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(5/5)
Garnett Lee (H), Brian Leahy, Jeff Cannata
2:11:14
One thing is clear after listening to Shacknews’ comparatively “humble” coverage of E3 -- simply put; in terms of pure analysis, Garnett Lee’s team does the best job. If one was looking for an accurate, intelligent, adroit breakdown of E3 2010 it would be wrong to not point at Weekend Confirmed’s two episodes, and this, the final episode, in particular.
Continues. The show’s traditional format is eschewed in favor of pure E3 coverage, a move that might disappoint some who enjoy the listener/reader interaction with the show, but certainly a move that is justifiable. A tremendous amount of information is covered and analyzed well. The crew bring up points that are not common knowledge; lines of thought not regurgitated by every outlet. Some natural discussion tangents are shut down by the host, Garnett Lee, who keeps a streamlined approach and looks to stay on topic. This is no fault. In spite of this it would have been interesting to hear opinions on how product betas are currently run, a topic that was well covered by the Gamers with Jobs show a few months back.
If there’s any flaw it’s that the show is almost too densely packed with games. Traditionally, each different segment brings something of a different tone; this episode turns out to be rather heavy, though thankfully, never dull.
Furthermore, all persons perform well. The lack of a fourth seat does not impact detrimentally. Lee once more proves he is a tremendous host. In fact, for me it may have been his best show. The recent discussion of podcast hosts on the Giant Bomb forums made me pay closer attention to Lee’s dulcet tones; as such, conformation bias may be at play here, but I feel it was his best episode in this role. I was also particularly impressed with Cannata, who was a leading light with his opinion and thought.
Weekend Confirmed has shown itself to be a fantastic show which takes the business seriously and is consistently on target. As it was discussed in this episode, video game reporting doesn’t need to be like political journalism -- it just needs to be on target, impassioned, collected, and intelligent. Weekend Confirmed is The McLaughlin Group of video game shows. It is always enjoyable and near always informative, even when the panel is discussing games which are more fun than they are good. If you subscribe to only two podcasts, make Weekend Confirmed one of them.
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5/5
Ryan Davis (H), Jeff Gerstmann, Vinny Caravella, Brad Shoemaker
1:58:16
There would have been no doubt in the minds of the faithful that the Giant Bombcast would return to form after a muddy final E3 outing, but even if there was doubt, this week’s edition displays the same cohesion and cogent air that has come to be expected of the Bombcast and that the previous episode so desperately lacked. The episode’s early stages are rich with a bevy of callbacks to the third E3 Bombcast that all are sure to enjoy. (It’s nice to know that the crew is still very adept at exploiting inside-baseball humor, especially humor largely targeting them.)
Continues.The podcast essentially consists of a summary of E3, the final day of E3 in particular. The choppy analysis typical of this show continues here, but it has depth and is insightful and engaging, as is normal. Of particular interest in this episode and the preceding E3 specials has been Kinect; their analysis of Microsoft’s incoming product is excellent. Commentary on particular games is present, if not a little underwhelming, perhaps due to the tentative nature of the information coming out of E3.
It’s interesting to note the episode’s running time. For much of this year the show has been plagued with inconsistency regarding the length of each episode (wavering from 1hr 50 through to 2hrs40), as well as the length of the segments. Contrast this erratic nature with Weekend Confirmed, which is near always stable. This episode runs at approximately two hours, with both the new releases and email segments slighted (perhaps owing greatly to a lack of density for new releases). If promises hold, next week Gerstmann will guide the ship for the new releases segment, and that potential change may create an awesome comedy goldmine -- certainly funnier than that segment already is.
I would be amiss if I did not highlight the great performances which really make this episode amongst the best to be released by this team in 2010. Caravella in particular has several fine moments; his already infamous line around the five minute mark best amongst all. The attempt to explain Paul Barnett’s breadmaker/Wii analogy is one of the best all round moments. Also, Shoemaker appears to be chirpier than usual.
Here is a convincing and forceful appearance, and I look forward to some changes in next week’s episode, without applying too much pressure on Gerstmann to deliver with the new releases. Overall, then, it’s difficult not to enjoy this episode. The four men in the seats may very well be the most affable individuals in podcasting right now.
