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[The Big Rig]

Episode Six: Big Ideas

Robert Ashley edits listener-submitted game ideas into one big, crazy game, talks to the guy who owns the rights to Tetris about his plans to save the world, gets a lecture on the future of games from a New York University professor, and meets a struggling game blogger who happens to possess freakishly enormous genitalia.

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and of course a new Olly Moss poster:

 

[Empty]

just had my week made. awesome to see it return.

 

[Kaako]

OMFG YES. It seems like forever since the last one.

 

[LCfiner]

excellent.

downloading now in iTunes. that poster is, as always, godly.

 

[Shawsie64]

 

[randomwab]

Woah, finally!

Downloading.

 

[kenta]

That's the first poster that I really want to buy and frame, totally love it

 

[Mafro]

"3 hours remaining"

Must be getting hammered :lol

 

[Barrett2]

Oh my god, yes.

 

[Kaako]

"3 hours remaining"

Must be getting hammered :lol

Seriously. I'm getting 11-13 KB/sec on a 35Mbps fios line. :/

 

[farnham]

OMFG

 

[Robert Ashley]

I had a problem with my normal podcast host and had to go with an untested one, and it's slow as hell. Sorry. In the meantime, maybe check out the very first A Life Well Wasted music single (and accompanying video): http://alifewellwasted.com/singles/

 

[RiggenBlaque]

I'm going to throw in the recommendation that comes with every mention of this podcast to go listen to the This American Life podcast from NPR. A Life Well Wasted is modeled exactly off of it (minus the video games) and comes out every week as opposed to every 6 months.

Also the music in it is a lot better

 

[Visualante]

Gonna have to save this for a long drive. They have such good re-listening value but first time is always an absolute joy.

 

[kenta]

I'm going to throw in the recommendation that comes with every mention of this podcast to go listen to the This American Life podcast from NPR. A Life Well Wasted is modeled exactly off of it (minus the video games) and comes out every week as opposed to every 6 months.

Also the music in it is a lot better

You're honestly trolling? Best game-related podcast by a country mile and you're trolling it?

 

[MrPliskin]

MIND BLOWN.

*downloading now*

 

[Foliorum Viridum]

I know this will have been worth the wait.

 

[TouchMyBox]

So who's going to be the hero who posts a torrent of this?

 

[Robert Ashley]

Pretty sure this episode is going to finally put the This American Life rip-off shit to rest.

Not that I mind the comparison. TAL is a radio institution.

 

[Peronthious]

Woo!

Will listen later

 

[Robert Ashley]

So who's going to be the hero who posts a torrent of this?

Please do.

 

[TouchMyBox]

Pretty sure this episode is going to finally put the This American Life rip-off shit to rest.

Not that I mind the comparison. TAL is a radio institution.

There are people out there who hate on you and your wonderful programme Mister Ashley?

I can start constructing crucifixes at a moment's notice.

 

[bistromathics]

OMFG YES. It seems like forever since the last one.

that's because it's been forever since the last one

edit: 7 kb/s?? host this somewhere else

 

[mattiewheels]

This reminds me...............Out Of The Game isn't really happening anymore, is it?

 

[Technosteve]

bob your bandwidth is getting raped, it must be popular.

 

[Kerrinck]

Sweet, been a while since the last one.

 

[inpHilltr8r]

2 days short of 7 months.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

This reminds me...............Out Of The Game isn't really happening anymore, is it?

Might be for the best.
As much as I love all those dudes, that show never really came together. I blame skype.

 

[The Big Rig]

I wish I had the idea of having a huge penis.

 

[Buttonbasher]

Thumbs up!

 

[Like the hat?]

best poster yet imo.

been waiting for this.

 

[-COOLIO-]

I wish I had the idea of having a huge penis.

 

[Clockblockers]

This reminds me...............Out Of The Game isn't really happening anymore, is it?

Sigh, I was thinking something along the same line.

 

[JasoNsider]

I'm going to throw in the recommendation that comes with every mention of this podcast to go listen to the This American Life podcast from NPR. A Life Well Wasted is modeled exactly off of it (minus the video games) and comes out every week as opposed to every 6 months.

Also the music in it is a lot better

What in the hell? The best gaming-related podcast by a country mile WITH incredible music and you troll it? For shame, man.

Rob, keep up the awesome podcast and awesome twitter feed. You keep broadcasting and we'll keep listening and buying your posters to help you out.

 

[catotheyounger]

Great stuff. First print that I bought. Keep up the good work.

 

[Nihilistic Monk]

Might be for the best.
As much as I love all those dudes, that show never really came together. I blame skype.

