Tuesday 21 July 2009

Why should your eyes have all the fun? Free stuff to delight your ears!

In this post I perform dainty reviewettes on three of my favourite roleplaying game podcasts. These regular on-demand radio programmes are ideal if you work in a morgue-like office, find yourself on long commutes or just lazing out in the sun. Podcasts are a slow method of data retrieval. It's not the bite sized shotgun frenzy of Twitter, the flame grilled fervour of a forum or the deep cerebral discourse of blog but they are entertaining and can be consumed without drawing your full attention.

All Games Considered

Mark Kinney's multi-game podcast is so long standing that it very well might be drawn into common law. The current line up is Mark, Mags and Carol and between them review a range of games from board games through to (and leaning toward) roleplaying games. Mark is definitely the host here, driving forward a mix of news and reviews. There are few lulls and the ladies keep things lively. As most RPG podcasters are gentlemen, having ladies in the mix is a welcome break. AGC has its own Forum Community (called Nachtmedia but it's the same jolly bunch) and respond well to comment and critique. Chris Heim is an irregular guest (although for archive hunters, he was a regular) has a section 'Gaming for Cheap Bastards', which focussed on an area dear to my heart.

Furthermore, if you're keen on the ENnies, they've been nominated for best podcast. They will certainly get my vote!

Here Be Gamers

Hailing from hotter half of the Commonwealth comes the Australian gaming podcast Here Be Gamers. The hosts, Marty and Nathan, cover a range of board, war and roleplaying games. Now up to nine episodes, they are one of the few podcasts that can make laugh out loud while I listen at work. The mix is evenly split but the roleplaying sections are good indeed. Nathan has a section where he reviews a free RPG, leaving me frothing with glee. The podcast feels like you could be in the pub with them - be careful not to join in on the banter else you'll have turned into that man on the bus that holds a conversation with himself. You know the one I mean? No? Then it's you.

As if that isn't enough, HBG have put together an Extra ezine for $1 with loads of cool stuff in it. I plugged that last week, so that's enough from me.

RPG Circus

New to the ring are RPG Circus, a clutch of seasoned bloggers engaging in daring audio gymnastics for our entertainment. The hosts are Mark 'Dice Monkey' Meredith, Zachary Houghton (of RPG Blog 2 fame) and Jeff 'Bonemaster' Uurtamo. The show is a mix of news, acrobatics, comment on the hobby, fire breathing, reviews, elephant juggling and interviews. The last interviewee was The Chatty DM no less. The Circus is still bedding in as they get used to it but Jeff, Zach and Mark have mountains of potential. You don't have to be obsessed with the RPG blogosphere to find RPGCircus interesting as the majority of the podcast is about games and gaming itself. However, I think their joint blogging clout will mean that they find it easier to get guests onboard.

6 comments:

Zachary Houghton said...

Thanks for the mention, Rob!

I enjoy AGC. I listened back when Chris was still a regular--it's always nice when he's back on.

Tenkar said...

I just checked out RPG Circus thanks to your latest article. I generally hate podcasts but I think my mind has been changed. Now I need to check out the others.

New uses for my iPhone - Gamer Blogs for my daily commute ;)

Zachary Houghton said...

@Tenkar: That is the nicest compliment I've had all week. I hope we can keep entertaining and improving with RPG Circus. Fan input is super-welcome and wanted, so please let us know how we're doing. Thanks so much--that really made my day!

Nathan said...

Thanks for the great comments about Here be Gamers! I am glad we can make you laugh out loud and cause your workmates to look at you in strange ways. It means we are doing something right!

New episode is due out tomorrow. We talk about more than a dozen films and almost thirty different games!

- Nathan

Mark Kinney said...

Thank you very much! As to Chris, we're hoping to have his segment back as much as we can. Hopefully once we get past GenCon, we'll arrange that.

I've been listening to RPG Circus, too; good stuff! And I'll have to check out Here Be Gamers soon...

Rob Lang said...

@Zach, thanks for the podcast!

@Tenkar, you're welcome but the thanks really should be aimed at those doing the work.

@Nathan, waiting with baited breath.

@Mark, I think you will enjoy the others - all these podcasts have a similar sort of bright, jolly lilt to them.