Topic: Favourite Video Game Podcasts.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Not only do I spend a significant proportion of my free time playing games, I also seem to spend quite a lot of it doing...well...stuff like this blog. In other words, even when I'm not playing video games I'm more than likely doing something related to video game culture. In fact, thinking about it, I might actually spend as much time consuming video game related media (i.e. news, video, podcasts etc.) as I do actually playing video games. Now, that might have something to do with the fact that I only own a Wii and 3DS and am therefore limited (in the case of the Wii, very limited) to games which are released for those platforms. Still, I guess that's what being a fan means, thinking and talking about your hobby as much as actively partaking in it.
 
Of those ancillary video game activities, I have found podcasts to be one of the most engaging. They are not only an invaluable source of news and opinion, they also allow media outlets and companies to speak directly to the audience, and it is those podcasts which take full advantage of this fact that I tend to enjoy most. This topic of video game media, and podcasts in particular, has been on my mind in recent days due to the recent announcement that one of my favourite podcast personalities, Mr Greg Leahy, will be leaving Radio Free Nintendo next week. Of course, I've never met Mr Leahy personally, but having spent two hours every week for the last three years listening to his toughts, laughing at his jokes and ever so often disagreeing with his arguments, I feel like he's a person I've come to know.
 
With that, here's my favourite Video Game Podcasts.
 
10 - RebelFM - http://www.eat-sleep-game.com/news/category/rebel-fm-podcast/
 

 
Despite some gripes with the format, I keep coming back. RebelFM, hosted by former 1uper and current IGNer Anthony Gallegos, can often be a little exasperating to listen to, especially when the discussions get bogged down in tech jargon or when listener mail relates to unrequited love (a recurring theme on the show). However, their discussion of games and industry trends is worthwhile.
 
9 - Nintendo Voice Chat - http://feeds.ign.com/ignfeeds/podcasts/wii/
 

 
NVC can definitely be a little hit or miss. When Reese's Pieces aren't being consumed and when they actually manage to make it to the podcast booth rather than recording on an iPhone, NVC can be up there with the best. In my opinion the quality of the shows seems to be directly proportional to the involvement of a Mr Sam Claiborne, but maybe that's just me.
 
8 - 1up Yours - http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3149993
 

 
Including such podcast royalty as Garnett Lee, John Davison and Shane Bettenhausen, 1up Yours remains one of the best examples of how to do video game podcasts right.
 
7 - Wii-k in review - http://www.podfeed.net/podcast/Wii-k+in+Review+Podcast/13925
 

 
Matt Casamassina. Mark Bozon. Cass. Boz. Cass and Boz. This long suffering pair saw some dark days while covering Wii, but they sure as hell always managed to make me laugh. Sarcastic, laconic, derisive. This podcast had it all. By the way Cass and Boz, thanks again for the Zack & Wiki recommendation. Not so much for Battalion Wars 2, though.
 
6 - Retronauts - http://www.1up.com/do/minisite?cId=3156908
 

 
The amount of nerd knowledge that they managed to pack into each episode is staggering. If you care at all about retro video games this podcast is a must. Best of all, because this show was never topical to begin with it has stood the test of time. It's like a little time capsule of nerdiness.
 
5 - Retrocity - http://feeds.ign.com/ignfeeds/podcasts/retro/
 

 
Levi Buchanan has one fatal flaw. He's a fan of the Master System. Look past this deficiency, however, and you'll realise that this guy really loves video games. I mean really loves. Not only was this podcast really informative and interesting, it's littered with awesome video game music. The best thing about this podcast, however, has to be Levi's voice. I could listen to that guy read the phone book.
 
4 - 8-4 Play - http://www.giantbomb.com/podcast/2/
 

 
Mark 'gaming Jesus' MacDonald and his colleagues work in Japan primarilly localising Japanese games into English. As a result they have a unique perspective that might not be often heard in the west. Their discussion of popular Japanese games such as Monster Hunter and Demon Souls go into some depth, and it's here that the show really shines. Originally partnered with 1UP, the show can now be found on Giantbomb.
 
3 - A Life Well Wasted - http://alifewellwasted.com/
 

 
In this internet radio show Robert Ashley looks not so much at video games themselves, but rather at those people who love them. Be they developers, journalists, collectors, cosplayers, intellectuals or charity workers. It's a riveting show, and had it not been for the fact that only 6 episodes were ever released it might very well have been higher on this list.
 
