Seeking new Gaming Podcast(s)

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!!!!

Check out http://videogameshotdog.com/

From the same fine folks who brought you http://www.kingdomofloathing.com/

You could try Rebel FM at eat-sleep-game.com. When I had the time, that was my third podcast after Bombcast and Weekend Confirmed.

Any Destructoid fans want to chime in on the Podtoids? I keep meaning to try it out but never do.

I would recommend The Besties. It's a podcast run by Polygon (theverge.com/gaming). With Justin McElroy who have been a guest at the bombcast a couple of times. It's a podcast where every week they each bring one game released that week and try to decide upon which game is the best and at the end of the year decide the game of the year. It's quite funny with lots of banter between them. It's nice because it's not just the same format as most other gaming podcasts.

It sounds like you would definitely like Idle Thumbs.

@ikwal said:

I would recommend The Besties. It's a podcast run by Polygon (theverge.com/gaming). With Justin McElroy who have been a guest at the bombcast a couple of times. It's a podcast where every week they each bring one game released that week and try to decide upon which game is the best and at the end of the year decide the game of the year. It's quite funny with lots of banter between them. It's nice because it's not just the same format as most other gaming podcasts.

Sold! The more McElroy, the better.

Rooster Teeth Podcast/DrunkTank.

Awesome podcast.

Back when I had a job that allowed me to listen to my ipod 8 hrs a day I listened to several casts.

The Bombcast, Beyond, Game Scoop, 3 Red Lights, 1up Yours (and it's various forms), The Hotspot, Rebel FM, Joystiq Cast, Kotaku Cast, GeekBox, Retro-Nauts, etc. Basically anything and everything.

After that job went down south (to you M'er F'er Americans....no I'm not bitter, why do you ask?) I cut almost all of those casts and now I listen to 3 week after week.

I'm still tuning into the Bombcast, Weekend Confirmed, and Game Scoop.

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!!!

Epic battle axe really passionate about game's and the industry.

its not essentially gaming but The Comedy Button is brilliant. Staring Anthony Gallegos (IGN), Ryan Scott (Geekbox), Brian Altano (IGN) Max Scoville (Destructoid) and Scott Bromely (ex IGN, Gamespy)..

@BigDaddy81: I listen to Podtoid but you have to know what you're getting yourself into. It was a better show in terms of video game discussion when Max Scoville and Tara Long were involved. Now, over half of the episode is Jim Sterling talking about engaging in all kinds of bizarre sexual behavior with Jonathan Holmes. Hamza Aziz got added recently but he rarely gets to talk over Jim, which is unfortunate because Hamza usually has something interesting to say while Jim is just trying to bring things back to what he wants to do to Holmes. Sometimes it's funny, a lot of the time it's just trying to hard.

@FakeKisser said:

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.

Anthony hasn't been on Game Scoop in more than a month or so. It's good to hear him, but he's definitely not a permanent fixture.

@bchampnd said:

@BigDaddy81: I listen to Podtoid but you have to know what you're getting yourself into. It was a better show in terms of video game discussion when Max Scoville and Tara Long were involved. Now, over half of the episode is Jim Sterling talking about engaging in all kinds of bizarre sexual behavior with Jonathan Holmes. Hamza Aziz got added recently but he rarely gets to talk over Jim, which is unfortunate because Hamza usually has something interesting to say while Jim is just trying to bring things back to what he wants to do to Holmes. Sometimes it's funny, a lot of the time it's just trying to hard.

It's funny because that's almost exactly the impression I got from reading the descriptions of each week's Podtoids. I like Jim Sterling........ but maybe just in smaller doses. I'll take the plunge one of these days just to see for myself, but it looks like there's no need to rush.

Anyhoo, thanks for the input!

I have stopped listening to most gaming podcasts because their quality is waining. I might drop Weekend Confirmed soon. The shows I hold in highest regard don't update frequently: Irrational Podcasts and A Life Well Wasted. Irrational Podcasts is interviews with the Irrational Games staff and Ken Levine interviewing other creators. A Life Well Wasted is by Robert Ashley and is very much like public radio. He hasn't put out an episode since 2010 but he says he is working on a new one. With both these shows you should go back and listen to every episode and you can listen to them multiple times. They are evergreen.

Really I have found that branching out of the gaming podcast space into other areas has been much more interesting. Love + Radio, Too Much Information, and 99% Invisible are better than any other show I listen to. Of course, This is Only A Test is good too.

A couple of gaming podcasts I listen to that haven't been mentioned:

Three Moves Ahead

Watch Out For Fireballs

More non-gaming podcasts that are worth looking into:

How Stuff Works network (How Stuff Works, Stuff They Didn't Want You To Know, Stuff You Missed In History Class, etc...)

Freakonomics

Thrilling Adventure Hour

Lasertime. Its not only about games but I think you'll enjoy it.

I just want to throw in that I really can't stand Weekend Confirmed. Something about Garnett Lee just gives me douche chills.

I feel like game podcasts haven't been the same since 1up.com got neutered. I listen to a lot of back episodes of Retronauts and GFW. Retronauts is especially timeless because of the subject matter.

You should def check out the Gaming Death Podcast. It's run by some of my buddies and they are only on episode 5. Good back and forth as well as some great info.

@FakeKisser: They brought back Command Prompt in case you didn't know.

@BabyChooChoo said:

@FakeKisser: They brought back Command Prompt in case you didn't know.

I didn't know, but I just found it. Thanks!!!

I've been listening to Idle Thumbs and The Besties. The Besties is good when there are good games, but so many weeks just have iOS games that I don't care about. And since they only talk about those games, those episodes are not appealing to me. So, even though I can see myself listening to one or two episodes a month, I can't see myself listening to The Besties every week.

@Alkaiser said:

I just want to throw in that I really can't stand Weekend Confirmed. Something about Garnett Lee just gives me douche chills.

Mate, I'm so happy someone else mentioned this. I stopped listening about a year ago for the exact same reason.

If you were a fan of the tone of Later Debriefings then yeah, The Comedy Button's worth checking out, since it's essentially just that show's legacy carried forward