Text Tree: A Week of Interviews on New Media v1.7
(Philip Kollar is not the pickle, just so you know.)
Is it Friday already? And we had just started shaking this “Text Tree” for all it’s worth! (Yes, we’re a bit ashamed of that joke as well.) Rounding out our week of interviews on new media is Philip Kollar, ex-1UP.com News staffer, current freelancer and Eat-Sleep-Game writer. You may know him as one half of the 1UP FM Podcast team, you may know him as occasional star of the recently departed “1UP Show”, you may know him from his work at Evil Avatar — we just know him as that dude in the front of the line at the Capcom Press Conference. And even though he’s assuredly scrambling at the moment to keep his rent coming in on time, he was happy to tackle the last day in our interview series. To check out more from Phil, head over to Eat-Sleep-Game.com and subscribe to their new podcast, unironically titled, “Rebel FM.”
Without further rumination, the Geekadelph presents the final day of “Text Tree.”
(with a special bonus round on Monday for all you McElroy-ites out there)
(GEEK): In your time at 1UP, you not only spearheaded one of their most popular new podcasts but also regularly starred on “The 1UP Show” video podcast where members of the 1UP and EGM crews discussed games. Could you explain why you think new forms of content delivery (podcasting and other multimedia) are important in journalistic coverage?
I think new media is an important part of all Internet coverage, whether you’re talking journalism, entertainment, criticism, or anything else. We’ve quickly reached a point where, yes, people still read text, but they also expect video and audio content alongside text for virtually any subject they’re reading about online. iTunes and YouTube have given people new ways to take in content about their hobbies and the things they love, so it would be foolish to not try to reach your audience through those new mediums. Beyond that, video and audio allow for different kinds of coverage than straight text. They’re better-suited for having a dialogue about a game, for example, rather than a simple text review. They also provide further opportunities to involve the community in the discussion, which is an essential piece of success for a website in a democratized online world.
(GEEK): In the light of the recent events with Ziff-Davis and 1UP/UGO, it could be said that the cutbacks we’ve seen budget-wise in games journalism are symptomatic of changing business models, due to the internet, that are effecting journalism on the whole. In that regard, do you believe that publishing houses in the games journalism industry are adequately adapting to changing business models?
When Lightsabers Meet Nunchucks
Hey Brian, expect to see Tim, Ben, Dustin, and I raid the store with these in hand in the near future.
According to the Tech E Blog…
Making your own set of geeky lightsaber nunchucks is now easier than ever. Just pick up a couple 6-inch glow sticks, link chain, and a high-speed camera, should you want to record yourself using the force.
I wanted to make some sort of snarky joke about stealing glow sticks from those Philadelphia Making Time dance parties… but I’m not cool enough to have ever actually gone to one of those. Do they have glow sticks at those parties? Do kids still do that these days? Bah! Hmph!
Make sure you hit up the guy’s YouTube for some hysterical comments. Bravo to the creator for responding back to some of these ridiculous fanboys.
Lightsaber Nunchucks @ Tech E Blog
Stormtrooper Driving Lotus Exige
Well, I don’t know much about this photo, other than the fact that it’s been in Tim’s Gchat status for the past week. Had to share it.
Stormtrooper Driving Lotus Exige via Tim’s GChat (I’d link you to it, but he has enough stalkers)
Text Tree: A Week of Interviews on New Media v1.6
As if in an attempt to one-up Wesley Johnson’s “Text Tree” interview picture from yesterday in hilarious caption-ability, our featured writer today is a unicorn Griffin McElroy of AOL-owned Joystiq.com. His most recent achievement was taking the Playstation Network by storm with a meme of diabolical proportions (we can’t speak of it here without offending you, dearest reader) and he was kind enough to respond to our Twitter plea for game writers to answer a few questions on new forms of content delivery. Even if we don’t agree with his crazy/ludicrous feelings about Fable 2’s ending, we do find what he has to say about podcasting quite interesting. Hopefully you will too! And if you’re enjoying these interviews, please let us know! (Maybe enough comments will force a response out of N’Gai Croal — a boy can hope, can’t he?)
(GEEK): As an occasional host on the Joystiq Podcast and a seasoned writer on Joystiq.com, could you explain why you think podcasting is an important approach for journalistic coverage, and more specifically, games journalism?
