Hey kiddies.

I'm editing episode 46 of the podcast right now. As Slunks before him, ShenlongBo enjoyed himself healthily as he contributed to our immature and nonsensical banter. It's a good one - be sure to look out for it. It'll be posted by tomorrow morning. Shen'll be back, most definitely. As will Slunks.

Onto the future, though. For Episode 47, recording this Saturday, May 19th, we'll be discussing the phenomenon whereby videogame journalists leave to take jobs in the videogame industry proper - developing, publishing, et cetera. You've seen it happen here on Gamespot with the exodus of former Site Directors Greg Kasavin and Joe Fielder, and former associate editors Carrie Gouskos, Bob Colayco and Amer Ajami. Ziff Davis' 1up.com has seen Che Chou and Luke Smith join Microsoft, as well as Kraig Kujawa leaving EGM for Midway.

What does this mean? Does this mean anything? What does this say, if anything, about the state of videogame journalism? Is Luke Smith's idea that developers speaking directly to gamers, without the layers of PR and journalism in between, a sound one? Is game journalism really a layer, or is it necessary for honest reporting where developers can have the power to control the message?

We thought there would be no better way to discuss this than to have a bona fide game journalist in the conversation. Thankfully, Gamespot associate editor Alex Navarro graciously answered our request to help us out with this topic. If all goes well and the Tech Gods are all with us, this will go off without a hitch.

So, if you've got questions for Alex, please - as always - be sure to send them into mailbag [at] trigames [dot] net (or use the form here). You can send in your typical mailbag questions, but I have a request: try to also/instead send in a question pertaining to the topic itself too. We will not be debating the merits of cake versus pie. That's already been done elsewhere.

Oh, and be sure to check out the Gamespot Community's other podcasters. I will pre-emptively apologize for not knowing anyone else's, but I will throw a shout-out to Ryvvn and LeideN's Gameslaves Radio podcast and the brand-new Gamer's Lounge podcast, spearheaded by NeoJedi, juradai, ish, Darrogamer and Capin. (They have an interview with Big Huge Games' CEO Brian Reynolds!! If you've played Catan, now you'll get to hear the man behind the game.)

Barring a total disaster with computers of course. Hopefully the internet connection at the hotel doesn't suck.

In any case, send Shen a question too. mailbag [at] trigames [dot] net - challenges at Guitar Hero are accepted, but he rules at that game too... so BEE WARE. 

The podcast has turned 1 year old. Yay! Break out TEH C0NF3TT1! Instead of keeping the episode to your normally scheduled news and topic, we've added a substantial amount of our personal lives as we tell you what we do in real life and what our first exposure to games was, as well as how this podcast has changed the last year for us. Part 2 of our Anniversary Episode takes us back to the regular ol' news and mailbag, where we discuss Ken Kutaragi's retirement (if you will), Denis Dyack's claim for shorter games, and Save the Children totally going apespit about games making introverts out of all of us. Oh, and plenty of malebags for you all.

Due to its extreme length, this podcast episode is divided into 2 files.

Part 1
Download here.
File Size: 54.7 MB
Runtime: 1:53:55

Part 2
Download here .
File Size: 35.6 MB
Runtime: 1:14:08

Please - digg us, review us on iTunes, and tell your friends to listen and enter our Pirates versus Ninjas contest (hell, there will be no prize if we don't get enough people listening). Your support keeps us motivated. And don't forget - hit the mailbag with your questions!

For previous episodes, please visit our Podcast Homepage!

It will be late. By at least one or two days. One of our voice files was severely, severely messed up. I had to edit around it very carefully, and my laptop just crashed - losing about 2 hours worth of editing because the files are now corrupted. I tried to save frequently but it didn't matter. So, at best you'll be getting a crappy-quality recording now (think Episode 15), or you'll have to wait for good quality. It's 3 hours worth of podcast to edit. So, please be patient. In the meantime, I'll try to upload the crappy quality for those who can't wait. I am incredibly and almost indescribably angry. BAH.
 

