Started my own retro gaming podcast. *episode 0 now up!*

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well, I've decided to give it a go, and produced a prototype episode of what may be a podcast. Before I create an itunes or rrs feed, I just want to see what people think and if I should actually bother to do this kind of thing. I'm thinking I'd do a bi-weekly (possibly weekly) podcast to begin with and see what people think.

So with some feedback I've received I've tried to make this as good as possible, but keep in mind I'm new at this and find balancing volume levels difficult, but I did try my best. For now, please let me know your thoughts.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FDOTYXHH

[retrosportsgamer]

Couple suggestions Satoshi -

- Pay the $15 to upgrade to your own URL through wordpress. Your blog is awesome.

- Get on Twitter to plug the site and the podcast. Mimic what Nintendo_Legend did to get 1,000 followers (another great website).

[dsheinem]

Well, I've decided to give it a go, and produced a prototype episode of what may be a podcast. Before I create an itunes or rrs feed, I just want to see what people think and if I should actually bother to do this kind of thing. I'm thinking I'd do a bi-weekly (possibly weekly) podcast to begin with and see what people think.

So with some feedback I've received I've tried to make this as good as possible, but keep in mind I'm new at this and find balancing volume levels difficult, but I did try my best. For now, please let me know your thoughts.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FDOTYXHH

I'll give it a listen shortly!

[dsheinem]

Well, I've decided to give it a go, and produced a prototype episode of what may be a podcast. Before I create an itunes or rrs feed, I just want to see what people think and if I should actually bother to do this kind of thing. I'm thinking I'd do a bi-weekly (possibly weekly) podcast to begin with and see what people think.

So with some feedback I've received I've tried to make this as good as possible, but keep in mind I'm new at this and find balancing volume levels difficult, but I did try my best. For now, please let me know your thoughts.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=FDOTYXHH

I'll give it a listen shortly!

Ok, just listened to the 13 min episode 0:

Thoughts (take these as constructive!):

-Voice: Your voice sounds both semi-robotic (like you are reading) and echoes like crazy for the first ten minutes. I hate to disagree with you, but I haven't heard a good 'cast using those snowball mics yet. I use an H2 Zoom, and would strongly recommend that as an intro level mic.

-Production: There's a constant chirping/whining in the background which I couldn't even tell was music until several minutes in. When it does come in, it is barely discernible. I would cut it altogether. You might also consider some kind of between-segment music, as that would do a better job of breaking up the show and showcasing the music you want to use. Check out "A Life Well Wasted" podcast, which has some of the best production I have heard in a game podcast.

-Content: I suppose it is a good thing that the topics you are covering are stories that I had heard little to nothing about, which is also one of the strengths of your other contributions. That said, I don't really dig listening to one person share their thoughts on a game (as you do with the Giana Sisters game) without also hearing some kind of foil/alternative view/questions/etc. Again, that's a personal preference - but I also can't think of many podcasts that are successful by using the one man format you've chosen.

-Uniqueness: I think the focus is unique, but the news/reviews/tech talk/mail/pick ups format is pretty much standard for the vast majority of shows - which use all or most of these segments. It would be great to hear something truly unique, but I am not sure what that would be. As is, it seems like a personal blog in audio format, which isn't compelling to me (but certainly may be to others).

In general, a podcast that is just a read script isn't really very engaging (to me, anyway). If it sounds better written/read, it should be a blog post.

Again, please take this as constructive feedback from someone who has listened to a bunch of shows and has a decidedly set idea about what makes for a good podcast. My view may not be the same as everyone's!

[Inazuma]

I listened to episode 0 yesterday.

It felt like you were reading from a script, but I still really liked hearing everything that you had to say. The show would probably be better with a co-host, but I understand if it's difficult to find someone.

I liked hearing about Giana Sisters DS. It actually encouraged me to buy the USA version. You are right that it will probably be rare and expensive in the future. May as well get it now for only $20.

So while I can definitely understand how some people would consider your podcast to be boring, I enjoyed it and would subscribe to you on itunes. It was pretty much exactly what I expected, and that's not a bad thing.

[k.vlaros]

Hi!

I just listened. Thank you for doing this and please keep it up!

Your levels between the intro song and the speaking were off. I'm not at a computer with Audacity or similar but my guess is the later was too low. That's a big pet peeve of mine as I listen to podcasts most lunch breaks and some of the spots I eat at have high ambient noise already.

