msdmoney

Anyone else listening to gaming podcasts?

I have been listening to video game podcasts quite a bit at work. They are great to pass the time and much more convenient methods (for me) of getting game opinions and industry news than reading gaming websites. They have also turned me on to games I would have probably passed by otherwise, despite hearing good things (Company of Heroes for the PC comes to mind).

I started with 1upyours, I really like the dynamic of the group, the clash of personalities and game tastes makes for an interesting discussion and different perspectives (kind of like the EGM reviews). I think it is missing something without Luke Smith's involvement, not that he was my favorite, at times he was rather annoying, but his personality and rants (even when I disagreed) added something that is now missing.

I also listen to GFW radio, which is a PC gaming podcast. Although most here aren't PCgamers, I would reccomend it, as I think they have the most entertaining podcast personalities. Jeff Green and Shawn Elliot have made me laugh out loud a lot, almost embarrassingly at work. They go off on tangents all the time that are almost always funny and entertaining with a lot of self-deprecating humor and Shawn Elliot's voices, and are frank enough to just come out and say a game sucks.

I have been listening to the PCgamer podcast too, they have lots of great interviews, but I'm not sure they are as frank, and are a little more serious than the 1up associated podcasts.

I have tried EGMlive and the 1up show, haven't gotten too into those yet, but I listen to them every once in a while.

I know there was an old discussion here, but the thread title was started about the 1upshow. http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=474723

DodgingCars

I listen to a few... mostly cause it's something to do while I'm at work. I listen to tons of podcasts while I work.

1up Yours is decent, though their anti-Wii bias is kinda annoying.
CAGcast is pretty entertaining.
Wii-k in review (IGN) is really good for Wii news.

There's a few others I listen to too.

Chris_D

I'd recommend Team Freemont Live - the drunken gamers. These guys drink pretty steadily through the 90 minutes plus breaks of podcast, and they often have interesting and humourous things to say. Also they review recent games and even break the occasional scoop, eg. Raiden 4 on live arcade. The focus is pretty much entirely arcade and console, no PC here.

http://www.teamfremont.com/TFL.php

Gamers with Jobs is my favourite podcast apart from 1UP Yours. As per the title, these guys are pretty much at the same point in their life as me (eg. middle aged, working, some with family), so in that way I feel it speaks to me a lot more than some of the podcasts done by the younger guys. Also, they pull in some surprisingly good interviews with guys in the industry, recently Bioshock's Ken Levine, and Jeff Green from GFW a while ago. Also, they do cover PC games pretty heavily. Highly recommended.

http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/

I do also like Broadcastgamer. It's pretty laid back, but they talk a lot about console games, including rpgs, and they have an enjoyable segment called the backlog box, where they pull a random game out of their backlog (most of us have a pretty huge backlog) and play it for 2 hours that week. Then they give their insights the following week. It can be interesting to get some thoughts on an older game that maybe you never got round to back in the day. Also they have a Top 3 segment each week which is pretty fun.

http://www.broadcastgamer.com/

As previously said, 1UP yours and GFW Radio are both outstanding podcasts.

boredsilly

I love GFW now. They have a nice mix of personalities and can be really funny at times.
Can't help it. I just loves the voices.

Baron Of Hell

I like Gamers With Jobs. The Hot Spot, and Cagcast.

JaxComet

All Games Interactive is a great podcast but not for everyone. It's a daily (Monday thru Friday) podcast and normally runs around 2 hours with Friday editions sometimes going as long as 7 hours. (great for at work listening)

It's a bit like listening to Howard Stern in that they have a cast of characters that make the show a riot. New listeners may be turned off as they won't be familiar with many of the in jokes, characters, etc.


The CagCast is also provides good information and is good for a laugh.

Michael Corvin

I've been wanting to start a similar thread to find some more recommendations. Here's what I listen to weekly:

1up Yours - Agreed, still the best but definitely missing something without Luke. He wasn't my favorite either but he added something to the dynamic that they haven't been able to replicate. I did like Jeff Green on there, I think he came the closest even though I could care less about GFW. He was still entertaining and could rant almost as well as Luke.

CAGCast - Second fave. Cheapy and Wombat have great chemistry. Plus it is nice hearing from fellow gamers than corporate insiders.

The Hotspot - This one has slowly crept up my playlist. I generally get more laughs out of this one than any of the others. Not that the guys hare hysterical or anything, but they get in a groove that is very entertaining.

EGMLive - This one is a nice companion to 1up since the guys crossover a bit. Plus Jennifer Tsao has a refreshing voice and perspective in the male dominated podcast and gaming world. I usually use this podcast to break up the others just because of her. The only drawback to this one is that annoying fucking Batman sound effect. It is a running joke that ran on way longer than it should have. i.e. more than once.

