NPR's Gaming Podcast 41
Via Joystiq and Kyle Orland comes the news that National Public Radio is going to be hosting a gaming-related podcast. The show will be hosted by Kyle (of VGMWatch), stand-up artist Ralph Cooper, and All Things Considered games reviewer Robert Holt. From the article: "Kyle - 'You really need to know what art is before you can determine whether video games are art.' Ralph - 'I feel like a lot of video games, at least right now, they're not really trying to make statements.' Rob - 'When I was in Grand Theft Auto ... I was driving through the city and listening to the radio and I drove over a hill and I saw ... this huge moon rise over the horizon, I was just in it at that point. I just knew that this was not your normal game. Of course, I could have just been beating up hookers...'"
Well I won't be listening... (Score:1, Interesting)
Is this just me being a cynic? From what I've seen, podcasting is a no-starter...
Re:Well I won't be listening... (Score:5, Interesting)
The greatest one of all however is Filmspotting [filmspotting.net] (formerly Cinecast), a movie podcast which frankly is the best reviewers in all of media. A normal review contains what, 3-4 minutes of discussion, maybe 6-7 if it's an article. The Filmspotting guys routinely talk for seventeen (17!) minutes about a movie, incredibly smart and intellectual discussion that really dives deep into actors, scripts, direction, theme, etc. of every movie it reviews. That is what makes podcasting great, by not being contrained by a corporation, people are free to create their own formats, and have complete creative control. Most often that means it's gonna suck, but when it doesn't you get something like Filmspotting which is frankly unparalelled in quality.
Re:Well I won't be listening... (Score:3, Funny)
=P
Re:Well I won't be listening... (Score:2, Informative)
Don't forget about Science Friday [sciencefriday.com] and NPR: All Songs Considered [npr.org].
There is also Car Talk [cartalk.com] which is not free.
Re:Well I won't be listening... (Score:2)
Re:Well I won't be listening... (Score:4, Insightful)
I personally won't trust the opinions of anyone who thinks podcasting (shown to be massively overhyped by the media compared to usage) is the next big thing, when most evidence points to it not being...
I can only speak for myself, but almost ALL of my interaction with iTunes is D/Ling podcasts. I can't stand the drek that the music companies push these days.
As for podcasts themselves... Some are terrific ("This Spartan Life", "Macintosh Folklore Radio") some are not-so-much (no need to mention names.)
Is Supply exceeding demand? Absolutely. Does that hurt me as a consumer? Absolutely not. Sure, some of the good ones will go away despite my support (anyone remember the TV show "Fast Eddy?") Some of the bad ones will stick it out regardless (anyone watch anything else on network TV lately?) I'll sift through the mud and remove the gems and hope that, in the future, the mud-to-gems ration will decline.
I just wish "Red vs. Blue" would podcast...
Re:Well I won't be listening... (Score:1)
Re:Well I won't be listening... (Score:2)
If yuo want a good gaming podcast.... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:If yuo want a good gaming podcast.... (Score:1)
Great podcast too actually.
Re:If yuo want a good gaming podcast.... (Score:3, Informative)
Of course it is art (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Of course it is art (Score:2)
Frankly, I find most of these discussions which try to argue whether a particular thing is art or not, a bit silly.
Philistine!
Re:Of course it is art (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not as simple as all that. I too agree that the "what is art?" discussion is pretty tired. (I endured years of it in college getting my degree in Visual Arts.) However, I really encourage anyone who is even a little interesting in art and/or games to give this first episode a listen. They make some points that I hadn't thought of and give some really good arguments for different ways games could be seen as art, and how someone in the general public might be convinced.
Here are thr
Now where to pull the podcast? (Score:2)
Re:Now where to pull the podcast? (Score:2)
Who's going to listen? (Score:2, Interesting)
Do I count? (Score:4, Interesting)
I also game.
Then again, I don't listen to podcasts. Hmm, maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all.
Re:Who's going to listen? (Score:1)
Personally I'm in favor of anything that helps break the stereotype of all gamers being 14-25 year old males who enjoy nothing but naked women, loud music and "doin' the dew."
The ESA has released data to the contrary [theesa.com], in fact.
While I'll agree that the combination of calm, rational discussion and gaming is mostly unprecedented, rather that "doubt[ing] this podcast will be successful," I'll say "it's about time." I hope there are more people like me out there.
Why? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Why? (Score:1)
Re:Why? (Score:1)
It's important to note that this is not a news and reviews podcast. It will focus more on the cultural significance of games and gamers, which is something that fits very well with NPR.
I love NPR, gaming and podcasts, so...you know... horray for me.
Re:Why? (Score:2)
I think it's a great idea. And if they "get it rig
NPR's Podcasts (Score:4, Insightful)
This just shows that Americans can actually produce something worthwhile when they really want to. A rather hopeful notion, isn't it?
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:5, Insightful)
It really really makes sense. In traditional transactions the customer is the entity which pays for the transaction. In advertising supported media, the customer would therefore be the advertiser. What is the advertiser purchasing? The viewing time of the audience. So, this means that the audience is the PRODUCT rather than the customer.
It makes sense that a company will do its best to provide the best product it can to the customer, so advertising supported television will do it's best to provide the best audience to the advertisers. What sort of people make the best product then? Those easilly swayed by advertising. That means it is fiscally irresponsible for an advertising supported media company to produce intelligent, thought provoking material. Profitable shows have to be able to appeal to the lowest common denominator, if they appeal to more discerning audiences that has very little effect on the bottom line, and indeed makes for a more inferior product. The TV show/radio broadcast/etc is simply used to ensnare viewers, they are more like the machines in a factory that actually make the product the customer buys. It makes sense that TV and most radio appeals mainly to the lowest common denominator, and in fact creating programming that makes the audence dumber, or at least puts them in a trance-like state where in theory they are more susceptible to advertising. Ever look into the eyes of someone who has been watching TV for a while? Usually a complete blank stare. And it takes a little time to shake the haze off once their concentration is broken from the tube.
So, in advertiser supported media you may occasionally get a smart show that appeals primarilly to intelligent, discerning people but this is expected to be a fluke rather than the norm. If you want good quality stuff, you either have to go the routes audience supported rather than advertiser supported: either a donation based model such as public television/radio or college radio, or you go with an entirely subscription based model as HBO or Showtime does. Not that everything on audience supported media will be good, and not that everything on advertiser supported media will be good, but audience supported media will carry a much higher proportion of quality programming even if the advertisements themselves are omitted.
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:2)
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:1)
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:1)
For true audience supported programming, you need to turn to cable and the pay-for and add-on stations.
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:1)
Not so [wikipedia.org]:
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:2)
You're interpreting this as being all viewer donations, but the article does not say that.
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:1)
Re:NPR's Podcasts (Score:1)
I am assuming that you meant "skeptic," but perhaps you meant to write "septic." Which would be an incredibly clever play on words considering the topic of discussion is the crap known as American Media
Re:Podcast is to Klenex, as Vidcast is to tissue. (Score:1)
Secondly, Podcasts more often than not, do not include video, so vidcast may not be appropriate. Judging by the overwhelming majority that I have experienced, perhaps Crapcast is appropriate. We need more quality such as the ones NPR produces, so I view this as a good thing.
Lastly, I am reasonably sure that Apple did not coin the term Podcast, Adam Curry or someone along those lines did, but I could be mistaken. The iPod dominates the market, so it seems like a good choice, and
Daniel Shore? (Score:1)
making a statement (Score:1)