Checkpoints

My guest today is Will Luton, the product manager for Angry Birds 2 by Rovio and author of the book Free to Play or how to make money by giving away your games. Unsurprisingly we talk a whole bunch about free to play, we lament on the passing of the Dreamcast, we talk about Will's Magic the Gathering training regiment and his passion for playing and restoring old pinball machines. In an expansive and meandering chat we also manage to get into Alex Kidd speedruns, the merits of the Super Mario Bros movie, DARK BASIC, Pogz: the text adventure and how games can be the perfect therapy. "Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Hearthstone, Game of War, Rez, The Last Guardian, Resident Evil 7, Magic the Gathering, Alex Kidd, Pong, Space Siege, Skies of Arcadia, Samba di Amigo, Shenmue, Streetfighter, GTAV, Angry Birds 2, New Star Soccer, Game Dev Story

My guest today is David McCarthy who you'll probably recognise from the radio. He has worn many hats in the video game industry, from staff writer at Edge, to Rockstar Games and ultimtely to Japan, where he's worked for a number of video game companies over the past 6 or 7 years. There's a bunch of serious video game chat including the allure of Sonic, why Halo was so important, the majesty of Bangai O, the underappreciated brilliance of Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball and how the latest iteration of Fire Emblem stamps on the glory of the original titles. We also hit on the magic of pen and paper role playing, his unlikely switch from investment banking to video game journalist, dealing with the Hot Coffee incident while working at Rockstar, the burgeoning Japanese Indie Game scene and that time he was blown up on the tube. "May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Gauntlet, Sonic the Hedgehog, Magic the Gathering, Puyo Puyo, Goldeneye, Bangai O, Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball, Halo, Mortal Kombat, Fire Emblem, Mutant League Football, Hearthstone, Shadowverse, Snooker, John Madden, Super Monkey Ball, AKB48 - the game. RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

Checking for autosave... It's GDC week so I thought it appropriate to release a special episode of the show where I talk to people who are taking their first steps into video game development. An international panel of guests talk about what drew them to game development in the first place, how they are learning their skills, and all the glory and tragedy making a video game can entail. I've put detailed links to everyone on the show below, so check them out and play their video games. Kate Gray - Awkward Dating Simulator Jacob Hartmann - Sodagirl Thomas Cashman - Bard to the Future Cheri Skivinton - Selfie Nation Michael Wells - Proxy - Ultimate Hacker Kyle Kukshtel - Isotactics Tuuka Stefanson - Tormentor X Punisher Jasper Trenfield - Will it fit? "Do you wanna be a GAME DEV." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

My guests today are Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns, the founders of Metanet Software and the creators of N++. We talk about the promise of early programming, the impact of Sonic the Hedgehog, how they met and bonded over freeware games, the design lessons of Wip3out, an NHL 2001 tournament that has spanned over a decade, why a broad education is perfect for video games and, in perhaps the most controversial statement on the show thus far, how Crash Team Racing is better than Mario Kart. As well as chatting enthusiastically about a whole bunch of video games, we also hit on the development of N, how it felt to lead the charge for indie games on Xbox Live Arcade, the fear of selling out, and the positives and negatives of being a perfectionist. "Lyrics, fill in the gap. Drop that bass and get the Ninja Rap" PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: N++, Lode Runner, Bionic Commando, Chime, Ascii Arcade, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris Attack, Aero the Acrobat, Day of the Tentacle, Space War, Dark Castle, Aladdin, Doom, Commander Keen, Super Mario World, Lumines, NHL 2001, Doom the Rogue Like, Kutar, Gish, Nuzomou, Hyper Light Drifter, Spelunky, Dream quest, Braid, Jumper, Cave Story, Jump and Bump, Dark Souls, Animal Crossing, Crash Team Racing RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker -

My guest today is Michael Brough, the singular designer of a whole bunch of truly brilliant video games including 868-Hack, Imbroglio and Corrypt. We talk about how it feels playing New Zealand story as a kid in New Zealand, how quickly he fell in love with exploring computers through command lines, the exotic promise of video game shops, his experimental StarCraft mods, what keeps him making games, and how sometimes you can have too much faith in shareware. "Hold Z to feel emotions." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Pac Man, Flightmare, New Zealand Story, Castle of the Wind, StarCraft, Captain Comic 2, Commander Keen, Myst, Race for the Galaxy, Rogue, DOTA RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

