So you have a long commute to work on the bus. Or you have a boring drive. Or you're sitting doing work/school/gaming/drinking and masturbating while using your own tears as lubricant, and you need something to listen to. Music is good, but hey, listening to people talk about videogames is a pretty fun thing to do (if they aren't incredibly stupid).
Enter PODCASTS, the ever-available AM radio shows that cover any topic you can imagine. But we only care about video games because, hey, we're fucking nerds. It's what we know and it's awesome to listen to people give opinions that we can promptly throw out and disagree with. Most podcasts even enjoy when you email them to tell them important things or ask trivial questions! It's a big ol' conglomerate of mismashed topics and ideas.
There's a shitload of podcasts you can dive into: video games are a pretty saturated podcast topic, which means you have a lot to cover, and it can be potentially very very intimidating if you don't know where to start. BUT THAT'S WHY WE HAVE AN OP
Here's a list of podcasts you should start with. They're widely listened to and will give you stuff to talk about on a regular basis in this thread. They're also a good launch-off point for what you may want to explore listening to later.
We really like listening to podcasts. Some of us like video game podcasts so much, we actually have our own. Isn't that
? I bet it is. And without being bias, it really seems like most podcasts with forumers in them are actually pretty good. So if you want to here some friendly voices, and want to expand your repertoire, here's a good list of casts to check out.
Those podcasts aren't all that's out there, though. Hell, this list isn't even all that's out there. Here's an alphabetical list of the rest of what people listen to: if you have something to add, let me know so we can throw it up.
A Life Well Wasted
If Ira Glass from This American Life was fucking insane over games, you would have ALWW's Robert Ashley. Robert was a longtime guest on 1UP's GFW Radio, and since the 1UP mass-firings, he's been hard at work on his own show, which - explaining the show's infrequent episode release schedule - is a solo production entirely. That's not to say the man's lazy; far from it, Ashley's gaming podcasts are some of the best in terms of content, editing, and sheer love and passion for the hobby. Go from the death of EGM and stories of print's golden years, to universities archiving entire MMO worlds, to the world's best selling pinball designer.
AIRS: Once every few months
LENGTH: 1 - 2 Hours
CREW: Robert Ashley, various interviewed guests
TOPIC: All things gaming with in-depth interviews on rarely covered, interesting topics
LINKS: alifewellwasted.com
The Brainy GamerAIRS: Monthly - Frequent
LENGTH: .5 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Michael Abbott
TOPIC: 'Thoughtful conversation about video games', lengthy interviews with people from every facet of the game development industry
LINKS: BrainyGamer Podtrac Archive Brainy Gamer Podcast HomepageCAGcastAIRS: Thursday - Weekly
LENGTH: 1.5 - 2 Hours
CREW: CheapyD, Wombat, Shipwreck
TOPIC: Games played, News, New Releases, and a
HEAVY focus on
Game DealsLINK: CAGcast Homepage
CO-OP
AIRS: Tuesday - Weekly
LENGTH: 30 Min - 2 Hours
CREW: Matt Chandronait, Ryan O'Donnell, Jason Frechette (J-Fresh), Robert Bowen, Jason Bertrand, Cesar Quintero
TOPIC: In-depth round table discussion on new releases, interspersed with small skits
LINK: Area5.TV's CO-OP HomepageEA PodcastAIRS: 2 to 3 a Month - Infrequent
LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Jeff Green, Samantha LePierre
TOPIC: Discussions and interviews on all things EA Games.
