Podcast Spotlight: GFW Radio

I love this podcast. Jeff Green and the 1UP PC crew bring the funny in so many different ways each week. It's a shame their print magazine didn't survive Ziff-Davis' cost cutting. Not for want of trying: I loved the GFW magazine when it was Computer Gaming World, a publication that, as sad as it sounds, helped me get through high school. GFW magazine had it's heart in the right place and would have thrived were it not for the steadying decline of PC gaming and Microsoft's own lackluster initiatives to boost PCs as an attractive gaming platform.

I'll wipe some tears away for CGW another day, but for now, I want to raise a toast to some quality podcasting. If the GFW Radio podcast is to be the sole remnant of the CGW/GFW legacy, then I say that's a fine way to go out, friends.

The latest episode was so good, I had to listen to it twice. Yes, I was incredibly bored at work as well, but the content of the podcast was simply too good to let it pass through just once. Often described as the "brodeo", the GFW Radio podcast is best defined by its all-male cast of 1UP PC gaming editors. Show are usually lead by former GFW magazine EIC, Jeff Green, who aside from being a hardened old vet, also possesses one of the most immature sense of humour this side of the age of 40. He's also got a hilariously shrill voice for podcasting.

The other members of the crew are also funny in their own way. Although he has a habit of dominating segments and seeming to enjoy the sound of his voice a bit too much, Sean Elliot always provides the laughs with his exagerrated impressions, voices and unique terminology. His "Heroes of the Web" segments are sorely missed and they just don't seem to do them very often any more. In these, Sean hunts down real gaming forum posts written by the most hard of the hardcore, and reads them aloud, funny voices and all, to hilarious effect.

Episodes tend to follow only the loosest of structure, which will frustrate listeners who are more accustomed to more organized podcasts like KOXM or the Major Nelson show. On the plus side, you'll be treated to side-splitting, inappropriate tangents such as furries, fan fic love and suckling Yoda's milk.

That the actual topic of PC gaming is so tangential actually helps the podcast keeps its flavour. PC gaming news hardly registers with me anymore, yet I can listent raptly as Jeff Green and co. discuss at length things like WoW addiction, Steam, software piracy and many other PC-centric items that I cannot really relate to. It helps that they're also flexible enough to talk about console games as it relates to PC gaming or their own personal gaming activities of the week.

I can't recommend this podcast enough. Ditch the amateurish, prattling podcasts spawned from blogs and resist the structured, toe-the-line quasi-pro broadcast nonsense of "official" podcasts. GFW Radio straddles the line perfectly between these extremes to deliver an experience that may not be relevant or concise or understandable, but will still keep you entertained.