The Besties

By Russ Frushtick, Chris Plante, Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroyLeisure Video Games

Ranking
3rd
on Video Games
Favorites
223
Followers
Typical duration
57 min
per episode

Based on Podcast App listening data

The Besties episodes

November 01, 2013 The Besties 77: A kid-shaped pile of rats
It's almost here.
The calamity of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launch month can be heard in the distance; the vibrations can be felt if you stand still enough. Are you ready?
Enjoy these final couple Besties of the current generation. We'll see you on the other side.
2:40 - Best controller upgrade (The PS4 controller)
9:30 - Best book of the week (Device 6)
16:00 - Halftime!
20:00 - Best sail (The Wind Waker HD)
25:30 - Best improvement upon Battlefield 3's miserable single-player campaign (Battlefield 4)
34:00 - The winner is everyone!
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
36 min
October 26, 2013 The Besties 76: Poor, poor Sonic
I come here to praise Sonic, not to bury him.
Wait, that's wrong. I come here to bury him — or at least the happy memories I once had of him.
Fortunately, my besties Justin and Griffin have positive things to talk about, like the surprises of The Stanley Parable and oh my gosh Candy Box 2 is out! So yes, while I'm sad to see the mascot of my childhood continue to struggle through my adult years, I can take solace in the cornucopia of other good games being released on a weekly basis.
3:20 - Best first level of a not-so-good game (Sonic: Lost World)
15:15 - Best tutorial (How to Survive)
22:20 - Halftime!
26:00 - Best endings (The Stanley Parable)
37:00 - The winner is everyone!
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
38 min
October 18, 2013 The Besties 75: A very merry Pokémon special
Last week we promised an all Pokémon episode. This week we deliver.
The Besties discuss pocket monsters on a level of granularity that ultimately drives Justin to the brink of insanity. Can you handle that?
Maybe you're not the sort of person who wants to know about min-maxing Ghastly mating. And maybe weighing the benefits of Grass and Dragon types isn't your cup of tea. Well, to you I say, good riddance and good day!
Now that it's just us super fans, let's gather close and tell stories of Squirtle battles long past.
3:31 - Best way to force breed Pokémon (day care)
8:14 - Best item (Exp. Share)
17:15 - Halftime!
20:33 - Best way to make a Pokémon feel real (feed it cupcakes)
24:59 - Best mobile multiplayer of the year so far (Player Search System)
37:43 - The Winner Is!
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
39 min
October 12, 2013 The Besties 74 - GD Ritzy's
Russ is gone.
We know, we'd thought we'd be thrilled about it too, but damned if we don't miss the little guy. But hey, he'll be back next week, right? Until we're doing our best to cheer ourselves up with video games. Play the pain away.
4:13 - Best Board Game iPad Adaptation (Pandemic)
14:05 - Best Performance by a Supporting Willem Dafoe (Beyond: Two Souls)
24:08 - Halftime!
30:43 - Best Load Screen (GTA Online)
45:58 - The Winner Is!
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
48 min
September 27, 2013 The Besties 73 - A bowl of SteamOS
The whole gang is back together!
Griffin returns from Japan to regale us with amazing stories of vegetables and video games and video games starring vegetables.
By the end of the episode, we get to the big topic of the week: SteamOS. Valve has decided to take down video game consoles! Or are they targeting Windows? Or is their plan something else entirely?
With the power of our four noggins, we're bound to uncover the truth in this week's episode of The Besties!
3:00 - Best example of Buyer's Remorse (Grand Theft Auto 5's Social Club)
10:10 - Best talking mask (Marlow Briggs and the Mask of Death)
19:30 - Halftime!
32:30 - Healthiest game (Food Practice Shooter)
40:00 - Best alternative to the absurdly long HDMI cable connecting my PC to my TV (SteamOS)
X:XX - The winner is ...
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
57 min
September 20, 2013 The Besties 72 - GTYay
This week, Rockstar released Grand Theft Auto 5 and the rest of the games industry politely gave it and its hype plenty of space to do their thing.
Justin, Frushtick and I (sadly Griffin is busy covering Tokyo Game Show in Japan) talk about the things we love, like, don't understand and find painfully dull in Grand Theft Auto 5. It's a long conversation, and while we tried to talk about specifics, the conversation moves quickly from one topic to the next. That explains why there's no beat sheet below the audio file today.