I think this answer could best be given through the insight of my father, who has worked in radio his entire adult life. He’s seen the industry change over 30-some odd years, from a legitimate, popular source for music and news to a collection of sanitized, corporate entities in decline. He got a Zune for Christmas, his first digital media player, and I quickly introduced him to the world of podcasts. I realized how much our tech-savvy generation takes for granted — my father was bewildered at the prospect of free (to consume and produce) old-school radio roundtables regarding virtually any topic he could ever want to listen to two or three people prattle on about for an hour.
Podcasting is important because it’s opening up the audio broadcast medium to a wider audience than ever before — much like blogging opened up the printed word to the masses in a… Gutenbergian manner (Johannes, not Steve). The more people contribute to the landscape, the more widely accepted the medium becomes. I don’t think it’s too outrageous to claim that within a year, every sizable gaming blog will have a regularly updated podcast, just to stay competitive. The channels of reporting news on the internet are evolving rapidly, and outlets that fail to adapt to said changes will be eaten alive.
That all came off far too dour — I also believe that podcasting is fun. This could just be because my cohorts are genuinely hilarious dudes, but I can’t really think of a better way to spend an hour and a half than to chat about Witch-shooting in Left 4 Dead or the awful ending to Fable 2 with the guys I work with. Not only is it a blast, but it’s helped strengthen the Joystiq community. There’s a Facebook group some 2,100 members strong called the “Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group” who, in addition to submitting frequently disturbing photoshops of our Podcasters, record their own podcast (the “Joystiq Podcast Appreciation Group Podcast”), which in turn has its own appreciation group. Their fervor is both humbling and terrifying.
The Hamburger Bed: If Only It Were A Real Burger
I don’t know about you, dear readers, but there are only three things I ever dream about. Money, power, and eating my way out of a giant Five Guys hamburger. What can I say, these are the simple dreams of a simple man.
The hamburger bed has its own website, which is simply a photograph of said bed, and a Facebook page where you can become friends with it.
That thing is good. I want to be friends with it.
Hamburger Bed via Geekologie
and Fun Vampires
Outlander Movie Poster: We Can’t Wait
I don’t know what it is, but there is something about awful sounding futuristic science fiction films that I just love. Please see the horrible Babylon AD for a perfect example. So bad, yet I couldn’t stop watching.
Outlander, the upcoming film about a man from the future who has to team up with vikings to fight an alien from the future, has me all kinds of excited. Just listen to the film’s plot description…
Outlander begins when a space craft crashes into the majestic fjords of ancient Norway and into the time of the Vikings. From the wreckage emerge two bitter enemies: a soldier from another world – Kainan – and a bloodthirsty creature known as the Moorwen. Man and monster both seek revenge for violence committed against them.
As the Moorwen ravages the Viking world, killing everything in its path, Kainan forms an unlikely alliance with the primitive but fierce warriors. Combining his advanced technology with ancient Iron Age weapons, the hero leads a desperate attempt to kill the monster - before it destroys them all.
Seriously. I can’t wait. Midnight viewing. Let’s go.
Outlander Poster via I Watch Stuff
Text Tree: A Week of Interviews on New Media v1.5
How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Roll Pop, Wes? That’s incorrect, I’m sorry — from what we hear, it takes ‘thuree.’ Okay, sorry, we couldn’t help ourselves. The gentleman you see above getting ready to grab you by the face is Wesley Johnson, owner/proprietor/grand poobah/etc. of Insulin Funk. What is Insulin Funk you ask? Well, it’s the depression that sets in from insulin withdrawals when you have diabetes and are jonesin’ for some shots. No! It’s a website dedicated to film, comics, videogames and assorted other media. Aside from his ‘grand poobah’-related responsiblities, Wes is also one of the two main hosts of the JPAGcast, a ‘podcast based on a Facebook group based on a podcast’ that I may or may not have guested on myself a couple of times. His take on new forms of content delivery in game coverage is from the side of a passionate enthusiast — a lot like us. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments
(GEEK): As a freelance journalist and having hosted/been a part of a variety of gaming podcasts, could you explain why you think podcasting is an important approach for games coverage, and more specifically, games journalism?