We record our Anniversary episode tomorrow, Saturday, Cinco de Mayo. Be sure to send in questions and/or comments. We have no idea what we'll be talking about yet, but help us out by keeping dat mailbag full!

mailbag [at] trigames [dot] net, for those who don't know. Or, here.

MVP. MVP. MVP. That's right Dirk, it's all for you. (sneer)

To be fair:

The NBA Regular Season MVP trophy is an award for the regular season MVP. Dirk Nowitzki showed his sheer ineptitude in the playoffs, not the regular season.

Some people will argue that because Dirk played so poorly, because he disappeared and his team lost, this fact is an indicator that he is indeed "most valuable."

No.

MVPs don't win that award by that inverse logic. You can't disappear for your team to lose. MVPs don't disappear. MVPs don't buckle. When MVPs miss their shots, they find other ways to score. If they can't score, they make their teammates better. They hustle. They lead in other ways. They impact the game. Allen Iverson can go 8-26 (which is worse than an already-lousy 33% field goal accuracy) and still positively impact the game by going to the basket and picking up fouls, by making defenders swarm him to open up shots for his teammates, to show his toughness and encourage his teammates to do the same. Tim Duncan can do the same. Steve Nash, Jason Kidd - they are the primest example of making their teammates better when they can't score. And Michael Jordan? He never disappeared. Back in the day, in his prime? Give him a bad game, and at some point he'll still win the series.

MVPs don't say, "I wouldn't say we're worried but if we lose Game 4 the season is pretty much over." MVPs don't motivate by that kind of negative reinforcement. As a player, said MVP candidate is your peer. He's the one to rally you as a teammate. Leave the mind games to the coaches, the old codgers who you tell, "I'll show you." The MVP has to instill confidence. The MVP has to lead.

Dirk is not a leader.

But I'm rambling. So maybe he was all rainbows and unicorns during the regular season.

Whatever. Josh Howard played more like a Dallas MVP this series anyway. Here are Dirk Nowitzki's numbers for the debacle elimination game against the Golden State Warriors:

38 minutes
8 points
2-13 from the field (John Starks 2-18 Game 7 cough cough hack what huh?)
0-6 from three-point range
4-4 from the line
10 rebounds, 2 of them offensive
2 assists
1 steal
0 blocked shots
3 turnovers

FINAL SCORE: 111 - 86

(By the way, Baron Davis got 20 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, and he made very, very key shots to keep his team alive back in the first half when the game was still competitive. On one leg. Hey, just sayin'...)

Just a thought. Has anyone ever received an MVP trophy while he was on a fishing boat?

And before I sign off for the night, I gotta tell you guys over at Gamespot this: your Bay Area Brethren neighbors are some of the best fans an NBA team could ask for.

"To be frank, nothing is ever over until it's over."

-MrCHUPON, blog post below (also, Juradai quoting Rocky ;))

Not surprising: Dallas coming out and putting the clamps on Golden State in the first quarter - scoring boatloads of points

Surprising: Dallas almost giving this game up, letting the Warriors lead.

Not surprising: Dirk Nowitzki finally decides to show us that he knows what a clutch performer is.

Surprising - er, actually, knowing NBA refs, not surprising: Baron Davis getting called for a phantom call coming from a rebound attempt and subsequently fouling out. I guess Mark Cuban got his payback from the phantom call on Nowitzki last year as Dwyane Wade blew by him.

Surprising: Jason Richardson decided to show up today.

Bottom line? The fact that Golden State could mount such a comeback and then fail in the end showed me two things:

1) They are still reckless and need to improve basketball IQ. You SLOW DOWN when you're up by 6 with two minutes to go. Milk the clock. What the [censor party] were you guys thinking!?

2) They ain't scared. They walked into an incredibly loud Dallas arena, fell behind by nearly 20 points in the first half, and then silenced that very same crowd in the second half. They're not winning in Oakland. And if they do, well then I'll eat crow*.

Golden State, don't let me down. The Mavericks need to be exposed, as does Dirk Nowitzki.

*Crow, in MrCHUPON's native dialect of Trigamese, is actually the colloquial term for "grilled chicken".