The best podcasts about Video Games and What Makes Them Great!

My name is Rick, and I am the host of Pixel Project Radio! I have been playing video games all of my life, and began thinking about them critically and artistically shortly before COVID hit in 2020. I am also a classically-trained musician - you'd be surprised at how many hard and soft skills from that field blend over into interpreting games! When I'm not doing work for the podcast, I am generally either studying Japanese, reading, eating as much spicy food as I can, or playing with my cat. Oh, and as a little aside - there are SO MANY MORE podcasts I want to plug than just the five below! You can find PPR on social media, where I shout out all of our friends and colleagues a ton! As I mentioned, I have been playing video games all of my life. They have been with me for as long as I can remember. I also have an extensive CV with performing and teaching classical music. During COVID, I was feeling creatively starved; I had moved back to my hometown, where there is nothing culturally significant. There was no live music (even before COVID), certainly no classical music, and very, very few intellectually charged outlets for the arts. I needed to create something, it was a feeling that grew in my bones every passing day. I knew that I loved video games and I knew that I loved performing - then, for a final school project, I created a mock podcast. My professor noted that I was a natural on the mic and had a knack for editing and...the rest is history! I started up the show with a couple of friends, and discovered that it was an incredibly invigorating hobby to have. And, most importantly - it was fun.

My podcast, Pixel Project Radio, is dedicated to analyzing and discussing video games as one would literature or film. Our tagline is that we do "deep dives on the games we love - and some that you love, too." My aim for episodes is to have a healthy mix of silliness, background information, and academic-level analysis. I generally will focus on one game per episode, though some games demand multiple episodes to really get into the meat of what they have to offer. Occasionally, I'll program a topic episode as well; things such as "music in video games" or "All About the Nintendo Gameboy." Examining games as art is something that is very important to me. I am a lover of all things art: music, obviously, but also literature, and poetry, and dance, and more. I firmly believe that gaming (and podcasting) falls into this category as well. Unfortunately, there are still many who consider video games a "waste of time." To that end, I take my training and background and apply it to games; a huge part of performing and teaching classical music is not only learning to interpret music, but learning to interpret and appreciate art as a whole. Finding one's voice as an artist and approaching other artists' works is entirely interdisciplinary, and after playing through a handful of genuinely impressive and moving games I knew that examining them through a grander artistic lens was something I wanted to do. Don't get me wrong though - I do my best to balance the pretentiousness out with silly jokes and goofiness. Can't take yourself too seriously, eh? Wink wink, nudge nudge, know what I mean?

I want to reiterate again: while I love these 5 shows, there are SO MANY MORE deserving of accolades. I encourage you all to find PPR and the listed shows on socials, as well all regularly support each other and shoutout the myriad of shows putting out great content. This list, though, features a cornucopia of styles and entertainment. Whether you're looking for nuanced discussion, the intersection of gaming and anime, or a rowdy good time where you simply can't hold the laughter in - this list has you covered. Let's dive in together.