Shane Bettenhausen: Giant dick or just an obnoxious dork?

[DoomMunky]

He's got this asshole/snarky thing DOWN, and his presence has never bothered me as much as on the most recent 1up Yours.

During the first segment, Garnett Lee and the rest of the cast were easygoing and gave measured analysis of the topics, but as soon as Shane came on, the tone sharpened and became much meaner and more aggressive, and the amount of hasty, defensively-talking-over-each-other quadrupled.

Does he just rub me the wrong way because I want Garnett to not ALWAYS seem like a doofus, or is Shane really just a total dick?

[Bahimiron]

He and Garnett seem to trade 'being a giant cock' back and forth show to show. Though when it's Garnett's turn he's less 'giant cock' and 'kind of raving lunatic'.

[Zylon]

Is this one of those threads that tries to get people to hate someone they've never heard of?

[Shadari]

Is this one of those threads that tries to get people to hate someone they've never heard of?

I hate people that do that!

[Alex Handy]

Who are you people? I hate you all!

[theblackw0lf]

I can't give a good reason why, but 1up Yours seems to have declined in quality since what's-his-name left.

GFW and Gamers with Jobs are pretty much the only gaming podcasts I listen to now.

[Dean]

The best thing about 1upYours was when Luke would catch either Shane or Garnett in a blatant lie and call them a giant cock.

With Luke gone, there's no one to call those two on their idiocy. I particularly hate it when Garnett takes a "strong stance" that he doesn't even believe because the success of 1upYours (as he obviously believes) is based on strong opinions, even if they're wrong. They also don't have a clue what they're talking about half the time.

They had an intern on a couple of shows ago, and he was measured and reasonable and they gave him shit because he wasn't outrageous enough. They also walked all over him because he was "just an intern."

[JPR]

With each departure, it has gotten worse -- first Luke, then John, then Mark.

Garnett doesn't "seem like a doofus" because of Shane, he's just an idiot. Shane calls him on it in a pretty obnoxious fashion, but Garnett is "fully" a moron.

I think Shane was probably always like that, but his internet celebrity status has exacerbated the problem. I no longer look forward to 1up Yours. GFW is the only podcast that I really want to listen to these days. I assume that Jeff's not going to jump in and agree that Garnett's a dumbass and Shane is an asshole, but without John to keep things reasonable and Luke to offer a little journalistic inquisitiveness and insight, the show has gone off the rails.

[DoomMunky]

With each departure, it has gotten worse -- first Luke, then John, then Mark.

Garnett doesn't "seem like a doofus" because of Shane, he's just an idiot. Shane calls him on it in a pretty obnoxious fashion, but Garnett is "fully" a moron.

I think Shane was probably always like that, but his internet celebrity status has exacerbated the problem. I no longer look forward to 1up Yours. GFW is the only podcast that I really want to listen to these days. I assume that Jeff's not going to jump in and agree that Garnett's a dumbass and Shane is an asshole, but without John to keep things reasonable and Luke to offer a little journalistic inquisitiveness and insight, the show has gone off the rails.

QFMFT.

Absolutely. It seems to me that Shane is adept at the "new punditry" that cable news and AM radio (and to a lesser extent, the blogosphere) have brought to the American discourse. Lots of divisive, personal criticism with little substance and a TON of attitude. If he's not trying to do it, he's just a natural.

Luke was great (once I warmed to him) because he backed up his attitude with a fairly incisive, critical mind. He walked the walk, while Shane doesn't actually have much to say. He just attacks and attacks, and then talks and talks about whatever he's really into defending that week.

Part of the problem is that I just hate most of the shit he likes, and hearing him go on and on about how great it is WITHOUT ACCEPTING ANY CRITICISM OF IT just drives me up the wall.

Also, I think Garnett is a good host, but not a good participant. He's very good at directing the flow of conversation, but every time he tries to get involved he seems like he's saying something just to say something, not because he has any particular or original insight that's not being shared. He seems to parrot groupthink quite often, then trail off when he's pressed.

The Brodeo has always been my favorite in the 1up stable, and is only getting more so as the quality of 1up Yours declines.

[Coca Cola Zero]

first Luke, then John, then Mark.

Who is next... Matthew?

[J. Matthew Zoss]

I will say this, however. I've met Shane on several occasions, and each time I'm surprised again by how nice he actually is in person.

[JPR]

Sure. And I'm sure that Garnett comes off as less retarded in person (it doesn't show in his writing). But the guy can't extemporize at all, and his scripted stuff is even more ham-handed and embarrassing.

[Aeon221]

Who is next... Matthew?

