New Arsecast Episode

By: Tim

On: May 28th, 2007

The new format is fab. I mean, it has screenshots and everything!

Now I don’t have to bother imagining how the latest match-three puzzlers look like.

Posted in Community, Podcasts / Audio | Tags: GrahamGoring, TheArsecast

Anthony Flack

I quite like the new format too. It’s like a blog, except I don’t even have to bother using my eyes any more and can safely allow them to return to their normal glassed-over stare. Plus, it lets me imaging I have a really state-of-the-art text-to-speech program that, due to a terrible management blunder, sounds exactly like Graham.

I also like the screenshots and find them very, very useful in trying to get a bead on what the hell he’s blabbing on about. However the captions are a problem. I’m listening away, and looking at the screenshot, and everything’s fine. Then my gaze wanders down to the caption underneath, and my brain tries to process that at the same time as the audio stream and I get all confused and don’t know what’s going on any more.

So I think it’s all very good except for the captions because, as nice as it might be to have captions underneath pictures of things, they are disruptive to the general flow.
http://greyaliengames.com/blog Jake Bikett

Captions are good for if you are reading not listening :-)

This is a nice long piece of news about some interesting titles, cool.
http://www.arsecast.com DrDerekDoctors

Tough tits, Anthony, because I really enjoy writing stupid captions. Perhaps I should have a small intermission tune to allow users to read the captions. ;)

A nice bit of lounge-lizard piano tinkling.

And glad you approve Jake. :)
Anthony Flack

>Perhaps I should have a small intermission tune to allow users to read the captions.

Yes! Actually, just putting one of your little bleeptunes in between each would be fine.
http://www.arsecast.com DrDerekDoctors

Hmm, I dunno. I suspect that’ll really break up the flow of the reviews. Well, such flow as they have given that they all conform to exactly the same pattern. :P

I’ll give it a whizz with the bit I’m editing for putting up tonight and see if I like it.
Anthony Flack

Oh, mm, perhaps not if you are going to have multiple screenshots interspersed with text in a single review. Um, maybe you could just read out the captions as well, as they come up, but delineate them by doing it in a creepy whisper.
DrDerekDoctors

Gah! Never reading them out! That’ll just sound like bizarre asides and will then piss off people who choose to just listen to it rather than read along.

Lummy, I can’t win, can I?

Also, page updated.
Anthony Flack

>Lummy, I canâ€™t win, can I?

Nope. That’s the problem with experimental formats. I can’t think of a tidy solution that works in all cases, either.

But while we’re at it – why is it that all audio game reviews that I’ve ever listened to have occasionally gone on at length about the music and/or sound effects in a game, and yet never actually play any of it?
Anthony Flack

Hm, what about interspersing short snippets of the sound of the game being played, then…?
DrDerekDoctors

Ah, there is a proper reason for that – it’s that I don’t want the copyright police killing me. Although I accept that you can use the defense of “fair use”, that’s a defense, not a right.

Also, it’s more work. :P
MattC

I thought that the pictures and captions were one of the things the readers got extra while the listeners got to hear lovely music and Graham’s voice (if that’s supposed to be a boon).
DrDerekDoctors

It is a boon because if you collect the tokens from five episodes you get to download a free phone-sex mp3 where I promise to bring you off in less than 3 minutes. FACT! ;)