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4/5
Tina Sanchez (H), Sam Kennedy, Scott Sharkey, Chris Plante
1:20:26
In terms of pure entertainment value, The Oddcast delivers the best of this year’s podcasts related to E3. Funny stories stitch this episode together in between great discussions regarding video game content, specifically violence. It’s a rather astonishing contrast. The podcast beings with a noisy chorus of vuvuzelas, transitions into Chris Plante summarizing everything wrong with the Football World Cup in approximately fifty seconds, and then into the best analysis of Sony’s PlayStation Network + plan that I’ve heard from any outlet.
Continues.
Originally The Oddcast was called Good Grief, which was probably intended to be a light-hearted show. No real problems marked the show but it eventually transitioned into what is now The Oddcast. Because of its history, and because of the people who fill the seats, it’s easy to dismiss this show as a bit of a joke, a bit of a “communal” podcast that doesn’t really contribute much. That’s simply not the case. It boils down to the only meaningful production 1UP has to sit at the top tier along with the Giant Bombcast and Weekend Confirmed.
The best parts of this show revolve around two fields: firstly, stories told about E3, like 1UP’s video crew crashing the same van in exactly the same place in two consecutive Expositions, this year’s and last’s, alcoholic featherweight Matt Leone getting drunk, and Sam Kennedy’s experience demoing a Japanese game where everything the representative was saying was translated ham-fistedly into broad generalizations -- “What makes your game special?”, and the response, “It has online”; secondly, the serious discussion about the level of violence in games shown at E3.
That ability to shimmy between comedy and meaningful discussion is what makes this particular show special.
It’s impossible to shake the déjà vu feeling I get from The Oddcast; its style and format are quite reminiscent of the classic days of GameSpot’s The HotSpot in its fine run from 2005 through 2007 (not the show today, which is a sad ghost of its former self). The Oddcast certainly does not receive the credit and recognition it deserves; it is one of the best gaming podcasts at this time, it is the best podcast 1UP produces at this time, and anyone who likes listening to good podcasts should subscribe to this show immediately.
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1/5
Ray Barnholt (H), Justin Haywald, Matt Leone, Frank Cifaldi
0:59:38
This week’s short length either led to this episode’s demise or had absolutely no effect on how it turned out; for what it’s worth, slant more towards the latter. It’s another lost, vacuous, wasteful episode of the “main 1UP podcast” from 1UP and Barnholt. At this point both seem to only be doing the show because of an obligation to update the RSS feed every Friday. A lack of updates would be infinitely better than releasing such a show in such a state.
Continues.
There’s just nothing under the peel. The crew, shepherded by an aimless Barnholt, ramble for fifty-nine minutes about E3. Part of the problem is that no games are really mentioned in depth. They opt instead to comment on the exposition as a whole, but they don’t even provide deep commentary. Haywald complains about how he didn’t like E3 this year, except he did like E3, but he didn’t like the fact that he had a job to do.
The show even contains a similar “bad questions asked at E3” conversation that first appeared last week on the Giant Bombcast. Whether or not any of the cast members here listen to the Bombcast is not my position to say, but what is fair is that they are nowhere near as funny as the Bombcast, and their incisive smarminess (“How awesome is your game?”) is utterly overshadowed by Davis’ crew; maybe this is an apt commentary for this podcast as a whole. A flake of redemption comes from the seventeen minute news section where some thoughts of merit regarding the Kinect are aired.
No sympathy can lie with the fact that E3 had been the content of the previous week’s episodes. Nine days separated the podcasts, more than enough to come up with new material. One might say it’s also better to simply not to produce an episode if topics are short.
What this show so desperately lacks is direction. The only real noteworthy performance was once again tossed up by Cifaldi, who’s been something of a workhorse for 1UP since he was signed on (in spite of this, even he somehow manages to come off worse for wear this time around). For my money he should still be hosting this podcast; he’s clearly the most able. Of the “test period” episodes from a month ago, Cifaldi’s was far and away the best produced and most informative. Perhaps he just doesn’t want to host. If that’s the case, then it is a pity. Pray that this show has a reason to exist for next week’s episode, because 1UP is intent not to can this ghost ship.
