Last weekend I was able to attend the third annual Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. This was my first time at the show and it was absolutely awesome. Really, it's difficult to describe the event and do it justice, so I put together a short video that shows some of what makes the Maker Faire so great. Should you watch? Only if you like:

Video games
Robots
Robots fighting
Mythbusters
Diet Coke and Mentos fountains
Model boats trying to sink one another
Giant, motorized cupcakes
Rube Goldberg
Steampunk
Experimental airplanes
Other awesome stuff

On this week's episode of From the Bleachers Aaron takes the helm as Brian and Shanker are in Vancouver covering an EA Sports event. While the dynamic duo are missed, former GameSpot news editor and current TV.com editor Tim Surette makes a triumphant return to the world of GameSpot to help fill the void. This episode is a little shorter than the norm, but that doesn't mean we didn't cover a lot of ground.

Here are just some of the topics we touched on:

- Tecmo Bowl is back baby!

- NASCAR 09 will let you paint your dream car

- You can make some crazy-looking dudes in Top Spin 3

- Crazy Bears Fan Josh talks about how Cedric Benson stinks both at football and at life

- Roger Clemens and Aaron Thomas apologize for "mistakes"

Be sure to stick around for the end of the show when Brian Ekberg gives a truly pathetic pick in a last-ditch effort to get in the win column for our "call it" segment. You've got to hear it to believe it. Come on Brian, step it up!

--

To subscribe to the From the Bleachers podcast via iTunes, click here.

To subscribe via RSS, click here.

As always, if you've got something to say, let us hear it either by leaving us a comment below, sending an email to FromTheBleachers@GameSpot.com or calling us at 1-866-406-2638 and tell us what's on your mind.

LISTENING INSTRUCTIONS: Simply left-click right here to listen right away, or right-click and save the file so you can put it on your fancy new iPod later. This is a pretty large file, so be patient if it doesn't start playing right away.

Dear Developers,

The following are not--I repeat are not extras and should not be in an "extras" menu:
- Credits
- Options (brightness, music volume, etc.)

The following may be considered extras, but they're lousy extras and we're really not that thrilled to get them:
- Trailers for other games.
- Big-head modes.
- Alternate costumes. If they're really funny or cool that's fine, but let's be honest, most of them aren't worth the effort.
- Interviews with celebrity voice talent saying how exciting it is to be in a game. For example: Elijah Wood compared Spyro with Lord of the Rings and I almost threw-up in my mouth.
- Cutscenes that we've already seen once that we can now watch at our leisure.
- Almost all concept art (especially when we have to use ingame currency to unlock it). There are some exceptions, but your game probably isn't one of them.

You might be wondering what is acceptable in terms of extras. Here are a few ideas:
- A look at deleted levels or characters. God of War did an awesome job with this.
- An in-depth look at the development of the game, or some behind-the-scenes footage like in Halo 2.
- If you hose us with a cliff-hanger ending, at least give us a trailer or something for the sequel.
- Additional challenges or ultra-hard difficulties.
- In-game commentary like in Portal.

It's really not that hard. We like to find cool things in the extras menu and we don't like stupid things. Just remember: When in doubt, leave it out.

Regards,
Aaron Thomas

As if you don't get enough poorly considered sports opinions in your every day life... welcome to the THIRD episode of From the Bleachers! In this jam-packed show we...

... talk about playing NFL Head Coach 09 for the first time
... chat about two upcoming Midway sports games: Blitz The League II and TNA iMPACT!
... rock out with our discussion of the soundtrack in NASCAR 09
... check out EA Sports' picks for this weekend's 2008 NFL Draft
... try to figure out Miguel Tejada's correct age
... listen as Josh the Crazy Bears fan makes fun of the city of Buffalo

All that and more. And hey, now you can subscribe to the show! Copy this address into your fancy RSS aggregator podradio thing:

http://www.gamespot.com/misc/podcast/bleachers.xml

Or you can subscribe to From the Bleachers via iTunes by searching for "From the Bleachers" in the iTunes store and hitting the "subscribe" button.

As always, if you've got something to say, let us hear it either by leaving us a comment below, sending an email to FromTheBleachers@GameSpot.com or calling us at 1-866-406-2638 and tell us what's on your mind.

LISTENING INSTRUCTIONS: Simply left-click right here to listen right away, or right-click and save the file so you can put it on your fancy new iPod later. This is a pretty large file, so be patient if it doesn't start playing right away.

Well, it looks like everyone survived the first episode of From the Bleachers so we've decided to push our luck again and release a second one. What fantastic stuff could we possibly cram into this episode? The big highlight is an in-depth interview with Josh Looman, the lead designer of the upcoming NFL Head Coach. He gives great insight on how you'll scout and draft players, run practices, design plays, coach during games, and much more. If you're a football fan you don't want to miss this interview. What, you want more? How about...

Wii Fit
Our terrible picks from last week
Mario Super Sluggers
Hockey!
Kobe Bryant's age
Melo's little DUI adventure
Aaron's crazy brother
Your comments and phone calls
New terrible picks for this week!

Have something you want to get off your chest? Comments? Ideas for a new segment or how to improve an existing segment? Do you think Shanker might be legally insane? Leave us a comment below, send an email to FromTheBleachers@GameSpot.com or pick up the phone and dial 1-866-406-2638 and tell us what's on your mind.

Simply left-click right here to listen right away, or right-click and save the file so you can put it on your fancy new iPod later. This is a pretty large file, so be patient if it doesn't start playing right away.

Thanks for listening!

Hey, remember how you love podcasts? Good, because we've got a brand-new podcast just for you. It's a collaborative effort from SportsGamer.com and GameSpot.com called From the Bleachers. This weekly podcast will feature news from the world of sports and sports video games, developer and athlete interviews, your phone calls, and the kind of witty banter that you can only get when you lock the GameSpot and SportsGamer crew in a recording studio for an hour. Here's a quick look at just some of the topics that we discuss in our inaugural episode:

Madden's next cover athlete
Shanker's bizarre obsession with Kobe Bryant
The release date for Gran Turismo Mobile
Aaron's crazy Chicago Bears-loving brother
Jose Canseco's career as an author
Brian's anticipation of THQ's Baja
Mike Vick's prison football career
And much, much more...

This podcast is just as much yours as it is ours and we want to hear from you. If you have ideas for a new segment, a crazy rant you've got to get off your chest, or just want to say "hi," call us at 1-866-406-2638 and make yourself heard.

Simply left-click right here to listen right away, or right-click and save the file so you can put it on your fancy new iPod later.

Thanks for listening!