Giant Bomb's weekly panel on new releases, industry news, and Game of the Year debates.
Giant Bombcast treats video game discussion like a crowded couch conversation with a rundown somewhere underneath it. Recent episodes move from Resident Evil Zero defenses and Star Fox 64 nostalgia to Dispatch debates, Game of the Year arguments, and holiday-chaos housekeeping.
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Giant Bombcast is a long-running, numbered weekly panel show produced by Giant Bomb, built around a rotating roster of hosts and games-media regulars rather than a single interviewer and guest. Jan Ochoa anchors and introduces most episodes, with Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb as recurring panelists; Sean McDowell, Mike Minotti, Dan Ryckert, and Nikki Grayson also appear across episodes. Regular segments include roundup discussion of gaming industry news (outlet changes like GamesBeat's independence, hardware news like Arcade1Up's shutdown), reviews of new and remastered releases, and listener-submitted questions read on air. In December, the show runs a multi-episode Game of the Year series in which the panel debates and votes on both serious and joke award categories tied to that year's releases. Tangents are a structural feature rather than an occasional detour — conversations regularly drift into personal anecdotes, wrestling (WrestleMania, The Game Awards appearances by wrestlers), and running bits among the cast. The tone is casual and conversational, recorded roundtable-style rather than scripted, with episodes running from under 40 minutes to close to two hours. Genres discussed span JRPGs, tactics games, rhythm games, arcade cabinets, and retro re-releases, reflecting a broad rather than genre-specific games focus. Recurring guests are drawn largely from games journalism (GamesBeat, Kind of Funny orbit) rather than developers or public figures outside the industry. Listeners who follow the show over time get continuity through recurring hosts, in-jokes, and yearly traditions like the GOTY deliberations. The show suits people who want ongoing gaming industry commentary paired with an established, personality-driven panel dynamic rather than a strict news-only format.
Made for: Video game enthusiasts who want weekly industry news, game reviews, and casual panel banter from a consistent cast of games-media personalities.
What sets it apart: An 800+ episode numbered history and an annual multi-day Game of the Year series with invented award categories set it apart from single-host or interview-format gaming shows.
The Giant Bomb discusses the latest video game news and new releases, answers listener questions, and sometimes gets wildly off-topic in this weekly podcast. Featuring Jan Ochoa, Jeff Grubb, and Jeff Bakalar.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Giant Bombcast makes game criticism social, technical, and funny by letting informed disagreements develop in full.
Giant Bombcast turns video-game discussion into a lively group argument, with Jan Ochoa steering conversations that regularly include Jeff Grubb, Jeff Bakalar, and a larger rotating crew.
A Star Fox verdict becomes your N64 engineering seminar before the next joke lands.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A loose, affectionate Resident Evil Zero defense built around inventory friction, two-character puzzles, and series-rankings debate.
Giant Bombcast 935: Dark Cloud 3 drops into Mike Minotti's post-credits reckoning with Resident Evil Zero, and the fun is hearing him defend it while still admitting it belongs near the bottom of his own series ranking.
A loose, funny retro-games stretch where Nintendo 64 limits open into decomp projects, Star Fox 64, and hardware-era tinkering.
Giant Bombcast 934: Ohio Derelicts lands in the sweet spot where old game hardware becomes less nostalgia object than problem to poke at. The crew get into Nintendo 64 optimization, decompiled projects, and the clever ways developers now squeeze cleaner performance out of games…
A funny, game-literate Bombcast about Myst scars, busted cat tactics, and three hosts keeping the room loose.
Giant Bombcast 927 catches Jan Ochoa, Jeff Grubb, and Mike Minotti in loose trio mode, with Jeff Bacalar and Dan Reichert away and the aftertaste of their Myst puzzle stream still hanging over the room.
A loose year-end game chat that turns museum management into a systems-heavy conversation.
An end-of-year game chat wanders into museum management, and the draw is how many systems keep unfolding as it goes. The first stretch leans into sponsor reads and New Year chatter, so the conversation takes its time finding the game, but the shift pays off once the museum talk…
A loose, funny awards-table episode where strange categories turn into surprisingly sharp arguments.
Day 2 of Giant Bombcast's Game of the Year 2025 keeps the holiday energy loose without losing the awards shape. Jan and a packed panel move through oddball categories like Best Gambling, Best Z-teamer, Best Multiplayer, and a Game of the Year 2021 revisit, with the conversation…
A playful hardware debate that tightens into a clear winner while the panel juggles retro handhelds, magnets, the Nintendo 64, the DS, and Thor.
The panel turns a sprawling hardware debate into something close to a moving target, with retro consoles, Android devices, magnets, the Nintendo 64, the DS, the Retroid Pocket Classic, and Thor all crowding the conversation.
A loose, funny Giant Bomb couch hang, strongest when its Dispatch talk turns small choices into real attachment.
Giant Bombcast 921 opens as a birthday episode from Main Gear HQ, with Jan Ochoa gathering Jeff Grubb, Sean McDowell, Dan Reich, and the rest of the room before the Game of the Year recordings.
A funny, loose Giant Bombcast built around practical game talk, QTE chaos, and crew banter.
Episode 920 is a loose, lived-in Giant Bombcast where long johns, mission timers, quick-time prompts, messy character banter, and holiday wordplay all end up in the same conversation.
Three comedians riff on new releases and revisit terrible old games on Get Played Remastered.
Rob Zacny and Patrick interview indie game developers and unpack the industry's rough patches.
Game Informer's editors review new releases and debrief hands-on previews from events like Summer Game Fest.
Panel and interview deep dives on video game history, from Shiny Entertainment to Sonic hacks.
Mike Minotti beat Resident Evil Zero.
Old hardware gets an unlikely little victory lap here.
February 10 starts with technical trouble right away.
The show opens with a New Year hangout.
Christmas, somehow, is the launchpad.
The crew spends the segment arguing about retro hardware and the odd charm of magnets.
Episode 921 opens birthday-weird.
Tuesday begins under Long Johns.
Dan Reichert reviews Metroid Prime 4 after playing and beating the game over three days.
This episode is a live recording from the Giant Bomb-a-thon, featuring the hosts and guests in a humorous, chaotic, and exhausted state as they discuss their marathon streaming session and gaming media.
This episode of 90s Crime Time explores forgotten crimes from the 1990s that slipped through the cracks of mainstream attention.
This episode is a live panel discussion at Pax East 2025 where the hosts explain a last-minute change from a planned Blight Club panel to a different topic, involving updates about their departure from Fandom and internal drama.
April 22 lands messy.
The hosts discuss tax-related issues, including filing taxes, potential audits, and complications with LLCs in Delaware.
The Giant Bombcast crew discusses video game news, new releases, and answers listener questions with humorous banter.
The Giant Bombcast crew discusses video game news, new releases, and answers listener questions with humorous banter.
The hosts of the Bomb Cast introduce their Revengeance episode 883, discussing favorite memories with the Nintendo Switch in a humorous and casual setting.