Gaming news sites are often pigeonholed as enthusiast press, right? Well, enthusiasm can only be reflected so much in the written word. Hearing an “enthusiast” express his or her enthusiasm audibly is often more entertaining than reading their words. That’s not to say podcasting is more valuable than print, though. That’s not true at all. A good podcast will assist your readers in getting to know you which will in turn make them value your writing more.
(GEEK): In your time as a games journalist/games enthusiast, you’ve seen games writers laid off or resign for other ventures (be they game-related or otherwise). It could be said that the cutbacks we’ve seen budget-wise in games journalism are symptomatic of changing business models that are affecting journalism on the whole. In that regard, do you believe publishing entities in games writing are adequately adapting to changing business models?
Ben Franklin’s Birthday: The Party Is Almost Here!
I found this in a Google image search, and I just had to use it. Apparently the Kool-Aid Man had his own line of comic books in the 80’s thanks to Marvel. He battled aliens (named the Thirsties) both in space and on the baseball field, and at some point, met Ben Franklin.
Well, the Kool-Aid man is definitely invited to Ben Franklin’s Birthday this Saturday, January 17th at National Mechanics. I just hope he doesn’t mind getting spiked.
The event currently has 75 guests confirmed on Facebook, and we’re expecting a lot more. Why not RSVP, so we know you’re coming? You don’t have to, but we do like the bragging rights.
Drink specials kick off at 9PM. Read all the details here. Hope to see you all there!
Happy Birthday Ben!
Ben Franklin’s B’Day @ National Mechanics
January 17th, 2009: Drink Specials @ 9PM
National Mechanics
22 South 3rd Street, Philadelphia, PA
(215) 701-4883
www.nationalmechanics.com
Secret of Mana Magnets
The other day I called your attention to the awesome set of Chrono Trigger magnets. A heated debated followed within the comments of that post. Is Chrono Trigger really the best Super Nintendo game of all time? The answer is, of course, yes. However, Secret of Mana is definitely up there in my top three, along with Final Fantasy III.
Well now we’ve got Secret of Mana magnets, another great SNES RPG, from the same creator of that glorious Chrono Trigger set.
I’ve yet to download Secret of Mana on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console. Anyone download it yet?
Secret of Mana Magnets via Etsy
Text Tree: A Week of Interviews on New Media v1.4
Yes, yes, it’s a little late in the day to be posting a feature (nearly four in the afternoon may as well be midnight on the interweb) but you must understand: those chocolates needed to be eaten while watching daytime television. They’d have gone bad otherwise! Come on, interweb! Either way, we’re making up for it with an interview in our ongoing “Text Tree” series featuring none other than Joystiq’s Editor-in-Chief Chris Grant. He explained the reasoning behind getting into podcasting for him and how we (as, ‘the media’) are trying — and sometimes failing – at making new forms of content delivery work. He also gives a shoutout to Stephen Totilo ’cause hey, why not?
Phillyfied Chris Grant fact: Dude lives in Philly! Massive, colossus-sized blog’s Editor-in-Chief lives and works out of Philadelphia. Suck on that, San Francisco! And now, the interview.
(GEEK): As a host/creator of the Joystiq Podcast, could you explain why you think podcasting is an important approach for journalistic coverage, and more specifically, games writing/journalism?
The logic behind starting up the podcast was specifically to present a more casual, laid-back approach to delivering the news. I know what you’re thinking: “But Chris, Joystiq is a blog! You guys had a Star Wars-themed day where you secretly snuck in references all day! Even more casual than that?”
Sounds crazy, right! Here’s the deal: At Joystiq, we write with the editorial “we” and though the more astute readers may parse a personality from each post, most don’t. They visit the site to gather the news and, in turn, we take that responsibility very seriously. On the other hand, we know there are readers who do want a more personal – and more in-depth – take on the news. And thus, the Joystiq Podcast was born from that desire.
Why is it important? Well, I don’t know if I’d say it’s “important” at all – but I would argue it’s valuable. It helps us reach our audience more directly; it helps our audience put personalities to the names they read every day on the site; and, conceptually, it satisfies a need so we can focus on delivering the news in as entertaining a way as possible so readers can study up on, say, the latest first-person shooter instead of parsing who’s who from a dozen different first-person singular pronouns.
Also, people can exercise while listening to them. (Hey, Stephen!)
