The bluffers guide to video game related podcasts

The text below is very much a personal view on the weird and wonderful world of video game related podcasting. It is by no means definitive and therefore should not be regarded as ‘fact’ so to speak. So long as I’ve made this point clear, let’s get on to the subject at hand.

The history of podcasting stretches back to 2004 when the concept to dynamically fetching files from the Internet via RSS feeds came into being. Since then the number of podcasts has expanded exponentially. Speaking as someone who’s been making audio based shows, even before the advent of podcasts I wish to share with you some observations and opinions on the current state of podcasts, most notably video game related ones as they are the sort I generally listen to during my commute.

 The types of gaming podcasts

I know I’m going to get into trouble with this section, as to pigeon-hole anyone or their output can be construed as being a tad offensive. So for those that are reading this and their shows are featured, I apologise in advance. My only defence is that it is my view that podcasts have tended to fall into these categories, more by accident than design. These categories are:

 1) Corporate Media:

They have early access to games as well as the people who make them. Their listener figures dwarf all independently created shows, with one possible exception (more on that later).The likes of Joystiq, 1Up, Gamespot, Bitmob* and Giant Bomb fall into this category.

* I understand that this may be independent, feel free to fire me an email to confirm or comment on this article. For now they will remain under’ corporate media’.

 2) Corporate Developer:

 Not as common as the corporate media ones, they provide infrequent feedback to their audience about the games they are developing. Notable shows include Full Moon  Show (Insomniac) and Crash TV  (Criterion Games).

3) General Interest:

These follow the set format, as developed initially by the now defunct 1Up Yours, that consists of people chatting about the games they have played and current events within the gaming industry. Examples of these include our very own SuperHappyFunTimeShow, Drunken Gamers Radio,  Dead Pixel Live, Joypod, Some Other Castle, In Game Chat, The Married Gamers and The Gamer Scene to name but a teeny tiny fraction.

4) Commentary and/or Analysis:

 These podcasts focus on what goes on behind the scenes of video games along with the culture that surrounds them. They do offer similar content to the ‘General Interest’ shows mentioned above as well, but they usually place it alongside commentary/analytical based content. They also tend to have a significant rotation of hosts, both from within and outside their own staff members. Good examples of these are: Gamers with Jobs, Digital Cowboys, Gamer Dork, The Brainy Gamer and Big Red Potion.

5) Format Specific:

 There are a number of format focussed podcasts that do a good job of highlighting all that is happening within any gaming platform. They can be very illuminating as they can reveal aspects of gaming consoles you may not know about if you’re a multi-format owner. Shows such as WiiDS, PlayStation Nation and Major Nelson (Xbox 360) do a good job of this.

 6) Community:

 These shows exist purely to serve the community they represent. They act as a hub around which the people in the community participate in. Not particularly common, they nonetheless serve a vital part of many a gaming collective. Prime examples of such podcasts include The Scroogecast for Frugal Gaming, Ninja Fat Pigeons and S4G for Sanctuary 4 Gamers.

7) Irreverent:

 These shows are exceptionally rare as they offer something a little different to the General Interest shows. From cursory inspection they do fall into that category, but if you listen for long enough (usually 10-15 minutes) it becomes rapidly apparent that they have no intention of informing anyone about their opinions or seek to provide any kind of thoughtful analysis/commentary. Instead they just want to entertain their audience above everything else, usually to great success. Seek out Idle Thumbs, OneLifeLeft and Dark Zero for such content.

 8) Single Game Focussed:

 There are games out there that actually justify their own podcast due purely to their complexity and corresponding size of fanbase. The games are usually MMO’s, but not always and they can prove to be both popular and useful to people who play the games they cover. The king of such shows that straddles everyone else like a leviathan is The Instance. This is a show whose audience figures would more than likely make any podcaster listed in this article weep into their microphones if they ever saw the light of day. Oh and that includes the corporate ones! It’s a great achievement for a show that focuses entirely on one game, that being; World of Warcraft. Not to belittle any of the other ‘single game focussed’ podcasts mind you, for there are a notable selection that deal with other titles. These include Control Point (Team Fortress 2) and Podded (Eve Online).

 Why do we listen?

 This is a question I often pose to myself, normally just before I start recording! Apart from the obvious desire to hear people chat about the hobby I enjoy, there is also the attraction of knowing what particular individuals feel about a certain game/aspect of gaming culture/piece of recently released hardware. By way of example; with the arrival of the PSP Go, there has been a significant amount of discourse about the device amongst many podcasts, including SHFTS, all with their/our own take on it. We’re all essentially talking about the same thing, but we all have our own views on it. So why do we listen if it’s essentially the same content? One word: personality.

 With podcasts being primarily personality driven for the most part, it is the primary reason why so many exist and indeed why people listen to them. It is something I touched upon when I appeared on Big Red Potion podcast a while back. Gaming media is becoming increasingly personality driven and as a symptom of that, podcasts have come into being. Along side the technology that allows them to exist of course!

The place where PSP Go consoles lie at the bottom of a bargain bin, THE FUTURE!

 I really have no idea where podcasting is going to end up. If I did, I’d be a very rich individual indeed. I can make an educated guess and it goes a little like this: The current crop of podcasts will level off. For they serve an audience that, whilst continuing to grow, its rate cannot match that of the number of podcasts that require an audience. I therefore believe that only podcasters that have an enduring spirit as well as a conscious effort to improve their output will survive the next few years.

 As a result, many podcasts will come and go, as they do now. I’m sure many of you reading this has seen a plethora of shows appear then vanish within a few weeks or sometimes even months for a variety of reasons. Whether it is a clash of egos or a lack of commitment from the participants, the result is the same. It’s sad to see but inevitable, especially when you have people who are prepared to sit behind a microphone and talk for an hour or so in the vain hope that someone out there will actually care about what they have to say!

 In the long term I personally doubt podcasts will exist in the form we know them now. Their method of delivery will change to the point where they will mimic mainstream broadcasting. This will force many to alter their content to ensure they meet local broadcast guidelines or may fence them off into realms of the Internet that are only accessible to a certain audience. With podcasts so intrinsically intertwined with the technology that is used to deliver them, such a scenario is not beyond the realms of possibility.

 Finally I believe the shift towards video based podcasts or ‘vidcasts’ is also a prevailing one, although I believe they will remain alongside the audio ones for perpetuity. Vidcasts require the complete attention of the audience, whilst podcasts can be listened to whilst doing other things. This is why the latter have much larger audience figures than the former. It is likely to remain that way for some time to come.

So there you have it. My take on the world of video game based podcasts. I’m sure some of you may be shaking your fists at me for a variety of reasons. Everything from missing your favourite podcast to attempting to make some sense of something that really cannot be contained or looked at objectively without going INSANE. Well all I have to say to that is; at least I tried!

- Chris “Kropotkin” O’Regan