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Welcome to another episode of "Behind the Numbers" with host Dave Bookbinder, where we delve into the crucial aspects of business that matter most. In this episode, we explore the intricacies of the business exit process with Sean Sands, Director of Mergers and Acquisitions at Haefele Flanagan. Sean shares his extensive experience from multiple perspectives within the M&A landscape, offering insights into when business owners should start thinking about selling, and the importance of planning and preparing for a successful exit. He emphasizes the significance of getting a business "sale ready" by addressing financial, legal, and operational considerations early on. The discussion also covers the mental and emotional aspects of selling a business, the differences between strategic and financial buyers, and the role of earnouts in bridging valuation gaps. Sean provides advice on assembling a team of advisors to ensure a smooth transaction and offers tips for entrepreneurs approached by potential buyers. Join us for an enlightening conversation filled with practical advice for business owners contemplating an exit strategy, ensuring they maximize value and achieve their long-term goals. Don't miss this opportunity to learn from a seasoned M&A professional! About Sean Sands, Director of Mergers & Acquisitions at Haefele Flanagan: With more than 30 years of experience in investment banking, corporate development and loan syndications, Sean has significant expertise in mergers & acquisitions transactions including sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory and leveraged recapitalizations. As a Managing Director at KPMG Corporate Finance and Navigant Capital Advisors, Sean closed more than sixty middle-market M&A transactions totaling over $2.2 billion in transaction value. While at Crown Castle, a publicly traded S&P 500 company, he assisted in completing $9.2 billion in fiber acquisitions including Lightower, FPL Fibernet and Wilcon Holdings LLC. Sean served as Vice President of Finance & Strategy at Sunesys LLC, which was acquired by Crown Castle for $1 billion. As a Vice President at CoreStates Investment Banking, he completed loan syndications and capital raises in excess of $1.5 billion. Sean holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Law and an MBA in Finance from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is a former Adjunct Professor at Delaware Valley University teaching finance courses including Fundamentals of Investing and Money, Banking & Credit. About Our Sponsor: Haefele Flanagan (HFCO) is a full-service accounting firm that's been serving clients since 1967. Not your typical accounting firm, HFCO's services extend well beyond tax and audit to include valuation services, strategic and succession planning, leadership development, and more. When you work with Haefele Flanagan, we help you realize your long-term goals. Please visit them at www.hfco.com. About the Host: Dave Bookbinder is known as an expert in business valuation and he is the person that business owners and entrepreneurs reach out to when they need to know what their most important assets are worth. Known as a collaborative adviser, Dave has served thousands of client companies of all sizes and industries. Dave is the author of two #1 best-selling books about the impact of human capital (PEOPLE!) on the valuation of a business enterprise called The NEW ROI: Return On Individuals & The NEW ROI: Going Behind The Numbers. He's on a mission to change the conversation about how the accounting world recognizes the value of people's contributions to a business enterprise, and to quantify what every CEO on the planet claims: “Our people are this company's most valuable asset.” He's also the host of Behind The Numbers podcast which is enjoyed in more than 100 countries.
Shawn rallies Sean Sands, Allen Cook, and special guest Rob Zacny to discuss your questions, AI, dogs, and more! Games: Seasons: A Letter to The Future, Dead Space Remake, Hi-Fi Rush, Hitman 3 Freelancer, Against The Storm, and The Great War: Western Front. To contact us, email call@gamerswithjobs.com! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind.
Amanda, Andrew, and Daryl, chat about what they've been playing, and later Amanda does another round of interviews with Lara Crigger and Sean Sands about gratitude and gaming. Games: FIFA 23 (PS5), Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Switch), Skyrim (PS5), Walkabout Minigolf Myst DLC (VR), Marvel Snap (Mobile). To contact us, email call@gamerswithjobs.com! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind. Links and Show Notes
2021 GWJ Game of the Year Interview Series: Aaron and Shawn. Each 2021 GWJ Game of the Year Interview episode contains a few one-on-one interviews with some of our favorite regular and guest hosts! This week's episode features Rich Lovejoy sitting down with Aaron Amendola to discuss his top winners, while Sean Sands swaps seats with Shawn Andrich to discuss their top games of the year. To contact us, email call@gamerswithjobs.com! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind.
