Checkpoints

Happy New Year! My first guest of 2017 is the wonderful Aleks Krotoski. Best known to many as one of the presenters of the late 90s videogame show Bits, Aleks is also a renowned broadcaster, academic and journalist in the fields of psychology and technology, and currently hosts Digital Human on BBC Radio 4. We join Aleks on a stroll through LA and talk about playing Frogger in a laundromat, the unique appeal of Glasgow, working on Bits, Hot Coffee, Virtual Reality, the correct way to play Singstar and why she hasn't played a videogame since 2009. "Beware, coward." Digital Human - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b081ldd8 Vidoegame are Boring by Brie Code - http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2016-11-07-video-games-are-boring PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Frogger, Super Mario Bros, Grim Fandango, Second Life, Grand Theft Auto, Fantavision, Sonic, Pitfall, Volleyball, Sim City, 1942, Singstar, RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

Closing out the year and completing my quartet of guests who made some of my favourite games of 2016, my guest today is the creator of Really Bad Chess, Zach Gage. Zach is self described conceptual artist who explores systems. He has an incredible breadth of work but including board games, visual arts, installations and of course videogames like Spelltower, Tharsis and the wonderful Lose/Lose - a space invaders clone that wipes a random file on your computer every time you kill an alien. We talk through his early love of games and his equally early start creating them, I introduce him to the wonders of Top Trumps, we talk about why he sees himself as an artist before a game designer, the impact Prince of Persia and Lemmings had, and why he thinks poker is the best game ever. This is a great talk, and a fine end to an otherwise tumultuous year. Thanks for listening, here's to the future! "Last night I stayed up late playing poker with Tarot cards. I got a full house and four people died." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Super Mario Bros, Lemmings, Prince of Persia, Mario Paint, Tetris, Really Bad Chess, Poker, Top Trumps, Unreal Tournament, Rocket League, Knights of the Old Republic, Final Fantasy 12, Undertale, Pokemon, Lose/Lose, Spelltower, Go, Imbroglio. RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

My interviews with devs of some of my favourite games of 2016 continues this week as I welcome the creator of Hyper Light Drifter and co-founder of Heart Machine, Alex Preston. We talk about the creation of Hyper Light Drifter, the global community of Indie Game Developers, why you have to be a crazy person to make videogames and how a VHS tape about the making of Donkey Kong Country changed his life. We also hit on his deep love of Zelda and Super Metroid, the magic of Phantasy Star Online, the elegant thrills of DoDonPachi, why Overwatch is one of of our favourite games of the year and why Destiny is the perfect warm blanket. I also personally want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Thanks as always for listening to the show, and I hope you all have a wonderful festive season. You deserve it. "Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Godzila, Super Mario Bros. 3, Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Phantasy Star Online, Diablo 2, Destiny, Hyper Light Drifter, Cave Story, Overwatch, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy 6 and 12, Samurai Gun, DoDonPachi, Ikaruga and Donkey Kong Country. RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

