Podcasts of Joy

I listen to a fair few podcasts, while I'm walking in the mornings, or trying to avoid eye contact with people on trains. Some of them are to do with video games. Some are not.

I've already mentioned Richard Herring's Leicester Square Theatre Podcast (RHLSTP!) in a previous blog, and I recommend that without reservation. Each episode the hairy comedian interviews someone in a rambling, peculiar and often vulgar way. He talks mostly to other comedians, but there are lots of other creative, interesting people in there too. It's never less than fascinating.

There's Checkpoints - also a series of interviews, but this time all with game designers and other people who work in the industry. The conversations tend to be quite anecdotal, often rambling through memories of first game consoles and best-gaming-experiences, and are not always very illuminating. The age of the guests tends to be 30s to 40s, so their memories are largely the same. But there's some good stuff in among the chatter.

Ludology is more about board games, and so there are whole episodes about things I don't give a toss about. But when they get into proper game theory, they really know their stuff, and I've got a lot out of their discussions on how, and why, we play games.

The Psychology of Video Games podcast does what it says on the tin. Jamie Madigan - author of the excellent book Getting Gamers - talks to a lot of very clever people about the way games affect our brains. He's an enjoyable and knowledgeable host and there's tons to learn.

Random Encounter is fun and chatty. It's like listening to two people just having fun discussing games. Not always as much to learn, but they are pretty well informed and their opinions are worth hearing.

There's Shall We Play a Game, which I mentioned a week or so ago. Some very good games journalism, but with occasional lapses into nonsense which annoy me. But that might just be me.

And you should definitely listen to the IGN UK Podcast. These people know their stuff, are very entertaining and will also tell you good things about films. Their opinions on TV are often garbage, in my estimation, but I'm sure they are lovely people.

So there you go. Lots of lovely game related podcasts. Go listen. It's definitely easier than reading.