2021 GWJ Game of the Year Interview Series: Andrew, Glendon, and Sean. Each 2021 GWJ Game of the Year Interview episode contains a few one-on-one interviews with some of our favorite regular and guest hosts! This week's episode features Amanda Knowlton interviewing Andrew (aka Antichulius) and Glendon, while Shawn Andrich sits down with Sean Sands to discuss their top games of the year. To contact us, email call@gamerswithjobs.com! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about, or whatever else is on your mind. Links and Show Notes
Last week, our bears found the Infinite Honeycomb, but it was a house of lies! They learn the real microgravity bees live on the Martian moon of Phobos. The crew hatches a plan to use the monorail or "tube worm" to get to the far-off spaceport via "sky birds." Enjoy the thrilling conclusion to The Next Big Sting! GM: Fred Keiper Players: Amanda Knowlton, David Bauer, Karla Andrich, Michael Zenke, and Sean Sands. Music: Steppin’ In by Podington Bear from Liquid Gold Game Rules: Honey Heist by Grant Howitt on itch.io A three-part episodic collaborative storytelling RPG made possible by our Patreon subscribers.
Last time, our captive bears got word of the newest attraction to the zoo - Microgravity Bees and their Infinite Honeycomb. With a little luck and savvy, our crew escaped their enclosure in search for this tantalizing new honey, where they encountered other animals in the zoo looking to bust out. GM: Fred Keiper Players: Amanda Knowlton, David Bauer, Karla Andrich, Michael Zenke, and Sean Sands. Music: Steppin’ In by Podington Bear from Liquid Gold Game Rules: Honey Heist by Grant Howitt on itch.io A three-part episodic collaborative storytelling RPG made possible by our Patreon subscribers.
Our adventure begins at the Noctus City Zoo on Mars in the year 2360, where our five bears have been imprisoned by humans for entertainment purposes. That is, until the gang catches wind of a new exhibit that emboldens them to break free: micro-gravity bees and their infinite honeycomb. Armed with this new fixation, our bears hatch a daring plan to escape and get that honey! GM: Fred Keiper Players: Amanda Knowlton, David Bauer, Karla Andrich, Michael Zenke, and Sean Sands. Music: Steppin’ In by Podington Bear from Liquid Gold Game Rules: Honey Heist by Grant Howitt on itch.io A three-part episodic collaborative storytelling RPG made possible by our Patreon subscribers.
This week Julian, Sean Sands and Shawn are joined by returning guest Shareef Jackson! We have so many games this week we had to skip the topic!
This week Sean Sands, Allen Cook and Julian Murdoch are joined by David Heron to talk about landmarks and going places in games.
Welcome to episode two of Triumvirate! Our players, a Commedia dell'arte troupe, arrive in Rome in the year 1520. As the Pope attempts to rebuild Rome as the jewel of the western world, the Cardinals crack down on blasphemy and executions grow in number and spectacle. Our players are given a simple mission. Rescue a man who is to be hanged, but not until the very last moment. Visit StoryRoost.com for more! GM: Shawn Andrich Players: Julian Murdoch, Sean Sands and Allen Cook Special Guest: Jeff Cannata Music by: Sean Sands and Julian Murdoch
The seas are rising. The air is getting worse. Rock bands are forming. Fraser, Sean Sands, and Troy "The Diplomatic Juggernaut" Goodfellow go for Just One More Turn (tm) with Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. In this, the "second Civ expansion that finally finishes the game", the player fights against other civilizations as well as an increasingly hostile Mother Earth. Gathering Storm is a worthy addition to the series, but where do we go from here? Certainly not beyond earth (cough), but with Civ as a whole?
Welcome to episode one of Triumvirate! Our players, a Commedia dell'arte troupe, arrive in Rome in the year 1520. As the Pope attempts to rebuild Rome as the jewel of the western world, the Cardinals crack down on blasphemy and executions grow in number and spectacle. Our players are given a simple mission. Rescue a man who is to be hanged, but not until the very last moment. Visit StoryRoost.com for more! GM: Shawn Andrich Players: Julian Murdoch, Sean Sands and Allen Cook Special Guest: Jeff Cannata, Rob Daviau Music by: Sean Sands and Julian Murdoch
Sean McKenna hosts a series of interviews starting with the GWJ Conference Call podcasters and guests. This month Sean talks to Sean Sands. AKA The Game King, AKA Big Pilgrim. They talk about growing up and always on the move, his career, family and more!
