Games Podcasts

[Pink Gregory]

I know the main avenue for games stuff is Youtube/Twitch, but which podcasts do you go for?

Large fan of the Crate and Crowbar which has been around for ages, they've recently retooled a bit so that they don't talk about news so much, so it's a bit more of a 'what I've been playing' pod, which is nice.

Recently got turned onto (by C&C in fact) recent-ish similar podcast the Back Page, which is ex-PC Gamer/TechRadar/Play bod Sam Roberts and ex various Future Publishing bod Matthew Castle.  Quite a few interesting episodes about working in print media, and a lot of general other stuff that's maybe not new discussion but I find them very personable and entertaining, and I can guarantee I'll be the only one here who does so.

Obvs. Retronauts, though I don't get on with that one so much, tend to pick specific episodes but I think that's probably the idea.

I did a few crunchier ones about game design years ago but I think it wasn't really my thing.

Anything I should know about?

[turnstyle]

Been thinking about this myself recently as I used to listen to a LOT of gaming podcasts, but have fallen off many of them in recent years.

My go to was always the Giant Bombcast, but the mass exodus of talent in recent years has left it feeling like a real husk of its former self, and I can't be arsed with it anymore.

You mentioned Retronauts. I do listen to that one a lot, but it can be hit or miss. I find that the Jeremy Parish hosted episodes tend to be more focused and tighter, for maximum nerdage, which is great when it's a topic you're interested in. I've got two issues though:

The podcast is very US/Japanese focused, and very quick to dismiss anything from outside those territories as 'eurojank'. I listened to the Aliens episode a while back, and was interested to hear what they thought of the home computer interpretations of the franchise, only for them to say they looked at some videos on Youtube and thought they looked crap. Great insight there fellas. Also, complaints about 'Amiga-ass' looking platformers were you had to push up to jump. Our joysticks only had one button!! Deal with it!

And yet despite my frustrations with the dismissal of all things European, I don't gel with the episodes where the British guy hosts. The recent episode about Zool is a good example. Just lots of lolrandom British humour and I bailed after ten minutes.

I might give the Crate and Crowbar podcast a go, have read a lot of positive things about it over the years.

So anyway I have failed to help you, but I am open to suggestions too!

[Memorex MP3]

Doesn't the British retronauts guy post on here a bit? or did I imagine that?


For the most part I tend to use youtube for gaming related shite tbh, but anyways...

Big fan of the almost comatose vibes of Cane and Rinse, so at odds with the general high energy nerdery of most other gaming podcasts.
Retronauts is generally pretty solid; the episodes with Parish and Benj Edwards usually being the best ones for bringing up stuff I've never heard of before. Almost always skip the film themed ones but most everything else will get a play.
Don't like the hosts that much but Watch Out For Fireballs can be good.


I hear a lot of praise for the Computer Game Show but can't even remember if I ever listened to it. Should probably try Triple Play too because I tend to like Jason Schrier in print at least.

[Magnum Valentino]

"the British guy" is none other than our very own cassandrasmiscarriage420

[Jerzy Bondov]

I believe you are thinking of Ashens

[Magnum Valentino]

Feh. Preposterous.

[madhair60]

The British guy is me. This isn't a bit. It is I. I am him. Me. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy the Zool episode, I did not register it as "lolrandom" at any point. Dizzy episode soon.

[Ham Bap]

Im also on the lookout for some new podcasts.
The Computer Game Show is fine, just a bit overly long usually between 2.5 and 3 hours. I dont think ive ever listened to a complete episode.

Used to listen to the Jimquistion a fair bit but bounced off that now.
Listened to Videogamer for a couple of years but a lot of staff left and again dont listen anymore.


Just subscribed to Crate and Crowbar and The Back Page.

[popcorn]

Big fan of the almost comatose vibes of Cane and Rinse, so at odds with the general high energy nerdery of most other gaming podcasts.

Yeah I like Cane and Rinse too. I particularly like the main British guy who hosts most episodes - I think he's the founder? He has a gentle, congenial approach. As you say, I like how paced, structured, and thoughtful it is, and generally avoids the cliches of online pop culture chat.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Someone on here mentioned one of the guys on Cane and Rinse pronouncing aesthetics with a silent h and then it started to annoy me too even though I hadn't noticed if before so I stopped listening. Also I listened to the Persona 4 one and they said something I disagreed with, can't remember what, anyway that got fucked off.

[falafel]

How do you pronounce aesthetics with a silent h?

Ess tettics?

[falafel]

Ohhh, now I see, like in French.

Well that's a bit wanky now isn't it.

[popcorn]

Someone on here mentioned one of the guys on Cane and Rinse pronouncing aesthetics with a silent h and then it started to annoy me too even though I hadn't noticed if before so I stopped listening.

That was me, sorry. "Aestettic."

[Jerzy Bondov]

Dunno who that guy is. He probably posts on here like every other games podcaster. Anyway I'm going to kill him!

Not really just banter.

Buzzing for a Retronauts about Dizzy anyway

[Memorex MP3]

yeah it's "aestettic", I must've noticed it before because I remember knowing exactly who that was when I read it on here. Def not annoying enough to bail on it but I'd say the most annoying part is how often he seems to use the word when he might mean something far more vague and general like "vibes"

[Jerzy Bondov]

I am just being flippant to be honest. A good C&R was the one about Until Dawn.

