Below is, in my opinion, a list of the best video game podcasts ordered by preference. I have listened to, and abandoned, many video game-related podcasts. Those listed below have survived the culling and, with one exception, are recommended without hesitation.

1. The 1Up Yours Podcast:

This is my favourite video game podcast. It ‘airs’ Friday evenings. Despite 1Up Yours seemingly continuous personality turnover (Luke Smith - now with the Bungie podcast; Bryan Intihar -now with Insomniac Games; Dan ‘Shoe’ Hsu - now on permanent vacation), Host Garnett Lee, with Shane Bettenhausen, John Davison and a revolving set of guests consistently provide an entertaining and informative podcast week-in and week-out. My only criticism of the show is that it is often too long and the interesting content is usually held back to the the end. Otherwise, its the best video game podcast.

2. Game Theory Podcast :

The Game Theory podcast (formerly the Next-Gen.biz podcast) is also a terrific weekly video game podcast. While 1Up Yours is strong in games coverage, the Game Theory podcast’s strength lies with its strong industry coverage. Gary Whitta & Colin Campbell are veteran video game industry reporters who put on an engaging and enlightening podcast. And, there’s something about their British accents that seems to elevate it. I highly recommend this podcast.

3. The 1Up Show (video) Podcast:

The 1Up Show is my favourite video podcast - period. It provides a comprehensive set of visual video game previews and reviews. They also feature interviews with industry luminaries and provide trade show coverage. If you want to watch a video game being played before purchase, this is the best place to do it. As a 1Up network/Ziff Davis podcast, it shares a similar set of hosts and guests with the 1Up Yours and the EGM Live podcasts. I will soon be testing TiVo’s Desktop v. 2.6 and its new support for video podcasts. This will be the first video podcast I attempt to get working with my TiVo - I like it that much.

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It wasn’t a good idea in 1999 when we buried Circuit City-backed Digital Video Express (Divx). It wasn’t a good idea in 2006 when MovieKlub failed to launch. And it’s not a good idea now:

DVD-D Germany Ltd’s ‘Einmal’ (German for ‘once’) - discs incorporate a self-destruct chemical coating to render them unreadable after a pre-set time. The process begins as soon as the discs are removed from vacuum-sealed packaging. After 48 hours (or longer, depending on the price) [...]

In an era of DVD kiosks and expanding cable/sat VOD options plus evolving Internet download and web streaming options (at least in the US…), I just don’t see a market for this “technology.” (via CrunchGear)

Because we just don’t have enough set-top boxes to choose from, Blockbuster will be tossing their hat into the ring. According to the Hollywood Reporter:

The home video giant is developing a set-top device for streaming films directly to TV sets and is expected to announce the offering sometime this month. The device is believed to be a stand-alone product akin to Apple TV as opposed to embedding a Blockbuster-branded service in such existing devices as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or TiVo.

How many boxes are people willing to connect? The BBC is onto something by making their web content available via the Wii (in the UK) and perhaps one day I’ll be offered Netflix Watch Now on my Xbox 360. As a TiVo owner, I also have a variety of standard def Amazon Unbox content to choose from… For some reason, I’m much more tolerant of low-rez video when I can stream unlimited quantities for a fixed price (Netlix) or free-with-commercials (Hulu).

Along those lines, I’ve been thinking of replacing one of my TiVo units with a small form factor computer for basic ATSC DVR capabilities (or maybe clear QAM HD), plus the ability to watch web video. (And if I’m feeling flush, perhaps I’ll add a Blu-ray drive.) Though, I’m holding off for now… It looks like there’s a small chance I might be able to extend Netflix Watch Now from the office Vista Media Center to the living room Xbox 360.

Flickr’s long rumored video feature has arrived. I’ve gathered the details that Webware, Techcrunch and Wired have outlined:

• 90 second clips maximum - nothing longer initially at least.
• 150MB size maximum
• Uploads for Pro users only for the time being at least ($25/year for pro membership)
• Anyone can view the videos although you can still control the privacy of the videos like you do with photos.
• Videos show up alongside photos
• Videos can be shared, embedded individually or as part of sets.
• Video includes tagging, geotagging
• Search videos by tags, and descriptions
• Uploads directly from camera phones.
• Upload from web, uploadr, e-mail or API
• Option to view videos full screen.
• API for third party developers - yeah!
• Licensing options including creative commons.
• Support for English, French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Chinese.
• 700 kbps
• 12 FPS, keyframe every 12 (fixed)
• Scaled within a 500×500 box with aspect maintained
• Audio is 44.1 kHz, steroe, 44kbps
• 2pass VBR, 700 kbps
• Photostreams are now coined MediaStreams to better describe the collection of photos and video.

(more…)

Earlier this week, Simon left a comment wondering how he might archive an Amazon Flash video. Like most problems, there are a variety of solutions. And my preferred method for simply grabbing Flash video (versus a Flash animation) found on an Amazon, YouTube, etc is via the free Real Player. While there’s a Mac OS X beta available, I’ve never gotten it to work and exclusively rely on Real’s PC counterpart. I haven’t always a fan of Real given their past install methods and bloat… However, while Real still adds to your system overhead, I find them much more neighborly these days.

A periodic roundup of relevant news… that Dave hasn’t had time to cover while attending CTIA:

• XM now available on Blackberry: Orbitcast
• PlayStation Store 2.0 coming soon: PC World
• HP introduces 500GB $300 Linux NAS: Gizmodo
• Is Comcast increasing HD video compression: The Consumerist
• Roxio Toast update fixes TiVoToGo audio/video sync: Mac Observer
• Nokia N810 Hava placeshifting client preview: Internet Tablet Talk
• Brighthouse returns HD channels to CableCARD: Gizmo Lovers

Ed Hardy of Brighthand demos Redfly with AT&T Tilt (4:51)
Newer Samsung phones with guest appearances from Laptop Mag and PC Mag (2:32)
MagicJack, the $40 VoIP dongle (3:08)
Motorola WiMax router and Femtocell (2:22)
Motorola’s DVB-H PMP (1:38)
Plantronics fashion bluetooth headsets (0:31)
Thumbplay allows free video sharing to mobile devices (3:05)

There’s good news out today if you’re an Xbox owner and into the console’s content downloading features. Microsoft has done a deal with producer and agent Peter Safran to create short, scripted shows for the Xbox. Yes scripted, not reality TV. Saffran says he’ll focus first on horror and comedic fare, appealing to the male, 14-34 demographic. No word yet on the advertising model (Pre-rolls? Interstitial commercials? Product placement?), but new shows should be available to the Xbox Live audience by this fall.

I’m still skeptical of the Xbox-as-Trojan-horse theory, mainly because I don’t know any who own an Xbox except for Dave. I know a few folks with PlayStations (there’s a PS2 in our house), and increasingly I hear friends say they’ve picked up the Wii to play with the kids. But certainly Microsoft is doing a good job of continuing to expand the range of entertainment available on Xbox Live. Are there enough people like Dave around to watch it?