Episode Two: Gotta Catch ‘em All

I don’t ever participate in forums, or post comments. I felt compelled to do so after listening to ALWW. I have always enjoyed the podcasts you have been involved in (GFW in particular), but your work here is really fuckin cool.

There goes my commenting cherry.

Thanks Robert, great job with the podcast, with the way you were talking about it on RebelFM, I thought it was going to be atleast a 2 hour long one and was surprised to see it shorter, but still golden, thanks for keepin it up Robert, I mean my boner not the podcast, thanks for that too though, and I enjoy I come to Shanghai.

absolutely love the podcast! especially the music in it is great, 39:45 gave me a great television – marquee moon vibe which i love. also looking forward to buying the icometoshanghai-record.

rainy greetings from hamburg, ger

Your editing and reporting transcends the topic of gaming. This level of quality presentation is astounding. Though from someone who enjoys what you have been doing for years, it does not surprise.

Thank you!

Wow, that was a really great show. Firstly the content was super interesting; secondly the music that was edited in is fantastic.

Great podcast, really looking forward to the next one.

Fantastic show! Both of the episodes (as well as that special one on GFW when Jeff was on vacation) are amazing. Thanks so much for giving this to the fans!

Fantastic stuff — can’t wait for more. Thanks for sharing such great work.

Amazing. Keep up the great work.

Your sense of quality control and the overall work you put into this is amazing. I really loved your appearances on the GFW Podcast, so it’s really brilliant to hear you go at it again. Please keep on doing it for as long as you feel it.

Thanks!

Really enjoy your work. I didn’t think episode 2 would be that interesting but I gave it a listen. It was terrific! Can’t wait for the next one.

A suggestion for another show, SportsGamer. From MaddenNation to OperationSports.com, this is one of the most competitive and nitpicked genres around. From getting rosters accurate to the sweatbands to online NCAA leagues. Lots of possibilities…

This is totally like “This American Life” for gamers. You’re by far my favorite gaming journalist today, and an inspiration for my own work. Keep it up!

Thanks for not sucking like most gaming related podcasts. The vast majority out nowadays are still just an amateur hour. Great job!

fucking straight up rad. Like radiolab but videogames. This is for real. thanks a bunch. I look like a crazy when I’m shaking with laughter on public transport.

I wasn’t sure if you could top the first episode, but episode two was even better. The best interviews I’ve ever heard related to video games, you really ask some interesting stuff.

Really hope you continue with this podcast. My suggestion for a show is one dealing with the downfall of Mortal Kombat and Midway in general.

Please never stop producing this! Brilliant! Elevates the ‘podcast’ beyond what we’ve grown accustomed to!

I knew 2Pac was still alive.

great work, don’t stop making these.

Great stuff. Looking forward to more.

After GFW and then lanparty (which it seemed u were always gone for) disbanded (in case of lanparty it was being layed off) I tried to know where everyone went but never figured out where u headed.
I just recently discovered your podcast after listening to REBEL FM (which btw that eps is currently my favorite since it was so similar to GFW off top format).
I really enjoyed the first two shows and hope for other great work from you. The production value and post production is great. Keep up the great work and appear as a guest on more podcasts!

-d

Many take great pains to portray us and the games we play as ‘normal’ in an effort to to scrub the classic image of it’s nerdy and quirky roots. However, through these interviews, feels like it embraces the eccentricity that makes being a part of this particular sub-culture so much fun. Better yet, unlike so many other game-related shows, yours educates in a way that I can only seem to describe as ‘timeless’ with both episodes maintaining their relevancy well beyond the end of the program.

Well done, Robert. I look forward to your next installment.

I definitely don’t believe in the coolness of gaming. The best thing about gamers is how unusual they are, their enthusiasm and creativity. Cool people are boring and common.

Wow. The three podcasts I listen to on a regular basis are Radiolab, This American Life, and 1Up Yours/Listen Up. You’ve synthesized the three into one hell of a monthly show.

I have a new favorite podcast.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks for the podcast, Mr. Ashley. You do a great job of creating an entertaining and interesting atmosphere. These first two episodes have been wonderful to listen to and I look forward to the next one.

Before I disappear into the ether, I want to point out that this is the first and only podcast that I enjoy listening to so far that doesn’t follow the “several guys sitting around a table talking, unedited” format. The work you’re putting into it is paying off.

I’m happy to lose my posting virginity along with joostan, the first poster. Thank you for creating this show. In the first two episodes, you have made a powerful, emotionally moving experience about a neglected American subculture. Thank you.

Wow. I am so impressed by this series so far. It is so refreshing to listen to something about gaming that is so well thought out and interesting. Thank you.

Thanks for all the nice comments. I will now take your furious criticism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ashley

So, when are you going to o an episode on fanboyism, console wars, and the such?

@Tucker: It’s a difficult subject because it takes place online. If I could arrange to meet with some of these people, I seriously doubt they’d be as crazy in real life.

Also, yes, very aware of Robert Ashley the modern classical music composer. He’s my Google arch nemesis, though I like his music a lot.

