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#HeaderDek img { margin-bottom: 10px; }#HeaderDek h1 { font-size: 28px; color: #000; line-height: 100%; margin: 0; padding: 0; }#HeaderDek h2 { font-size: 16px; color: #333; margin-top: 2px; }#HeaderDek p, #NaviHeader p { overflow: hidden; }.dots { margin: 10px 0 25px 0; border-bottom: 1px solid #ddd; clear: both;}ul.item {margin: 0px;padding: 10px 0px 10px 0px;list-style-type: none;}.item li img {padding: 0px 0px 5px 0px;height: 150px;}li.left1 {margin: 0px;padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px;display: block;width: 380px;float: left;}li.right1 {padding: 0 15px 0px 10px;display: block;width: 220px;float: right;}li.left2 {margin: 0px;padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px;display: block;width: 220px;float: left;}li.right2 {margin: 0px;padding: 0 15px 0 5px;display: block;width: 380px;float: right;}The Best of 1UP 2011: Podcasts

Come take a trip through the best podcast audio of 2011 we have to offer.

By: 1UP Staff December 20, 2011




1UP's podcasts have seen many changes this year. We saw the end of long-running shows like at1UP and Active-Time Babble, while the Retronauts torch was passed to a new host and Friday mainstay Games, Dammit! undertook a total relaunch. From the return of Oddcast favorite Scott Sharkey to 8-4 Play's excellent launch-day coverage of the Japanese PS Vita launch, 1UP continued to tickle your ear tubes with exciting podcasts all year long. Check out some of our best below.


Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews
Best of Features | Best of Community | Best of Guides | Best of Video
Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives

• 8-4 PLAY 12/17/2011: PS VITA LAUNCH / MONSTER HUNTER 3G HOLIDAY SPECIAL
  
  This extra special 8-4 Play podcast holiday special breaks down two of the hottest topics in Japan and crams them together into a massive four-hour episode. First, the crew brings you the most detailed coverage of the PS Vita launch with day one impressions from Japan. And after three hours of Vita-filled discussion, the 8-4 Play team comes back at ya' with roundtable impressions of Capcom's latest portable Monster Hunter entry and the 3DS Analog Slide Pad attachment.
• Retronauts Live Episode 26: Silent Hill
  
  For this very special Retronauts episode, the crew tackles Konami's Silent Hill, with more than two hours of discussion featuring super fan VoidBurger, music from Akira Yamaoka, and lots and lots of the one and only: Bob Mackey. Shortly after recording this episode, Bob wrote a big feature on Silent Hill 2. We hope he's got it out of his system by now.

• at1UP Podcast Finale
  
  This marks the end of an era. In the words of the cast themselves, the final episode of this 1UP institution is "one last gun-blazin', rootin' tootin', wildest ride in the west, cockney-accented showdown in the Admiral's Club at 1UP Towers." Don't miss the final at1UP podcast.
• Games, Dammit!: 03/02/2011
  
  Let Peter Molyneux's soothing voice wash over you in this special GDC edition of Games, Dammit! Back in March, 1UP welcomed the ambitious designer of Populous and Fable into the studio to discuss all things gaming. In this episode, Molyneux is joined by Scooter, Matt, and 1UP Alum Justin Haywald. The foursome wax poetic on all manners of GDC excitement, including Battlefield 3, The Last Guardian, and just what the hell the enigmatic number on Molyneux's hand means. Regardless of your opinion on his games, there's no denying that the man speaks with an elegant bravado that solidifies him as one of the true visionaries of our medium.

• Retronauts Episode 2011-A: 01/13/2011
  
  In the spirit of tradition, this annual Retronauts special takes a look back at the history of video games during specific years; for the 2011 installment, Jeremy Parish, Ray Barnholt, Frank Cifaldi, and Chris Kohler examine 1971, 1976, 1981, 1986, along with other memorable dates that fit the pattern. If you enjoy retro gaming and/or subtracting by multiples of five, this is the podcast for you.
• The Oddcast: 05/10/2011
  
  Alice left, but Sharkey returns! Everybody's favorite curmudgeon sits down and chats about the Sony security breach, Alan Wake, and more. And we know this may be hard to believe, but at one point, Tina talks about Call of Duty.

• 8-4 Play 7/15/2011: ¡QUE MAGNIFICO!
  
  Most 8-4 Play episodes cover a wide variety of topics. This one does that too, but spends a good chunk of its two and a half hours devoted to Grasshopper's Shadows of the Damned, which the 8-4 team worked on, and then brings on composer Akira Yamaoka for an interview. Check it out for rare insights into the development process, and a joke or two along the way.
• Active-Time Babble XXXI: Tactics Ogre & Dragon Age II
  
  Tactics Ogre and Dragon Age II couldn't be more different; the former's an intensely old-school remake of a game that essentially defined a genre, while the latter suffers from paring down its nerdier elements for the sake of wider appeal. Listen in as Kat Bailey, Jeremy Parish, and Thierry Nguyen discuss these two RPGs, which may be slightly forgotten thanks to their first-quarter release dates.

• Retronauts Live Episode 24
  
  A month before theThe Retronauts podcast delves into B-list RPGs of the past with guests Christian Nutt and Kat Bailey. Everyone's played and knows the big RPG names like Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, Dragon Quest, Diablo, etc.; but what about the likes of Wild Arms and Lufia? These long-lost semi-classics get themselves a little much-deserved love in an epic two-hour podcast.
• Games, Dammit!: 02/11/2011
  
  In this episode, Jeremy Parish and then-news/features editor Frank Cifaldi invite Tim Rogers to talk about such things as cookies, real-world cities with the best level design, and dead sites like nothingbut.net. Also, Tim does his best damn Christian Bale Batman impression the whole time, so this episode can tide you over until The Dark Knight Rises.

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