Get Played Explained

Get Played
Genre:Comedy
Status:Weekly
Length:60–120 minutes
Language:English
Production:Matt Apodaca
Audio Format:MP3
Provider:Earwolf (2019-2023)
Headgum (2023-present)

Get Played[1] (formerly How Did This Get Played?) is an audio podcast that follows Heather Anne Campbell, Nick Wiger and Matt Apodaca as they discuss and review video games, with early episodes focusing on weird or bad games. In January 2022, the podcast changed formats to shift away from intentionally playing bad games, in part to improve the experience for guests and the hosts.[2]

Overview

Each episode either focuses on a particular game or features general discussion about gaming. The former usually includes one or more guests, often people involved in comedy who also have an interest in video games. The hosts and guests play the game ahead of the episode, then talk about the experience, the community, and the context surrounding the game. The hosts and guests give their reviews of the game, and read contrary and often comedic reviews of the game found online.

The show initially took the same tone of discussion as podcast network Earwolf's How Did This Get Made?, a podcast celebrating bad movies, and was originally perceived as a spin-off.[3] [4] The show was originally conceived of as a Star Wars podcast, and a pilot episode on that theme was recorded, before it was decided to focus on video games instead.[5] Apodaca was originally brought in solely as the show's producer, but ended up factoring into discussions so much that he was eventually made a co-host.

After the format change the podcast introduced a number of recurring episode themes such as The Game Was Better, which focuses on film and television adaptations of video games, We Play, You Play, which invites listeners to play along with a nominated game, and Triforce of, in which the hosts match elements from video games, such as musical themes or player weapons, to the three qualities of the Triforce from The Legend of Zelda series. Discussion of bad games has also continued sporadically under the Game Slop theme.

Format

Introduction

Most episodes begin with a short comedy sketch featuring the hosts (and occasionally their guest) which parodies aspects of the episode's chosen game or subject. After the introduction of the episode's subject, during the Earwolf episodes a remix of the show's main theme music (originally composed by engineer Devon Torrey Bryant) mixed with music of the game from that week's episode leads into the hosts' introduction. After the move to Headgum, a new theme by Ben Prunty was introduced.

Prior to the show's change of format, the hosts introduced themselves with a string of catchphrases that developed from several video game encounters and humorous inside jokes. Apodaca would begin by simply saying "hello, everyone," with Campbell dramatically repeating the phrase afterwards before welcoming the listeners. After playing Wattam and being tickled by the phrase "Welcome Back Bucket," Campbell decided it was too wholesome not to repeat it at the top of the show. During an episode with Shaun Diston and Scott Aukerman, Diston brought up his previous appearance for the game Catherine and how the game will yell "edge!" during the puzzle portions of the game; Shaun subsequently suggested this should be Wiger's catchphrase, which Wiger then adopted. After the change of format in 2022, with the exception of Apodaca's welcome the catchphrases have mostly been dropped, with Campbell deciding to save "Welcome Back Bucket" for special occasions.

Segments

The show has several recurring featured segments, which include:

Most episodes conclude with the hosts and their guest playing a quiz or a guessing game, or responding to messages sent in by listeners.

Episode list

2024

Reception

Dan Jakes of The A.V. Club said that the hosts of the show "find a good balance of reviews and riffs."[7] Mark Kramer of Vulture said the hosts of the show "have turned what was once an enjoyable hobby into a masochistic burden."

A 2019 Thanksgiving episode with comedian Joey Clift reviewing Custer's Revenge led to a discussion on how the hosts had tokenized Clift.[8] [9] [10] [11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: January 2, 2022 . Welcome to Get Played: Gaming Resolutions, episode #133 of Get Played on Earwolf . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220109024129/https://www.earwolf.com/episode/welcome-to-get-played-gaming-resolutions/ . January 9, 2022 . January 9, 2022 . . en-US.
  2. Web site: New year, new show (kind of!) . 2022-07-29 . Twitter . en.
  3. Web site: Kramer . Mark . August 1, 2019 . This Week in Comedy Podcasts: Filling the Void With Vanessa Bayer . live . July 12, 2022 . . en-US . July 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220712124609/https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/this-week-in-podcasts-filling-the-void-with-vanessa-bayer.html.
  4. Web site: Harkins . Ray . May 2, 2019 . 'How Did This Get Played' examines the world's most confusing video games . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20190724171451/http://www.midroll.com/how-did-this-get-played-examines-the-worlds-most-confusing-video-games/ . July 24, 2019 . August 10, 2019 . Midroll . Stitcher Blog . en-US.
  5. Web site: March 21, 2021 . Star Wars: Yoda Stories with Mark Rennie, episode #92 of Get Played on Earwolf . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20210322224803/https://www.earwolf.com/episode/star-wars-yoda-stories-with-mark-rennie . March 22, 2021 . March 23, 2021 . . en-US.
  6. Web site: Kramer . Mark . December 10, 2019 . The Year in Comedy Podcasts: Featuring Hollywood Handbook, Best Friends, Las Culturistas, and some guy named Conan. . live . July 20, 2022 . . en-US . December 10, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191210201447/https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/best-comedy-podcasts-2019.html .
  7. Web site: Jakes . Dan . July 1, 2019 . Twelve Podcasts to Check Out This Week . live . July 12, 2022 . . en-US . July 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220712134734/https://www.avclub.com/yoga-is-dead-explores-the-seedy-exploitative-underbell-1835940821 .
  8. Web site: Rainey . Tom . December 5, 2019 . This Week in Comedy Podcasts: A New Show From Mitra Jouhari . live . July 12, 2022 . . en-US . July 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220712124949/https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/this-week-in-comedy-podcasts-a-new-show-from-mitra-jouhari.html .
  9. Web site: Greene . Steve . December 16, 2019 . The Fifty Best Podcast Episodes of 2019 . live . July 12, 2022 . . en-US . April 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220407150629/https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/best-podcast-episodes-to-listen/ .
  10. Web site: Clift . Joey . December 3, 2019 . I Celebrated Native American Heritage Month by Ruining a Comedy Podcast . live . July 12, 2022 . . en-US . July 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220712124949/https://www.avclub.com/i-celebrated-native-american-heritage-month-by-ruining-1840152081 .
  11. News: Schilling . Vincent . January 10, 2020 . 'People Want to Hear Our Jokes': Native Comedian Joey Clift Once Pursued a Job as a Joke-Cracking TV Weatherman . live . July 12, 2022 . . en-US . July 12, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220712130747/https://indiancountrytoday.com/lifestyle/joey-clift-people-want-to-hear-our-jokes.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Get Played".

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