LINK: EA PodcastGamers with Jobs – Conference CallAIRS: Wednesday - Weekly
LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Robert Borges, Shawn Andrich, Sean Sands, Julian Murdoch, Cory Banks
TOPIC: Games Played, News, New Releases, E-Mails
LINK: GWJ Podcast Homepage
Gamespy DebriefingsAIRS: Wednesday - Weekly
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CREW: Anthony Gallegos, Ryan Scott, Will Tuttle, occasional Rebel.FM/IGN guests
TOPIC: Games played, News, New Releases, E-Mails
LINK: Gamespy Podcast HomepageHotSpot - GameSpotAIRS: Tuesday - Weekly
LENGTH: 1 - 2 Hours
CREW: Richard Torres, Brendan Sinclair, Kevin VanOrd, Tom McShea, various Gamespot editors
TOPIC: Games Played, News, New Releases, E-Mails
LINK: HotSpot HomepageJoystiq PodcastAIRS: Weekly - Friday
LENGTH: 2 Hours
CREW: Chris Grant, Justin McElroy, Ludwig Kietzman
TOPIC: Games Played, News, New Releases, E-Mails
LINK: Joystiq.com Podcast HomepageKOXM PodcastAIRS: Weekly - Friday
LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Ryan McCaffrey, Dan Amrich
TOPIC: All things Xbox 360
LINK: KOXM Podcast FeedMajor Nelson RadioAIRS: Weekly - Saturday
LENGTH: .5 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Larry Hyrb, Eric Neustadte
TOPIC: All things Xbox 360
LINK: Major Nelson's Podcast HomepageMobCastAIRS: Weekly - Monday
LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Damian Lynn, Dan Hsu, Michael Donahoe, Greg Ford, Brett Bates, Jason Wilson, Aaron Thomas
TOPIC: Interviews with games industry folk, Games Played, News, E-Mails
LINK: BitMob's MobCast HomepagePodtoid AIRS: Wednesday - Weekly
LENGTH: 1.5 - 2 Hours
CREW: Jim Sterling, Anthony Burch, Topher Cantler, Aaron Linde, Samit Sarkhar, Brad Nicholson, Adam Dorphe
TOPIC: Games played, News, New Releases, E-Mails, special discussion topics
LINK: Destructoid.Com's Podtoid HomepageOut of the GameAIRS: Bi-Weekly
LENGTH: 1.5 Hours
CREW: Shawn Elliott, N'Gai Croal, Jeff Green, Robert Ashley, Luke Smith
TOPIC: General interests of the group: News, Games, Movies, TV, Books, Journalistic Integrity, etc
LINK: Out of The Game LibSyn Homepage
One Life LeftAIRS: Weekly - Tuesday
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CREW: Ste Curran, Simon Byron, Ann Scantlebury
TOPIC: Gaming News, discussion, interviews.... BRITISHBRITISHBRITAINTEPQMTGVCDS
LINK: OneLifeLeft.comPCGamer PodcastAIRS: Weekly - Thursday
LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Dan Stapleton, Evin Lotty, Andy Bowman
TOPIC: PC Gaming, Interviews with games industry
LINK: pcgamerpodcast.com/Penny Arcade PodcastAIRS: Once every few months
LENGTH: .5 - 1 Hour
CREW: Jerry Holins, Mike Krahulik
TOPIC: General gaming; ideas for the PA Comic
LINK: Penny Arcade Podcast RSS FeedRock Paper ShotgunAIRS: Monthly - 2 to 4 per Month
LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Kieron Gillen, John Walker, Jim Rossignol, Alec Meer
TOPIC: All things PC
LINK: LibSyn.com's RPS Wireless Show HomepageTalkRadarAIRS: Weekly - Friday
LENGTH: 2 - 3 Hours
CREW: Chris Antista, Brett Elston, Mikel Reparez, Tyler Wilde, Charlie Barrett, Henry Gilbert, Lizzy Quevas
TOPIC: Top 7 (Gamesradar Feature), News, Random gaming/ Popculture discussion, Community Segment