Xbox Live's Major Nelson - How the mighty have fallen. Used to be second to 1up but I'm a few behind and not as eager to listen to right away. He was a one man, doing-his-own-thing mouthpiece for the gamers to MS. That turned sour for me when he had the EA executive on about six months ago and basically agreed on everything the guy said about Marketplace content pricing. It was at that point he became the mouthpiece for MS. Still does some decent interviews, but on the whole hard to listen to anymore.

IGN is AFK - This one is a nice side podcast. They take one topic and spend the entire show debating/discussing it. Great idea.

IGN Gamescoop - This has dropped down my list as well. Still pretty good, but how do you have a general gaming podcast without a Nintendo guy? The 'Nintendo Team' has their own podcast which leads us to...

IGN Wiikly - a complete snoozefest. I still listen, but the guys definitely sound like they would rather be doing something else, which makes for a very boring listen. Not to mention at least 2-3 times a show the guys flaunt all the insider info they have and don't reveal any of it. "yea, we knew about Nights a year ago!," "We have big news... coming around the bend in a few weeks. We can't tell you now, but WE KNOW." Shut the fuck up and just talk about shit you do know. kthx!

Retronaughts - Don't listen to all the time, but it nice filler discussing the VC and XBLA releases of the week and just general retro games.

=========================================================
I gave up on:
Joystiq - Another snoozefest. Guys with little personality/chemistry that bring little to the table all these others already cover.

Player 1 - same deal

DS Radio - I think that's the name. A couple of regular guys discussing DS related things. Unfortunately they ramble... a LOT. They can and have spent a half hour discussing bugs in one game. zzzzzzzzz..... Each one is usually well over two and a half hours. If they just tightened up their format and went buy a guideline, shaved about an hour off their run time, this one could be decent.

Gromit

I listen to the 1upyours podcast, but sometimes it's too long.

EGMLive isn't bad. There's something about Jennifer's voice.

Major Nelson is OK. What drives me nuts is that he won't turn down the levels on his microphone. The guy has a radio background yet he always sounds like he's shoved the mic half-way down his throat. Quit yelling at me Major. His co-host sounds fine, but Major distorts like crazy. I'm also getting tired of the "flirt with Trixie" segments.

lordwow

CAGCast is awesome.

Chris_D

I don't mind EGM live, but I find Jennifer Tsao squeaky and annoying. Nothing she ever says really gels with me either. If we're talking 1UP chicks though, I think Karen on Legendary Thread adds a pretty good dynamic to that podcast. She usually has something pretty entertaining to say.

Gamespot's Hotspot is pretty sad. Especially since 1UP Yours got big (maybe a year ago), it seems they've been trying even harder to be cool, funny, and out there. It always sounds so terribly fake (see the retarded intros each show). I have admit, I listen to it most of time, but I'm never far away from the unsubscribe button.

Nelson was always a mouth piece for MS, and I think subscribers must surely know what they're getting into there. I agree he softballed the EA interview but was not particularly surprised.

areacode212

I mainly listen to the PC Gamer Podcast nowadays, and I think they manage to keep a good balance of humor and professionalism. Their interviews are pretty infrequent though; other than that Shadowrun developer a couple of weeks ago, I can't recall the last one they did. The Next-Generation Podcast (now Game Theory) was pretty good, too, though it concentrated more on the business side of the industry, and they also had a good Ken Levine interview--he's a pretty interesting guy to listen to.

I listened to some of the early GFW podcasts, and I found them pretty annoying. A friend of mine swears that they've gotten a lot better, so I'll probably give them another shot.

I also listened to Orange Lounge Radio for a while, but I found two of the three hosts utterly unbearable.

msdmoney

I went back to the beginning and started listening to the PCgamer podcast, in the beginning they had interviews almost every week.

I forgot to mention the CAGcast, I like getting the perspective of the average gamer, and Cheapy has had some interesting interviews.

DVDChris

I'm pretty much with everyone else. I like the 1up yours podcast, CAGcast, and my favorite is GameSpot's Hotspot. I'll have to listen to the Gamers With Jobs podcast.

PixyJunket

I've always imagined a video game podcast being an hour of people dribbling off tired forum fads like woot and meh along with vocalizing shorthand like lol and omg and have stayed far away.

boredsilly

Corvin, you must be my antithesis. While Luke definitely added something dynamic to 1up Yours, he really irritated the living hell out of me. Such a smarmy little bastard. Since he's gone to greener pastures I've found the show to be so much more enjoyable. The Jeff Green week was a real good one, and a couple of the other guys they've brought in (the intern and the guy from EGM - Sharky or something?) have been really good too.

While the Hotspot has slowly crept down my playlist. They didn't really change anything, but I just haven't enjoyed it that much lately. I guess I like the more round-table discussion approach that 1up Yours and GFW take, versus the news rundown approach of Hotspot. I do still like Jeff and his schtick though.

Retronaughts can be pretty good, but that depends a lot on the topic. The Starcraft episode was really great. But then it also had a guest panel full of some of the better guys from the other 1up shows.

I'm curious - do you not care about GFW because you don't play PC games or because you don't like the show?