2 - Giantbombcast - http://www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/
 

 
Why is the Giantbombcast awesome? I will defer to this clip,
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMBQrbtjPWI
 
1 - Radio Free Nintendo - http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rss/rfnmp3
 

 
As visitors to this site no doubt know, RFN has proved to be one of the best sources for mature and in-depth discussion of the video game industry. From debates about the relative merits of the jump mechanic in Super Ghouls and Ghosts to larger themes such as Nintendo's approach to hardware development, RFN has provided the most detailed discussion and analysis of Nintendo on the web. What also helps differentiate RFN from other gaming podcasts for me is the amount of listener interaction. Retro Active segments, in which listeners not only choose which game will be played but also contribute greatly to the discussion with comments and thoughts, are perhaps my favourite example of this. Each week, however, the RFN crew will also take emails from listeners (which, itself is not very novel), but whereas other podcasts can be derisive or often seem nonchalant when it comes to taking the opinions of their listeners, the members of RFN try to encourage participation as much as possible, taking quite alot of time to discuss these questions and opinions thoroughly.
 
Do you listen to many Video Game Podcasts? Which would you recommend? Let us know.

[ejamer]

I've listened to quite a few different gaming podcasts, but found myself turned off by the smug comments and rampant ignorance typically thrown in Nintendo's direction during most multi-platform podcasts.


The only gaming podcasts I actively make a point to listen to now are those from this site (Radio Free Nintendo being the banner show, but Radio Trivia Podcast, Connectivity, and The Famicast all being solid diversions).


Nintendo Heartcast from www.nintendojo.com is currently in a trial phase and seems ok.  I think the Airship Travelogues podcast from that site might be better than the Nintendo-centric one though.


I should give the RebelFM crew another listen. I remember distinctly enjoying what I heard from them in the past, despite some episodes getting hilariously off-track.  Seemed like a good group of guys who just loved gaming.

[Lithium]

I second A life well wasted. If it didn't only have 6 episodes with no new episodes since 2010 and the author constantly getting our hopes up with a new season which never pan out it would be objectively the best videogame podcast out there. If you've never listened to it it's almost like This American Life but focused solely on Video games. The episodes have no expiry date so you can listen to them even when they're a couple years old now and they wont be out dated.

but I don't listen to any video game podcasts outside of the NWR network for the same reason Ejamer says in the first paragraph of his post.

[BranDonk Kong]

I haven't listened to the Three Red Lights podcast in a long time (or whatever it's called now), but it was always pretty funny back in the day.

[NWR_Neal]

I'll give a little love to the Nintendo Heartcast and Airship Travelogues. I really like Noah and Evan over at Nintendojo, and whenever I listen to those shows, it's always awesome.

And, of course, I love my baby (Connectivity) and all the other NWR shows.

[Oblivion]

I'm a fan of the Gaming Union network: The Gaming Union podcast, Final Fantasy Union podcast, and Kingdom Hearts podcast. They've gone down hill quite a bit in my opinion, with none of the original cast still on the show today. However, it's still a solid podcast with great production values.

[Pixelated Pixies]

I should say that I'm also a fan of Connectivity, Famicast and of course the fantastic Radio Trivia. I just have more history with these other casts, hence why some of the NWR onces have not made my list. In terms of podcasts though, NWR is right up there with 1Up and Giantbomb for me.

[NWR_insanolord]

The only non-NWR gaming podcast I listen to anywhere near regularly is Weekend Confirmed. Garnett Lee, Jeff Cannata and whoever else they have on in a given week do a pretty good job of things. Not nearly RFN, not quite Connectivity, but still very good.

[TJ Spyke]

I'm sorry, but Giant Bombcast is easily one of the worst podcats I have ever heard. Retronauts and Nintendo Voice Chat are vastly superior to it.

[lolmonade]

I'm sorry, but Giant Bombcast is easily one of the worst podcats I have ever heard. Retronauts and Nintendo Voice Chat are vastly superior to it.

In all seriousness, I listened to an episode of Giant Bombcast, and it seemed like an unorganized mess where they barely spoke of video games.  Their conversations seemed like something you'd only understand if you've been listening for a long while.  Maybe I just hit a bad episode?

Other than the Nintendo World Report podcasts, I can recommend The Player One Podcast.  There's a bit less structure than RFN, but they are entertaining to listen to, and usually don't run over an hour and fifteen mins so they don't run on too long.

I used to listen to One Life Left, but they went on a break where they had a weekly game club going on, and it got a bit tedious hearing them speak of games either I never heard of or havent played since I was 8 (Populous, anyone?).  Their regular formatted show can be fun to listen to though.

I run into the same problem other people here have apparently: Podcast hosts who are consumed by their own hubris that are obnoxiously biased towards one console or another.  I appreciate the relative objectivity that the RFN members take when discussing the consoles/games.