LINK: GamesRadar's Talkradar Compendium Homepage CURRENT 1UP Podcasts - 4 Guys 1 Up
AIRS: Weekly - Friday
LENGTH: 1.5 - 3 Hours
CREW: David Ellis, Matt Leone, Jeremy Parish, Scooter Libby,
TOPIC: Games Played, News, New Releases, E-Mails, Special discussion topics
LINK: 1UP's 4Guys1UP Homepage - RetronautsAIRS: Monthly - At least 2 per Month
LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Ray Barnholdt, Jeremy Parish, Chirs Kohler
TOPIC: Games that are old. Remakes/re-imaginings welcome
LINK: 1UP Retronauts Homepage - Sports AnomalyAIRS: Weekly
LENGTH: .5 Hours
CREW: Todd Zuniga, Greg Ford, Andrew Fitch, David Ellis
TOPIC: Everything sporting, and their associated games
LINK: 1UP Sports Anomaly HomepageARCHIVED 1UP Podcasts - GFW RadioLENGTH: 1 - 2 Hours
CREW: Jeff Green, Shawn Elliott, Ryan Scott, Anthony Gallegos, Robert Ashley, Sean Molloy
TOPIC: All things PC Gaming, and whatever the fuck Shawn Elliott's twisted mind is into that week
LINK: 1UP GFW Radio Homepage - 1UP YoursLENGTH: 2 - 3 Hours
CREW: Garnet Lee, Shane Bettenhausen, John Davison, Luke Smith, Bryan Intihar, Mark MacDonald, David Ellis, Andrew Pfister
TOPIC: Games Played, News, New Releases, E-Mails, Special discussion topics
LINK: 1UP's 1UP Yours Homepage - Listen UPLENGTH: 1 - 2.5 Hours
CREW: Garnet Lee, John Davison, David Ellis
TOPIC: Games Played, News, New Releases, E-Mails, Special discussion topics
LINK: 1UP Listen UP Homepage - 1UP FMLENGTH: 1.5 - 2 Hours
CREW: Phillip Kollar, Nick Suttner, entire 1UP Staff
TOPIC: Games Played, News, New Releases, E-Mails, Special discussion topics
LINK: 1UP's 1UP.FM Homepage - The 1UP Show (Video Podcast)LENGTH: .5 - 1 Hour
CREW: Matt Chandronait, Ryan O'Donnell, Jason Frechette (J-Fresh), Robert Bowen, Jason Bertrand, Cesar Quintero, entire 1UP Staff
TOPIC: In-depth round table discussion on new releases, interspersed with small skits
LINK: 1UP's 1UP Show Homepage - Legendary Thread (World of Warcraft)LENGTH: 1 - 1.5 Hours
CREW: Jeff Green, Ryan Scott, Damian Lynn, Karen Chu, Sean Molloy
TOPIC: All things World of Warcraft
LINK: 1UP Legendary Thread HomepageCURRENT IGN Podcasts
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GamescoopAIRS: Weekly - Friday
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CREW: Daemon Hatfield, Greg Miller, Craig Harris, various IGN editors filling in 4th, 5th, and sometimes 6th chairs
TOPIC: News, New Releases, E-Mails
LINK: Game Scoop RSS Feed Game Scoop IGN Blog IGN Podcast Homepage
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Three Red LightsAIRS: Weekly - Wednesday
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CREW: Eric Brudvig, Charles Onyett, Hilary Goldstein, Ryan Geddes
TOPIC: All things Xbox 360
LINK: Three Red Lights RSS Feed
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Podcast BeyondAIRS: Weekly - Thursday
LENGTH: 1 Hour
CREW: Greg Miller, Ryan Clements, Chris Roper
TOPIC: All things PS3
LINK: Podcast Beyond RSS Feed IGN Podcast Homepage
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Command PromptAIRS: Weekly - Tuesday
LENGTH: .5 - 1 Hour
CREW: Jeff Haynes, Steve Butts, Charles Onyett, Jason Ocampo
TOPIC: All things PC
LINK: Command Prompt RSS Feed IGN Podcast Homepage
Posts
now it will be easy to find!
For 1 hour!
