“Spotify is another amazing example of the ever-changing landscape that we’re in. Video podcasts on Spotify specifically have been huge for us in the same way that YouTube came in and changed the game back in 2005 when it came to where video lives on the internet,” explains Gettys. “We want to put our content in as many places as possible. But more than anything, you want to be where the people are. When it comes to podcasts, for the longest time, it was this or that platform. Because of the shift that Spotify made with music and becoming so dominant in that music space, people associate listening and audio experiences with Spotify. The shift to people being able to listen to podcasts on Spotify was very easy for a lot of people.”
The feeling that Gettys and the rest of the Kinda Funny team is constantly chasing is that conversation you have with friends after watching a movie in theaters together, that sort of bonding over a shared entertainment experience. At the same time, Kinda Funny doesn’t shy from the hard topics and takes an honest look at the more serious elements in the industry, including waves of layoffs and studio closures that it’s endured as well as other gaming media sites being gutted and shut down. In that sense, Kinda Funny maintains a place where fans and industry insiders can come together and commiserate over these harder times for the industry that they all love with the hosts delicately leading the discussion.
“We try to be a shining beacon for people to know that they can come here for friendship, but also to talk about the hard things and we do talk about the hard things and take hard stances against what we feel is wrong,” Gettys observes. “We take hard stances for what we feel is right. Going to the friendship thing, that’s the easy part. When you get a group of people together that are aligned in their vision of the goal being positivity and passion, good things are going to happen, even when it’s hard.”
Fresh off the highs of the ratified air in getting to preview Grand Theft Auto VI months ahead of its November launch, Kinda Funny has quite a few things poised to share with audiences in the coming weeks. Through Kinda Funny’s upcoming programming on platforms like Spotify and YouTube, audiences can expect not just the team looking through the deluge of new releases, like Silent Hill: Townfall and Onimusha: Way of the Sword but also big debates and rankings. This includes an ambitious event that Gettys is particularly excited to get to share with audiences.
“We are working on the project that I’m the most proud of in the history of Kinda Funny, which is our Kinda Funny Games’ Top 100 Video Games of All Time,” teases Gettys. “It’s going to be a week-long event where, each day, we’re counting down 20 of our top 100 games leading to our #1. It’s going to be a live event in our studio with a whole audience. It’ll be streamed and then, of course, end up on Spotify podcasts.”
To check out Kinda Funny, be sure to check their Spotify and YouTube pages to watch along and subscribe with the latest that Tim and the rest of the crew are talking about in the rapidly evolving gaming industry.