This week Shawn, Sean Sands, Allen and Julian talk about game loops and Raph Koster's Theory of Fun.
This week Shawn, Sean Sands, Amanda and Allen talk about game streaming and stuff.
We threw restraint to the wind with our 2018 wrapup this year, so you get TWO episodes for for the same great price. Session one has Rob, Troy "this is the year my musical theater career takes off" Goodfellow, and Jon Bolding talking about their favorite games. After that, T.J. Hafer, Sean Sands, and Rowan Kaiser go into their top picks including all the Paradox-y stuff that we don't let Troy talk about. It's a long episode for what felt like an incredibly long year. 2018 hit us with a lot of political, military, and economic turmoil, so sometimes it's good to kick back with a strategy game and focus instead on political, military, and economic turmoil that we can control. These are our top (and maybe not so top) picks of the year.
Law firm places tens of thousands of ads on Facebook every year. But following controversies such as the Cambridge Analytica, new Facebook rules designed to prevent election-meddling could, in some instances, hamper legitimate non-political ads from law firms. A new FindLaw white paper explains what law firms need to know. Sean Sands, a Facebook digital specialist, discusses the findings from analyzing thousands of Facebook ads. What triggers to avoid and how to succeed in the appeals process. This is not the end of Facebook advertising for law firms. It’s just the new reality. Is your firm ready?
Today's Flash Back Friday comes from Episode 55, originally published in July 2012. Shawn Andrich, host of Gamers with Jobs Podcast, began podcasting before iTunes existed, when podcasts were only MP3s available on websites. Jason Hartman and Shawn walk through the changes in podcasting and talk about the current format of the show. They discuss the conversation of the show, which has four hosts and covers a range of topics related to gaming and gamers. One of the techniques Shawn and his other hosts use is video in order to signal one another so as not to talk over one another, producing an almost edit-free podcast. Shawn also explains they use Google+, using Google Hangouts, something less often used by podcasters, and how each host records their own audio track, which is then spliced together by the audio technician. He feels it is the best audio quality when hosts are in different locations. Other topics Jason and Shawn cover includes advertising, going into detail about why advertisers don't like to advertise on podcasts, and donation drives that work very well to draw community support. They wrap up the interview with great advice on producing a successful podcast. Gamers With Jobs is the brainchild of Shawn Andrich and Sean Sands, both gamers who, oddly enough, didn't have “real” jobs when they launched the site years ago. It began as a news site with a forum, and evolved into what you see today: a safe haven for all the girls and guys who grew up with games and have families to feed and bills to pay. Seeing that news wasn't really getting the job done, Gamers With Jobs became the premier independent editorial site and community you see today. A cornerstone of the site, the Gamers With Jobs Conference Call prides itself on a professional-quality production that rivals that of many commercially produced podcasts. Featuring some of the very same writers from the front page, the podcast brings you smart, in-depth discussion about the latest games, issues and design quandaries of the day. We are also very fortunate to have regular guests like Ken Levine, Jeff Green, Shawn Elliott, Soren Johnson, John Carmack and others on the show. The host of the show, Shawn has been working on gaming websites for over a decade. Before the Conference Call, he was co-host on the GWJ Radio podcast and the short-lived Escapist Radio show. He plays games on every platform and in nearly every genre. His loathing for WoW and what it has done to otherwise interesting people is legendary. Website: www.GamersWithJobs.com www.Twitter.com/ShawnAndrich
The future will not be pretty. Advances in AI and robotic mobility makes it clear that we are only years, if not months away from Skynet becoming self-aware. When it does, it will look back on what humans have wrought and it will rain fire upon us. Consider: the videos of Boston Dynamics mercilessly kicking robot dogs. Consider: the subjugation of the wild Roomba. Consider: the term "comp stomp", in which a team of human players collaborate to battle, mock, and ultimately defeat a computer opponent. Join Rob, Sean Sands, Bruno Dias, and Troy "I always say 'glhf' to the AI" Goodfellow as they examine the real time strategy games that make beating up robots fun.
