Welcome to Modern Game Player

This is a very exciting day for me.  Modern Game Player started as an idea a few years ago, something I slowly refined, and could never let go of.  I started with this question:

How can you get everyone that plays games on one podcast?

I believe in the opinions of even the craziest of individuals, amongst which I count myself.  Too often, I see opinion columns and editorials where writers attempt to be the “final word” on any topic in gaming.  It doesn’t take longer than a day for a fellow player to throw a wrench in that plan with a single post to the site’s comment section.  And then I read, and sometimes hear the disdain writers hold for those that didn’t wholly support their opinion.

The sun sets, the sun rises.  We rinse, repeat, and start the next “slow news day” over again.

Stepping off the soap box now, I’ll happily hand it to the next person, a decidedly “non-writer,” who probably knows more about a dozen gaming topics than I do.  And therein lies the point of this podcast.

Podcasts (a topic we’ll talk about soon enough) operate mostly as a small, select group of people that talk to one another.  I’ve done those podcasts for years, they’re quite enjoyable.  I can assure you that few things are as ego-strokingly delectable as getting a piece of “listener mail” on those podcasts.

So, how does MGP work?  Well, every week, I’ll release a topic in the world of video games.  Expect those every Monday (we’re breaking that tradition off the bat to give people more time for the first episode, and because it’s 11/11/11).  Throughout the week, everyone is invited to call the Google Voice line, leave comments, Tweet, and join in discussions on Facebook, Formspring, or basically anywhere on the web.  At the end of the week, I’ll put together a podcast that is a culmination of the week’s discussions.

Why did I mention “listener mail?”  Because that is exactly what this is not.  Every opinion and piece of input is a contribution to the week’s episode.  It’s our podcast, if I may be so blatantly cliche.  Not every contribution will make it into the show (ideally, I’ll have a lot to choose from), but that’s the beauty of it.  From a “journalistic” perspective, I’ll have the task of being an editor, having to select the bits and pieces that will go on air.  I’m looking forward to that the least, believe me.

I hope you give this a shot, and I hope that you help shape Modern Game Player into the podcast of the gaming community.

-Mike