Thanks for another great episode Robert, keep it up!

This is one of the best podcasts I listened to in while. Thank you, sir.

Now if you’ll excuse me while I go and get me some I Come to Shanghai music.

Absolutely amazing. I have always felt that computer games are a subject where there are a million great stories to be told, but the media associated with them is either crass, bitchy or redundant. Thank you for giving my hobby an articulate and interesting voice. If you ever need to do a pledge drive or charge per episode I would totally pony up.

I hope you’re able to keep doing this. I just listened to about the “pinball museum” section of your second podcast, but I am very impressed. I heard about this through RebelFM.

I must say, for this to be your first few podcasts, the quality is first rate. I felt like you were approaching NPR “feature story” quality production values, with the pacing, the music, the audio.

Absolutely fantastic stuff, man. In stark contrast to virtually ALL of the gaming podcasts out there which can be so shrieky.

Very well done.

This is what videogames need, an insight in the world behind the games. I can send this show to some of my non-gamer friends and I’m sure they’ll be listening the whole thing and will learn some things about the world I’m living in. Thanks for this podcast and keep it going !

Thanks for making this, referring to the first podcast “The Death of EGM”. I’m telling you man, as a child of the 90′s and an avid reader (especially Sean Baby’s column) – this was a bit heart breaking. A true classic piece of Internet lore here.

This stuff needs to be on NPR or something as well as the podcast format. It’s just too good not to be!

I got really emotional this morning listening to the man saying goodbye to his MMO friends in this episode. As an avid WoW player, I’m not looking forward to having that conversation with my online friends when it comes time to turn off the lights on Azeroth.

The first episode was great, too, but the conversation with the MMO archivists hit me on a really personal level.

Thanks so much for putting these together. It’s a spectacular example of modern journalism.

Thanks for blessing my day.
I’ve missed this, and you ^_^

Thanks for another great show. It teeters on the edge of complete pretentiousness at times, but whatever. It ‘s kinda charming.

I really like the fact that you posted the entire interview with Lowood as a B-side. Really good stuff.

It would be BEYOND AWESOME if you decided to post the Shawn Elliot stuff as well. Been way too long since I got to enjoy his specific brand of insane.

Thanks for the great show/s once again!

Nice. Finally someone who brings something new and compelling to the table when it comes to game commentary. Love the B-Side podcast too, by the way, it was great to here the entire conversation. Keep up the good work, and my only suggestion would be to have many more conversations with industry people, specifically game designers and artists. It would be really interesting to get an insight into how they approach their work and tackle the myriad of problems that are presented when actually constructing a game.

Absolutely top quality podcast. The artistic twist on an almost documentary style podcast is quite the unexpectedly perfect blend. I’m not one to generally comment, but this one is something special. I followed over here from GFW, but you’ve definitely crafted an idea here that is quite unique. This podcast is just about at the top of my list, thank you and keep up the amazing work!!

The first was quite good, but this second episode was absolutely brilliant. The production values are great but the story blew my mind. As a gamer and a gadget geek these type things are just want I want to hear about. Living on the east coast I had no idea such a place as the pinball hands-on museum existed. And the guy with the underground bunker of old games was priceless. I truly look foreward to your next show. Thank you!

I gave the first two episodes to my casual gaming brother to give a listen to over the weekend. I wanted him to understand how exciting the video game world is, and how serious we take it. He thouroughly enjoyed listening to them, and was surprised by the quality of them.

I hooked hime up with a few other gaming pod casts that I thought he mighr enjoy as well. But I am sure they wont top these two. Thanks again Robert

Keep it up bro love it, dont worry about time just keep quality up. Kthxbai

I LOVE THIS PODCAST. Thank you Robert, and please keep up the good work!

Also, AWESOME MUSIC choice!

This is a top-notch radio program. I’ve explained to friends that this program ‘is a bit like: if NPR produced a special about video games, and the people who love them’.

I love the field recording segments. As you’ve mentioned, there really is something that is captured between two people, talking face-to-face.

Amazing work, Robert. Truly.

Wow, what a great podcast. I love how radically different your approach to a “video game podcast” is to everyone else’s.

Your respect of games is really amazing. What impresses me the most is that you didn’t do a 10 minute rant about how games should be viewed as art, you just did something that viewed them as art. It was so natural. I think that the medium needs more stuff along the lines of what you do.

I was hesitant to play your podcast at first because it seemed super serious as opposed to the Robert Ashley that i’d heard on other podcast who was a super jokester and had me rolling on the ground laughing, but I’m glad I did.

Hey, I don’t know if this has been answered on any of your podcasts (I haven’t listened to them yet, but I can’t wait), but how are you paying for the work you’re doing?

I was just listening to the Brodeo finale again, as I do from time to time, and you and Shawn Elliott were discussing the difficulty of producing a Merchants of Cool-esque recording, and I was curious whether or not you are being compensated for your work?

If not, you should put up some sort of donation link, because I’d love to contribute to the cause.

From,
A long time fan