Podcast Review
Doing a weekly, hour-long, talk-radio show devoted entirely to video games may sound like a tall order. But I'm sure that each and every week the companies that make the games release enough information, news, and PR materials that, combined with reviews of the new software actually coming out, you would have no trouble filling that hour. This, as far as I can tell, is what the vast majority of video game-related podcasts do. They gather together the latest news, undoubtedly culled from a few (or, possibly, just one) websites devoted to gaming news, throw it together with some music, and toss in an opinion on whatever games they can afford to buy. What makes Chatterbox stand out, is that they don’t do any of this.
That’s not to say that they don’t report on news, but that reading off the headlines and reiterating whatever you could have found out yourself (if you had simply bothered to visit the websites they keep telling you they go to) is not a feature of the show. And while you may also hear what they think about a game, be it new or old, reviews are also not something they focus on. Instead, the show tries to be something entirely new: an actual talk radio show devoted to discussing video games. Each week the host, Alon Waisman, and co-host Ara Shirinian (along with regular guest/intern/guy who laughs at all of the jokes, Rich Crawford) discuss topics concerning video games such as industry trends, societal effects, and how the format fits into our current concepts about art and entertainment. Rather than being just another cog in the wheel that is the industry's attempt to sell us all as many games as they can, Chatterbox tries to actually discuss that wheel, and thereby elevate this relatively new media to where it can be considered alongside others like film and literature.
The problem is that they tend to only get halfway there. Because the show is actually broadcast on terrestrial AM radio they have to take regular commercial breaks. So it happens pretty often that, just as an issue has been explained sufficiently and a real discussion is being broached, a commercial break interrupts and the momentum is lost. The best talk radio hosts (whether they are sane or not) are masters of picking back up after the break with a quick recap and reminder, and then plowing ahead as if nothing had happened. But the relative inexperience of Mr. Waisman and crew shows through each week as they flitter from topic to topic, hardly ever reaching something even resembling a satisfying conclusion. Interesting ideas, arguments, and theses are reliably raised every week, only to flounder and die when the (admittedly awesome) bumper music kicks in. Believe me, I really want to rate this show a four out of five, and I honestly believe that one day I'll have to revisit this review and change it. And I will, once the Chatterboxers learn to revisit their discussion topics.
Suitable for kids?: Ara’s regular (joking?) drug references, a habit of using abbreviations for curse words, and frank discussions of sex and violence will probably make a lot of parents balk at kids younger than high school age listening to it.
Rating: 3/5
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