Video Game Podcasts

Hello everyone out there on the inter webs and welcome to again to another adventure in the world of Dave's Video Game Blog. I come to you today with a topic that is very near and dear to my heart, and that is video game podcasts. I am a huge fan of podcasts of the video game variety, they help make my relatively long drive to work more bearable, they keep me up to date on everything thats happening in the world of games, and most importantly, they entertain me. So what I have decided to do today is tell you about some of my favorite podcasts out there and why I so adore each one. Keep in mind this is not a top list, so the podcast will be listed in alphabetical order, not in any kind of order of how much I like them.

1up Yours - A great podcast from the big guys over at the 1up network. Host Garnett Lee does a great job of keeping everything structured. Shane Bettenhausen does a great job of being the resident A-hole, while still having valid opinions and always having facts to back up the stuff he says. John Davidson, who doesn't work for 1up anymore, is a great addition to the cast, although lately he has been a little more quite than usual. Mark MacDonald, who wasn't on the show for too long before announcing he is leaving 1up, did a great job of filling the giant shoes left by now Bungie employee Luke Smith. All in all 1up is very entertaining, as well as informative, and in my opinion, is the most well structured podcast on the net.

CagCast - Another gem in the world of video game podcasts. Host Cheapy D from Tokyo, Japan and Wombat out of NYC both do a great job of providing contrast to each other. The show is usually very well organized, and Cheapy and Wombat usually tend to stay on topic. They do like to say "There ya go" a lot, but that's another story for another time. The CagCast features good opinionated takes on the news and happenings in the video game world. For a podcast only featuring 2 guys, whereas, most feature in the area of 4, they do a good job of keeping conversation up and on point. Overall I highly recommend the CagCast, while it might not be an informative as 1up Yours, it is easily as entertaining.

Cag Foreplay - A sort of spin-off the CagCast I guess you could say. Host's Mrs. Shipwreck and Mr. Shipwreck used to write to breakdown of the releases every week and post it on Cheap Ass Gamer, but eventually decided to spin that off into their own podcast. Basically, they talk a little about what they have been playing for the week, then break down EVERY new release, and I mean every one, right down to all the Nintendo Ds pet simulators. Most of the games on here you will not care about, nor will you want to run out and buy them, but it's nice to know they are out there. They also will expose you to some games you may not have heard of before, that might interest you. This is the only podcast of its kind that I know of, and I highly recommend it.

EGM Live - A decent podcast that has gotten a little better recently. It kind of lacks structure as all of their segments are almost separate podcasts in and of themselves. The only part of this podcast I really like is the review crew, which is somewhat similar to Cag Foreplay, in which they take the big new releases and talk about scores they gave them and why they are good or bad. Other than the review crew I'm not a huge fan of EGM Live, but in a podcast crunch when I have exhausted all my favorites, I will listen to it.

GameSpot Presents: The Hotspot - The Hotspot is a very news driven podcast, in that mostly what they do is read a news story, and discuss it. The thing that some people might not like about The Hotspot is that they get off topic a lot, and in most podcasts that would bother me, but The GameSpot guys are so funny that when they go on their tangents it really doesn't matter. For overall pure entertainment, The Hotspot ranks high on my list, and if you sift through all the hilarity, there is a lot of good information too.

IGN Games podcasts - Okay, so I'm going to group all of the IGN podcasts under one subtitle here because there's a bunch. The best one is Game Scoop, which is basically the same as Gamespot's Hotspot, they talk about the news and make a lot of jokes. Then there's Three Red Lights, which is their Xbox 360 podcast, and as you can tell by the name they don't take themselves seriously, but it's still a good show, that will entertain and inform you. Next you have IGN is AFK, which is an irregular podcast in that they don't post them weekly or sometimes even monthly. What they do on AFK is take a specific topic in the world of gaming, and examine and talk about it. It's a good podcast, I just wish they would post it more. Next are the 2 I don't care too much about and that's Podcast Beyond, which is the PS3 podcast, and Wii-k in review which, obviously, is the Wii podcast. Neither of these are particularly good, but if you are a big fan of either console it will keep you informed.

Alright guys, that's gonna do it for me, I do listen to more than just these, but these are the ones I make sure to listen to every week, and these are the podcasts I would recommend to someone who is new to podcasting. Really, if you wanna start out light the three I would recommend are 1up Yours, CagCast and Gamespot Presents: The Hotspot. So get out there ladies and gentlemen and get your podcast on!