inconsequential ruminations

GeekSpeak has been going from strength to strength. I am finding myself looking forward to each new episode. Derk and Aldie are an excellent double-act and are getting better at it with practice.

I would never bother to sit at my computer listening to an hour plus of GeekSpeak, but they are excellent downloaded to an MP3 player and listened to while commuting.

*GeekSpeak 2 & 2.5*
Derk and Aldie interviewed each other. They ran out of steam towards the end of GeekSpeak 2, but then went out and had a few drinks and recorded 2.5, where they actually talked about games, which was much better.

*GeekSpeak 3*
Mark Kaufmann and Eric Hautemont from Days of Wonder. This was fascinating in terms of learning what it takes to become a games developer. These dot.com fugitives have turned their business acumen into creating what is probably the best family games company in the market. I really admire their drive and professionalism. If I ever started a business I would have to listen to these guys first to hear how to do it.
The only poor point was when they chose their own games as their favourites – maybe a rule expressly forbidding this is needed?

*GeekSpeak 4*
Alan Moon. The thing that really struck me about this interview was how Alan is a career games designer. It seems to be all he has ever wanted to do and aimed for. It just shows the level of dedication required to make it in the games business. It reminded me of all those Hollywood stories of actors waiting tables before coming big stars. The other thing that stood out was the pain designers feel when their creations are criticised. He talked about the anguish of being in a booth at Essen waiting for recognition and how he hates what he sees as the negativity of Spielfrieks and rec.games.board.
I found it interesting that Alan Moon chose such traditional games for his favourites, like Spades. He chose suprisingly few €urogames.

*GeekSpeak 5*
Chris Farrell. I was pleasantly surprised that Derk and Aldie wanted to talk to a gamer and not just people in the industry. There was also a lot of discussion about the current state of wargaming, which I found very interesting. I had put together some of the progression between card-driven wargames and block games before, but it was good to hear the overview here. The only real problem was the poor sound quality. I am going to have to try Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage again at some point.
I actually asked Chris a question in this one. I recorded an MP3 and sent it to Aldie. He commented afterwards that I have a heavy accent! Maybe he should visit Liverpool or Newcastle sometime?
Like Chris, I am not too excited about the latest games from Essen. It’s always good to hear which older games have really stuck in hardcore gamers’ heads. I am always much more interested in them than the very latest and greatest.