Today's guest is Jim Crawford, creator of Frog Fractions 1 and Frog Fractions 2 and co-host of the video games hot dog podcast. We talk about his very early love of programming, why he would tell his young self to just rip people off better, how Frog Fractions was born out of insecurity and the key to funny video games. We also talk about World of Warcraft may have got him fired, working in the early PC demo scene, tracker music, reading Dungeons and Dragons rule books for fun, the ahead of it's time Terminator game by Bethesda, and that time Star Wars made him kick a Gamecube. This is definitely nothing to do with an ARG. "Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers and me." FROG FRACTIONS - http://twinbeard.com/frog-fractions/ PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Frog Fractions, Frog Fractions 2, World of Warcraft, Terminator, Gunhouse, QWOP, Psychonauts, Pheonix, Super Mario 64, Grand Theft Auto 4, Space Station Silicon Valley, Pharoah's Tomb, Nethack, Pickaxe Pete. RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

My guest today is Rob Dubbin. Rob spent over a decade working with Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report and The Late Show, but has always had a strong love for games and game development. We talk about childhood hurricanes, Computer Camp, the thrill of learning ZZT, why he is always revisiting Star Control 2, his Samurai Gunn skills, a brief dalliance with hacking and how a chance encounter with an old friend reignited his love for making videogames. "Okay, if you guys are really us, what number are we thinking of?" PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Samurai Gunn, Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, Undertale, Pharoah's Tomb, Super Smash Brothers, ZZT, Star Control 2, Duck Game, Brooklyn Trash King, Final Fantasy 7, Sword & Sworcery, Rocket League RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

My guest on today's episode is the wonderful Nina Freeman. Currently working on Tacoma at The Fullbright Company, Nina's previous games include Cibele and the IGF and Indiecade finalist How Do You Do It? We talk her life long love of Final Fantasy X-2, the absurdity of playing Sims with no context, how cities make scenes, the Fullbright videogame mixtape, how to quit Final Fantasy Online for real this time and why videogames (mostly) suck at sex. "You have to use your hands? That's like a baby's toy." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: The Sims, Final Fantasy, Catherine, Cobra Club, Myst, Xenosaga, Smash Brothers, Dark Souls, Soul Caliber 2, Pokemon Blue, Ladykiller in a Bind, Ute, Mystic Messenger, The Stanley Parable, RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

My guest today is Rich Vreeland AKA Disasterpeace, the sound artist and composer for games including Fez, Reigns, Mini Metro, Hyper Light Drifter and the movie It Follows. As you can imagine there is a lot of music nerd chat, from esoteric composition techniques to how to define the Chiptune genre. In a broad and meandering chat we also hit on his evergreen love of Ice Hockey games, how he was exposed to Zelda in utero, how much he was inspired by Cave Story and his unlikely early musical steps creating entrance music for electronic wrestlers. "You just worked yourself into a shoot, brother!" PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Super Mario 3, Fez, Cave Story, Halo, Super Pole Riders, World of Warcraft, NHL '94, Super Smash Bros, Super Mario Kart, Pokemon, Samorost 3, Kentucky Route Zero, Inside. RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

My guest today is Susan Arendt, the executive editor of Gamesradar+, co-founder of TakeThis and a veteran vidoegame journlaist and editor. We talk about mastering Maze Craze on the VCS, why Psychonauts is a flawed masterpiece, how she worked two jobs to fund her love of videogames, why the puns in Dragon Quest are the best, the impact of Phantasy Star Online and why playing Missile Command with her dad is such an important memory. "Rise and shine, guardian!" PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Morrowind, Buffy, Missile Command, Pong, Maze Craze, Phantasy Star Online, Psychonauts, Destiny, The Witness, Soul Caliber, Overwatch, The Witcher, Device 6, Fable 3 RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki