Checkpoints

My guest today is Erica Lahaie, a designer, illustrator and concept artist based out of Montreal. I'm a particular fan of the incredible work on Shrouded Isle but all of her art is amazing. Also she has the best URLs.

We go deep on our mutual love of the Tony Hawks Pro Skater series, talk about the mythical PS2 modem and her SOCOM 2 adventures, how she got her first break posting in the Giant Bomb forums and why we both think that rhythm action is probably the best video game genre.

"Gleam the cube buddy, yeah!"

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Zillion, Crash Team Racing, Tony Hawks Pro Skater Series, SOCOM 2, Amplitude, Rez, Modern Warfare 2, Need for Speed Underground, World of Warcraft, DOTA2, Bloodborne, Mass Effect, Gone Home, Parasite Eve

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by

My guest today is Clint 'halfcoordinated' Lexa. Clint is a beloved and incredible speed runner and a common highlight of GamesDoneQuick. Despite being born with a condition known as hemiparesis which limits the use of one side of his body, Clint has become a beloved and incredible speedrunner, with his one handed runs of intense action games like Vanquish and Nier being among the highlights of GamesDoneQuick these past few years. His experience in overcoming accessibility issues has also led to him becoming an advocate for better accessibility in games. He is also just the best guy.

We talk about how god modes in games meant he was never put off, how he got hooked on the frenzied brilliance of Gunstar Heroes, playing competitive Smash Bros, the thrill of mastering a video game, how he develops his speed run strategies, whether or not you write a script for a marathon, his Matrix like understanding of the AI in Castle Crashers, and why he'll never speed run Mario Odyssey.

"I'm not going to say anyone can do anything, but i will say your limits are way further out than you think they are."

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Gunstar Heroes, Super Mario, Super Smash Brothers, RAGE, Duke Nukem, Commander Keen, Jackal, Ninja Gaiden, Castle Crashers, Super Mario Odyssey, Mad World, Momodora 4, Vanquish, Robotic Alchemic Drive,

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

My guest today is Jennifer Scheurle, the game design lead at Opaque Space currently working in collaboration with NASA on the VR game Earthlight. The team recently won studio of the year and game of the year at the Austrailian Game Developer Awards.

We talk about how cool it is to work with NASA, her childhood playing games in Germany and why PCs rule, how a particularly harrowing experience with a bear in the original Tomb Raider turned her off games for years, how she might need an intervention to save her from Love Nicky why she moved to Austrailia to make games, and her deep love for Shadow of the Colossus.

"You think you're scared now? Wait till your parents get the bill for breaking Daedalus."

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Tomb Raider, The Clue, 7 Days to Die, Counter Strike, Shovel Knight, The Secret of Monkey Island, Love Nicky, World of Warcraft, To the Moon, The Beginners Guide, Shadow of the Colosuss, Portal

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

My guest today is that rarest of unicorns, a video game designer who moonlights as a drag queen. Richard Franke first got into games through his comic book art, and after spending many years working on a variety of titles - most notably the Burnout series - he left to found Magic Notion and create Kitty Powers Matchmaker, whose titular character is based on Richard's own drag queen persona.

We talk about his older brother passing on video game wisdom, his fear of 3D Monster Maze, recreating arcade games on the play ground, how he inadvertently created an Animal Crossing community, the design iteration that goes into making the perfect Burnout crash, and the wonderful sight of the designer of a game appearing on a youtube stream of their game as the main character of the game they created.

“We all came into this world naked. The rest is all drag.”

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Kitty Powers Matchmaker, Pong, Donkey Kong, 3D Monster Maze, Worms, Jet Set Willy, Burnout, Animal Crossing, Zelda, Final Fantasy 11, World of Warcraft, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Witcher 3, Mario Kart, MUDs, The Sims, Splatoon, Fallout 3, Dungeons and Dragons

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

My guest today is the velvet owl Will Porter - Former PC Zone editor, freelancer, and the writer of Project Zomboid, Alien Isolation and No Man's Sky.

We talk about how the PC Zone vs. PC Gamer rivalry is no joke, whether growing up on a farm puts you off farming sims for life, how it felt to be a Betamax kid in a VHS world, and how working in the bowels of Canary Wharf made him feel like he was living in Half Life.

We also hit on Drop 7 addiction, the challenges of working on a game like No Man's Sky, the exotic allure of Flashback, how much we miss middle tier games and the carnal thrills of games like Max Payne, Duke Nukem and Bulletstorm.

"Damn, those alien bastards are gonna pay for shooting up my ride."

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Zool, Imogen, Repton, Championship Manager, Half Life, Doom, Duke Nukem, Bulletstorm, Flashback, Drop 7, Elite, Carmageddon, the Fallout series, Deus Ex, Powerstone, Ready to Rumble, Abzu, Goldeneye, Far Cry, Uncharted 4, SWAT 4, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Timeshift, Psy Ops, Stanglehold, Alien Isolation, No Man's Sky

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

Hello! So good to be back. My guest on today's episode is the amazing Mike Cook

Mike is an AI researcher, the founder of #procjam (this year's even has just started so you should check it out.) and the creator of ANGELINA an AI system that makes video games.

As you can imagine, this is a mind blowing and fascinating talk. It honestly completely reshaped the way I think about and understand AI. There's also a ton of great video game stories like the surprise LAN party he had for his 10th birthday, how Command & Conquer cracked open his mind, his mum keeping the secrets of Monkey Island to herself, his 1000s of hours with DOTA 2 and how the AI he created to create games reflects the games he creates himself.

"He's smart, nice, liked by all. Why is he targeted for destruction?"

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Zool, Comman & Conquer: Red Alert, DOTA, N++, Final Fantasy 8, Broken Sword, Spelunky, Metal Gear Solid, Desert Golfing, PUBG, Fortnite, Black and White, Rogue Process, Invisible Inc. Secret of Monkey Island, Facade.

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

Today's guest is the Scottish novelist Christopher Brookmyre. Chris's love of videogames is peppered through many of his books, but most distinctly in his recent novel Bedlam which has subsequently become it's own videogame. We talk Manic Miner and Jet Set Willy, videogames as fuel for imagination,  trolling Dreamcast players, and the parallels between the Quake scene of the 90s and the Punk scene of the 70s. All fun and games until someone loses an eye.

Today's guest is videogame writer and creator Meg Jayanth. We have a lengthy chat about her work as the lead writer on Time Magazine's game of 2014, 80 Days before delving into all kinds of other narrative based games. We talk IFs, MUDs, MUSHs and Fanfic. We also hit on our differing approaches to play, how she can't bear to say goodbye to Commander Shepherd, making GTA your own, the peculiar ending to Sim Tower and my poor romantic performance in 80 days.  Oh Passepartout....

Mel Croucher is a living legend. You may not have heard of him and might be thinking, 'Declan, that's a bit strong.' and I'd say, 'Listen to the episode first.'

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.