The Invisible walls one is good, but it's video as well. That might be a bonus or a negative. Dunno. It's perfectly possible to listen to it without the video as they record the audio then put trailers/gameplay of whatever they're currently talking about on after.

http://www.gametrailers.com/shows/invisible-walls

Major Nelson is OK if a little folksy. He does get interviews with the big names.

Another shout for:
Giantbomb - massively irreverent for the most part but often laugh out loud funny. Listening to the Vinny try and vocalise how his newborn son sounds when taking a shit made feel silly about myself on the train. Also, Ryan and Jeff are without a doubt two of the most experienced and knowledgeable people within the videogame media. Both have been in the press for close to twenty years.
Idle Thumbs - Often incredibly intelligent and witty banter between massively geeky but down to earth videogame designers who work at Telltale, Double Fine and Irrational. Dont go in expecting up to date news or insight into the newest games. Expect tangents on board games, Far Cry 2 and 15 year old Western RPGs. 

In addition to these two I can recommend Weekend Confirmed from Shacknews. The only reason being Garnett Lee who has become a very safe bet when looking for a videogame audio podcast for a train journey. Typical podcast style with news/information about new/previewed videogames along with a number of different guests each week. Definitely not as funny or insightful as the other two but probably the best mix of humour, news, insight and exclusives you'll find on the internet right now.

regmcfly wrote:

I've never heard Idle Thumbs. Will give it a go. Googs, I particularly enjoyed the Nintendo downloads era of the Bombcast. They're utterly insane enough to set up a second podcast.

Idle Thumbs is a very specific type of podcast. Its akin to listening to an Ivy League gaming radio show - it's definitely not the bombastic and often spastic shouting Giantbomb, Destructoid, et all.

However, there is a very, very funny sense of humour running through and it features your best friend Jake Rodkin.

Although Silky the Fairy and Saucepan Man are also my personal favourites ever.

http://alifewellwasted.com/podcast/

Anyone heard any good retro ones?

The GB episode when Ryan was pitching the idea for a Social Network style movie but based on Amazon instead of Facebook had me very close to tears I was laughing that hard.

"we should stick to books"

"I WANT TO SELL EVERYTHING!"


...actually, that's pretty much the entirety of the bit but hey.

The Giant Bomb ones are over 3 hours long. Is that right?

I have no clue what that term means nor do I find it accurate.

Frantic - yep. They're long.

Never heard it. After the big 1up shuffle which saw the main dudes go off to do area5, I gave up on 1up.

Weekend Confirmed is my weekly fix. Like Google said Garnett Lee is always good for a solid podcast. Quite fond of Jeff on that show too, my only complaint would be that one or two of their regulars are on the crap side

Been listening to the Bombcast while at work. I feel I've been missing out, it's very entertaining. Gonna download a few for while I'm driving about next week, it's perfect for my workday. Good stuff.

Also, they like Sleepy Dogs so they get bonus points.

Moot_Geeza wrote:

Anyone heard any good retro ones?

Thanks for all the recommendations, I'm gonna give Giant Bombcast, Idle Thumbs, 8-4 Play and Midlife Gamer a go.

Listened to Idle Thumbs for the first time, the guys seem alright, and Sean Vanaman may be the best guy of 2012 for the shit he is making me do in The Walking Dead, but it certainly didn't grab me as any more structured or intelligent than the Bombcast.

They did state that it was a bit of an anomalous week due to PaX so may be different, and as I said, I enjoyed it, but it's certainly no "thinking man's podcast" based on that evidence.

Claw anecdotes were a hoot though.