How are you enjoying GTA 5? Or, did you pass? And if so, why? Let's talk in the comments!
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
49 min
September 13, 2013 The Besties 71 - Three's company
Due to technical difficulties only three Besties were able to record this week.
Frushtick, Griffin and I try to make magic without the magician, Justin McElroy. Do we succeed? You of course will be the judge.
It's been a slow news week, what with the entire games industry trying to distance itself from the media magnet that is Grand Theft Auto 5's upcoming release. So, we stir together a few oddities from the gameosphere into a stew of conversation. Will people remember this episode ever happened a week from now, when citizens have abandoned their earthly duties to roam the virtual world of San Andreas? I sure hope so.
5:50 - Best 2D Minecraft (Junk Jack X)
13:00 - Best byproduct of Microsoft's reverse nefariousness (Steam family sharing program)
21:00 - Halftime!
30:30 - Best effort to make people sort of care about Vita (Vita TV)
40:20 - The winner is...
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
Download MP3"
Subscribe to the podcast (RSS)
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
41 min
September 06, 2013 The Besties 70 - The avuncular episode
Frushtick is an uncle!
Yes, the man of a thousand roles has a new one: the grown-up responsible for introducing a child to video games. Congratulations to Russ and the Frushtick clan.
We return after a holiday hiatus to discuss everything from a life-affirming platformer to a bowel-purging horror simulator. We apologize upfront for any and all bathroom humor.
How did you spend your final days of summer? What did you eat? I ate southern fried food for five consecutive days and my internal organs are now at war with one another. Whoever wins, I lose!
3:23 - Best dose of untarnished joy (the music levels in Rayman Legends)
12:40 - Best virtual colonic (Outlast)
21:24 - Halftime!
26:22 - Best Gauntlet reboot (Hammerwatch)
31:12 - Best tie-in surprise (Splinter Cell: Spider-Bot)
38:15 - The winner is...
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
Download MP3"
Subscribe to the podcast (RSS)
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Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
40 min
August 23, 2013 The Besties 69 - Live-ish from New York!
You ask for more Grant. You get more Grant. That's how things work here with The Besties. We give the people what they want.
But what's this? Zounds! It appears your wish was made on a cursed monkey's paw. You know not what you've done!
You see, in exchange for Grant, Griffin McElroy has been expelled to the land of Germany. Though I must say, the curse could not have happened at a more helpful time, what with Gamescom.
Any who, somehow Frushtick, Hoops, Grant and myself all happened to be in the New York office this week, so we decided to record the episode the old-fashioned way: sitting uncomfortably in four wheely chairs, waiting for the others to snap under the pressure of extended eye contact.
0:00 - Broadway!
3:10 - The best transition of a video game series from offensive to progressive (Saints Row 4)
16:00 - Best ghost and / or panther simulator (Splinter Cell: Blacklist)
27:30 - Halftime!
34:30 - Best XCOM game of the month (The Bureau: XCOM Declassified)
50:00 - Best free-to-play game ever (Plants vs. Zombies 2)
57:45 - The winner is...
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
Download MP3"
Subscribe to the podcast (RSS)
Subscribe on iTunes
Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
1 hr 1 min
August 16, 2013 The Besties 68 - Down in a hole
The gang gets back together before being dashed apart once more.
This week on The Besties, the whole gang is back together, which is exciting because the next few weeks will be rife with missing members. So enjoy it while you can! We also get a glimpse into what it takes to drive Griffin mad.
4:05 - Best MetroidVania Spelunky Minecraft (SteamWorld Dig)
13:45 - Best broken piece of shit that oh my god I love please don't leave me (PayDay 2)
27:50 - Halftime!
33:45 - Best way to feel like a monster (Papers, Please)
41:15 - Best example of a forever runner that doesn't feel cheap (Knightmare Tower)
48:00 - The winner is...
Theme song by Ian Dorsch
Get the show:
Download MP3"
Subscribe to the podcast (RSS)
Subscribe on iTunes
Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!
51 min

About The Besties

From the publisher's feed

It's Game of the Year meets King of the Hill as four of Earth's best friends – Griffin McElroy, Justin McElroy, Chris Plante, and Russ Frushtick – rank and review their favorite video games. Because…