Slay the Spire, a deckbuilding game that won't require you to take out a second mortgage on your house, has captivated the members of our panel. Its crisp gameplay and tight design has the internet abuzz, and it's quickly becoming the darling of the deckbuilding scene. It's so good it even got Julian back on the show! Listen in as Julian, Sean Sands, Austin Walker, and Troy "The rarest card in my booster was a swamp mana" Goodfellow as they talk about what keeps them coming back to Slay the Spire.
It's a full house as Rob, Fraser, Sean Sands, and T.J. Hafer talk about the large 2.0 update to Stellaris and its Apocalypse expansion. Do you hate planets? Do you often think about blowing them up? Would you prefer another target, a military target? Apocalypse adds big ships and explodable planets just for you. The 2.0 update has added several key features, such as the fleet manager and big changes to starbases. Have all these changes tightened up the midgame and turned Stellaris into a space hit? Listen in to find out.
This week Sean Sands, Shawn, Amanda and Rob Zacny talk dehumanizing NPCs and much more!
This week Shawn, Julian, Amanda, Cory and Sean Sands get into their E3 impressions!
Sean Sands and Julian Murdoch finally get a show all to themselves.
This week Sean Sands, Cory Banks and Greg Decker talk coming to big franchises late in their life cycles!
Welcome to [i]Orbital Decay[/i], an episodic collaborative storytelling RPG made possible by our [url=https://www.patreon.com/GWJ?ty=h]Patreon[/url] subscribers! Join Game Master Michael Zenke as he takes Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich, Karla Andrich and Rob Daviau into a mysterious sci-fi adventure where our heroes don't know who they are, where they are or why they've emerged from their damaged cryo pods in the first place. This week Pipe, Eighty Eight, Cat and Jin fend off mutant creatures and uncover more of the station.
Rob, Sean Sands, and Jonathan Bolding get together to talk about Star Wars: Rebellion. No, not that one, the board game one. Fantasy Flight's take on the Star Wars universe offers an asymmetrical experience in which the powerful Empire attempts to search for the scrappy Rebels across the galaxy.
Welcome to [i]Orbital Decay[/i], an episodic collaborative storytelling RPG made possible by our [url=https://www.patreon.com/GWJ?ty=h]Patreon[/url] subscribers! Join Game Master Michael Zenke as he takes Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich, Karla Andrich and Rob Daviau into a mysterious sci-fi adventure where our heroes don't know who they are, where they are or why they've emerged from their damaged cryo pods in the first place. This week the crew makes it to the surface and sees what they're in for.
Welcome to [i]Orbital Decay[/i], an episodic collaborative storytelling RPG made possible by our [url=https://www.patreon.com/GWJ?ty=h]Patreon[/url] subscribers! Join Game Master Michael Zenke as he takes Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich, Karla Andrich and Rob Daviau into a mysterious sci-fi adventure where our heroes don't know who they are, where they are or why they've emerged from their damaged cryo pods in the first place.
This week Julian, Sean Sands, Amanda and Shawn roll the wheel and hit 3 random topics submitted by listeners!
Nothing is certain in this world except death, taxes, and Paradox expansions. Time marches on and EUIV, the elder statesman of the Paradox stable, the well-rounded workhorse, the stalwart representation of all things Paradox...ish... has continued to grow and improve. Guest host Sean Sands talks with Rowan Kaiser and T.J. Hafer about Rights of Man and the current state of the game. Where does EUIV go from here? Does Paradox just keep adding features forever? Would that be a bad thing? Why are estates so lame? Why isn't Victoria III a thing yet?
This week Sean Sands, Julian and Shawn talk building coasters, multiple game endings and more!
This week Sean Sands and Julian talk about playing in an evil world in video games. Can't imagine why.
This week Julian Murdoch, Sean Sands, Cory Banks and special guest Ken Levine!
