Studio: 4Player Network
Category: Video Games
What It Is
Four guys discuss new video game releases, the video game fan base, video game news and classic video games. There’s a pattern there of some kind.
Technical Details
The show comes out once a week, usually Wednesday. When the guys go to video game conventions, they’ll put out extra episodes, occasionally two or three extra episodes a week, which can get pretty heavy and generally just leads to me skipping episodes. I have never seen an episode that runs under two hours, except for some of those extra episodes which may be shorter, making it the longest podcast so far (though not the longest we’ll talk about), though it never tops two and a half hours. The show has an Explicit tag and deserves it; there’s an entire section at the end of the show called “**** You,” where each of the guys vents their anger at something that’s made them angry that week. The f-bombs come fast and furious, trust me. Apparently, you can watch the recording of this one live; I’m not sure how or when though. The show comes out of Austin, Texas and is part of a large network of podcasts/videos. These guys are pretty big on YouTube; so much so that there’s a scene in Grand Theft Auto V game that references a specific video they put out. This podcast has been around since 2007 and is at around 400 episodes; the twenty most recent can be accessed at iTunes – for older episodes go to the website.
What About It
Despite the fact that I’m no gamer, I quite enjoy the show. There’s always four guys on the show (the cast rotates a bit), but they’re always funny and passionate. The conversations are incredibly rambling and, despite the fact that Nick Henderson is constantly shouting at people for derailing the show, full of strange rabbit trails and arguments. The show begins with a conversation about a new release, moves onto a section that discusses recent news in the video game industry and then enters a section where the guys choose the “chatter of the week.” Listeners send in their name, location, proudest gaming achievement, most shameful gaming moment and top five games of all time. Nolan reads two entries per show and then the group votes on their favorites. Then it’s time for the “4Player Minute” where each person is given “one minute” (read: ten minutes) to list their Hype of the Week (something they’re excited about), Sweat of the Week (something they’re nervous about) and their **** You of the Week (something they’re angry about). At this point, the show is probably bumping up against a hundred and fifty minutes, so they wrap. Despite the fact that I don’t play games, I’m interested in them as an art form (yes, I see them as a definite art form) so I like to hear people talk about them. They do a good job talking about games that are experimental and also the big major releases. I like to keep abreast of what’s going on in the video game arena of art; I don’t catch every episode of this, but it’s the one I use when I get in the mood for some video game talk.
Essential If
You have ever played a video game for twenty-six hours with only one bathroom break.
Avoid Like the Plague If
You think only things carved out of marble are “art.”
Best Entry Point
I’ll throw you a couple here. First of all, here’s the episode that was actually the first episode of the show I heard. It’s called 4PP 325: The Daredevil Love Show. It features a couple of astoundingly great moments, like a vicious argument that breaks out at the very end about whether Daredevil or the Flash is cooler (yes, nerds, this does include a discussion about which of the various Flashes is being discussed). Secondly, this one has a wonderful “Chatter of the Week” segment; I’m not even going to spoil it, but let’s just say that one of the chatters’ shameful secret is . . . quite a bit more shameful than the guys are ready for. This bit spawns a great running gag for the next few episodes. Then there’s 4PP 332: The Mondo Show; this one picks up right after the release of GTAV and one of the hosts has just spent, believe it or not, twenty-four hours straight playing the game (with only one poop break) on a live feed. They spend a good seventy minutes at the top of the show discussing the game; by any standards, GTA is one of the most significant game franchises of all time, so it’s great to hear the guys really dig into the game. That ep is a good example of how detailed and in-depth the discussions can get when the guys have a real, serious subject to dig into.
4 stars.
Next time, let’s jump from video games into the realm of the spiritual; I consider myself a Christian and this is a podcast dedicated to another religion, but it’s easily my favorite religious podcast and it’s helped me grow in my spiritual life more than any Christian podcast ever has.