FakeKisser

I forgot that Idle Hands is coming back. I heard about them right as they stopped before. I just downloaded their latest podcast from this past week.

I also downloaded RebelFM (which I've heard of but never listened to), The Besties (I also like McElroy), and VideogamesHotDog (never heard of it, but I will try it!).

I'm also going to check out Game Scoop. I forgot to mention that I used to listen to the GameSpy Podcast, and I see Game Scoop has Anthony Gallegos who used to be on the GameSpy Podcast.

After these, I'll try some of the others suggested. I'm not ignoring those, but I have to start somewhere. :D

I'll update my original post as I listen to some of these podcasts to give some feedback and hopefully help others that may be looking. :)

Thanks!!!

I am actually in the process of going completely digital. So, I'm re-buying every boxed PC game via GOG or Steam. I think it is worthwhile, especially when the games are on sale. Having the digital copy gives me access to the game anywhere, sometimes there are even cloud saves, and I get the patches/updates automatically through GOG or Steam. And in the case of GOG, I can run the games much easier due to their work.

Before making this decision, though, I actually did buy a couple boxed games that I already had digital copies of... I know it sounds crazy, but there was a time when I was nervous about trusting my entire gaming catalog to a digital distribution platform. I know Valve has said they will un-DRM Steam if they ever go under (at this point, I doubt that will ever happen, and if Valve went under, I'm confident Steam would just be sold and continue to run). However, if Steam ever did go down completely without that happening, those games would not exist. My box copies would.

I've just decided, at this point, that the risk is small for such a disaster, so I'm going all digital and re-buying every PC game I own, though it may take me another year or so to get fully caught up (just because I don't want to spend all that money at once).

Hello, everyone!

I'm sure there have been other threads about this, but I wanted to give my own preferences in hopes of getting more targeted answers. I know there's a lot of text here...

Here's the podcasts I currently listen to:

Giant Bombcast (of course!): It's obviously not a surprise that this is my favorite podcast. I love the wealth of knowledge the cast has, as well as the humor. Everyone seems casual. There's no awkwardness from someone trying to be too "serious" or stick to an exact schedule. And they talk about games I care about (especially PC games).

PC Gamer Podcast: This is my second favorite, because I'm primarily a PC gamer. The cast isn't (as a whole) as solid as of late (especially since Dan Stapleton left). However, there are still great people on it, it's still done well, and it is all about PC games, which I'm most interested in.

Weekend Confirmed: This is my third favorite. I like the cast (though some of them can a little too obstinate at times), and they talk about games in an intelligent and fun way. Again, they also talk about PC games, which I really appreciate. Really love the Jeffs!

PC Gamer UK Podcast: Another PC games podcast. I find some of the cast a little awkward, and the conversations are not always very humorous, but they generally talk about games I care about and have some funny moments. It only comes out once or twice a month, though.

Rock, Paper, Shotcast: Another PC gaming podcast consisting of a British cast. Generally, I have the same feedback for this one as the PC Gamer UK Podcast. RPS is even more rare than the PCG UK Podcast. It's also shorter, which I actually like. I don't really need/want more 2+ hour podcasts. :)

And I used to listed to...

IGN Command Prompt: It was their PC games podcast, but it's been dead for 2 years. I just wanted to mention it, in case anyone here remembers it. They had some great conversations and was very similar in tone to the PC Gamer (US) Podcast.

The GameSpy Debriefings: This is another dead podcast, but I found it informative and pretty entertaining. It was mostly due to the cast that were well informed and had opinions I trusted. They also spoke about PC games quite a bit. They did get a little silly at times, but it generally didn't get too bad...

Okay, and here are podcasts I've tried but just didn't appeal to me:

Eight-Four Play: I have a lot of respect for these guys, but I rarely play Japanese games. Also, the podcast can get very silly sometimes, and they tend to talk over each other a lot, which is hard for me to listen to (just a personal pet peeve of mine). Note: I'm not saying they are dumb, or that it's a bad podcast. It's just not really the tone I'm looking for.

Gamer's With Jobs Conference Call: I'm a married gamer with a full-time job. So, I can relate to that strongly. However, I didn't jive with the personalities on this podcast. Some of the humor is forced or seems too much like "inside jokes" between close friends. Also, I feel they try a little too hard to be "professional," and it can come off feeling stiff. Personally, I didn't get much gaming knowledge out of this podcast, as it seemed just to be mostly opinions (didn't seem like a lot of "insider" info from the industry), and while that can be fine, I didn't really dig it due to the personalities. Again, I'm not saying it's a bad podcast, or that the people aren't intelligent or qualified. It's just a personal preference.

CAGcast: Love this site, but, again, I am not a fan of all the personalities on the show. They also don't talk enough about games for me. In the several months I listened to the cast, I felt like I heard more about the castmembers' lives than news about games, mainly because they are focused on reviewing games and their lives as gamers, which is great, but it's just not what I'm looking for.

