What would get you to listen to the racketboy podcast?

[ieatramen]

Maybe advertising/linking to it on the main page would help. For the casual racketboy visitor this would put the option to listen to right in front of their face as soon as they go to racketboy.com.

[ProfessorK]

Personally, I love it the way it is. I especially enjoy how formal it is (NPR fan too). Too many radio shows/ podcasts are cheesy and full of distractions and in the end what do you have? A bunch of noise and no real information. I'd say advertise more, get a set schedule but don't touch the format of the show itself.

[lisalover1]

While this is just a matter of opinion, when I last listened to the podcast, it was far too formal for my tastes, especially when compared to podcasts like Retronauts and HG101. Lighten up things a little, and make it as entertaining as it is informative.

I'm actually quite the opposite. The formality is probably my favorite thing about it. DSH and I have talked before about being fans of NPR, so I think that's where this comes from. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Retronauts a lot as well, but I think the formality is what makes this show stand out. Every other podcast out there is lightened up and tries to entertain instead of just being okay with being informative. Not everyone is a comedian (I'm not sparring with you lisalover, you know you're my Brosephine Baker).

You have a point there. The podcast does fill a previously unfilled role by its tone alone. I guess I'm just kind of in Retronauts withdrawal right now since they cancelled the show.

[noiseredux]

You have a point there. The podcast does fill a previously unfilled role by its tone alone. I guess I'm just kind of in Retronauts withdrawal right now since they cancelled the show.

I know what you mean... I just listened to the last episode a week ago and was like "oh man, it ended so good..."

[Ack]

I enjoy the intellectual format, as it shows gaming can transcend its "children's toys" roots. In fact, I feel the podcast has done more than proven already that there's more to gaming than sitting around screaming obscenities on Xbox Live and teabagging other players...though that certainly has its place.

I listen to the podcast regularly, though I admit I haven't listened to all of them. I think it would be a good idea to give it a regular schedule each month, much like Together Retro. I also like hearing the forums and aspects of the website tied into the program, as it makes the site feel more...I don't know, "unified" I suppose.

I think the only downside is how much we're talking about topics external to gaming and not necessarily about gaming itself. We have done some shows on games, but a lot of it has focused on what individual gamers are doing with their hobby, which doesn't always interest everyone. But shows like the one on the Strike series were excellent at generating interest in that series (I know it made me more interested in those games).

Perhaps shows on the evolution of a series, a genre, or a rivalry between companies with input from both sides. Perhaps a podcast on the creation of games like Capcom Vs. SNK and SNK Vs. Capcom, or the concept behind Super Smash Bros., or the decision to start making FPS games with Duke Nukem, from the mouths of the creators involved in the frontlines. How do Tim Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce Daniels, and Dave Lebling feel about Zork ending up in Call of Duty: Black Ops? What does John Romero think about the current state of FPS? What do Yoshiharu Gotanda, Masaki Norimoto, and Joe Asanuma think about the JRPGs of the last decade and how do they feel about competition with companies like Level-5, Atlus, or Nippon Ichi Software?

I also think part of it has to do with the popularity of the website. As the site grows more well known, the podcast likely will become more popular, but is there a sweet spot for the number of listeners you want to hit?

[racketboy]

I love the podcast as far as content goes.
The redesign of the site is almost complete (a week or two to go?) and the podcast will have a section dedicated to it on the front page.
Hopefully, that will help quite a bit!

[SwooshBear]

The redesign of the site is almost complete (a week or two to go?)

Are the forums going to change at all? Like layout wise, etc?

[noiseredux]

The redesign of the site is almost complete (a week or two to go?)

Are the forums going to change at all? Like layout wise, etc?

that's what I was wondering... I really hope not.

[gtmtnbiker]

I would hope that the forum software is updated to a newer version with more tags/features.

[dsheinem]

So I figured I owe you some thoughts on the comments so far, hopefully generating additional ones.

There are a few things that are hard to do based on the one-on-one interview-based nature of the show.

serious vs. funny / informative vs. entertaining - as a few folks have noted, I am generally shooting for an NPR-esque vibe with the show. That doesn't mean it can't be funny or entertaining, though - but most of my guests just aren't really comedic people. I felt that the Loading Ready Run and Keith Apicary episodes were funny, and a few of my guests have shared some wit or humurous stories...but most guests just don't have this inclination (and I don't want to ask them "silly" questions). If you have more ideas on this, PLEASE let me know.

Regular schedule - this is probably easier to accomplish, but often I have people lined up to talk and they need to change the date (or, sometimes, I do). We do shoot for one a month, generally. Most other gaming podcasts I've listened to don't follow a regular schedule unless they are weekly (and not even then) - does anyone have an example I should take a look at?

As for other things, not related to the guests...

Advertising: Other than registering on every other retro game site just to advertise (we don't like when people do this here), what would you suggest we do to advertise the show?

Content choices: This is in response to Ack's comment about covering specific games or series more - one of the maor problems comes with getting in touch with Japanese developers, who for most of the "retro" period were the chief architects of almost all those series you mentioned. If I CAN find contact info, then language becomes a barrier. this is why, for example, I did episodes on Wizard of Wor by talking to high score champs and Phantasy Star by talking to a big PS fan site operator. I can certainly do more things in that vein, though I usually tie any attention to a game or series to the Together Retro title for the month...

Anyway, this thread is helpful so far, so thanks. To those of you who are just giving the show a try, what do you think? (Oh, and the production generally gets better from show to show if you are moving chronologically )

oh, and...

Pants: fuhgedaboutit