Today we’re going to talk podcasts. As my job is to drive around all day, I have an extensive list of podcasts I listen to that help get me through the day. This is also what inspires some of my ideas for posts and I seem to reference them a good amount. So now I present you a long list of said ‘casts so you too can enjoy them (even though you probably already have heard of most if not all of them).
My first love. There’s nothing better than having your weekend confirmed with Garnett and the gang. Well, there are better things, but lets allow for some hyperbole. A very simple gaming podcast. Segments on what people are playing, current game news and 1UP community questions. Always entertaining, never let’s me down.
The first video podcast on the list. The best thing about anything on 1UP is the more realistic feeling. This comes across best in the 1UP Show. Not shot on a stage like Gamespot’s On The Spot, the segments about games are shot in more organic settings and are much more like a few friends sitting around and discussing games. Also, best theme song ever.
Yet another 1UP podcast. This one is devoted to the old games we know and love/hate. It’s always nice to learn about games that I may have been too young for or too poor to own the system they existed on. It’s like Gaming History 101.
Formerly the Arrow Pointing Down podcast, this is the baby of exGamespot writers, Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. Usually starting out with some sort of on air drink tasting and progressing to games and gaming news, it is one of the more unique gaming podcasts around. With the Giant Bomb site is just beginning, I can only imagine what this podcast will become. Always fun to start listening at the beginning, hop on it now.
The video podcast that goes along with Digg.com. Kevin and Alex talk about some of the big stories on Digg that week. Mildly entertaining, not really a must watch every week since I’ve usually seen the stories on Digg before they talk about them. Also, Kevin Rose strikes me as a large douche.
Downloadable Content (The Penny-Arcade Podcast)
While not a weekly podcast, when it sporadicly shows up on the feed, I get pretty excited. This is simply listening to Mike and Jerry as they brainstorm to create a comic. Since it always comes out after the comic does, it is really interesting to listen to the processes of how they came to that specific idea. It’s always fun to have a look behind the scenes, I just wish they put this out more often.
EGM’s weekly, misleadingly not live podcast. Lots of different segment types and everyone favorite EGM writers, this is another great cast from the 1UP crew. Surprisingly all of these 1UP podcasts feel very different, so there isn’t any reason to fear repetition and bordem.
This is a very by the numbers movie podcast. Weekly reviews and top 5 lists of different things. I’ve learned about a lot of different directors and films I wouldn’t have never seen because of this cast. Sometimes a bit boring and often has terrible music.
Another podcast about video games! Holy crap! Not much special about this one. They discuss game industry news more so than most other ones and I tend to disagree with them more than I do with other podcasts. Still a pretty good source of news analysis.
Quickly becoming one of my favorite sites/podcasts, the GWJ conference call is a great game discussion podcast. Like many it has the “So what is everyone here played recently?” section, but unlike many they usually have very unique and interesting questions and segments. Mix that with occasional guests from the industry and you’ve got yourself a nice hour or two of entertainment.
Honestly, I’m not really sure why I still listen to this. It has totally become the “who is leaving Gamespot this week?” show. I still like the people but there’s definitely something missing without Rich, Jeff, Ryan and Alex. But I have a lot of car time during the week so I need stuff to fill it and this gets the job done.
Probably the funniest podcast around. I don’t do very much PC gaming at all, which is why it took me a long time to start listening to this one but, goddamn if it isn’t amazing. The chemistry between the cast is the best of any on the list. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, there isn’t a ton of talk about PC gaming. Getting sidetracked is where the best parts of the show come from. That and Shawn Elliot’s raps.
A video podcast about comics. I’m not super into comics so I only tend to watch these if the subject catches my interest. That’s the nice thing about it, you can pick and choose episodes depending on what kind of comics you want to learn about. If you want to get into comics this is a great place to start.
The game news super site Joystiq’s weekly podcast. The usual game podcast set up but great hosts make it stand out. It can definitely rival GFW Radio for laughs. And like other good podcasts, it feels like a few friends talking about games, which is a plus in my book. Also played with 2/3 of the hosts in COD4 which is pretty sweet.
While it hasn’t had a new episode since January 21st, this is Kevin Smith’s podcast about everything/nothing. You never know what will be talked about during this hour, but you can be sure you’ll laugh. I know a lot of people don’t like Kevin Smith but I can’t seem to get enough. I enjoy listening to the man talk and tell stories. Upside, he’s working on a new movie. Downside, we don’t get many podcasts these days.
Another video podcast from Revision3, the video podcast kings. Like iFanboy, this is a podcast I only watch if the subject on it grab me. I don’t have a Mac so I have no interest in watching episodes about them. As tech related podcasts go this is a good one and doesn’t make me feel stupid. But it does make me feel poor.
Another one of the first podcasts I got into. This video podcast is full of everything I’d want to know about with segments about games, movies, TV, comics etc. It’s nice that the Jeff, Dan and Alex tend to have different opinions on things, it gets boring when everyone on a show has the same thing to say about everything.
Monday nights at 10 EST you can find me in the chat field of The Triple Feature. This is hosted by the creators of three different web comics and is my favorite movie podcast. They use Talkshoe to do it which means you can listen live and chat with them as it’s going on. I recommend showing up some Monday night, it’s a good time.
Another one that I really only listen to to fill time. Major Nelson is a Microsoft mouth piece and while listening I more often than not find myself sighing. He is pretty annoying, but there can be some good interviews from time to time. His cohost e seems far more human and makes it a bearable experience.