Bwaa ha ha ha haaa

[Bahimiron]

I agree with most of what's being said here, but I really think that Dean's overstating how they treated their intern, 'Big Fun'. He was on with another guest, got pretty equal time with his opinions and, so far as I recall, was never given any great deal of shit.

[caesarbear]

I hate 1UPYours. Stopped listening a while ago, therefore the rest of you idiots should as well.

[Hugin]

Basically I miss John. I have no particular problem with Shane (and I think his depth of knowledge about old games/obscure games/japanese games is quite valuable), but John kept things sane and I liked his sense of humor. Garnett needs to learn to let pointless arguments go.

On the other hand, I don't understand the love for the GFW podcast. I like Jeff Green (and liked it when he guested on 1Up Yours recently), but Jesus God I cannot stand Shawn Elliot. He's like some kind of bipedal Chinese Hell of longwinded unfunny anecdotes. And besides those two there's very little personality, just nasal voices talking about...well, mostly not PC games.

In a magical world of wishing, John, Mark, Jeff, Luke, and N'Gai Croal would form a giant podcasting robot and fight evil.

[flyinj]

but Jesus God I cannot stand Shawn Elliot. He's like some kind of bipedal Chinese Hell of longwinded unfunny anecdotes.

I completely agree. I know people like him. People who do weird inflections on the end of sentences to make themselves sound "whacky" to mask their extremely pedestrian sense of wit and humor.

[Mordrak]

In a magical world of wishing, John, Mark, Jeff, Luke, and N'Gai Croal would form a giant podcasting robot and fight evil.

If Croal's speaking style is anything like his writing, they'd never finish a podcast. Really, he's the last person I want to listen to talk about games.

[Bahimiron]

On the other hand, I don't understand the love for the GFW podcast. I like Jeff Green (and liked it when he guested on 1Up Yours recently), but Jesus God I cannot stand Shawn Elliot. He's like some kind of bipedal Chinese Hell of longwinded unfunny anecdotes. And besides those two there's very little personality, just nasal voices talking about...well, mostly not PC games.

You're nuts.

While I can certainly understand why someone might not find Shawn Elliot amusing, I certainly didn't when I first started, saying that no one else on the show has any personality is just dumb. Sean Malloy is not only funny and extremely bright, he's also the guy who basically keeps the show on the rails. While Ryan Scott doesn't talk a lot his wild swinging between snark and punching bag makes just about everything he says a crack up.

The only dead weight on GFW was Darren. I liked Gladstoned, but I couldn't stand to listen to him talk. His sense of humor seemed to be based entirely around repeating jokes someone else said five minutes before and then boasting about how much he loved to get high.

At its worst the GFW podcast beats the shit out of the best PC Gamer podcast. I like Gary and Logan (even if he does talk like he spends most of the podcast high) but Norm and Dan Stapleton make me hate life. Not my life, mind you. All life. The very concept of life. Norm speaks and I'm like 'well shit, there's the proof that God isn't real that people have been waiting for'.

[Hugin]

If Croal's speaking style is anything like his writing, they'd never finish a podcast. Really, he's the last person I want to listen to talk about games.

He's guested on the show a couple times and been quite good. Funny without trying too hard, sensible, well informed.

[DoomMunky]

At its worst the GFW podcast beats the shit out of the best PC Gamer podcast. I like Gary and Logan (even if he does talk like he spends most of the podcast high) but Norm and Dan Stapleton make me hate life. Not my life, mind you. All life. The very concept of life. Norm speaks and I'm like 'well shit, there's the proof that God isn't real that people have been waiting for'.

Abso-fucking-lutely. I recently stopped listening to the PCG podcast after they got into a long argument about whether they'd seen Crysis displayed on a wall unit or a mid-floor stand-up in a Gamespot they visited in a mall on their lunch break. They literally couldn't stop trying to be right long enough to realize what terrible radio they were making.

A friend of mine works with several of those guys and says they have a fair amount of pressure to get across a certain image in every podcast. Apparently their corporate masters want them to talk about certain things in a certain way. This doesn't excuse their incredible lack of appeal, but it does explain the amazing joylessness that pervades the PCGamer podcast.

And I'm up in the air about Shawn Elliot. He talks WAY too much on the podcast, but his thoughts about the games industry and the place of the reviewer/journalist within it are the most developed I've heard anywhere. He and N'Gai would be great to hear sound off on the state of the industry together. But, he talks too much. He dominates conversation to a degree that I can just hear his ego working, and if his thoughts weren't of such consistently high quality, I'd throw my iPod across the room. I love him and hate him, and just wish he'd let some other opinions get in there, too. He talks like his perspective is the One True View, and doesn't let the other guys get a word in edgewise. I wish he tried to facilitate a discussion more often, rather than argue down Sean Malloy and Jeff Green, who obviously don't like to argue too much, and don't think out loud with the same incredible facility that Elliot does.

