GDC Podcasts

I was so blown away by the incredible things the developers had to say about the gaming press and the gaming industry as a whole.

I'm curious to the community's reaction.

1) Do you like hearing the developer's thoughts?

2) Do you agree/disagree that gameplay is on the rise?

3) Were you bored or captivated by Paul Barnett's discussion?

1.) Very much so. These sorts of things help to humanize game development. How often do you think of game developers as people? I mean, obviously they're people, but... Well, you should get what I mean, I guess.
2.) Yes and no. I think we've hit a stagnation point when it comes to big name commercial games, but when it comes to the indie side of things, definitely.
3.) He repeated himself once or twice, but aside from that, he had my attention the entire time.

yes to all

Absolutely, although the 1st GDC podcast was a bit disorganized for the 1st half-hour or so, it eventually found some focus.

Honestly, I don't know.  I think it's hard to say when it is mostly hardcore game developers and games media whose focus audience is the hardcore discuss that topic without a strong knowledge on the casuals.  I think one of the best questions asked, although I don't recall a clear answer, was "are all of you guys [hardcore game makers] in the wrong business [making hardcore games]?

Captivated by Paul Barnett...now I am off to "funkytown"

Paul kind of bored me, until he started talking about his giant man plugged into his computer.

• I'd rather hear the Developer's thoughts than the publishers or even video games journalists. Mainly because these dudes and dudettes create games for a living, its great to hear what inspires them to create what they do and keep going on and doing it even after they've perhaps made bad decisions in the past. As someone said already it helps to humanise them when its all too easy to demonise them for possible bad design decisions and games in the past.

• I'd say gameplay is being considered more, but there is a point where you can't change how many ways there is to shoot guys. On the other hand this sort of relates to the first question, hearing developers discuss what they think is on the rise. What they think can be done to improve it and so on. But again new blood into the industry can reboot somewhat stagnating concepts.
• Paul Barnett's piece was entirely captivating and I enjoyed every moment of it. The man is a god amongst men!
  

"Paul kind of bored me, until he started talking about his giant man plugged into his computer."

They keeps it real. I like that.

all i got from that podcast was that Paul Barnett thinks the ps2 was evil, and his son is a prodigy at video games. that is all.

oh, and somehting about plastic dudes being plugged into a computer....?

"

all i got from that podcast was that Paul Barnett thinks the ps2 was evil, and his son is a prodigy at video games. that is all.

"

"What did interest me is the reputation Giant Bomb seems to have -- I knew Jeff and the gang were respected among the industry, but it sounds to me, almost like, they're kinda the pioneers of video game journalism. I dunno -- I don't want that to sound to ass-kissy but y'get what I mean right - like everyone seems to know and respect them. Even the developers who may be on the end of some product criticism."

I felt that paul was kinda annoying with his whole "My kid" bit.

"TooWalrus said:

"Paul kind of bored me, until he started talking about his giant man plugged into his computer."

I agree. That guy, urgh, something about him irritated me. I'm sure he's a top guy and all -- I'm just talking purely from the sensibility of the podcast.I enjoyed the first podcast but didn't feel like the structure nor subject matter gelled with GiantBomb's mentality - things got a bit too super-serious, which while interesting, is something that GiantBomb have said no to from the start. For me GiantBomb is all about - "this game is fun", "this game is not fun" mentality without any pretense.What did interest me is the reputation Giant Bomb seems to have -- I knew Jeff and the gang were respected among the industry, but it sounds to me, almost like, they're kinda the pioneers of video game journalism. I dunno -- I don't want that to sound to ass-kissy but y'get what I mean right - like everyone seems to know and respect them. Even the developers who may be on the end of some product criticism."

I hated the GDC Bombcast. Well didn't hate it, but keep reading on...

• Too many people.
• Paul was alright at first, but by the time he reached the second "my boy..." I was bored of him.
• Anyone who talks over Greg Kasavin must burn in hell.
• Not enough of the people I actually care about.

The first day's podcast was absolute hysteria and I really couldn't listen to it because of all the people trying to talk over each other and such.  I find it interesting that most people didn't dig Paul because he wasn't being super hilarious and shit, because I really enjoyed listening to him talk about some philosophy of a developer standpoint.  I really liked how he related his own childhood gaming to his son's, as it shows a major contrast of the industry in the last 20 years.  So fuck all the haters.

• Yes
• I agree
• No , not really
  

1) Yes. I always love meeting and getting to know the dev's of my favorite games.
     Although if I get a negative vibe from them, that could influence my opinion of they're game.

2) I believe that game play is on the rise, but I also believe that could hurt the industry. A lot of games lacking creativity, originality, and quality game play are becoming mainstream,
     and outselling the deserving games. =/ Take Army of 2 for example haha.

3) Not at all. One of the reasons I fell in love with the Warhammer world is Paul Barnett. He's an amazing public speaker and personality.

Paul Barnett was a fucking dynamo. Great guy. I would have loved to hear him talk even more. It was also interesting to hear that Chris guy (forgot his last name :-( ) talk about audio design in games, which is always something I pay attention to that nobody seems to really regard very seriously. I listened to the normal Bombcast this week, the GDC cast, and I'm listening to the second GDC cast. I've never really completed a Bombcast by Saturday, so this is an accomplishment.

I like the 2nd one better the first one was really boring

Too many people, I think 4 or 5 guys is a maximum for podcasts.

The guests were kinda hit and miss. Greg Kasavin and Alex Navarro are great as always, and Paul Barnett had a lot of interesting things to say, but everyone else was just a blur.