The first post-PAX Bombcast finds the Bombshelter in need of quarantine with Brad, Vinny, and Jeff all suffering the effects of the PAX Plague. Ryan, however, feels fine and leads the group into reflections on the expo. Jeff and Ryan agree that one of their favorite moments was getting a chance to sit down with Jerry and Mike from Penny Arcade for what became more of a discussion than an interview. Ryan also explains how just getting to that meeting took Shadow Complex-like ingenuity. The guys quickly run through how much fun they had at their PAX panel, which included an eating contest for various prizes. Unfortunately, the winner was later found trying to sell off one of his prizes, a Starcraft 2 beta key, at the Blizzard booth of all places.
The rest of the show is consumed by an involved discussion of The Beatles: Rock Band and the importance of such a game. Ryan, having played through the entire game in about 3 hours, thinks that it is a great experience, if not a bit on the easy side. The obvious comparisons to Guitar Hero 5 are made, with Jeff remarking that while GH5 is a great looking game, its unfocused nature ultimately makes it seem much more soulless.
Covered games and topics: PAX, Shadow Complex, chicken bowl challenge, the Beatles, Guitar Hero 5
We look back at some of our personal highlights from PAX09, discuss the relative merits of The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5, and warn of the perils of playing Doom on a plane, and much more in this week’s edition of the Giant Bombcast.
Runtime – 1:53:12
Links → [web] [mp3] [iTunes] [rss]
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Ryan and Jeff’s conversation with the Penny Arcade guys (available as a video on Giantbomb) is worth watching if you’re interested in the operations for both sites. It’s nothing in-depth, but they talk casually about how they manage ads for their sites, how they hope to sell-out, and the goals for their organizations. Like we talked about on our podcast earlier in the week, I’m interested in the background of the industry and this provides a very small peek behind the curtain on the media side.
Also, Jeff mentions briefly that they try to keep Giantbomb from relying on any single advertiser too much, and you can almost see the history of the Kane& Lynch debacle flash over his face.
I agree, the GB/Penny Arcade discussion was great. Same with the Jeff/Tim Schafer walk around the PAX floor. I hope that Giant Bomb goes forward with these type of “interviews”.