The original plan was to have a speech at the end of Brake For Frogger’s 12th episode saying where we were up to and thanking those who had made the whole thing possible. It was going to be done in the voice of Winston Churchill complete with a rousing score behind it. Obviously, episode 12 turned out rather long so it was never recorded. With 2010 soon fading into memory however I thought it was best to put it up here instead. It might not be word for word what I was going to say (the ‘we shall fight them on Reach’ parts will be obviously cut) but it kind of rounds off the series.
It’s been about 18 months now since I sat down with Tom and started plans to revive Brake For Frogger, the printed fanzine that I’d made one issue of when I worked in a games shop. We concentrated on the writing, doing the occasional review and article, all on a Livejournal page we set up in a hurry. This time last year we listened to a lot of Sonic’s Ring, a whole ton of Gamewank and a smattering of Stage Clear. It was about that time we thought we’d give pod casting a go, In all seriousness we thought we’d maybe get one episode done and then give up (most podcasts begin this way I think). So it came to pass, on a cold January evening at the start of this year, Tom and I sat down to record episode 1. We brought coffee, fun was had.
When I listen back to that show now I realise we’ve learned a lot with each episode. Episode 1 was deathly silent in parts and, due to the Monday night recording, it didn’t feature the comedic backbone of Brake For Frogger in the shape of Geordie Al. For all I take pops at the man from the North East, for all he won’t join us unless we drive him to the nearest takeaway beforehand and for all he spoils the Professor Layton series for everybody Geordie Al probably provides a good 90% of the podcast’s funniest bits. The editing and mic set up hasn’t actually changed much during the year, we just learned how to use them better which is probably down to Tom more than anyone. It’s he who takes our waffle and edits it together with the music. Often he accomplishes this with two small children running about his feet. They are his, he hasn’t stolen them.
Some thanks then, to people who have supported Brake For Frogger since we began. As mentioned before there are a couple of podcasts who have supported us, the first being Gamewank. Jim and Ric offered advice from day one and tweets of encouragement were forthcoming also. We appreciated it gents so many thanks. It’s often the case that we come up with stuff for Brake For Frogger only to think ‘but Gamewank do that really well already’ such is the high quality mark they set.
I don’t think I’d started to listen to Sonic’s Ring this time last year. I’d heard of them through the ‘Sonic’s Clear Wank’ specials but I’d never delved into a full episode. That soon changed however and soon we were mentioning each other on our podcasts. Dave Whitelaw does a fantastic job producing high quality banter on a weekly basis and, having met him at ConCon3 this summer, I can say he’s an all round top bloke also. The same can be said of William Lockhart whose hospitality we had the pleasure of during ConCon3. Phil Doyle is also an amazing fellow who we didn’t get the pleasure of meeting in the flesh in Glasgow. Maybe 2011 eh Phil?
Speaking of the Lockharts I’d have to mention Ally as well (he didn’t quite fit into the Sonic’s Ring bunch). Lockhart the Younger was a pleasure to meet at ConCon3 and I hope that one day you settle down with Dave because that’s where it’s heading by the looks of it.
To be honest I didn’t think Tom and I would get invited to ConCon3, I didn’t think that we were part of the ‘in crowd’ on the forum to warrant it. I will say though that I don’t think I’ve ever been in a friendlier atmosphere than I was on that day. Thanks must go out to every person we met that day who hasn’t got a mention already. Every single person there was gold and Tom and I had a cracking weekend. I didn’t know it was possible to have such a good time in Govan. We’re aiming for 100% representation for ConCon4, we’re bringing the Geordie one next time as the prospect of games, five a side football and beer is pretty much as good as it gets for him.
Our recording date for the first episode of Season 2 is January 13th. As revealed last month we’ll have regular Season 1 contributor Euan Taylor joining us on a permanent basis from now on via the magic of Skype. It changes the format round a bit and his banter is always top class so it’s fantastic to have him on board. There are going to be other changes to the podcast, we’re already in the process of finding new mics to get better sound recording out of and we’ll be doing some new stuff also. The favourites will remain, Al will still have his Retro Games Emporium and I’ve softened my stance on the Games Connection now we’ve actually decided to play whatever game we land on. Brake for Frogger has been described, not just once, as a laid back podcast and this is something I’m quite proud of. We’ve been told that some imagine us to be drinking port by a crackling fire whilst recording, others have asked if we’re smoking anything beforehand. The relaxed vibe is something that will stay, rest assured on that.
If you’ve listened to us thus far and you’ve spread the word then we thank you and we hope you continue to enjoy Brake For Frogger when we come back in 2011. We wish you a very happy Christmas and an excellent New Year.
All the best
Cameron
