Thanks to digg.com I found this nice list of some video podcasts out there including all-time classics like dl.tv, commandN and diggnation. But no gaming in there? Can’t be ;) But first things first. When I made my mini-series of things I loved in 2005 I also thought about making a post about which InternetTV (sorry, am not a fan of the term IPTV for those things) shows, but somehow forgot about it at least partially thanks to Ninja Gaiden Black I bought right after last Christmas.
… Were was I? Right, gaming. There are at least two great shows that are released more or less every week that I couldn’t live without anymore.
The first one is “On the Spot” by the Gamespot crew. It’s basically a weekly round-up covering what has happened during the last 24*7 hours in the world of video and computer games. Ok, it’s not really your usual videopodcast since it’s actually a live-show where Gamespot Complete members can also ask questions during the show formerly using a form. Now you can use that or go with a chat room, although I’m not sure, if this really is a better solution ;) Don’t know, don’t really care. I never watched it live anyway, since when it’s webcasted over there in San Francisco/USA … it’s night here (4pm PST) ;)
Sure, but why do I watch and like it? Since I’m a fulltime student and am also involved in some other things I don’t have the time to live on sites like gamespot.com to keep up with the latest reviews, previews and so on. So such weekly digest make things much easier for me. And I also really like the editors over there who more or less give a summary of their reviews and previous in this show as well as simply talk about the gossip.
The other show is the “1UP Show” braught to you by the staff behind 1up.com and the other gaming magazines by Ziff Davis in general. While more or less informing you about the same things as On the Spot, the 1up show is more on the humous side, also offering some kind of side plot also involving the interns ;) Compared to their podcast, the video show is definitely way better…. but this is a story for another post. For me the main difference between these two shows is, that the 1UP Show is not in some fixed studio location but at least seems to take place all around the offices and streets around the office. This gives the whole some kind of bottom-up flair giving the viewer a feeling of being somehow involved in the day-to-day work of the editors… except the interviews done somewhere in the backyards ;)
Both of these shows are always somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes long and in my opinion definitely worth checking out if your a gamer and if you have the bandwidth left. Esp. the high resolution version of the 1UP Show can be a problem with its normally around 500 or more MB.
About the “Who the hell needs TV?” question: Well, I honestly now watch far more of webcasts and video podcasts than I’m watching TV, so for me the answer would be “not me”. At least for the most part. On the other hand there are some shows on TV I love like “Charmed”. I’d stop watching them on TV, though, if their DVDs would be cheaper. Sure, in the USA … another story again.
P.S.: I hope no one will kill me for the screenshots :) It’s advertising, people :D
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