Boardgames To Go

Once again, I hope people are reading the blog as well as listening to the podcast. Because I often think of things I missed after the podcast is finished. (It's not just me--the host for the highly recommended BBC Radio 4 program In Our Time does the same thing via post-show emails.)I really want to talk about the family gaming (and other non-gamer gaming) I've been doing lately, but that show

See? I told you I'd get a show out this week. Just had to ignore my family to get it done. (I'm kidding.) Don't know if I will, but I think I should try to knock out a couple more semi-smaller shows featuring session reports and some feedback. We'll see. This one starts with a smattering of news items and whatnot before I get into the discussion of specific games. Stuff like mentioning some new

Here's a shorter show that I've wanted to do for a while, talking about how I've ordered games from overseas. Up until just recently that always meant Germany--albeit from a few different webshops--but last week I placed an order through a Dutch website, too. I organize most of these group buys for the Santa Clarita Boardgamers, and there's something to learn from it. The websites are getting

I was on vacation last week. No, not at the Gathering of Friends, I was in Hawaii with my family. I thought I might catch up on a little podcasting backlog or at least spruce up the web page. Instead, I ended up doing what I should've planned on all along--relaxing! That's why this show recorded at the end of March is just being posted now.But here it is, the All About Vinci show. I announced

Dave Arnott sprung this show on me, turning the tables on the interviewer. His plan was to expose me for the sinister, heartless gamer that I really am. Of course, the plan backfired and I come out smelling like a rose. :)No, he just asks some fun questions about my changing tastes and even behaviors in this hobby, touching on subjects like game themes, new games vs old, and short games vs long.

[A technical complication meant this show took the longest to pull together, but I'm pleased to say it worked completely. If you want to read the audio editing story, check out the boardgamepodcasters mailing list. -Mark]This is a combination show, an interview with David Gullett that's about being a boardgame newbie, as well as about playing games with your kids. It's in the latter context that

Here's part two of the podcast, the one where Jonathan and I get into La Città in detail. By the way, be sure to check out Eric Burgess' podcast Boardgame Babylon, which also features periodic episodes where he covers a single game in depth. In fact, he calls them his In Depth features. He's already done Caylus as a solo show, and recently did Ra with a second person.La Città is one of the

Finally! Another All About show, which are the sort that everyone seems to love best. This one was recorded with Jonathan Degann, who you may know from his opinions on mailing lists, his Game Theory 101 articles on The Games Journal, or most recently his own blog. Jonathan is someone I played with regularly for some time, when I was with the Left Coast Gamers. Then a few years ago I helped get

Back to another Session Report & Feedback show, and back to my usual recording setup. This show focuses almost exclusively on play-by-web games, sharing some news about them, and talking about a few of the titles I played recently. Plus the feedback, of course.As I hoped, this proved to be a notably shorter show. Anything less than an hour is notable for me, now! :) Gives you more time to listen

This episode became my white whale. It was a struggle to get it recorded, edited, partially scrapped & re-recorded, and finally posted. Towards the end, I have to admit that I just gave up a little bit, posting it even though I'm still not happy with the audio quality. Also, I think I ramble on just a bit too much, though at least the second take was better than the first! The audio issues come

My fiftieth podcast! Wow, I really wasn't sure I'd ever make it this far when I started last March. The show has morphed a bit over time, mostly in response to some limitatation I want to address or opportunity I want to seize. The feedback has been pretty great the entire time, so I trust that I'm on the right track. In other words, I'm happy that my listeners appreciate the kind of shows I

Though it's happening less often nowadays, in the past people have confused Mark Jackson and myself. Though that's mostly due to the similarity in our names, we have some similar tastes in games (e.g. original Entdecker), we've crossed paths a few times, and since Jackson moved here in 2003 we're both Californians. California is a big state, though, and we're not so close that we see each other

For a long time I've posted a retrospective on my past year in the hobby, first to rec.games.board, then spielfrieks, then my blog. This year, of course, I've shifted it over to a podcast episode. That's the first big shift. The other comes from not having kept track of my game stats last year. And yet . . . I still have things to say. :)-MarkP.S. As I mention in the show, the call-in number for

This is more or less an update of the "intro to podcasting" show I did way back in May, 2005. It's especially intended for people who might start up their own boardgame podcast--whether they were thinking about it already or not! It might also be of some interest to general listeners of the show, who are curious how a podcast like this comes together. There's not much to it, really.-MarkLinksBGTG

Here's part two of this episode, just the feedback portion. Keep 'em coming! :-) It's good to be back.-MarkLinksSkype (my username is BoardgamesToGo)Naturelich Games (blog)(what did I miss?)

Yea! I finally got to record a new podcast! I needed to do a fair bit of catching up, which meant the podcast got to be pretty long. With that in mind I split it into two parts. This is the first part, about an hour of me catching up for lost time and talking about some games I've been playing recently. The second part, which I'll post next, is the feedback segment.-MarkLinksBGTG Frappr

The last in the series of BGG.con-related shows, this one's only connection is the fact that I first tried to record it on the way to BGG.con . . . and the fact that it features Texas (Austin, this time). That original recording took place while on layover at the Denver airport. Unfortunately, the background noise was too distracting, so I ultimately had to discard it. But I'd kept my notes, and

[Nothing went wrong when I published the last show without a full proof-listen beforehand, so I'm doing it again. This isn't supposed to be my regular practice, but the holidays are upon us, family is coming to visit, and I fear if I don't publish this show now it will be another week before I get the chance. So out it goes. As before, if something is wrong please let me know immediately and I'll

[Against my better judgment, I'm posting this show before I've had a chance to listen to it. Someone please email me if there's something amiss, and I'll correct it ASAP. I don't have the opportunity to go through my normal recording-proofing-publishing routine, but want to get this out rather than sit on it. -Mark]Two shows ago I had an interview with Aldie & Derk about Boardgamegeek.con. At

At last! Another All About show, and one I'd been planning to do for some time. My buddy and BGG.com roommate Greg Pettit has played the game a fair bit, and shared his opinions about the game's strategies, reputation, graphic production, and more. Also, we managed to play the newly-released card game adaption of E&T at the con, which gave us even more to think about.-MarkP.S. Pretty ridiculous