Welcome to the Super Happy Fun Time Show...
SuperHappyFunTimeShow sprang from the ashes of the Kropotkin and Hendrix Game Review Show and started in January 2008. Hosted by Kropotkin AKA Chris O’Regan, Hendrix AKA Pat McTie, Bloodshot Robot AKA Chris Champlin and Jason “Alphabox” Pfister, the show is a review of the week in gaming and is released every Sunday. We have done so without a single break since we first aired.
We also have sister shows, ThreePlayerGame (TPG) that was launched in January 2010. This podcast digs a great deal deeper into the world of video games by examining them as well as the people who play and make them. This show is hosted by Chris “FMLuder” Penfold, Scott ”Binary 667” Robbins and Chester “GK128? Greczkowski. It is released every Wednesday.
Off Topic is our rather more irreverent show that has hosts from both SHFTS and TPG essentially shoot the breeze about current events, be they video game related or not. Normally not come to think of it. The show is released every Friday.
Finally there is the UK Gaming News podcast, hosted by Chris “Kropotkin” O’Regan. It’s a 10 minute weekly show that reports on all of the happenings in the video game industry as well as list announced release dates and games that have been unleashed the week the show is aired. It is actually the oldest show on the SHFTS roster ,with it coming into being in March 2004. The show is released every Sunday morning.
The ‘mission statement’ of all of the podcasts (if indeed we have one) is to entertain and inform. Sometimes the entertain bit can overwhelm the inform section, but its a sacrifice we’re willing to make.
In March 2006 Pat McTie and I started recording a podcast together. It was a 30 minute long video game review show that had us tear into a particular title that was released that week. Lasting a little under 2 years the show eventually evolved into The SuperHappyFunTimeShow (SHFTS) and launched in January 2008.
After numerous roster changes and the appearance of spin-off shows Three Player Game and Off Topic, the show that spawned these other podcasts is sadly no more as after some consideration it has been decided to put SHFTS to bed after its five year stint. During that period the video game industry has changed beyond recognition; from the rise of mobile gaming to the concept of crowd funded games that risk averse publishers would never consider releasing, it has never been a better time to be a fan of the medium we all hold so dear. To commentate on its continued rise to prominence has been a privilege we shall never take for granted or forget, for without the audience and the platform that was afforded to the people behind the creation of SHFTS, we would have not saw the things we saw and met the people we met and for that we are eternally grateful.
The highlights over the past 5 years are too numerous to mention, but the ones that stand out are when Phil Kollar fired the crew after he was let go from 1Up following the '1uppoacalypse' of 2009, Jim Sterling opening the show with a less than savoury story that still makes me shudder and the interview we did with Runic Games, the people who made Torchlight and Torchlight 2.
There will be one final show in the form of a PAX East 2013 special that will double as a farewell podcast. We will try and get as many of the past and present hosts on the show in some form as well as a few guests from the past too. If you want to send a message to us prior to the show, which will air over Easter 2013, you can send an email: shfts@spong.com or sent a tweet to @shfts
As for me, I shall still be writing for SPONG, primarily on tabletop games as well as some 'flashy lighty' titles too; you just won't hear my voice any more.
Many many thanks to all of those who supported SHFTS over the last 5 years, it has been an honour to provide you with some diversion and dare I say it, entertainment.
Regards,
Chris
22/Aug/2011
Kropotkin returns from Cologne to chat about his experiences at Gamescom.
15/Aug/2011
Alphabox, Hendrix and Bloodshot chat about their week in gaming along with current news events in the land of vidja games.