Robert Ashley is good to have around, as he takes everything lightly. I hope they have him around more often.

[Hugin]

You're nuts.

While I can certainly understand why someone might not find Shawn Elliot amusing, I certainly didn't when I first started, saying that no one else on the show has any personality is just dumb. Sean Malloy is not only funny and extremely bright, he's also the guy who basically keeps the show on the rails. While Ryan Scott doesn't talk a lot his wild swinging between snark and punching bag makes just about everything he says a crack up.

If you say so. I couldn't remember their names, that's how little impression they made. I'm sure they're cool human beings in person, but I'm sorry, they made no particular impression on me in the podcasts. It was Jeff (liked), Shawn (hated), and..some other voices.

At its worst the GFW podcast beats the shit out of the best PC Gamer podcast. I like Gary and Logan (even if he does talk like he spends most of the podcast high) but Norm and Dan Stapleton make me hate life. Not my life, mind you. All life. The very concept of life. Norm speaks and I'm like 'well shit, there's the proof that God isn't real that people have been waiting for'.

Never listened to a PC Gamer podcast, so I can't compare.

[theblackw0lf]

How's the Gamespot podcast?

I'm looking for a general video game podcast to replace 1up Yours (though as I said Gamers with Job fulfills that roll admirably. But I'd like another).

[Rob_Merritt]

At its worst the GFW podcast beats the shit out of the best PC Gamer podcast.

I use to like the GFW podcast a lot but there is so much hate abd bile spewed on that podcast (mostly from the mouth of Elliott) that I actually started a game with myself to see how long I could listen to an episode without stopping it and deleting the file. When I was getting to under three minutes, it was time to stop listening. PC Gamer podcast might be boring sometimes but at least they 1) talk about pc games, and 2) act like adults.

[DennyA]

+1 on the Shawn Elliott-on-a-podcast hatred. (I'm sure he's a swell guy in real life.)

When he talks about games, he's fine. But the damn characters, the 45 minutes of talking about non-gaming stuff... Too many not-irritating podcasts competing for my listening time to put up with that.

[markv]

I stopped listening to 1up yours after John left. I can't handle Garnett and Shane unchecked. I don't know how Garnett is now, but when I was listening to it, he would drive me nuts with the number of times he would interrupt someone who had a good train of thought going just to spew some mindless retarded shit. So him as a host really kind of drove me nuts, because he'd constantly interrupt. I'd almost cheer when John would tell him to shut up.

[Jason Becker]

For me GFW can be in a single podcast episode can be both the best and worst show. Elliot's thoughts and insights are the best around when he gets serious, but when things get off the rails they really go bad these days to the point I've stopped listening several times. The occasional goofing off is fine but they get just stupid to often anymore. I'd love for Elliot to become a regular on 1UP yours. He would be a great counter to Garnett and Mr. Smartass.

[mono]

For me GFW can be in a single podcast episode can be both the best and worst show. Elliot's thoughts and insights are the best around when he gets serious, but when things get off the rails they really go bad these days to the point I've stopped listening several times. The occasional goofing off is fine but they get just stupid to often anymore. I'd love for Elliot to become a regular on 1UP yours. He would be a great counter to Garnett and Mr. Smartass.

Pretty much agreed here. I love the podcast, and appreciate Elliot's insights, but I wish he'd perhaps share less of them. He really ought not to lead the conversations.

The heroes of the web business was too cringeworthy the 1st time they trotted it out. I think they're catering to the younger 1-Up console playing audience who aren't even PC gamers, but just listen to the podcast for that stupid shit.

[Rob_Merritt]

Pretty much agreed here. I love the podcast, and appreciate Elliot's insights, but I wish he'd perhaps share less of them. He really ought not to lead the conversations.

The heroes of the web business was too cringeworthy the 1st time they trotted it out. I think they're catering to the younger 1-Up console playing audience who aren't even PC gamers, but just listen to the podcast for that stupid shit.

Bingo. That sums it up right there. I wonder if the GFW podcasts is just a waste of time and money since its targeted by people would wouldn't game on a pc or buy GFW even if a gun was pointed at them?

[malkav11]

Yeah, I'd like the GFW podcast a lot more sans the Ralphie/Heroes of the Web/etc business. It's not that I always dislike those segments (there was one Heroes about pokemon love that had me in stitches) but I always cringe, especially at the voices. Once I'm past those segments, it's been great.