The audio quality was iffy and hollow. I noticed your response on the first page so I googled your microphone. There's a video review for it on Amazon, which I listened to for reference. Notice how much the audio changes when the dude is saying "I'm using this microphone for the audio of this review. Notice how good it sounds." Just in those couple of sentences he looks at and away from the mic and moves his head about four inches. It changes the sound completely. Move closer to the mic, maybe compress in software and, incidentally, the music bed was so low through the first segment that I thought it was electrical interference. That is to say, there WAS a music bed under the whole first segment, yeah? Ditch that. Do incorporate more music between segments, though.

You sounded like you were reading a script but everyone is going to give that feedback so pretend I didn't say that. I'm sure it will improve with time. Maybe write yourself "bullet points" instead of verbatim lines. No problem for me to listen a one-man show, but you'll need to modulate your voice more and convey much more emotion. Maybe your topic matter this time wasn't that emotional, in which case I'd say find something you can get phsych'd up about and excite me to listen, compel me to listen-- shock me in to listening!

I don't think techy tutorials work well over podcast, though. Maybe short 'hey didja know?' [like this was admittedly was] but step-by-step procedures probably won't translate well.

Get a good RSS feed that doesn't mis-stamp the datestamps. Personal pet peeve. Don't plug your twitter, email, forum handles and website. Just plug one. Maybe your twitter if it's shortest and has links to your website?

Speaking of forums, what about a 'can you believe what this guy wrote?' segment where you tie a forum discussion in to the show? If that's where most of your start-up audience is from, it could be a fun draw.

Really, please, keep at it!

PS, if at all possible, try and keep a consistent schedule for releasing the shows. Even if that means doing two or three back to back and storing them for timed releases.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Couple suggestions Satoshi -

- Pay the $15 to upgrade to your own URL through wordpress. Your blog is awesome.

- Get on Twitter to plug the site and the podcast. Mimic what Nintendo_Legend did to get 1,000 followers (another great website).

Whats the benefit of the $15 fee? I'm a little confused.

I am actually on twitter. http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2011 ... n-twitter/

As its been poitned out, I kinda sound robotic mostly because I was slowly reading off a script I wrote so I wouldn't trip over my own words and so the podcast wouldn't be filled with a million "ummms" and "uhhhs".

I generally speaking will do scripted podcasts, because that's just how I present all information, but I'll try to make it more off the cuff every now and then when I can, especially if my goal of recording a podcast with an untested co-host works out. not sure exactly how our chemistry will be and if it will help or hurt the show. If it doesn't work out, I'll be doing it solo, but I'm hoping for a co-host.

Don't worry too much about the short length of the pilot. The idea was to only demo the podcast idea (I've never done this before). Actual full length podcasts will easily exceed 20 minutes and really the sky's the limit for how long they'll actually end up being, especially if I have a co-host to bounce topics off.

I like the idea of expanding the tech segment to encompass the history behind the hardware as well. I'll get on that.

There's only one problem about recording with someone else who lives multiple hours from me - how to actually do it.

Does anyone know a good program (for mac) that can record skype calls?

[YoshiEgg25]

There's only one problem about recording with someone else who lives multiple hours from me - how to actually do it.

Does anyone know a good program (for mac) that can record skype calls?

You might want to look through lists like this, look at some of the specs on the different programs (make sure it's unlimited recording per session!), and try out a few. I'm not familiar with anything for Mac, but from when I was looking around for one of these, it appeared that Macs had a good deal of software available for this purpose.

Personally, I use MP3 Skype Recorder for my site's podcast; unfortunately, it is Windows-only. If push comes to shove and you have access to a Windows computer, I would highly recommend it.

[retrosportsgamer]

Couple suggestions Satoshi -

- Pay the $15 to upgrade to your own URL through wordpress. Your blog is awesome.

- Get on Twitter to plug the site and the podcast. Mimic what Nintendo_Legend did to get 1,000 followers (another great website).

Whats the benefit of the $15 fee? I'm a little confused.

I am actually on twitter. http://satoshimatrix.wordpress.com/2011 ... n-twitter/

I meant - move your URL to http://www.satoshimatrix.com

[k.vlaros]

If you have the presentation and preparation, you don't need a co-host. The biggest stars in talk radio have other personalities (some sparingly) because their shows go for three hours, daily. A podcast might be an hour, weekly. A co-host can harm or help a show. I'm just saying... going solo can work. With prep and pep. Hey, that's catchy.

And wrt length being 'sky's the limit', I'd say more like 90 minutes is the limit, weekly. I like a consistent length as well as publishing schedule. That could just be my OCD.

Oh yeah, and work out a cute icon to embed in your podcast for podcast client software to display. Please and thank you!