Podcasts & the Gaming Industry

HalWhitewyrm

First Post
I'll be running a panel at Gen Con entitled "The Impact of Podcasting on the Games Industry" on Thursday, Aug. 14, at 1 pm (location TBA).

If you are going to be at Gen Con, I'd like to invite you to drop by, if only for moral support. More to the point, if you have any opinion and/or story on the impact of podcasting on our industry, be it as an observation or a personal experience, I'd love for you to share it, either here, by email to daniel@thedigitalfront.com or at the panel itself. If shared here or by email, I may ask permission to refer to it during the discussion.

Personally (and this should come as no surprise), I believe podcasts have had a pretty significant effect on the industry, especially of late. They have allowed gamers to become more familiar with designers via interviews, promoted new and old games alike via discussion and actual play recordings, become in many ways the news sources, especially with the demise of the traditional paper magazines that used to carry that role, and in general given the gaming industry a more direct access to the customer base.

So, let me know your thoughts. I greatly appreciate it.
 

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Do you believe this new direct access has resulted in increased sales for the industry as a whole, or for specific segments of the industry?
 

I disagree. The bulk of the gamers in the stores around here check email and that's it. I'm sure ENworld gets lots of hits, but most players who purchase hard copies of books never come here... at least not folk from the Akron area.

I would agree that Internet MEDIA in general has had an impact, but not podcasts, and not to any significant degree.

I would argue that online retailers like Amazon has a substantially bigger impact in shaping the gaming world than anything podcasts could dream of.

`Le
 

Are you going to record the panel and podcast it on the Digital Front? As a regular listener of TDF who won't be at GenCon this year, I would very much like to listen.
 


Do you believe this new direct access has resulted in increased sales for the industry as a whole, or for specific segments of the industry?
I think some segments have benefited more obviously than others, indie games in particular. But if we are to believe what we hear on our forums and in conversations with listeners, yeah, our shows have helped sales across the board. It's kind of hard to know for sure because there's almost no way to track direct impact of our shows on sales (except on some indie games, where the direct correlation of shows and sales were easily tracked since the numbers are more manageable - I'm thinking of Spirit of the Century in particular here, and Fred can certainly attest to how actual play and general talk helped fuel sales). Pulp Gamer is sponsored by Mayfair Games, and based on conversations, Mayfair has seen enough data to feel that the reviews the guys have done on Game Kennel or Family Night have helped sales and made it worth continuing that support.

This is all anecdotal, of course (and unfortunately, as hard numbers would be awesome), but there is evidence, if we are to believe our listeners on forums and in conversations, that games of all stripes have benefited in some sales from our shows.

Your question, by the way, is one I intend to explore during the panel.

I disagree. The bulk of the gamers in the stores around here check email and that's it. [...] I would agree that Internet MEDIA in general has had an impact, but not podcasts, and not to any significant degree.
Again, it depends with which yarstick you are measuring, though yes, I agree that when compared to larger forms of digital media, we still have a ways to go. And that's precisely the reason why I posted here, to get your points of view on the matter.

I would argue that online retailers like Amazon has a substantially bigger impact in shaping the gaming world than anything podcasts could dream of.
And I would be in complete agreement with you, but I'm not running the "Amazon & the Gaming Industry" panel. ;)

Are you going to record the panel and podcast it on the Digital Front? As a regular listener of TDF who won't be at GenCon this year, I would very much like to listen.
Yep, it will come out as part of The Digital Front and via Pulp Gamer's Gen Con 2008 Podcasting Panels feed.
 

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