The Cane and Rinse podcast is a weekly in-depth discussion on specific video games, ranging from million-selling series such as Final Fantasy to smaller indie titles such as Thomas Was Alone. The podcast is generally hosted by Leon Cox, joined by an assorted panel depending on the game in question. Each member of the panel is tasked with playing the game to completion, before discussing each aspect of it in minute detail on the podcast.
Since 2011, the Cane and Rinse team have released over 300 issues, each between an hour and two hours long. As well as the mainline podcast, the team are also responsible for Sound of Play, a show dedicated to music from video games.
Spin-offs include Quick Rinse, in which panel member Darren Gargette has a quick go of an upcoming game; as well as interviews with game developers, designers and composers for both Cane and Rinse and Sound of Play. The site also has a blog, for which community members write articles and interviews, and a forum, which Leon is keen to point out at the close of each episode.
Joining me, Leon Cox, in this issue...
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Archive Panic: At the time of this edit, seven volumes, fifty episodes in each volume, each episode 2+ hours long, and with no sign of stopping any time soon. This doesn't include bonus interview episodes and the Sound of Play spinoff. - Catchphrase: "Over-egging the pudding."
- Josh Garrity often compares dodgy writing to A-level drama coursework.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The format of the podcast has changed a little over the years.
- The first few episodes saw the team discussing two games in one podcast, which got a little messy.
- It's quite jarring hearing Leon swearing in the early issues, especially since the other members never seemed to.
- Early episodes solicited listeners to send in recordings with their thoughts about an upcoming game. It didn't take long for the format to switch to a member of the team reading a listener's written thoughts aloud.
- Insistent Terminology: Invoked, but not particularly enforced. Rather than such quaint terms as 'series' and 'episode', Cane and Rinse is sorted into 'volumes' and 'issues'.
- Averted with Sound of Play, which simply goes by the traditional 'episode' moniker.
- Marathon Level: Until they got their format under control, several episodes went wildly over time, notably the BioShock and Metal Gear Solid episodes. Telltale's The Walking Dead: Season One went on for so long, guests were having to bail out of the recording.
- Once an Episode: Super Meat Boy.
- Running Gag: Leon makes frequent reference to his age.
- "Joining me, Leon "OLD MAN" Cox..."
- Any game with "Origins" in the title will inevitably be referred to as "Oranges" instead. Ditto for "Legends" becoming "Lemons."
- Theme Tune:
- Cane and Rinse originally had a classic rock-style intro theme, though this was dropped partway through Volume 2.
- Sound of Play started out with a medley of assorted video game tunes. This was removed in favour of simply playing the first track of the selection.
