Checkpoints

Episode 9 - Today's guest is Jonathan Smith, one of the team responsible for the creation of the recent series of Lego games beginning with Lego Star Wars, and now co-director of the newly opened National Videogame Arcade in Nottingham. We talk Nimrod, Command & Conquer, of course Lego Star Wars and the wonderful tale of how Space Pants made him proud.

Episode 8 - Today's guest is Simon Parkin. A writer & videogame journalist, who regularly contributes to Eurogamer, The New Yorker, The Guardian and a variety of other publications. He also helped design the controversial tower defence game Sweatshop, which was famously banned from the App Store. We have a meandering chat about stories, the collector's impulse, Hidetaka Miyazaki and gaming as therapy. Along the way we talk Golden Axe, Final Fantasy 7, Bloodborne & a 4am moment of clarity when he realised Goldeneye had become a problem. We've all been there.

Today's guest is Kirsten Kearney, a videogame journalist and former frag doll. This episode has everything: Romance, murder, politics, obsession and revolution. OR Rainbow Six Vegas, Xenoblade Chronicles, Fallout 3 and Assassin's Creed Unity. Revolution!

Today's guest is Iain Cook of the popular music combo CHVRCHES. We discuss Galaga, Destiny, gaming on tour, Street Fighter 4 grudge matches and the inexplicable gaming creation known as Pi Man.

Episode 5: Maffew Gregg is the creator of long running web show Botchamania. We discuss Sonic on the Master System, Aladdin, Super Smash Brothers Melee and the curious case of an obese Rock found in a fan's copy of WWF No Mercy for the N64. This is awesome - clap clap clapclapclap!.

Episode 3: Mark Sorrell started his career in gaming working for late night TV call in show Quiz TV and now works as a a consultant and advisor on fremium game design, behavioural change, value perception and strategy. We talk about Superman on the Atari VCS, behavioural psychology, World of Warcraft and why Final Fantasy XII is not only the best Final Fantasy but one of the greatest videogames of all time.

Episode 3: Rhodri Broadbent makes videogames. Starting on games like Fable, Starfox 3DS and numerous Pixel Junk games, Rhod started his own video game company based in Wales called Dakko Dakko. We talk about videogames vs. computer games, the joy of a simple idea and the best christmas present ever.

Episode 2: In which we talk to Ste Curran about pop music, F-Zero GX, Space Truckers, Halo and how a chance encounter with Parappa the Rapper changed his life forever.

Episode 1: In which we talk to Leo Tan about piracy, hairdressing, Bloodwych and the zen of the 0.1 line in Super Monkey Ball. Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

In a special epilogue episode the tables are turned as I sit down with Violet Berlin and she interviews me about the games that shaped my own life.

We talk about blind runs of Alex Kidd, Tony Hawks Pro Skater as teenage therapy, why death wouldn't stand a chance against my Science Genius Girl, why I always skip the cutscenes, how far I was willing to go to get a Gamecube and why DDR is still one of the greatest games ever made.

We also of course talk about Checkpoints, how my own experiences form the structure of the show, trends and tropes I've discovered from interviewing so many people, and of course the poetic reasons for it's conclusion.

Thanks so much for listening!

Declan x

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson