Jump to content
Erkki

Other podcasts

Recommended Posts

Yeah, he seems like a nice guy, but something about him drives me up the wall. A lot of the current 1Up guys are pretty infuriating to me, in fact. Perhaps it's a sign that I was listening to people talking about computer games too much. Although the main thing that pissed me off about Geekbox was the TV talk. They seemed to really like some fairly dumb stuff.

I tried to stick with 1Up Yours, but finally gave up a few months ago (which is kind of how I found Idle Thumbs). Garnett was a good moderator when he had people to moderate (Shane, in particular) but after the mass firing, Ellis and Davison just didn't have enough informed opinions to keep air in the tires.

Ellis is the reason I stopped listening, personally. I felt like he was primarily parroting other viewpoints, and rarely had actual examples to back up his opinions.

On the last episode I listened to, those 3 had a long discussion/argument over the Yakuza series and whether Yakuza 3 should be released in the US. Eventually Garnett, after vocally defending Yakuza 2 for quite a while, admitted that he hadn't even played it. Sigh.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I found Idle Thumbs through Three Moves Ahead. Its the only other gaming podcast I listen to (out of ignorance by the way, these others sound good and I'll definitely give them a look). Its about strategy gaming in particular which seems relatively unique. I didn't see anyone else mention it so I thought I'd toss that out there.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've been searching around for casts to replace thumbs (other than Giant Bomb, which I highly reccommend). I tried Rebel FM and Fall Damage but neither one does anything for me. A big issue is that my taste in games is so compatible with the thumbs and incompatible with most other casts (on Rebel FM, they had positive things to say about Dante's Inferno!!!!!!!!!!!)

Edit: If you enjoy superhero comics, I'd recommend ComicVine. They're in the same building as Giant Bomb and their cast has a very low key, down-home feel with very solid chemistry among the hosts.

Edited by GrouchoClub

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I too enjoy Gamers With Jobs along with (of course) A Life Well Wasted. I use to listen to the 1up crew and gave RebelFM a fair shake, but RebelFM is exactly what I don't want in a podcast.

Anyway, for those who like This American Life I highly recommend checking out the Moth. It's kind of like TAL, but it's only 15 minutes long and I tend to think the stories told are better than those found on TAL, which surprised me.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Speaking of Rebel FM, I'll listen to the Game Club episodes if they're on something I'm interested in. It was quite interesting to hear some impressions on Half-Life 2 and the episodes in that format. I generally don't bother with the main show any more, though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Alright, I've been sampling a bunch of casts lately, to fill the thumb-shaped void in my life. Here are some impressions so far, in case anyone is interested (and I am compelled to write this, audience or not).

CAGcast: Whoever suggested this to me should be glad I can't remember who he is; this is the only cast I've tried that I would actually call bad. The first 15 minutes of the episode I listened to was about how one of the guys wears a large condom in Japan. Yeah. It's a pitty, too, because I lived in Japan for 6 years and wouldn't mind a podcast with a Gaijin's perspective. Just not this one.

Giant Bombcast: I get why this is popular; these guys have good chemistry and some interesting points to make. But in order for me to listen to you for an hour a week, I feel like I need to agree with you at least half the time. It's not an ideological thing, it's a taste thing... and the two episodes I listened to were about games and subjects that I didn't really care about. Also, one of the guys complained about how Beatles Rock Band DLC didn't have achievements, which succinctly describes how our gaming sensibilities differ.

Rock Paper Shotgun: This was a good cast, and I'll be trying it out for a few more weeks to see how it grows on me. My only big complaint is how the combination of iffy recording quality and unfamiliar accents make it hard for me to hear what games they are talking about, sometimes. It's only a problem when they say a game name, not when they are talking in general... but it did make me rewind a few times to decipher what piece of software they were talking about.

Gamers With Jobs: The best of what I tried. Unlike the Bomb guys, this cast had me listening intently even during topics that I did not have prior interest in, which is the hallmark of a good podcast. They also talked about table top games, which pleased me to a depth that might have surprised me.

One thing I considered during my samplings, however, is whether or not I actually need or want another gaming podcast. I never listened to one before idle thumbs. What I really want, I guess, is something to make me laugh walking home.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

A selection of my gaming podcasts:

Regular:

The Game Hounds

The rumble pack

Some other castle

The giant bombcast

The geekbox

The video game outsiders

Gamers with jobs ( the site has some nice gaming articles)

Noobtoob (video podcast)

Semi regular:

The married gamers

Rebel FM

PC gamer

A random selection of the podcasts available on VGevo.

Cheap ass gamer

"4 guys 1up" had a great episode on 11/06/2009... I really should add them to the lists.

Non gaming casts:

Atheist news

Chariots of iron

The non prophets

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think Drunken Gamers is the closest to Idle Thumbs as far as being genuinely funny. They are pretty old school though, which I love, but others might not. Every March they do Shmupreciation month, again something I love about them. I can see how Thumbs listeners would be much more PC-centric, though. Giantbomb has recently been doing more PC stuff, but they're still a console podcast. So, I'm really down to DGR and Giantbomb now. I've tried some of the IGN podcasts; Gamescoop and Three Red Lights are ok, but they don't fill the void of Idle Thumbs. The Mobcast at Bitmob can be very good, but it really depends on who the guests are. When Robert Ashley was around, they were top notch.