[TrueNerd]

1Up Yours is my favorite podcast/radio show of any kind. The glory year with Shane, Luke, Garnett and John was lightning in a bottle. Usually the thing I look forward to the most at any E3 is their annual reunion shows.


I can't stand Giant Bombcast. I was a fan of Gamespot's podcast when all those dudes were over there, but they just talk about EVERYTHING and a large part of it is so not interesting to me. I keep giving it chances, but I can't get into it.

And I used to love RFN, but it's been really downhill since Greg left. jk lol.

[broodwars]

As an RPG fan and someone who does a lot of driving and tedious work, I listen to a lot of podcasts:

I'm not a fan of the Giant Bombcast either.  Of the typical 2 hour or so podcast, probably at most half of that is actually talking about games.  The rest is just boring, random, tangential B.S. I couldn't care less about, which leads to me usually skipping the vast majority of the episode.  When they're on-message and talking about games, it's an entertaining podcast but that's usually the vast minority of the time any given episode.

I also highly recommend Weekend Confirmed; The Player One Podcast; The Power Button Podcast; and GameTrailers' Invisible Walls Podcast for general gaming conversation.  I occasionally listen to the Rebel FM Podcast as well, but their quality is not very consistent so it can be a hard listen.  Similarly, I listen to the occasional 8-4 Play Podcast, but only when they're talking about more general topics that have relevance here in the West.  I really don't give a damn what the Japanese are playing, especially given their radically different (and I'd argue incredibly worse) taste displayed in the Top 20 lists each week in the Sales thread.  I used to listen to Retronauts back when Jeremy Parish ran it, but IMO it's just been crap ever since they started doing these "Live" shows.

There's also the GameCritics.com Podcast, which is very good and very analytical general gaming conversation (even if sometimes they probably think too much of themselves).  However, I single it out here because while I enjoy it more times than not, a good number of you folks probably won't because the site is pretty openly not Pro-Wii Generation Nintendo.  They even have an entire episode devoted to explaining why they aren't fond of Nintendo so much anymore. The staff's reception to Xenoblade on Twitter seems to be the lone exception in quite a few years, and I expect there will probably be a podcast about that soon.

On the more specialized side, I'm also fond of the RPG-centric RPGamer.com "RPG Backtrack" and "RPGCast", though the RPGCast can be more than a bit dry at times and the quality of RPG Backtrack varies wildly depending on the RPG series or game they're covering.  Roleplayers' Realm is very good as well for RPG Discussion, but Kat Bailey rarely ever puts out an episode anymore.  Still, it's worth a listen on one of the episodes just to hear a 30+ year old games writer bitch about how Square-Enix owes him a FF 7 remake.      

I also listen to Podcast Beyond for Sony gaming-only Conversation, as well as a new Sony-only podcast I just started listening to called the PS Nation Podcast.  That PS Nation one is actually surprisingly good, as I just randomly found it browsing the internet and like Player One; RFN; and Weekend Confirmed there's a very good flow to it and the crew works well together.

[Pixelated Pixies]

In defense of the Bombcast I would argue that, while it certainly isn't for everyone, for those who do get it it's absolutely hilarious. I've actually had to refrain from listening to the Bombcast on my bus journey to work as I am unable to stifle my laughter and end up looking like a maniac. It's true that only around half of the discussions actually concern video games, but that in itself isn't a bad thing. Ultimately, the bombcast is just a bunch of really close friends who are hysterically funny. It's certainly not as focused or as serious as other podcasts out there, but that's why I like it.

[TJ Spyke]

The killing point to me was when they spent about 15 minutes eating and talking about some snacks a fan had sent them. I get some people like that kind of stuff, I don't. I have no problems with going off on tangents, but they do it way too often in my taste.

[lolmonade]

In defense of the Bombcast I would argue that, while it certainly isn't for everyone, for those who do get it it's absolutely hilarious. I've actually had to refrain from listening to the Bombcast on my bus journey to work as I am unable to stifle my laughter and end up looking like a maniac. It's true that only around half of the discussions actually concern video games, but that in itself isn't a bad thing. Ultimately, the bombcast is just a bunch of really close friends who are hysterically funny. It's certainly not as focused or as serious as other podcasts out there, but that's why I like it.

I guess that's my problem with it.  It feels like hanging out with some people who have been good friends with each other for a while, and you're the new guy hanging out with them.  They're having their own conversation referring to people you dont know or inside jokes, and while it makes them laugh hysterically, you're sitting there wondering what was so funny.
 
I might be patient with a group of friends who do this, but for me Podcasts are something that have to draw me in quickly to maintain my interests.  If not, there's thousands of others out there that are more worthy of my listening time.