Gaming PodcastsOne of the ways that I stay in touch with the gaming world is through podcasts. It takes about 20 minutes one way for me to get to work everyday so I use this time to listen to podcasts. I used to listen to the crappy local radio, but that sucked. I then started to listen to NPR, but I just couldn't stay interested in their stories. It was about that time that I got a Blackberry and installed a podcast program on it calledpodtrapper. It automatically downloads podcasts overnight so the next day I have new things to listen to. Now I listen to a few gaming podcasts throughout the week and that keeps me more informed than the average gamer.Here are the podcasts that I listen to and what I think about them.
The best one by far isGamespot Presents the Hotspot. (clickhereor the logo on the left to go to their homepage) The host, Brendan Sinclair, (a dry-humored Canadian) keeps things moving along well. You can tell that he puts in a lot of work each week to stay on top of the gaming world and in turn churn out a good podcast. He actually works at making an interesting podcast- this is where the other podcasts come up short I think. There are usually at least 3-5 other people with him each week. One thing that I've learned from listening to podcasts is that the more the merrier. Some regulars on the show that are always hilarious are Tom Mc Shea and Kevin VanOrd. This podcast discusses all gaming platforms, not just PC gaming. There are weekly features that keep it interesting like "MSRB Rating Description Theater" and the weekly homework assignment. I always laugh out loud several times while listening to this podcast.
PC Gamer magazine puts out a weekly podcast as well. (Here'sthe link) This one is hit or miss depending on who the host is. These guys take turns hosting so it all depends on who's turn it is. Evan Lahti and Josh Augustine do the best job I believe. Logan Decker and Dan Stapleton are just plain annoying and I have a hard time listening to the entire podcast when they are the hosts. This podcast is PC gaming specific so they provide the most pertinent news and information to me. This is a well produced podcast and the commentators are well informed. They just aren't that funny. They don't have any special features like the Gamespot one does either. I rarely laugh out loud when listening to the podcast. That said, I almost always listen to the entire thing.
IGN puts out several podcasts including a PC gaming specific one entitled "Command Prompt". This is the poorest of the three that I'm mentioning. Whereas the audio in the above two podcasts are great, as it should be, these guys just can't seem to get it right. The panel of guests is spread out across the country and it sounds like a bad conference call when you listen to it. The podcast just does a poor job of maintaining my interest. I only listen to this podcast when I've listened to the other two, and it's not fantasy football season (I listen toESPN's Fantasy Focusa lot during the NFL season). In fact, I haven't listened to Command Prompt for several weeks and who knows, it may have significantly improved between then and now.
Finally, I have to mentionCNET's Buzz Out Loud. Though not a gaming podcast per se, it still gets included here because, well, it's so awesome. I'm a tech junky and this daily program discusses the days top tech news. They all really know their stuff and are interesting. They occasionally talk about the big gaming news, so I guess it does fit in here.Give some of these podcasts a try to get into the gaming world more. I know that I'll never get to play all of the games that they talk about on these podcasts so it's a way for me to get to know the games vicariously through the hosts. It sure beats local radio and NPR, that's for sure.