Continuing the December theme of speaking with devs who made some of my favourite games of 2016, I'm joined this week by Jonathan Burroughs, one of the creators of Virgina and co-founder of Variable State. The team have recently been nominated for Writer's Guild of Great Britain award for the writing in the game too, so huge congratulations to them for that. In addition to his almost accidental career path - which took him from QA on Burnout 3 to starting his own game company via Battlefield and writing House of the Dead - Overkill - we talk about his Spectrum in a briefcase, an early love of Cannon Fodder and Wing Commander, designing levels for Marathon, the story of Virgina, how Lumines can be a cure for anxiety and how Gamedev Story can mend a broken heart. "There was a fish in the percolator!" The drawing game I couldn't remember the name of is Drawception, and it's still absolutely amazing https://drawception.com/ PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Mini Metro, Persona 4 Golden, Virginia, Battalion Wars, Burnout 3, Earthworm Jim, Monkey Island 2, Wing Commander, Cannon Fodder, Draw Something, Lumines, Gamedev Story, Asterisk, Kentucky Route Zero, Passage, Golden Axe, Dictator, Giddy Game Show. 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 AP Thomson, creator of Beglitched, the recently released iOS puzzler Swap Sword and many, many more. (My personal favourite is Tony Hawks Pro Dater.) He also teaches game design at NYU and has a masters degree from MIT. No big deal. We talk through the strange fear videogames instilled in him as a kid, and how Kirby's Block Ball helped him through to the other side. Why Cave Story made him want to be a game designer and how Pokemon will likely be here forever. We hit on his perennial love of hand helds, how he became one of the greatest Super Hexagon players in the world, why sometimes the most illegal games are the most exciting to make and, in a genuinely thrilling exchange, he offers a new reading on the themes of Ocarina of Time which completely blew my mind. Great talk. "Did you KNOW: fewer people have landed kickflips than have found LOVE." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: 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 Paul Rose aka Mr. Biffo. A hugely influential videogame writer during his run at Digitiser, a teletext service on Channel 4, Paul is also a novelist, screenwriter, and has just successfully kickstarted Found Footage. an online sketch show. We meander through Biffo's life in games, from the Binatone Thundercolt to PSVR, via late night Alex Kidd sessions, the amazing single player of Titanfall 2, the forgotten classic Unirally and the impossible excitement of Star Wars Dark Forces. We also chat about his time programming the scoreboard at Wembley Stadium, how he almost became an artist for 2000AD, how he stumbled into his job at Digister, the subsequent battles with the bosses at Teletext and how gaming when writing can be a blessing and curse. "You're a real pal, Biffo." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Titanfall 2, Pong, Unirally, Star Wars Dark Forces, Half Life 2, Jet Set Willy, Seiddab Attack, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Zoo Keeper, Super Star Wars, Uncharted 2, Leisure Suit Larry. 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 Paul Rose aka Mr. Biffo. A hugely influential videogame writer during his run at Digitiser, a teletext service on Channel 4, Paul is also a novelist, screenwriter, and has just successfully kickstarted Found Footage. an online sketch show. We meander through Biffo's life in games, from the Binatone Thundercolt to PSVR, via late night Alex Kidd sessions, the amazing single player of Titanfall 2, the forgotten classic Unirally and the impossible excitement of Star Wars Dark Forces. We also chat about his time programming the scoreboard at Wembley Stadium, how he almost became an artist for 2000AD, how he stumbled into his job at Digister, the subsequent battles with the bosses at Teletext and how gaming when writing can be a blessing and curse. "You're a real pal, Biffo." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Titanfall 2, Pong, Unirally, Star Wars Dark Forces, Half Life 2, Jet Set Willy, Seiddab Attack, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Zoo Keeper, Super Star Wars, Uncharted 2, Leisure Suit Larry. 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 Edmund McMillen, the creator of Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Gish and many, many more. He was also one of the developers profiled in the excellent Indie Game The Movie. We talk about a lot of videogames as we meander through Edmund's life in games. A deep love of early Nintendo, the hilarity of Katamari and Conkers Bad Fur Day, the genius of Overwatch, the wonders of Shareware, and the urban legend generator that is Mortal Kombat 2. We also talk about his career in games. How he got started making flash games just to freak out his college teacher, how he got hooked on the instant gratification of publishing games online, his involvement in the early indie scene in California, his awkward encounter with the Melvins, why Indie Game the Movie was a success and why every developer should make their own version of the Legend of Zelda. THE BATHROOM WE OPEN THE SHOW TALKING ABOUT - https://twitter.com/edmundmcmillen/status/791717019896860672 "You can't keep the artist down, the art just happens." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Goonies 2, Snake Rattle & Roll, Milon's Secret Castle, XCOM, Doom, Descent, Fallout, Gish, Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, WoW, Katamari, Envirobear, Overwatch, The Witness, Warhammer, Magic The Gathering. 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 Edmund McMillen, the creator of Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, Gish and many, many more. He was also one of the developers profiled in the excellent Indie Game The Movie. We talk about a lot of videogames as we meander through Edmund's life in games. A deep love of early Nintendo, the hilarity of Katamari and Conkers Bad Fur Day, the genius of Overwatch, the wonders of Shareware, and the urban legend generator that is Mortal Kombat 2. We also talk about his career in games. How he got started making flash games just to freak out his college teacher, how he got hooked on the instant gratification of publishing games online, his involvement in the early indie scene in California, his awkward encounter with the Melvins, why Indie Game the Movie was a success and why every developer should make their own version of the Legend of Zelda. THE BATHROOM WE OPEN THE SHOW TALKING ABOUT - https://twitter.com/edmundmcmillen/status/791717019896860672 "You can't keep the artist down, the art just happens." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Goonies 2, Snake Rattle & Roll, Milon's Secret Castle, XCOM, Doom, Descent, Fallout, Gish, Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac, The Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, WoW, Katamari, Envirobear, Overwatch, The Witness, Warhammer, Magic The Gathering. 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. Ah, the 20th of October 2016, simpler times. I attended the 4th Games are for Everyone event at the Caves in Edinburgh. A mixture of art gallery, videogame arcade and club night, the labyrinthine venue was transformed into an interactive wonderland including real life haunted houses, yoga ball controllers, awkward arcades, competitive hugging and a Moby Dick game you control with a giant piece of drift wood. I spoke to the organisers of the event and many of the developers who had created the incredible work on display. We Throw Switches (the organisers, curators and box carriers) - https://twitter.com/WeThrowSwitches Vaida Plankyte (Competitive Cuddling Simulator) - https://twitter.com/underskinnyhrt Niall Moody (Hummindbird) - https://twitter.com/NiallEM Aubrey Hesselgren (The World Is Flat) - https://twitter.com/HilariousCow Cesar Parent (Gravity Pong) - https://twitter.com/cesarparent No Code (The House Abandon) - https://twitter.com/_NoCode James Medd (The Awkward Arcade) - https://twitter.com/awkward_arcade "Hey I just met you, and this is crazy, but here's my number, call me Ishmael." 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