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### Weekend Gamer Audio eXtra [Misc]

#### http://www.weekend-gamer.co.uk/

#### Article By SirClive

Back in RGCD #02 we brought you an interview with Weekend Gamer TV founder Opa-Opa and samples of his homebrew gaming entertainment show. Since then Team Weekend Gamer have gone from strength to strength adding a new audio show to their repertoire (Weekend Gamer Audio eXtra), appearing twice in Retro Gamer magazine and getting a mention on Retro Gaming Radio.

WGAx gives the hosts (Opa-Opa and myself) the opportunity to rant about anything that is annoying us, the games we are playing and anything else from the world of gaming that takes our fancy. But one of the more unique elements is the use of game related tunes. Features are broken up with music taken from or inspired by the world of videogames, including remakes, remixes, chip-tunes and original songs. A later addition is the opportunity to get the listeners involved with the Guest Reviewer and Round Table features. Anyone interested in getting involved just needs to head over to the forum at www.weekend-gamer.co.uk/phpbb2.

Producing shows like WGTV and WGAx are costly in terms of both money and time, so to support the ongoing costs and to give people the opportunity to watch the shows in the comfort of their armchair, a Series One double-disc DVD containing the first six episodes of WGTV (five hours of gaming TV goodness) has been released. Also on the DVD is an exclusive episode that will not be made available for download and a new 'remixed' version of the pilot show.

If you would like to support the production of these homebrew gaming entertainment shows by purchasing a DVD, or just want to download the latest offerings for free then head over to www.weekend-gamer.co.uk or have a listen to the WGAx sampler included in this issue.

(Note that because I was jealous at Opa already being interviewed in RGCD and obviously I can't interview myself, one of the regular WGTV forum members MC1 offered to ask the questions below).

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Q1. Why did you start the Audio version of Weekend Gamer?

Making the TV show takes an incredible amount of time and effort. We could cut corners and produce a lower quality show, but to keep it to a standard that we are happy with it isn't possible to make it as often as we'd like. The audio show is much easier to produce (though still takes a lot of work to research, record and edit) and allows us to get new shows out in the gaps between TV shows. Myself and Opa often chat on MSN or Skype, so turning on the sound recorder whilst we jibber on about how the lack of online Nintendo games is annoying us or how much we love 180 darts on the Spectrum was an ideal opportunity.

Q2. What makes you think you are qualified to make a gaming podcast?

We prefer not to call it a podcast, whilst we do offer an RSS feed for the show we would much rather people visited the site and the forum to get involved rather than an 'invisible' subscription. In terms of out pedigree, Opa has owned software stores in the past and is a prolific collector of retro games and whilst I have a more modest collection, I do a bit of writing for Eurogamer.net (under the same alias). We have both been gamers for over 25 years so I think that is qualification in its self. But we don't claim to be experts and I think one of the best things about the show is that we take it personally and talk from our hearts. There is no corporate agenda, unlike some of the other shows out there.

Q3. What is your long term vision for WG?

Hopefully get more people involved to cut down on the workload. We have just introduced a new support team member into the audio. Marmito had his own Nintendo based podcast and asked us to guest on the show, but we felt that the premise of his show would fit nicely into ours and is now our regular Round Table feature.

Q4. Was it difficult allowing someone else into the team? How did they 'fit in'?

Marmito is nightmare! He is a lot younger that us and has far too much energy and enthusiasm, so calming him down is a bit of a battle. But he adds something new to the show and gives us someone else to disagree with!

Q5. Weekend Gamers ethos is all about 'homebrew' and being on a budget, but it must cost you to run the website etc. How do you pay the bills?

We have a small number of adverts on the website but we are lucky if we get £20 a year from them. We have quite a loyal group of supporters who have offered to donate money, but we will only ever do that as a very last resort. We would rather give people something for their money, so have started to produce Weekend Gamer merchandise such as T-Shirts, Calendars and the WGTV DVD.

Q6. If the DVD sales increased sufficiently, would you consider buying new and improved kit, considering WG's ethos is to keep production costs as low as possible?

We are far from ever having enough cash to buy new equipment as we struggle just to meet the website costs, but yes I think we would if we could. Everything we make from the shows will always be ploughed back in to make it better. Opa could do with a faster PC to speed up the rendering of the TV show for example. I don't think that would go against our ideals for the shows.

Q7. Would you consider sponsorship if it allowed you to improve the show?

Yes, but only if it didn't intrude on the usability of our site or the flow of the show. Advertising is a necessary evil, but we won't be a slave to it. We are currently talking to a small independent retro games seller about a minor sponsorship agreement. It won't involve any cash but we would get a brand new website and it may allow us to set up some sponsored competitions.

Q8. Which do you prefer doing; WGTV or WGAx?

Well I have more of an attachment to WGAx because it was my idea! I still see WGTV as Opa's show, it was his idea and all his work. I just chipped in with artwork for the first six shows. So even though I now do a few features myself, I am a support team member really to the main hosts Opa and KID.

Q9. Can you ever see WG being 'big' enough to host an event such as Retro North?

We have talked about it. I don't think you need to be big or have a brand behind you. Keith proved that with Retro North. But you do need to pump a lot of your own cash in upfront to get it off the ground. We are happy just having our stand at other peoples events for now.

Q10. Are you happy with the progress WG has made since it started?/p>

I am over the moon with it. We get great feedback and have built up a really friendly community on the forum. We have gone from a single TV show, made just to see if it was possible, to a mini empire. It’s a great feeling when someone buys a DVD or a T-shirt, thinking that something we have done is hanging in someone's wardrobe or on a shelf next to Terminator 2!

Q11. Who is the best gamer in the team?

Well I have mentioned many times on the shows how bad a gamer I am so I am ruled out straight away. Opa rates himself as an average gamer, but I would say he is probably a little bit above that. KID is the best though, by a mile.