Warcraft Classic bandwagon and do a classic version of PSO for modern consoles. There's a lot of nostalgia for the game and giving it a few modern tweaks and releasing it on things like the Switch/PS4/Xbox could be quite profitable. 

They talk a little bit about PSO2 and how Sega really dropped the ball with that game. PSO gain it's praise and popularity because it was an online console game that could be played with anyone in the world. PSO2 got rid of all of that by making it a PC exclusive, releasing it only in Japan and changing the art style to a more generic anime look, all of which went against everything the first game stood for.

They talk briefly about whether or not they will pick up PSO2 when it's released in the West and one of the guys made a good point. He was saying how he doesn't think the game will ever replicate the feeling he had when playing the original game. Too much has changed for him (work, family life etc.) and PSO was very much a game that was at the right place at the right time but he was happy to have been there when it all happened.

[Nicktendo]

Bossman is leaving EZA 😧

[Hero-of-Time]

4 minutes ago, Nicktendo said:

Bossman is leaving EZA 😧

Crazy. Have they given a reason?

[Nicktendo]

5 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

Crazy. Have they given a reason?

On Patreon he said he’s simply moving on. Not to something new. Assume he’s stepping away from the gaming industry. Let me see if I can copy paste. 
 

Quote

First the blunt facts:
I’ll be leaving Easy Allies and Los Angeles at the end of next month
My last solo stream will be Friday, April 17th. 
My last group stream will be Tuesday, April 21st. 
My last Easy Allies Podcast will be posted on Friday, April 24th for early access and publicly on Sunday, April 26th. 

Apologies if that was abrupt, I’ve just read a few of these kinds of posts before and the opening sentences are always excruciating as you’re just waiting to get to the bad news. 
And I realize this is bad news in a time of rampant bad news. I have a job that I love working with people I love for a community I love and yet today I’m announcing that, after four years with Easy Allies, it’s time for me to go.
Before anything else I need to make it clear how grateful I am to the Easy Allies community. From March of 2016, when we nervously cobbled Easy Allies together, to today, I feel like a different, calmer, more understanding person. I feel simply better. And, sincerely, not just saying this to be sweet, I owe a great deal of that feeling to this amorphous collection of funny and supportive internet viewers and commenters. I frequently think about the people who have said I’ve improved their day or week or year, and I can only offer my earnest thanks in return and apologize for putting myself first this time.

Our team has known about my exit for a while and have been making plans to cover my absence. The Easy Allies Podcast will of course continue; Jones will nurture it like his very own podcast. Gundam streams will carry on, Damiani will produce Achieve It Yourself, and Don has promised to pick up my slack for future betting specials. No one has volunteered to take over my trash bag duties yet.
As for my own future, I can’t say where I’m going. Not in a fun way where I have a sweet gig lined up that has to stay secret for now, I actually don’t know. Usually people who write these will say “Can’t wait to see what’s next, very excited! I’m very young baby!” but to be honest with you I’m terrified of not knowing what’s next, and that’s sort of the point.
My fear is that your fear is that I’ll just go do what I’m doing now somewhere else. That’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for my life’s Main Thing, something that demands my full potential and potentially fully failing at it. Currently I feel like I’m eating french fries every day. I love french fries, I will always eat french fries, but I'm coming to realize I have to eat more than french fries.
This is also to say that I don’t imagine I’ll disappear forever. I want to get my Main Thing established, or at least get on the path to this nebulous Main Thing, and then figure out my french fries from there. I told you I’m streaming a full playthrough of Digimon World and you better believe I’m going to follow through on that. I’m just not going to start up my own Twitch channel next week. Please understand if I’m offline for a while.  

If you have questions, concerns, advice, or just want to make sure this isn’t a prank, I’m starting tonight’s stream a half hour early to give us all a chance to talk about everything. ( 8:30pm PT on twitch.tv/easyallies )
Once more I’d like to thank the supporters of Easy Allies. I only have this opportunity because of everything you’ve given us. You might have noticed I’ve stopped using “Love and Respect” as a signoff in Patreon posts. Secretly I just hated seeing it used against us as the stupidest ironic checkmate in comments sections. However, I’d like to indulge in the notion one last time as I feel it’s especially appropriate in this situation.

Love and Respect,
Kyle 

Ok so I don’t read it properly. 
Don’t know what Main Thing means...?

Edited March 13, 2020 by Nicktendo

[Hero-of-Time]

You have to wonder how this will effect their Pateron numbers. They've had a rough few months where numbers were either stalling or going down and I doubt this will help matters. He brought a lot of personality to the group and they'll be weaker without him.

Its a bit weird if he is going to continue doing gaming stuff though. If that is the case then I wonder if things behind closed doors weren't going smoothly with the other Allies? At times I did get the feeling that his games and bits didn't hit the right notes with a few of the other guys.

[killthenet]

Shit, that's gutting. I think Box Peek took a lot out of him but it also showed him that he could create and write a compelling scripted show, I assume working on a bigger project of his own is probably in his plans but he clearly doesn't know what he's doing just yet. It's a shame to see him go but EZA will still be strong without him, they have so many great people working there but the podcasts will feel a bit weird for a while without his idiotic nonsense.  

It must be quite stressful being a member of a group like EZA, knowing that so much of your lives is broadcast online and poured over by thousands of fans - don't begrudge him wanting to take a break from it all. 

Good luck to him, I'm curious to see what he does next.