Why Not do a Joint Bombcast?

Apologies if this has come up before and I missed it.

I'm catching up on recent Bombcasts during my short morning commute, and I really like the atmosphere with all the staff together, especially Jeff & Vinny being in the same room again. Have they ever talked about doing a joint Bombcast with both coasts by telecommuting? I remember Patrick & Alex doing it over a distance, albeit with some occasional problems. I would enjoy it, though I imagine the logistics could be frustrating.

I think it would be nice if they did it, but that sort of thing isn't without it's problems. Facecam helps a little, but there are still odd breaks and interruptions("You go first" "No, go ahead") compared to a regular podcast, as well as delays. GB is probably in a better position to do it than anyone else, though. They've got a whole studio at each end of that call.

The delay on good VoIP software is non existent

I like having two distinct podcasts. They each have a different feel and bookend the week nicely.

They talk about different things on each podcast, each one has a different flavour. Also why would they tie up both more people to produce the same amount of content?

The time difference could also be a problem.

As a once in awhile thing it's nice, and they do bring the Beasters into the Bombcast at times (such as during GOTY), but beyond what everyone else here has said...$$$. Both podcasts do well and both have advertising for their non-premium versions. It's not easy to tell your boss "I'd like to take two revenue streams and turn them into one revenue stream, which won't be any larger than it already is." I know Jeff has free reign with the site editorially, but that might be a hard sell.

Telepresence robots! ...because those always go so well, right? If they did anything bi-coastal I would want Vinny and Alex in the West Coast Podcast room as robots who show up on the wide-view camera. And, if they can do that it opens up for more Lang Zone and other guests.

I hope they can do more and more of this on the site. Like I hope Dan can be on Demo Derby still.

I think they easily could do it, plenty of podcasts work that way and it's fine. But I like having them separate, they have different styles and attitudes of conversation. Separate but equal! (wait, that sounded bad...)

The general idea for the different offices was to create different personalities, different types of videos, etc. coming from more people without people figuratively stepping over each other. They also didn't want to create a situation where on the Bombcast, they would have, as an example, Jeff, Vinny, Brad, and Dan, but not enough room for people like Drew and Alex, or create an environment where UPF was this type of show so we need these certain people, or so-and-so are the regulars.

I think the separate studio design and different podcasts are intentional. I would like to see more cross coast streams or features, even if it is a once a month thing, but having half the people telephoning for a regular podcast would probably be too much. It works well enough for the Powerbombcast, but we're basically talking about 4 people, not 7.

Boy did I enjoy that week (two?) of podcasts. I could go in for this about two or three times a year for sure.

I enjoy them being a separate thing, and enjoy the special times of the years where everyone gets together. Both make me appreciate all sides of Giant Bomb.

Also, think about what you are asking. With the time difference and now having to wrangle 8-9 people on opposite sides of the country, you would take a lot of time away from other contents, just due to things like setting up the system to record both sides correctly, back that up, back up the back up, pre-check, pre pre-check, god knows what else if something unexpected comes up. It would be an unnecessary headache for the staff to do outside of a rare cameo appearance. Even cross country quick looks are a rare gem, I imagine due to the work it requires to set it all up and work on two different peoples schedules.

I like this idea, but about once per month. Maybe like @utterances post, a few times a year.

Please no, live streaming the podcasts already ruined the regular bombcast.

Keep the beastcast pure please.

@wynnduffy: Still missing out on the chemistry from full body language, Source Connect or no.

@rafaelfc: how did live streaming ruin the bombcast?

@ripelivejam: I don't know exactly, it just feels different.

Ruin might be a strong word, but this is the internet and we all deal in absolutes.

I mean, now that California is legal, they should totally do a joint Bombcast... ayyy lmao

Err, I mean, I like the team-up as a "during the holidays" special treat.

They have always said that the Bombcast works because everyone is in the same room and there's chemistry that comes from that. This would be lost if they did a cross coast podcast.

Think about it, that's why they had bombing in the AM and its the reason that its the way it is now with the Beastcast. They occasionally have the Skype in for a "field report" but that's usually for just a short segment. I agree with them, that the Bombcast would loose some of what makes it so great. There's a certain cadence to conversation that's lost over services such as Skype, even with videochat enabled.

I think that its best left personally and just keep to the few nice surprises we get each year when the whole team does get together in person.

Also, Jeff has said on multiple occasions and recently on Jar Time that the podcasts do very well for them in terms of ads. I'm assuming a joint, bi-coastal Bombcast would mean only one podcast (schedule wrangling as mentioned above would make it hard to do a joint one and an East or West one, plus...why? They'd be duplicative) and cutting off a major source of revenue seems like a bad idea. I don't think it's THE reason not to do it, but with many of the other reasons mentioned above, it doesn't help the case.

I like it when they come together for a show or two, but I also like that the two podcasts have their own flavour and that they (roughly) bookend the week. I certainly wouldn't want less podcast, and there are enough people on each podcast currently so if they were joined together people would likely end up rotating in and out, or it would all feel too busy.

Nah. Even leaving aside the added layer of potential technical problems, I think 7-8 people on a podcast is too many. They just end up talking over each other.

I also prefer having two different podcasts. I enjoy Vinny having the control over things, the Beastcast trio is also way more comedy focused than the Bombcast. I think Giant Bomb benefits greatly of the "different styles for different people" kind of approach.

Of course, every now and then Vinny, Alex and even Jeff B could join the Bombcast for a special day or something.

@rafaelfc: Sorry but with your avatar I really had a rather good laugh at that.

I feel like 4 voices is the ideal number on almost any podcast. A cross coast one you are looking at what? 7, maybe 8 whenever the new hire gets made?

That's just too much going in one cast on a regular basis, and I'd think quieter people like Jason or Drew would basically become forgotten.

The main reason I'd actually want a cross-coast podcast is to get Vinny in the room with Jeff more often. I like Bakalar and Alex perfectly fine, but they aren't really people who make me laugh a lot. Vinny and Dan could probably do a lot together though.

I'd enjoy a monthly premium podcast where they all get together, shoot the shit, and take emails. We don't get nearly enough cross coastal content in general. The best quick look this year was My Summer Car.

Schedules for East & West are likely already nightmares. While this sounds like something I'd enjoy from time to time, I'm more than happy to just have them all together around Game of the Year & E3.

Keep them separate, i think its a good choice to let the Beast team do things their way.

More than 3 people on a podcast is too many. Notice how good podcasts almost always have three people? It's not a coincidence.

"joint" *brad stoner laugh*

That's basically what the bombcast will be now that Dan is gone right?

I loved the joint casts recently, but Video Skype is no replacement for being in the same room. It's far better to keep it to people who can be in the same room.

Counting the days until Dan brings his beautiful mind to the BEast.

It's much better having two casts but wish there were times where the two sides met up more often, to shake up quick looks and stuff.

At E3 and Pax and Cards Against, it was the guests doing most of the talking.

They should also do things like Rocket League Coast to Coast more often.

@artisanbreads said:

Geez, I completely forgot about those. It's one of the best things on the site and they don't do them nearly enough.

I like having two separate podcasts, however I would love a cross-country feature where they play multiplayer games together. Jeff & Vinny doing playing through a game co-op and shooting the shit, well, that's all I've ever really wanted from this site.

I really wish "Us vs. Them" with East against West was a more frequent thing.

maybe they should do it once a month or something. there's also a problem with too many people on a podcast and people not getting enough time to talk about what they want to talk about.