[Magnum Valentino]

yeah it's "aestettic", I must've noticed it before because I remember knowing exactly who that was when I read it on here. Def not annoying enough to bail on it but I'd say the most annoying part is how often he seems to use the word when he might mean something far more vague and general like "vibes"

Sounds like the same way people have seized on the word 'narrative' in recent years.

Any cunt in here NOT been on a games podcast? Only occured to me after I started typing the reply that I've even done it myself years ago, though had quite rightly clean forgot about it.

[Pink Gregory]

I haven't, because I have no unique thought about games whatsoever.

Don't even have a 7/10 game that I like despite its mediocrity

[Magnum Valentino]

As if not having a unique thought should be a barrier to choosing to broadcast your opinions on the internet!

[Pink Gregory]

There are plenty of unfilled niches on Youtube for hour long videos called "The [adjective] [noun] of [game]"

[brat-sampson]

I support Easy Allies on Patreon. Their two main podcasts are the weekly EZA podcast, which covers gaming news and events, and the bi-weekly Frame Trap, which is a more casual 'what have you been playing / watching' kinda show. They also have ones about movies, spoiler modes, a friggin game show called Mysterious Monsters that's always fun, albeit not a podcast...

They're good people.

[Proactive]

The Retro Hour Podcast has some really good interviews with insiders from the olden days.

[madhair60]

Dizzy episode of Retronauts is up on Patreon for all you madhair60 Fans

[Pink Gregory]

Dizzy episode of Retronauts is up on Patreon for all you madhair60 Fans

I caught up with Video World having not watched it before and it's a very good show, really not enough of that engaging and light hearted magazine style stuff out there. 

[madhair60]

cheers. it's coming back soon. won't continue to self-promote, etc.

[evilcommiedictator]

DOSGAMECLUB is monthly and I enjoy that, but yeah, there's quite a lot of retro content out there is you like it (sidenote, been on it a few times)

[AnOrdinaryBoy]

The Retro Hour Podcast has some really good interviews with insiders from the olden days.

I'd second The Retro Hour - the news section can be hit or miss as Joe - the supposed console gaming expect - doesn't come across as particularly knowledgeable, but the interviews are routinely fantastic, and it's always good to hear about the UK viewpoint on retro scene, as the overpowering presence of Americans talking about the EN-EE-ESS on retro coverage is tiresome.

Maximum Power Up is worth a listen, particularly if you are interested in the history of UK gaming magazines. There's enough content on there now that someone could write a pretty comprehensive oral history of them using just this is a source.

Under Consoletation (covering GamesMaster episode by episode) and Sonic The Comic The Podcast (covering STC issue by issue) are a lot of fun, as there's a lot of talk about the world around the games in the UK in the 1990s and the hosts just seem like genuinely nice people.

The GamesIndustry.biz podcast is good for keeping up with modern news.

Retronauts I had to give up on; relentlessly smug, and Bob MacKay in particular grates. Jeremy Parish's youtube work I enjoy, but he's oddly touchy to criticism (as a lot of the patreon-funded internet brigade are).

[Proactive]

I'd second The Retro Hour - the news section can be hit or miss as Joe - the supposed console gaming expect - doesn't come across as particularly knowledgeable, but the interviews are routinely fantastic, and it's always good to hear about the UK viewpoint on retro scene, as the overpowering presence of Americans talking about the EN-EE-ESS on retro coverage is tiresome.

Maximum Power Up is worth a listen, particularly if you are interested in the history of UK gaming magazines. There's enough content on there now that someone could write a pretty comprehensive oral history of them using just this is a source.

Under Consoletation (covering GamesMaster episode by episode) and Sonic The Comic The Podcast (covering STC issue by issue) are a lot of fun, as there's a lot of talk about the world around the games in the UK in the 1990s and the hosts just seem like genuinely nice people.

The GamesIndustry.biz podcast is good for keeping up with modern news.

Retronauts I had to give up on; relentlessly smug, and Bob MacKay in particular grates. Jeremy Parish's youtube work I enjoy, but he's oddly touchy to criticism (as a lot of the patreon-funded internet brigade are).

Thanks for the tip about Maximun Power Up. That sounds right up my street.

[Beagle 2]

Just a shoutout to say how much I enjoyed the Dizzy Retronauts. Hope there's more totally British focused ones on the way. The Retro Hour is fine but the main presenter guy is so local radio professional voice over man compared to the other hosts who sound like enthusiastic blokes he's met down the pub that I find the clash quite jarring. Ah, it's kind of charming for that though.

[Pink Gregory]

Just a shoutout to say how much I enjoyed the Dizzy Retronauts. Hope there's more totally British focused ones on the way. The Retro Hour is fine but the main presenter guy is so local radio professional voice over man compared to the other hosts who sound like enthusiastic blokes he's met down the pub that I find the clash quite jarring. Ah, it's kind of charming for that though.

As someone who's too young for it, anything about the particularly British micros-to-early Playstation era I find utterly fascinating.

I never had the acclaimed games that everyone has nostalgia for (maybe 4-5 of them between the SNES and the Playstation) so hearing about odd games that barely work and yet feel hugely personal is fascinating to me.