VGW's Unlimited Ammo: This is the podcast for a smaller site (videogamewriters.com). I decided to try it out the last few weeks. It's nice to hear some more "regular gamers" talk about games (i.e. not a major gaming journo outlet). However, I'm just not into the personalities here, either. The humor is just not my style, and I feel some of the cast is trying too hard to be funny or cynical or tongue-in-cheek.

So....given all of that, does anyone have any other recommendations you can give? I'd love it if you'd give one or two sentences (or more) on why you like the podcast you're suggesting, since that can give me an idea of what to expect.

I think I should try the @Gamer podcast and Game Informer podcast. I know GameTrailers.com has a podcast as well that I've never listened to.

Thanks!!!!

I also liked this game a lot. It's not my Game of the Year, but I thought Rockstar did a great job. It's not the same as the first two games, but I played all 3 games in a 2 month period, and I thought it actually felt pretty cohesive. The 2nd game was already pretty different from the first one, and I now feel it's the weakest one.

I played through Yakuza 1 a couple years ago, and I really didn't love it. It was very repetitive, and the story didn't draw me in at all. The world didn't feel "alive" or particularly appealing. I kind of want to give the other games a try, though, based on other things I've heard.

@RPGee said:

Extra Lives by Tom Bissell. It's probably not for everyone, but it's pretty amazing in my books.

I just finished that book. I think it's worth a read for any gamer interested in narrative in games.

I own several others that I am about to start such as The Ultimate History of Video Games, mentioned in a previous post.

Great article! Thank you! I'm holding out for the game on Steam where it will get all the patching it needs and deserves...

@JoeyRavn I feel like people have to be trolling with some of the things that have won... :(

The good news is that a lot of the "losers" in those votes still come up in the Flash Deals. So, I'm hopeful for a Jagged Alliance and Red Faction (Franchise) Sale, whether they are daily deals or Flash.

@ck1nd : My wife actually makes about $25 an hour now, but we live in Connecticut where it's expensive! :P I currently make a bit more than her, so it would make more sense for her to quit, but it will all depend on the cost of childcare and whatnot. If it's more expensive to send a kid to daycare than what my wife makes, we'll obviously reconsider.

P.S. @ck1nd I'd definitely read that blog!!

@tunaburn : I always forget kids go to bed so early. That's a really big point, since I only get 1-2 hours most nights anyway. :)

@AgnosticJesus : I'm 30, so I'm not so young. However, I think you are generally correct that it's people still trying to figure out what they want their life to be about. Where I live (around NYC), people live differently at 30 than they do in, let's say, Missouri (where my parent's live), for example. In MO, many people get married and start having kids before 30. In my area, people are still holding off on those commitments at 30 for various reasons - and just to be clear, they aren't all "childish" reasons - some people just focus on their career, working long hours to "get ahead" or make lots of money. Generally, though, there isn't social pressure to start families until later, so most people spend more time figuring out what they want to do with their life. :)

I seriously love this thread!

@ck1nd : My wife and I have talked about how awesome it would be for me to be the stay-at-home Dad, since I could also do some writing. However, her job currently doesn't pay enough for me to do that. So, I'm not sure if it will really ever happen.

@Hizang : I understand what you mean about kids being in daycare so long, but I see it a different way. I was in daycare as a child, and it taught me to be independent of my parents (in a healthy way) and social. I'm not saying that all or even most kids that grow up with a stay-at-home parent grow up to be clingy or anti-social (see my comment to ck1nd above about how I'd like to stay at home...), but I'm just saying that there can be negatives to that. It's not a perfect option, either. So, I don't think it's bad for a kid to be in daycare for part of their day, just like they will be in school and then work for part of their day later in life. Plus, some people get paid enough to pay for childcare and still have extra money to spend on their family. So, they can support the family better, prepare for the future, go on more vacations, give their child more (and not just spoiling them...). That's the main reason my parents both worked, and it meant we actually had more. :)

@mipeha : Dude, I totally get that. I've been gaming since I was born (my dad put me on his knee while he gamed). However, it has actually increased in the last few years, and I've finally realized more about what I want to do for a living. It's obviously very common today that people don't figure that out until their late 20's or 30's (or later). My mom just went back to school about 5 years ago to be a teacher. So, anyway, my biggest "concern" about having kids now is that I feel like I've finally figured out my "true" (or biggest) passion and what I may want to do with my life/career (not games journalism, but another form of writing). And now kids may be on the way... However, I'm coming to terms with the fact that kids don't mean the end of things. They can be a beginning or just another thing... Afterall, most people have to work after college to pay bills. Work eats up a lot of time, and so the same frustrations can come if you're working a job that's not your passion while also trying to do something else on the side that is!

I hope that's all coherent. :P