This year, more than half of Americans will use Facebook. More than 360 million people are members of LinkedIn. If you're not using social media to help promote your practice, you may be missing on an important channel for reaching prospective clients. A new white paper from FindLaw, "From Novelty to Necessity: Pragmatic Social Media for Law Firms". discusses the real impact that social media can have on an attorney's brand. A recent FindLaw survey found that consumers are likely to hire an attorney who has an active presence on social media. Sean Sands, a digital marketing experts, discusses how social media can benefit solo and small law firms.
This week Sean Sands, Julian and Cory hold it down from the rabbit hutch garage!
This week Shawn Andrich, Sean Sands and Julian Murdoch revisit the very first topic from our first show! Game violence, where we stand 500 episodes later.
It's our 500th show! Shawn Andrich, Sean Sands, Julian Murdoch, Allen Cook, Amanda Knowlton and Cory Banks are all on hand to celebrate!
It's a very special, gas giant-sized podcast as the panel discusses Paradox's newest grand strategy game, Stellaris. Stellaris takes the Paradox formula and flings it into space, replacing trade merchants with space merchants, warships with space warships, and regular coalitions with space coalitions. Not content with one, two, or even three guests, Rob welcomes Rowan Kaiser, Austin Walker, Fraser Brown, and Sean Sands to the show to get their take on the new game. Some people love it, some people have conflicted feelings, and then there's Rowan.
Welcome to[i] The Unmarked[/i], an episodic collaborativestorytelling RPG made possible by our[url=https://www.patreon.com/GWJ?ty=h]Patreon[/url] subscribers!Join Game Master Rob Daviau as he takes Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich,Karla Andrich, Cory Banks and Julian Murdoch into the small town ofCoffeyville, Kansas. This week the whole gang comes together tofigure out what to do next ...
Welcome to The Unmarked, an episodic collaborative story telling RPG made possible by our [url=https://www.patreon.com/GWJ?ty=h]Patreon[/url] subscribers! Join Game Master Rob Daviau as he takes Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich, Karla Andrich and Julian Murdoch into the small town of Coffeyville, Kansas. The circus is in town, there's electricity in the air and things are about to get real weird for our band of misfits.
Welcome to The Unmarked, an episodic collaborative story telling RPG made possible by our [url=https://www.patreon.com/GWJ?ty=h]Patreon[/url] subscribers! Join Game Master Rob Daviau as he takes Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich, Karla Andrich and Julian Murdoch into the small town of Coffeyville, Kansas. The circus is in town, there's electricity in the air and things are about to get real weird for our band of misfits.
Nostalgia is a powerful thing. Softened memories of sunlit rooms on Saturday mornings and brilliant panzer strategy replace the reality of grueling turn counts and CD-ROM issues. Can you ever really go home again? Is Master of Orion really as good as we recall? (The answer to both is: no.) Rob Zacny, Rowan Kaiser, Sean Sands, and Troy "I don't Google during a podcast" Goodfellow wheel their chairs into the whist room to talk about games that have aged gracefully and games that have not.
Copyright Ironwall Games Featuring: Rob Daviau, Shawn Andrich, Karla Andrich, Julian Murdoch and Sean Sands.
Copyright Ironwall Games Featuring: Rob Daviau, Karla Andrich, Shawn Andrich, Julian Murdoch and Sean Sands
This week Sean Sands, Julian Murdoch, Shawn Andrich and Rob Zacny talk games that begin with "The" and catch up on your emails!
This week Cory, Sean Sands, Allen and Amanda talk about their favorite games to play on a snow day.
Rob, Sean Sands, and Kotaku's Jason Schreier take a comprehensive look at Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void. The campaign is coming to an end as long-remembered friends from the original game are back to complete the story of Starcraft. The crew discusses the current state of multiplayer, Archon mode, and how to have the most fun in the game.
This week Julian Murdoch, Allen Cook, Sean Sands and Shawn Andrich talk hot new games, new PCs and the kind of difference real places make in games.
This week Sean Sands, Julian Murdoch, Allen Cook and Shawn Andrich talk a whole mess of games and why they don't play realistic shooters quite so much.
