shout out to spotify for somehow not being able to make a video game podcast from two McElroys and two Polygon contributors work. what a fuck up.
anyway, appropos of that, here is my List Of Video Game Podcasts Based On The Depth In Which The Discussion Goes.
HEAD IN THE CLOUDS A BIT - The Giant Beastcast:
Mostly a rundown of the gaming news of the week with some fun forays into technology, and then “so what are you playing.” The cast is pleasant enough and are longtime vets of the industry. I personally want something more substantial than what they offer, but TGB is a good shallow listen.
CHECK OUT THIS COOL ROCK I FOUND - The Short Game:
This is a sweet little book club-style podcast in which they (with rare exception) focus exclusively on short games, games you can finish in one or two sittings. This podcast is a great way to just hear about a lot of indie games you’ve probably never heard of. I enjoy it, but more than once I have kind of rolled my eyes at the, ah, lightweight analysis. (Also, weird Apple stans? Eh.)
THE GOLDILOCKS - The Besties:
YEAH HONESTLY I THINK THEY GO DEEPER THAN THE SHORT GAME. The Besties is a weird long-running that has been a regular weekly/monthly/yearly pod at different stages of its life. Spotify revived it as a weekly podcast, and I honestly really enjoyed the format, focusing on one or two games every week. I was surprised at the level of nuance and consideration the Besties gave to each discussion, while also delivering the laughs. I would say the emotional intelligence of Griffin, Justin, Plante, and Russ is what makes this show work. Check out the eps they did on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Bioshock to see what I mean.
THE ONLY VIDEO GAME PODCAST THAT MATTERS - Waypoint Radio:
If I only had one podcast for the rest of my life, I’m picking Waypoint. This is the news and criticism podcast you need. You want an intelligent discussion of labor rights in the games industry? You want someone to talk about the pitfalls of minority rep and how we can do better? DO YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO ROB ZACNY AND GITA JACKSON TALK AT LENGTH ABOUT THE ACTING CHOICES OF THE TWO VERY DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF SORKIN’S “TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD”? Do you want a podcast with queer, PoC voices? Do you want to listen to the jurisdiction of the Jedi Order be re-adjudicated every time Star Wars is mentioned?
Waypoint Radio. If Vice ever fatally shoots itself in the foot, I am following every person on Team Waypoint wherever they go. If I have to go to a New England bakery to eavesdrop on Rob Zacny talking about military history and its depiction in video games with his specific hyper-intelligent dry humor, I will do that.
Literally the gold standard all should aspire too.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS CRUSH DEPTH - Abnormal Mapping:
This is the only podcast I have found that gets out the scalpels and dissects a game. I sometimes find them kind of infuriating because how casually mean they will be to a game. But also this is the only place to really listen to someone get actually critical on a video game. And they aren’t always negative nancies! Their re-litigation of FFX and FFX-2 convinced me those were good games. They care a lot about story, about cohesive characters, about effective set pieces, about music especially, and go before the tepid “it has good gamefeel” shit that you, like me, might be tired to death of. Abnormal Mapping is a specific flavor I crave in fits and bursts, but never longterm. Truly great work.
If you have every watched a video essay about a game you haven’t played, you will probably dig Abnormal Mapping. Its for you.
