Aside from Out of the Game, we haven’t heard too much from Shawn Elliott since his move to 2K Boston/Irrational Games. Developers and publishers are just now realizing the importance of community involvement and podcast, and Irrational Behavior is a strong offering in this burgeoning space with Shawn at the helm. Irrational Behavior takes a cue from Robert Ashley’s A Life Well Wasted and delivers a focused show with an emphasis on production quality.
This 1st episode is centered on failures in the development process. It takes a look at some of the concepts over the years at Irrational Games that didn’t work, or were just plain bad. Bioshock is a constant point of reference here with some fun insights into the evolution of the game throughout its development.
Irrational Behavior will be released monthly and acts as a table of contents for features on the Irrational Games site.
So to kick off, we chose a brutal theme – “ideas that died”. We explore what happens when creativity runs into technical restrictions, a lack of clear consensus, and – at times – its own convolution. You’ll glimpse abandoned BioShock tidbits, as well as an as yet unrevealed game from four years ago when Irrational Games backed away from a zombie invasion. And much, much more.
Runtime – 29:17
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The show was pretty good. I don't really see the need of having so many "parts" – maybe they could just be strung together into overarching themes, or something like that. It was a good length, as well.
On a tangent, I don't agree with the constant labeling of A Life Well Wasted and this show as having a "high production value" or having a "emphasis on production quality". What people who use those terms really mean to say is "This show sounds like This American Life. It has a narrator that reads from a script, and music that cues in with sensitive timing." In reality, the Giant Bombcast or 4 Guys 1UP probably has an equal production value and production quality to A Life Well Wasted or to this show. Giant Bomb and 1UP also use high quality microphones and audio editing software that probably isn't free, and those things cost money.
Give me some music and a speech track and I can mix them together intelligently on Audacity and make it sound like those "high level" podcasts. Which is not to disparage them in anyway, I just don't agree with the constant labeling of them as some kind of podcast mastery. What these podcasts do isn't a technical feat. Just because they're scripted, it doesn't mean that their production quality is higher than the other mainstream shows out there. And Robert Ashley shouldn't be labeled a god just because he takes the time to edit his podcast and schedule interviews and script his shows. His shows are interesting, but I disagree with those people who claim that his podcast is the best gaming podcast. Something that sounds good on a surface level isn't always the best, in my opinion.
Just to clarify, I wasn't specifically targeting the author of the post in any capacity. Rather, there's a whole lot of people who say how great A Life Well Wasted is and how great the production values are – I'm thinking specifically of John Davison. I get the feeling that some like to claim that just because A Life Well Wasted is "well produced", or that just because it sounds like This American Life, that it is therefore the best gaming podcast, and that just rubs me the wrong way. I guess it's my pet peeve in regards to ALWW. I think of it as I do Avatar – yes, it looks good and, yes, the writing's good, but it just doesn't beat older, less good looking, less good sounding films like Seven Samurai or The Godfather or whatever. Again, I fully appreciate that in saying that I might be interpreting the praise people give ALWW the wrong way.
I hear what you're saying about scripting as well, and I think a better term to apply to ALWW and Irrational Behavior might well be the "direction" that you talk about as opposed to "production" or "well produced". Lord knows the Giant Bombcast and 4 Guys 1UP aren't the most "directed" shows.