JaxComet

The key is to look for podcasts that highlight gaming but have their own charm and comedy built in. Anyone can look up video game news on the internet. You don't need a serious podcast for that.

DodgingCars

I totally agree about Luke Smith. Good riddance.

boredsilly

Good to know I'm not the only one who is instantly turned off by vocalizing net shorthand. I listened to a show where the guy insisted on calling news "newses". The hell you want to go and do that for?

Draven

I get most of my gaming info from podcasts now, as I don't have to seek out the news, I just listen.

Favorite is The Hot Spot, hands down. If I didn't know any better, I'd think they had scripts in front of them. Especially Rich and Jeff - I wish I could be that quick on my feet.

After that, I'd say that the Cagcast is next - a great website with some great chemistry between the hosts. I also like how they involve their wives, cities, and jobs in the show. Makes it seem more real. My wife and I are probably going to go to Tokyo two summers from now and I've learned a lot about the city just listening to CheapyD.

1UpYours is ok, though I get really tired of the whole "Gamecube with waggle" schtick and I think Shane is a complete waste of space and comes across as the arrogant EB employee who is just regurgitating rumor and opinion and calling it fact. I also don't like how he skirts NDA stuff. If you can't talk about it, don't say "Well...I can't talk about that." He pulls that shit all the time. Yes, I know, you are "in the know" and a big shot. STFU about it already. I like the rest of the guys though.

I occassionally listen to EGM Live but Jennifer Tsao is kinda blah. I enjoyed the episodes when she was on maternity leave more than any others. It's not that she's a girl, she just seems to have a really meek and timid personality, so when she does rant about something it seems really out of place. I was sorry to see Carrie from The Hot Spot go because not only could she hold her own with the guys, she was geniunely intelligent and made a lot of great points.

Occasionally I'll listen to The Totally Rad Show which has a gaming section, but I feel like I'm listening to a review of a game from someone that doesn't know much about video games. They make a lot of mistakes, they can't remember names of common games that EVERYONE knows and it's generally pretty sloppy.

Michael Corvin

No, I don't do PC gaming. I really liked Jeff on 1up Yours. I think he was probably more entertaining than Luke, which says a lot since I don't play games on the PC. Wish they would have gone with him as a replacement. The only thing that bothered me about Luke on 1up was the Gamecube with waggle shit. Shane used to irritate the hell out of me, but I think he's toned down his PS3 and Sony are gods attitude enough to be tolerable. He always seemed like the third string jock in high school to me. Thinks he big shit when he's not. All talk and no game, if you will. Coincidentally I think he toned down about the time Luke left. I really like Garnett and John. They seem to be along my line of thinking when it comes to games. Both of them outweigh the bad for me.

the Hotspot rundown: I think that's why I like it. Every other podcast follows basically the same round table discussion. It comes off as them hanging out and shooting-the-shit, which works, IMO.

Retronauts definitely depends on the topic, which is why it is basically filler for me. If I've listened to everything else for the week, then I'll put it on, but it isn't something I gravitate towards.
Which is why I like it. 97% of all the other personalities on these shows all think their hot shit. She just seems normal to me, like Garnett and John on 1up. Relatable.

boredsilly

Oh yeah, that was really bad, but I like that about the show. They never try to hide their bias. As it turns out, Luke looks like an idiot giving the Wii the blues

About Shane, he's definitely cooled down since Luke left, but you can tell he thinks he's hot shit. That amuses me. He does contribute the, if I may use a fellow forum member as an example, the PixyJunket view to the show though. He'll talk about obscure japanese rpg's and shooters and shit like that. Nobody else really covers that side of gaming on the show.

Fanboy

If you can handle the profanity/immaturity/irregularity, then the VideoGameNews Radio podcast is a hoot. I think they're on a 3-week hiatus right now, but I've never laughed so hard at a video game podcast as I do at their bi-weekly shows.

Content wise, it is mostly running down the charts, some newsbits, and game reviews all from the perspective of three working-class hosts. It's definitely a case of the cast being better than the material.

http://www.videogamenews.com/

The only other podcast I listen to is the CAGcast. Cheapy and Wombat have a great chemistry.

Draven

Well, I like Garnett and John too. My main problem with Jennifer is the whole "So....hey everyone...and...uhhhh....welcome to the EGM Live podcast for....uhhh....June 26th". Makes me think that every show is a surprise to her. She sounds like the ill-prepared hosts on our college talk show (and I was one of them )

Michael Corvin

I'll give you that.

xmiyux

I liked Luke a good deal and was sad to see him go. He was the one who i thought really called stuff as he saw it. Even when i disagreed with him he made no bones about his strong opinion and stated it in an over-the-top fashion that was humorous and quite on point. I even liked all his "with waggle" stuff because many of the early games on the Wii seemed to implement the controller poorly (like early DS games had lame stylus controls versus the cool stuff that is being done now).

I'm hoping Bungie starts a regular podcast with Luke on the thing when H3 ships.