Podcasts: A Geekcentric Guide Vol. 1

photo credit: Beffrey & Jungle

“What’s a podcast?” that’s a term I hear entirely to much, and its so sad that some of the best LEGITIMATELY free entertainment that’s ever existed goes largely unheard by the masses.

A podcast is like a radio show. People record it and put it on the internet so that YOU may download the show in the form of a single mp3 file, and listen to it at your leisure on your computer or portable media device. “Podcast” in general can be a misleading term as you don’t actually need an iPod or any other Apple products to enjoy these quality bits of entertainment. All you need is a device capable of playing an MP3 file. I personally listened to podcasts for years just on my computer whilst wreaking havoc in the world of Azeroth because let’s face it…you can only hear your Draenei Paladin shout “HA!!!” so many times before you snap .

The World of Podcasts can be an intimidating one, with SO MANY different podcasts to eat your time. Luckily yours truly has come to save the day and provide you with an introductory list of Top-Grade A-list time killers. Whoo!!!! Let’s get started.

Video Games

Lots of great video game podcasts out there, and they all depend on your personal flavor, and of course your console. I myself am an Xbox 360 guy, who dabbles a wee bit in the PC and Nintendo DS.

KOXM: This is the podcast of the Official Xbox Magazine, released each Friday, good humor and good interviews.

Xbox LIVE’s Major Nelson Radio: Everyone loves Major Nelson. He’s good people, and he’s got the inside scoop at Microsoft. His co-hosts tend to derail the topic like nobody’s business, but it’s always entertaining.

OneOfSwords: The good Mr. Dan Amrich is like the Major Nelson of Activision. He’s a retro gamer, professional journalist, and lead singer of Video Game Parody rock band, Palette-Swap Ninja. Great coverage from Activision across all platforms.

The Instance: Read my posts long enough, and you will undoubtedly come across a name surrounded by gooey affection and man-love, and that name is Scott Johnson. More on him later, but right now, The Instance is the single best World of Warcraft Podcast that has ever existed ever. There’s lots of good ones out there, but if you’re going to pick one, The Instance is the way go. Entertainment, information, and great production quality.

Tabletop Games

I’m pretty much out of the loop on tabletop RPGs, ever since my wife informed me it was time to produce offspring, I’ve been unable to gather around a table. Luckily, there are podcasts to help. Again with personal flavor and system choice, here goes.

Radio Free Hommlet: These are D&D4E nerds TO THE MAX. They provide great reviews of all source books as they’re released, provide FANTASTIC pre-made characters, and are the nicest and most knowledgeable rules lawyers around.

The Order 66 Podcast: Like it or hate it, Wizards of the Coast’s Star Wars is the only tabletop Star Wars option to which you have easy access. These guys are passionate about Star Wars in general, and doubly so about playing D20 Star Wars.

Critical Hits: everyone’s favorite @chattyDM delves into some of the finer and more creative aspects of Game Mastery and does it very well. While I’m not the kind who enjoys listening to the many playsessions that come through this feed, the DM workshop episodes are pure gold.

Role-Playing Public Radio (RPPR): Again, lots of playsessions for lots of different game systems. For those of you who enjoy listening to playsessions, this is the place to be.

Entertainment

This is the broadest category and there are, again, so many options depending on what YOU find entertaining. Here’s what Jason likes.

Frogpants Studios: This is the entire network of podcasts created by or affiliated with the aforementioned Scott Johnson (including The Instance). There are so many great options that it’s hard to trim down, but there’s my favorites.

• Hypothetical Help: is just pure comedy.
• Current Geek: with Tom Merrit provides the geekiest stories from the web three times a week.
• Coverville: with Brian Ibbot is a great show featuring a great assortment of cover songs. He picks an artist and allows the audience to hear a variety of covers by this artist, as well covers of their songs. Always great music.
• Film Sack: four guys watch a lovely B-rated movie, then rip on it for an hour. It’s the same conversation you would have with your buddies, if your buddies were hilarious.

SModcast: Kevin Smith (yes, @ThatKevinSmith) and Scott Mosier. It’s filthy, it’s rude, don’t listen to it with your kids, but unless you’re a stick in the mud, I promise you will chuckle hard.

Ask Mr. Biggs: This is an amazing little find. A fictional radio show by a couple of very clever audiophiles, but here’s the grab…the “callers” are actually calls taken from real life radio shows that have been re-purposed for your entertainment value. New episodes don’t drop very often, but each episode is a timeless classic that you can listen to multiple times.

SHAMELESS PLUG

For those of you who AREN’T familiar, fellow Geekcentricity writer George Farmer and I write/produce/host a weekly podcast called De-Bugging Life Radio. We bring you the news we care about, as well as a weekly topic strictly for entertainment value. Lots of info on movies, TV, and comic books, DBLR is funny, clean, and consistent. We promise good times, give us a listen, won’t you?

That’s it for this edition, if you’re trying to get into podcasts I recommend you start with these. Future volumes of the Geekcentric Podcast guides will focus more on a particular theme or subject. I’m always on the lookout for new podcasts..what do YOU like? What should be on my future lists? Your comments (and your DBLR episode hits) are greatly appreciated.