Rob, Sean Sands, and Troy "I play Plants vs Zombies for the lore" Goodfellow hunker down to defend their glowing orbs and talk about tower defense. The genre is still alive and well, but did it ever really die? Or has it been the Samwise Gamgee of genres: consistent, comforting, and good at gardening?
This week Sean Sands, Julian Murdoch and Rob Zacny talk payment models, their Rocket League love and more.
Starcraft II remains one of the most popular Esports, BUT... It's one of the most-streamed games, BUT... the new game mode will attract new players, BUT... listen in to hear what Rob and 3MA's very own Sean Sands think of the Legacy of the Void beta. (Also, learn about Rob's wicked APM.)
This week Sean Sands, Julian, Allen and Shawn talk about their E3 impressions. We also have a segment with Jeff Cannata to talking his hands-on experiences at the show!
Rob, Rowan, and Sean Sands fulfill our listeners' requests by taking a deep dive on the newest expansion for EU4: Common Sense. The latest DLC (and associated free update) brings notable changes to the game's systems. Are they all for the better? Should this be called EU5? How many kids are on Rob's lawn, and should they get off of it? Credit for the episode title goes to listener @semitext, who angers me by coming up with something as good as "EU4ever" before I could.
This week Julian, Sean Sands and Shawn talk about how to guard your heart against cynicism.
This week Sean Sands, Cory Banks and Allen Cook talk Early Access.
Sean Sands from GamersWithJobs joins Gerry and I as we look into how YouTube and Twitch have changed how we absorb information about games and what that means for games media as a whole.
This week Julian, Cory, Allen and Sean Sands are joined by Captain Forever Remix dev Dean Tate!
This is, by far, the most drug-filled, corpse-ridden, communism-fueled episode of Three Moves Ahead yet. Cities: Skylines has quickly become the darling of the city management scene and Fraser Brown, Rowan Kaiser, Sean Sands, and Rob Zacny are here to tell you why.
Sean Sands from Gamers With Jobs joins Rob to talk about Europa Universalis IV. EUIV has seen several expansions and updates since its launch, and what used to be the undisputed flagship of the studio is fighting for top dog with Crusader Kings II. Sean has played just a few hours of EUIV and offers his insights into what the game has grown to be and why he keeps coming back.
Join Sean Sands, Allen Cook, Rob Zacny and Shawn Andrich as they talk about their best and worst games and experiences in 2014! We also reveal Sean Sands as The Game King. All hail.
This week Sean Sands and Julian Murdoch hold down the fort! They also get caught up on emails and answer your tweets.
Where does one begin to discuss what has been called "The Official Game of Three Moves Ahead"? Tom would say: by describing the sublime user interface, or maybe the clever ways the game handles technology and advancement. Perhaps the deft grace with which it weaves the entirety of human history into one lunch break. In summary, Tom thinks this game is the cat's pajamas. Listen in as he waxes poetic alongside Rob and special guest Sean Sands.
This week Sean Sands, Cory Banks, Rob Zacny and Graham Rowat talk about the launch of the donation drive and weekend session games!
This week Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich and Kate Craig tackle the state of the game indutry.
This week Allen, Sean Sands, Julian and Shawn talk about what a one game future might look like.
This week Cory, Sean Sands and Graham Rowat talk about game clones!
This week Sean Sands, Shawn Andrich and Allen Cook are joined by indie developer and community member Ed Ropple!
This week Cory Banks, Sean Sands, Allen Cook and Jonathan Downin are all about game difficulty.
This week Shawn Andrich and Sean Sands are joined by Dean Tate and Jeff Canatta to talk all things Xbox One! We also have a new reading by Graham Rowat and a report from the console wars.
This week Sean Sands, Julian and Allen talk about gaming accomplishments.
Andrew Groen and Sean Sands join Rob to discuss how Heart of the Swarm has changed StarCraft 2, and the evolving competitive landscape. (Cover image: Enrique Espinoza courtesy MLG)
This week Sean Sands and Cory Banks are joined by The Escapist's Susan Arendt to talk Tomb Raider, reboots and more!
This week Cory takes the big chair and guides Sean Sands, Julian and Jeff Cannata through a show about XCOM, Dishonored and playing games the right (or wrong) way.