I loved that show, I've never found something to fill that hole. It was gaming, but not, and a million other topics thrown in instead. Totally unique. I still have every episode on my iphone and regularly re-listen. I'd be open to reccomendations.

 

[bistromathics]

I loved that show, I've never found something to fill that hole. It was gaming, but not, and a million other topics thrown in instead. Totally unique. I still have every episode on my iphone and regularly re-listen. I'd be open to reccomendations.

CGW/GFW or original Idle Thumbs are great

 

[The Big Rig]

Just finished the episode, and it was pretty amazing. Good luck in Athens, its a nice ole' southern town.

 

[Treb]

It's been a long wait, looking forward to listening to it.

 

[MrPliskin]

Pretty sure this episode is going to finally put the This American Life rip-off shit to rest.

Not that I mind the comparison. TAL is a radio institution.

Most of those comparisons stem from people who absolutely don't listen to any other type of journalism / talk radio / podcasts. They just listen to shit related to video games, so if it isn't mindless banter, it's obviously GOT to be a rip off of some other popular show they might have stumbled across.

I feel your pain

 

[mclaren777]

If somebody can e-mail me a full copy I'll host it on my unlimited webspace pronto-stat for everyone else.

mclaren777@aol.com

 

[LCfiner]

Most of those comparisons stem from people who absolutely don't listen to any other type of journalism / talk radio / podcasts. They just listen to shit related to video games, so if it isn't mindless banter, it's obviously GOT to be a rip off of some other popular show they might have stumbled across.

I feel your pain

there’s a difference between being a rip-off and being influenced by a show.

Robert’s said in the past that Radio Lab was a big influence on him. well, hey, Radio Lab and TAL share a lot in common. ALWW has elements that remind listeners of both shows, both in how it is elaborately produced and how it presents its stories.

When the first episode of ALWW came out, the TAL comparisons weren’t negative. we were HAPPY that someone was taking this approach to tell gaming culture stories.

In fact, there’s only been one dude in this thread who’s mentioned the connection in a negative light.

 

[Visualante]

If somebody can e-mail me a full copy I'll host it on my unlimited webspace pronto-stat for everyone else.

Unlimited?

 

[bistromathics]

Unlimited?

No size or bandwidth caps. Not really related to speed but it's still nice.

 

[mclaren777]

Unlimited?

I'm allowed 3TB of traffic per month so I don't think you guys will pose any real threat.

 

[MrPliskin]

there’s a difference between being a rip-off and being influenced by a show.

Robert’s said in the past that Radio Lab was a big influence on him. well, hey, Radio Lab and TAL share a lot in common. ALWW has elements that remind listeners of both shows, both in how it is elaborately produced and how it presents its stories.

When the first episode of ALWW came out, the TAL comparisons weren’t negative. we were HAPPY that someone was taking this approach to tell gaming culture stories.

In fact, there’s only been one dude in this thread who’s mentioned the connection in a negative light.

I just think comparing his format to another radio shows format does him a disservice. Especially when the particular "format" is fairly common.

 

[The Big Rig]

zShare link for the episode. I hope this helps.

 

[Tetsuo9]

YES!

 

[LCfiner]

I just think comparing his format to another radio shows format does him a disservice. Especially when the particular "format" is fairly common.

Oh come on… “disservice” isn’t the right word

you know how many shows wished they could be compared positively to TAL or Radio Lab? those are two of the best shows out there on radio. ALWW is in good company and as Robert produces more episodes, he’s finding more and more ways to experiment and find his voice. that’s totally fine!


It’s a valid comparison that makes it easy to describe show the show is structured, allowing the rest of the discussion to focus on, y’know, the actual stories. which is what most of the previous gaf conversation for this show have been about.

 

[CzarTim]

Okay episode.

The song at the start was great, but I wish it had been put into the episode more seamlessly. Maybe in a section about how game devs come up with ideas for games. Something like that.

The penis story was meh. I completely get what you were doing with it, but it felt out of place. The tie in to the episode's theme was weak.

Also, the Tetris story could of been fleshed out a bit more. Okay, so he decided to change the world. How? What is he actively doing? Even if we had a vague idea, it would of been better than him just listing off pipe dreams. To a lesser degree, I would have liked to know more detail about the game's origins. Who originally developed it? How did the Soviets hold the license?

I don't mean to dog on the show. It's still great. I enjoy listening to it. And I know how much effort is put into it. But I wonder if the show is overproduced from a technical stand point at the expense of the segments. What makes those other radio shows -- which apparently we're no longer comparing this to -- great, is that the stories are awesome. They come together at the end with a solid follow through. I don't really get a sense of closure when a segment of ALWW ends. Even last episode, with that story about the guy who quit gaming for a year. The segment ended too soon.