I think that 2008 was a triumphant year for gaming! I think that it is perhaps the best year in gaming so far. All of the good games made for some really good discussions.

My favorite podcasts for 2008:

1UP Yours

It's fun to get together with your friends, crack a mic, and discuss video games, but it's a whole other thing to listen to a panel of video game press/enthusiasts discussing games in a (mostly) serious manner. I've enjoyed listening to 1UP Yours each week for as long back as I can remember. While the show tends to get a bit blue at times, the video game discussion is top-notch!

It's a shame that with last week's major layoffs over at 1UP, the fate of many of the network's podcasts and video podcasts has been sealed. However, there have been rumors that Garnett Lee, who hosts the show, and was not laid-off, will get the show back up and running, it may be some time before that happens.

Giant Bombcast

One of my favorite video game podcasts from 2006 and 2007 was Gamespot's The Hotspot. But ever since the controversial dismissal of Jeff Gerstmann from Gamespot and the podcast, things quickly went downhill. However, much like the Phoenix who rises from the ashes, Jeff Gerstmann and many of the Hotspot crew reformed and continued and excelled upon the quality and entertainment of the Hotspot, even back during its prime.

Like 1UP Yours, the discussion is from the enthusiast press and chalk full of knowledge about the video game industry. However, Giant Bombcast seems to be a bit more lighthearted and entertaining.

CAGCast

Back in January of 2007, I wrote this about the CAGCast, which I included in my favorite podcasts of 2006. I believe CheapyD even found this on the Internet and read my thoughts during one of the early 2007 shows:

CAGcast (CheapAssGamer.com)
If a podcast, like a fine wine, gets better with age, CAGcast would be that podcast. Last year, I enjoyed listening to the CAGcast, not necessarily for the video game chatter, but because I felt that listening to the show was like watching a trainwreck. I didn't feel that the hosts CheapyD and Wombat flowed very well. However, this year the video game banter is much more quick-witted and humorous! Kudos to the both of them for including their wives in a special episode to get a peek into the life of married gamers to see how their significant others feel about their video game hobbies (habits).
- Published 1/3/2007 http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publ...89&bId=7747311

Of course this was back before Tai and Sabrina were nothing more than a twinkle in the eye of their respective parents. I believe that the CAGCast continues to grow as a viable, and semi-respectable video game podcast. In the past year, the CAGCast has generated some controversy, when they hosted a contest to come up with a completely fake story and see if the gaming press eats it up as fact. While that moment was certainly entertaining, they inadvertently (or perhaps advertently-- who knows how deviant these criminal video game masterminds may be??!) exposed some issues the gaming press, how fast information travels, and how much fact checking needs to be done before publishing news stories as fact. 2008 also ushered in a new family member for Wombat and his wife: Sabrina.

Neither Wombat nor CheapyD are part of the enthuisiast press, they're two good old boys, never meanin' no harm, enjoying video games and talking about them. However, with the walking video game encyclopedia that is CAGForeplay co-host Shipwreck, it would be nice to see more of him included in future CAGCast's in 2009. Not only does Shipwreck bring a much more enthusiast approach to video games, he also doesn't have any children. Being a parent myself, I enjoy hearing about Tai and Sabrina, and the lives of the proud parents as they balance their love of video games with family and parental responsiblities, but I think including Shipwreck as a permanent 3rd member of the CAGCast in 2009 would be a really good idea, and would allow him to shine as the video game enthusiast that he is! And now that both Wombat and CheapyD each have a child, it would be nice to hear Shipwreck's contrast to that -- or perhaps hearing how he adjusts to being a parent if the Shipwrecks decide to have a child in 2009...