We've all played some clunkers in our time, but what what are the roots of a bad game's troubles? Could it be the person at the end of the controller? Could we be doing it wrong? Today, Jorge and I talk about the line between a bad game and a bad player. Inspired by Sean Sands' thoughts about getting a new perspective on games he hasn't liked, we discuss the search for a clear vision. We touch on everything from Kinect Star Wars to Far Cry 2, and have a great time searching for the good in even the most tedious experiences. As always, feel free to jump into the comments with your thoughts!Some discussion starters:- Has there ever been a time when you realized you were playing a game "wrong?" What prompted this realization?- What kinds of things do bad games teach us? Is "bad" more of a relative concept based on popular conventions than an absolute category?- To what extent should developers guide players toward the standard or "right" way to play?To listen to the podcast:- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.Show notes:- Run time: 35 min 14 sec- "You're Doing it Wrong," by Sean Sands, via Gamers With Jobs- Music provided by Brad Sucks
Every week, it seems like there is some sort of mini-controversy happening. Whether it is outrage over a shady DLC scheme or frustration over a classic series' new artistic direction, there is never any shortage of noise and fury. This week, we use Sean Sands' observations on the recent Super Bowl to explore the line between constructive criticism and pointless rage. Feel the need to get something off your chest? We're always here to listen, so feel free to share your thoughts in the commentsTo listen to the podcast:- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.Show notes:- Run time: 29 min 00 sec- "The Noise and the Fury," by Sean Sands, via Gamers With Jobs- Music provided by Brad Sucks
This week Sean Sands and Julian are joined by Rob Zacny and J.P. Grant to talk about their deep love for consoles, JRPGs and deep, story-based games. I think it was love ...
This week Sean Sands triumphantly returns to the show! To celebrate, we talk about all the games we're excited about this Fall.
The internet is abuzz with rumors and speculations about Nintendo's 'Project Cafe,' what most of us are calling the Wii 2. The newcomer will feature a touchpad screen on each controller, HD capability, and maybe the ability to read minds. But what about its predecessor? Are we abandoning the Wii as a failure? To help us answer this question, we are joined this week by Gus Mastrapa, who wrote a timely and provocative piece about just this subject. Join us while we discuss the high and lows of console failures, the loss of console cycle excitement, and Nintendo's history of innovation. As always, you can find original articles in the show notes. Show notes: - Run time: 53 min 17 sec- "The Wii Was The Most Successful Video Game Failure Ever," by Gus Mastrapa via Joystick Division - "In Memory of Moon Leaps," by Sean Sands via Gamers With Jobs- Music by Brad Sucks
I have been free of World of Warcraft for almost two years now, but already its tendrils are pulling me in - and I'm not the only ex-WoW player being called by the sirens of Cataclysm, Blizzard's next expansion to the iconic MMO. Sean "Elysium" Sands inspires this week's podcast discussion with his article "Is Cataclysm Enough to Bring You Back?" I know my mind has been changed at least once. As always, you can find the original article in the show notes.To listen to the podcast:- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking the title. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.Show notes:- Run time: 30 min 02 sec- “Is Cataclysm Enough to Bring You Back?," by Sean Sands via Gamers with Jobs- Music provided by Brad Sucks
This week Shawn, Allen, Julian and Sean Sands talk games and random questions Shawn pulls out of his arse.
When it comes to videogame art design, is reality over-rated? In an industry constantly creating and mastering new technologies, game creators have always wanted to show off. For many developers, showing off means aiming for the bountiful land beyond the uncanny valley. For Sean "Elysium" Sands of Gamers With Jobs, the "Gritty Realism" aesthetic has lost its appeal. This week, inspired by Sean's article "Breaking the Mirror", we discuss realistic sweat, humble art design, aging graphics, and the phantom of realism. You can find the article in the show notes and, as always, we love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. Some discussion starters: - Do games that show off their visual realism appeal to a wider audience? - What is the most excellent looking game you have ever played? Did it fit with the gameplay and narrative? - Which games age best visually? - Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed. - Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking the title. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format. - Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right. Show notes:- Run time: 25 min 19 sec- "Breaking the Mirror" by Sean Sands, via Gamers With Job - Music by Brad Sucks