For a non-gaming cast that might interest you, I love Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Star Talk and has already been mentioned Atheist News.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I (and a couple of my comrades) over at CastMedium started up a new podcast a few months back and I feel like we're starting to get pretty decent... if anyone gives it a shot and could give some feedback, it'd be much appreciated:

http://www.castmedium.com/tag/castmedium-podcast/

For what it's worth, our podcast sorta covers other video game, tech, and movie podcasts (CASTIN' META PODS IN YOUR FACE), tries to aggregate some of the bigger topics from those podcasts, and expands on their conversation a little with our own experiences.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I can't believe no one has brought it up yet... but SMODcast definately deserves a mention. No one in this post-thumbs world spouts hilarious nonsense like Kevin Smith.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I can't believe no one has brought it up yet... but SMODcast definately deserves a mention. No one in this post-thumbs world spouts hilarious nonsense like Kevin Smith.

Yeah, Smodcast is like Idle Thumbs but with movie talk instead of video game talk and several orders of magnitude more poop and dick jokes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The forumites over at selectbutton have started an interesting gaming podcast.

They're announcing a topic per episode and then self-nominated forum members make up the panel for that particular show. And they're doing that for every show.

It's early days at the moment, but they've just done quite an insightful episode about fighting games which I think some others here would also enjoy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The forumites over at selectbutton have started an interesting gaming podcast.

They're announcing a topic per episode and then self-nominated forum members make up the panel for that particular show. And they're doing that for every show.

It's early days at the moment, but they've just done quite an insightful episode about fighting games which I think some others here would also enjoy.

ooh I might check that out later.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
ooh I might check that out later.

I really like the concept, personally.

I've been wondering if something could spin out of Thumbs' members in a similar way, perhaps, to fill the void left by the official podcast drying up..? We have some fantastic discussions on Grand Thumb Auto quite often - in fact, that's one of my favourite things about our regular multiplayer sessions.

Hmm...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I really like the concept, personally.

I've been wondering if something could spin out of Thumbs' members in a similar way, perhaps, to fill the void left by the official podcast drying up..? We have some fantastic discussions on Grand Thumb Auto quite often - in fact, that's one of my favourite things about our regular multiplayer sessions.

Hmm...

I like this idea.

edit: I like it a lot.

Someone who is not me please organize this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They're really short, but I'm loving the Savage Love podcast, an offshoot of Dan Savage's no-bullshit sex advice column. There's a huge archive here.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I really like the concept, personally.

I've been wondering if something could spin out of Thumbs' members in a similar way, perhaps, to fill the void left by the official podcast drying up..? We have some fantastic discussions on Grand Thumb Auto quite often - in fact, that's one of my favourite things about our regular multiplayer sessions.

Hmm...

I had thought about it too, I have had similar cool conversations with Groucho.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I like this idea.

edit: I like it a lot.

Someone who is not me please organize this.

Lazyweb.

I concur.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Lazyweb.

I concur.

I think what we need to do first is rally the troops. Everyone who is interested in being a part of an idlethumbs forum members podcast should make it known and then we can start talking about the how and when etc...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it's a pretty rad idea, definitely go for it. I might like to participate somewhere down the line but I'd like to hear the long time thumbs first.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
The forumites over at selectbutton have started an interesting gaming podcast.

They're announcing a topic per episode and then self-nominated forum members make up the panel for that particular show. And they're doing that for every show.

It's early days at the moment, but they've just done quite an insightful episode about fighting games which I think some others here would also enjoy.

Listened, and it's all well and good subject wise, however for the love of god use a better mic and a pop shield, god damn.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Listened, and it's all well and good subject wise, however for the love of god use a better mic and a pop shield, god damn.

You've been spoilt, I think, with Mr Remo's rather spiffy recording setup. I can't imagine we'll do much - if any - better than the selectbutton forumers, especially as we'll probably do this over something as crude and lossy as Skype.

Anyway, I'm definitely up for it. :yep:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
You've been spoilt, I think, with Mr Remo's rather spiffy recording setup. I can't imagine we'll do much - if any - better than the selectbutton forumers, especially as we'll probably do this over something as crude and lossy as Skype.

Anyway, I'm definitely up for it. :yep:

It's not all of them, just a few people, and a few who have exceptionally poppy voices.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

For the CastMedium podcast, we actually use Skype to communicate buy Audacity/Garageband to record locally. That way, we can clean up each recording and isolate particularly bad sections to edit out. It sometimes sounds a little bit edited together, but I'd take a little more artificial sounding rather than really scratchy/lossy sounding.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hardcore History has already been brought up by Chris and it's the best "one guy talking into a mic" podcast around. If you have a short attention span get the two blitz editions, only about 45 mins long, about drug abuse through history and the grand history of slavery (why are your shoes so cheap?) Really quick listens that will get you hooked on another podcast with sporadic updates.

Radiolab by. WNYC is to radio production in the '00s, what this American life was to radio production in the '90s. After radiolab you will find other science podcasts dry and bland.

Much like idle thumbs, these podcasts will make podcasts in similar genres taste like milk one day after expiration (okay I guess... if I don't think about it too hard) you're welcome.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×