Gamer Tag: LeeWay0
PSN: Leeway0
but sometimes
Man, brad
And whilst it might seem slightly prickly of me, the Bombcast in particular isn't really balanced and broad enough to have an overall 'game of the year' discussion with any real meaning. Which is fine - I don't think any podcast has that broad of a base, but others usually disclose their nature explicitly (will only discuss PC games, or Ninendo games, or portable games etc).
The Bombcast's mandate of 'a bunch of guys I like to listen to who play a shittonne of games' is enough for me.
This kind of debate is exactly what i want from GOTY discussions. Talking about why whatever deserves to be in that category and standing for your own choice.
Which is what I want in all podcasts, so most of the ones I listen to are from comedians
this i like and is what i listen to these casts for
it's when someone becomes totally insufferable to listen to that it becomes a problem
which is what happened with Brad today
I'm confused to what this means... what does it take to have a game of the year discussion with real meaning then? I can't figure out what you mean by balanced/broad.
I dunno man.
Never really got to that point for me. I find it interesting as they debate the definition of add ons.
I think what makes it drag on for so long is because neither ryan or jeff played either DLC so there's no majority vote on the category.
All right, people. It is not a gerbil. It is not a hamster. It is not a guinea pig. It is a death rabbit. Death. Rabbit. Say it with me, now.
But then Jeff killed the discussion for that game on a previous podcast, so it doesn't come as much of a suprise.
He strikes me as the guy who comes into the room knowing what his picks are, and he won't be swayed at all one way or the other. He just caves in if he's completely outnumbered.
I haven't listened to any of the deliberations yet. Mostly because I'm in Hong Kong right now, and won't get the opportunity to really listen to any of the podcasts until tomorrow night. Goddamn, that sixteen-hour flight is an endurance run in and of itself. Also, they lost our luggage.
Presumably, you need to play every single game on every system and figure out how to directly compare, say, Civilization 5 to Mass Effect 2.
Basically, there is no way to make it meaningful.
if there's any justice he'll at least pick up the Northie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpRkT9JxdnE
Exactly - one person can play and enjoy Minecraft, Red Dead Redemption, Starcraft II and 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, but it's not meaningful to make comparisons between them. And I'm saying that Giant Bomb isn't large or broad enough to even attempt it - and that I don't believe any organisation that actually has something interesting to say currently does either.
Which is fine - Giant Bomb is an entertainment podcast by very funny and intelligent people, and frequently offers interesting insight into a broad range of games. I'm just questioning whether time spent going back and forth at the micro-level comparing tiny aspects of two games is better spent than broader discussion on more games - I think the artificial construct of a 'Game of the year' becomes more of a barrier than a handy framework beyond a certain point.
"The setting is incidental to the quality of the storyline. Characters etc. don't matter at all."
can't be bothered to listen again now.
Speaking of dumb things the GB crew have said, jeff's comparison of how limbo and SMB are basically the same thing is dumb.
context not relevant to list
When does this end?
You'd think that someone would point out, "Hey, all we're doing now is basically saying, 'I respectfully disagree.' Maybe we should just skip this category? Or call it a tie?"
He was saying something about the setting and characters in Minerva's Den being lame but the story itself is fantastic
When you take out settings and characters I guess you're left with plot twists??
But yeah, whatever.
You realize that none of these websites are ever actually saying "THIS is the best Game of the entire year hands down fuck anyone who says otherwise!"
It's like, "Hey - we're website X and here's what we think was the best game we played." Which, if you respect and appreciate that website's opinions on things usually can be interesting.
Like just because I didn't play VVVVVV doesn't mean that I can't say "Hey, I think Mass Effect 2 was the best game I played this year."
Until he said Limbo was better than Super Meat Boy
Limbo is better than Super Meat Boy. Even a Brad clock is right twice a day.
Super Meat Boy is amazing
Brad is being dumb
But Limbo is in no way somehow more substantial than Super Meat Boy. That's insane.