Podcasts like PA?

poshniallo

Hi

I've just bought my first mp3 player, and I've started discovering podcasts.

However, some of the more serious/informative ones just kind of leave me cold. I get plenty of intellectually demanding and serious stuff going on in my real life, and I'd like my podcasts to be something more fun than that.

So far, the one that I've really enjoyed has been the PA 'Downloadable Content' podcasts. Obviously, posting here, I like PA and its humour, so that makes sense. I don't know net-based gaming culture apart from PA, though - I never read Joystiq or Kotaku or whatever, so I have no idea what other humourous/gaming podcasts might be good.

So can you recommend any funny, probably geeky podcasts?

Fallingman

1up yours is ok... Just a bunch of nerds sitting round talking about games and having a few jokes. The Video Game Show from the gamercast network is the same - as is podtoid.

All pretty similar - nerds sitting around having laughs and discussing games.

I quite enjoy the friday night comedy podcast from the BBC - british humour about current events which is usually good. Well, the now show stuff is fantastic.

Noray

I enjoy Gamespot's The Hotspot, but now that Jeff and Alex are gone, it won't be the same. Chances are it'll still be funny and worth your time though. It's informative and funny, they don't take themselves too seriously.

Steev

I just started getting into podcasts lately too. I've enjoyed a lot of the 1up.com podcasts, particularly 1up Yours, GFW Radio, and Retronauts. All their podcasts can be found here.

I look forward to other suggestions in this thread. I go on a 4-hour trip almost every two weeks, and it's amazing how much faster that trip seems with podcasts as opposed to music.

whuppins

This thread pops up every few months. I always recommend the 1up podcasts, and they seem to be the most popular overall.

1up Yours is usually the longest and most densely packed with content. Also probably the most dick jokes and arguments per minute. It's hardly ever dull, though they do spend a lot of time talking about sales figures and market strategies.

EGM Live has a lot of overlap, content-wise, with 1up Yours. But it's less boisterous and the host, Jennifer Tsao, is not very radio-friendly. Garnet on 1up Yours at least tries to assume the host/MC persona; Jenn can be kind of awkward on the mic. For these reasons, it's probably my least favorite, though I still listen more often than not. Overall it tends to be aimed more toward the demand side than the supply side -- less insights into behind-the-scenes stuff and more focus on reviews and gameplay.

GFW Radio is a hoot. Jeff Green is a very laid-back, self-deprecating host. Ryan Scott is (not really intentionally) funny as the angry uber-geek, and I like Shawn Elliott's batshit-ADD humor, though I admit he's not for everybody. If you don't do a lot of PC gaming, the content may not be for you, but then again, GFW is probably the most consistently off-topic, and consistently funny, of the 1up podcasts.

Retronauts is great, though they update very infrequently (well, more frequently than PA's podcast, at least). They tend to do a few 'retro news' items like virtual console releases, etc., then devote the bulk of each show to one game or series of games. They even splice in cuts of music from the game of the week between segments to get your nostalgic juices flowing.

Legendary Thread is pretty good if you play WoW or other MMOs. It usually has Jeff and Ryan from GFW Radio, but the host is pretty bad. Lots of awkward silence and his voice could put you to sleep. Still, if you're into the subject matter, you'll hear a lot of entertaining stuff.