The Player 1 Podcast Topic

I started listening in late 2008 because someone from Nintendo World Report (Andy Goergen?) mentioned that you talked about Nintendo games sometimes and at the time, the only dependable podcast I knew of that talked about Nintendo games with a modicum of respect was Radio Free Nintendo...the podcast on the very site I wrote for at the time and now run.

I think one of the earlier episodes I listened to was when Sewart had to bail because his second kid was being born or something. So the baby nonsense began and I stuck around because it kind of seemed like the future I'm heading towards as a dude who is spending his 20s writing about video games and likely having a kid by the time I hit 30.

Bravo, sirs. This show's pretty good for such a small podcast.

And if you want folks from other sites/podcasts to join in any kind of Christmas song chicanery, I'm near positive a good slice of Nintendo World Report would lend our pipes.
 
Ha, that's similar to the reason I started listening to RFN and Connectivity each week. None of the podcasts I listened to talked about Nintendo at all except with disdain or apathy and I found that quite frustrating (and still do).

Re: Christmas song, I'm sure we've told the story of the first one on the podcast, right? It's still one of my favorite bits of show history. Mike (who wasn't part of the 'cast at the time) had the great idea of a bunch of podcasts getting together to do a holiday song in part to benefit Child's Play. He reached out to a handful of other shows and we were the only ones that responded. :D I didn't tell Phil, Greg, or Ford until afterward that no one else was doing it in part so they'd actually give me their audio. Turned out better than I imagined and it's been a fun thing to do each year. :D
 
I honestly can't remember when I started listening to P1P. Almost as long as I've known English maybe.

I like P1P because everyone comes off as just normal people... even when the topic sometimes gets a bit immature.

Compare that to other popular gaming podcasts with a bunch of 30+ year old men who never grew out of college/university/whatever. Stories about getting drunk or living in extreme filth over the weekend or whatever. Also some other podcasts where they can't seem to stop making sexual innuendo out of everything.

Another reason I like P1P so much is just the overall positivity. Besides making fun of journalists, the podcast is overall just positive. Lots of love for games and minimal cynicism.


And I like the baby appearances.


The thread gets weird sometimes though.
 
Mike (who wasn't part of the 'cast at the time) had the great idea of a bunch of podcasts getting together to do a holiday song in part to benefit Child's Play. He reached out to a handful of other shows and we were the only ones that responded. :D

Kind of weird to think Mike had a soft side once
 
Yeah what happened?

sleeping-single_i-love-lucy_7326.jpg
 
Congrats on 400 episodes!

I've listened to them all, though I only think I started because I felt guilty that I never bought, or read, an EGM issue that Sewart worked on.

One of my favourite podcast now though! You guys rock! \m/ ^_^ \m/
 
How do you guys like The Kooch telling you what to do?

You shouldn't pre-order Alien: Isolation (or any other game)

Might be interesting to chat about how pre-orders have changed over the years in the show. I remember when putting your name on the list at Babbage's meant they'd hold you a copy. Then you had to put $ down. Then you had to be sure to pre-order early or they wouldn't have a copy. Then it became steelcase/collector's cases. Then each retailer got different bonus stuff.

Throughout all of that, the ones who really benefitted were retailers and publishers. They've just started doing more and more things to guarantee themselves your business. But there's not "no" benefit to the consumer. In many cases now it's extra content - and if the game is something you want, that's...good, right? When you pre-order digitally the benefit is pre-loading (which is awesome).

Alien: Isolation is an easy target because of Aliens: Colonial Marines (except that it's a different developer). Would Polygon print the same piece focused on Destiny, Assassin's Creed Unity, Far Cry 4, Uncharted 4, Sunset Overdrive, Halo 4 or any other big game that's going to get a big pre-order push? My guess is no. But I await the appearance of those pieces eagerly all the same. :D
 
Might be interesting to chat about how pre-orders have changed over the years in the show. I remember when putting your name on the list at Babbage's meant they'd hold you a copy. Then you had to put $ down. Then you had to be sure to pre-order early or they wouldn't have a copy. Then it became steelcase/collector's cases. Then each retailer got different bonus stuff.

Throughout all of that, the ones who really benefitted were retailers and publishers. They've just started doing more and more things to guarantee themselves your business. But there's not "no" benefit to the consumer. In many cases now it's extra content - and if the game is something you want, that's...good, right? When you pre-order digitally the benefit is pre-loading (which is awesome).

Back in the old days, a real benefit to preordering was actually knowing when the game released. When I was younger I remember going into FuncoLand every week and pestering the poor, unskilled teenage workers about whether x game was out yet, and being able to put my name on a list saved my parents a trip to the strip mall.

Also, there wasn't digital downloads or online ordering, so there was a real chance that you might actually not be able to get a game at or around release if you didn't preorder.

These concerns barely exist anymore, except for the most niche games. Now it's just an interest free loan to a giant conglomerate. In exchange, you get things that would have been in the game anyway if it had been made a decade ago, like alternative costumes and short bonus levels. Is it really a benefit, as you contend, if they ripped it away from you in the first place?
 
Does anybody know the the episode number where the phrase "In case you forgot, you're listening to the Player One Podcast" followed by "Wait...What?" first appeared?
 
Thanks for the 400 hundred episodes, guys. I love pseudo hanging out with you guys every week. <3

Best wishes to you and yours.

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Now it's just an interest free loan to a giant conglomerate.

I don't care what it amounts to the giant conglomerate, or the scrappy indie dev, I'm simply paying for my game.

