This week’s show is a special non-Geekbox episode. Ryan’s old digs, GFW Radio (The Brodeo) came back for a 1 time live podcast at PAX. If you are not familiar with the show, it was the PC podcast for 1UP and was one of most beloved and personality-filled podcasts around. Listening to this will give you a good feel for what the show was like and the back catalog is still available if you want more.
Although Anthony Gallegos of Rebel FM came on near the end of GFW Radio’s run, the main cast was Jeff Green of The EA Podcast, Sean Molloy, Ryan Scott of The Geekbox, Shawn Elliott of Out of the Game, and Robert Ashley of A Life Well Wasted.
The guys touch on a lot of topics here including the time line and circumstances of the closure of GFW Magazine. If you weren’t listening to GFW Radio when it was around, this will give you some insight into what it used to be like at 1UP and where a lot of the current big names in podcasting came from.
Update: You can find the video versions of this panel and Jeff’s last Brodeo over at GameVideos.
This special edition of the Geekbox is an audio recording of the GFW Radio (or “Brodeo”) Reunion podcast, performed live for a packed crowd at Penny Arcade Expo 2009 in Seattle, WA. The podcast reunites former Computer Gaming World/Games for Windows: The Official Magazine editors Jeff Green, Sean Molloy, Ryan Scott, Shawn Elliott, and Robert Ashley for a two-hour marathon of discussion, reflection, and awesomely horrible findings on that thing we call the Internet. Special thanks to Aaron Simmer, Bill Mudron, David Ellis, the PAX staff, and everyone who showed up to watch us ramble.
Runtime – 59:12 | 1:11:29
Links → [web] [mp3-1] [mp3-2] [iTunes] [Zune] [rss]
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Listening through this reunion panel, I couldn’t help but sort of… mourn a little bit. I think that a lot of people who enjoy podcasts as much as I do can agree that while there is some sort of formula or recipe of factors that make a good podcast, there’s also a level of intangible chemistry that can make a technically, intellectually sound podcast into a fantastic, entertaining podcast.
That chemistry is obviously subjective – we all have our individual tastes. There is some undeniably positive chemistry that make some podcasts rise to the top, though. For me and all my friends, the Giant Bombcast has risen up as one of the most entertaining, satisfying gaming podcasts around. While each of the guys at Giant Bomb certainly had strong careers before forming the site, there’s a real bond between them that quickly formed into a successful website and podcast.
This is a roundabout way of saying that GFW Radio has something that most other podcasts don’t. It’s likely due to the fact that the podcast began in a time where podcasts hadn’t reached any sort of maturity. These guys came together in that time, learned the ropes, and melded together over time in some sort of geeky, smart, hilarious video game journalist Voltron. It’s sad to know that when GFW Radio hit its peak, the print side of things put it to an end. But at the same time, I think this reunion is a celebration of the great things that each of the guys have done for themselves after the Brodeo came to a close. And listening to the whole thing, you hear that it’s almost like riding a bike for these guys.
Couldn’t have put it better myself Jon. It’s funny, when GFW Radio first came out I was listening to other 1UP podcasts, but I wasn’t in a PC gaming headspace and wasn’t familiar with the crew so I didn’t immediately give it a listen. My roomate at the time told me I had to listen to it because it was one of the worst/most awkward podcasts he had ever heard, and he was right, but we couldn’t stop listening. It quickly became the most genuinely entertaining podcast out there and I’m glad that, even though its not the same without them all together, most of the guys are still active in the space.
Also, I got on a GFW Radio kick and went back and watched Jeff’s last show while he was still at 1UP and updated the post with the videos from that and the PAX panel.
Listening/watching the Brodeo reunion was fantastic. Although from time to time the guys seemed to almost not know what to do with the large audience, the chemistry was definitely still there. I would have liked to see Anthony up there, but at least he got involved a little bit when my friend asked him about Chuf Love, then was heckled by Robert Ashley for looking so much like Anthony.