In exchange, you get things that would have been in the game anyway if it had been made a decade ago, like alternative costumes and short bonus levels. Is it really a benefit, as you contend, if they ripped it away from you in the first place?

How can they rip it away if they never gave it to me?
 
I don't care what it amounts to the giant conglomerate, or the scrappy indie dev, I'm simply paying for my game.

How can they rip it away if they never gave it to me?

Why lay down money months in advance? This point is admittedly inapplicable if you preorder online from places like Amazon, where you aren't charged until the game ships. That's the way it should be done, but that was sort of an ancillary point dealing with retail when this whole thing is about publishers creating preorder bonuses.

With that second point, I'm saying that the sort of things designated as preorder bonuses would have previously been part of the game you get on the disc/cartridge. These things, however, have been ripped out of games over the course of the 360 generation, so it's not really a benefit to get them back because they shouldn't have been removed in the first place.
 
Digital preordering is stillborn, but I haven't been charged yet for a purchase on iTunes that doesn't release until Tuesday.
Mandatory Fun. Love it.

So there's hope there.
 
Why lay down money months in advance? This point is admittedly inapplicable if you preorder online from places like Amazon, where you aren't charged until the game ships. That's the way it should be done, but that was sort of an ancillary point dealing with retail when this whole thing is about publishers creating preorder bonuses.

With that second point, I'm saying that the sort of things designated as preorder bonuses would have previously been part of the game you get on the disc/cartridge. These things, however, have been ripped out of games over the course of the 360 generation, so it's not really a benefit to get them back because they shouldn't have been removed in the first place.

I don't preorder a lot, actually. And when I do, it's merely like, "if this game was available right now, I would have bought it anyways." If it so happens it means I get it earlier, neat. If it so happens it means I get something extra for it, also neat.

If the game didn't seem good enough without some trinket (or bonus thing), I wouldn't be buying it in any case. I usually don't care about those things, but I can see if you're collection-minded why you'd be upset about it.
 
Does anybody know the the episode number where the phrase "In case you forgot, you're listening to the Player One Podcast" followed by "Wait...What?" first appeared?
I think it was Greg Ford era (and I think it was Greg Ford who said it). They may have mentioned the exact episode during the episode 300 retrospective.
 
Also, there wasn't digital downloads or online ordering, so there was a real chance that you might actually not be able to get a game at or around release if you didn't preorder.

These concerns barely exist anymore, except for the most niche games. Now it's just an interest free loan to a giant conglomerate. In exchange, you get things that would have been in the game anyway if it had been made a decade ago, like alternative costumes and short bonus levels. Is it really a benefit, as you contend, if they ripped it away from you in the first place?

I disagree in that I DON'T think we'd have this extra content if these games were made a decade ago. Publishers add extra budget to a project to make pre-order bonus content and DLC because they can get extra $$$ for them. If it wasn't the case, there'd be much less of it and then only to try and extend a game's life at retail (which btw they do with GotY editions, etc.). But 10 years ago there wasn't the financial incentive there is today.
 
I disagree in that I DON'T think we'd have this extra content if these games were made a decade ago. Publishers add extra budget to a project to make pre-order bonus content and DLC because they can get extra $$$ for them. If it wasn't the case, there'd be much less of it and then only to try and extend a game's life at retail (which btw they do with GotY editions, etc.). But 10 years ago there wasn't the financial incentive there is today.

Agreed.
 
Episode 401: Pre-Order Bonus

This week! Phil and CJ are joined by Back In My Play&#8217;s Josh Hillyer. We talk pre-orders, Sony contemplating an &#8220;Early Access&#8221; program, the term &#8220;console exclusive,&#8221; Vita sales, new-gen button icons, Shovel Knight, Retron 5, X-Men: Children of the Atom, Mario Kart 8, StarFox, Q*Bert Rebooted, One Piece: Unlimited World Red and so much more. Join us, won&#8217;t you?

Audio: http://traffic.libsyn.com/playerone/07_14_14-Episode401.mp3
Blog: http://www.playeronepodcast.com/401
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/player-one-podcast-video-games/id202883543?mt=2
YouTube: http://youtu.be/LuUIEAku21Y
 
The old theme made me imagine myself flying, with arms stretched out and worry free. What is this new theme suppose to make me feel/do? Obnoxiously dance?! :(

The new album art is nice. Theme? ....
 
I really love the new art, but didn't they say on a recent episode that one of the main reasons they wanted new art is that they felt like the previous art might have given some potential listeners the impression that it was a show about old games?

Again, though, I love that art.
 
Well apparently it's actually Crystal Castles' "Reckless" so uhhhhh. Looks like we'll be changing it anyway. ;)

I almost fell of my bike when the "new" theme started playing. Presenting the only four game nerds unfamiliar with crystal castles!

Ha! Truth! I was all hyped when C.J. was setting it up and then was utterly confused. "Is video game podcasting much more lucrative than I thought it was, or is Chris secretly crushing on Alice Glass?" I'm glad they have good taste in music in a blind...deaf...ignorance/whatever test.

And to be fair, this is how excited I get every time a new episode of the show comes out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuCtQo2q0mQ .

I'm always skeptical of the guest episodes, but this was top-to-bottom solid. 401! Goodness!
 
I overplayed that first Crystal Castles album way too many times so I was weirded out that it was the new theme. I thought maybe it would be remixed a little bit but it seems like it's just outright stolen, hah. Thank god it's being changed
 
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