Checkpoints

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. 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 Craig Stevenson

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

My guest today is Clint 'halfcoordinated' Lexa. 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

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

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

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

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

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

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

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

My guest on today's episode is the Jolie Menzel. Jolie is a game designer and developer who started her career at Telltale games and currently works at Ubisoft as the Narrative Desiger for the upcoming South Park - The Fractured But Whole.

We talk arcade games on the Jersey Shore, the pride and shame in Dance Dance Revolution, how her science teacher taught evolution via Pokemon, her love of the Sonic Fandom, and how she maybe got a little too into Minecraft.

We also hit on her time in Japan, a side quest into Fashion, why Dave Mirra BMX holds such fond memories, her teenage foray into sprite comics, working on South Park, and how she rage quit out of her very first date.

"You can just hang around outside in the sun all day, tossing a ball around, or you can sit at your computer and do something that matters!"

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Ms. Pac Man, Pokemon Stadium, Smash Bros, Galaga, Sonic Adventure, Marvel vs Capcom, Final Fantasy V, Dance Dance Revolution, Kirby, Secret of Mana, Animal Crossing, Katamari Damacy, Minecraft, Niddhogg, Fables,

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

My guest on today's episode is the features editor of Eurogamer, co-host of the Eurogamer podcast and one of my favourite writers, Christian Donlan.

As anyone familiar with Christian or the Eurogamer podcast will expect, this episode goes off on a lot of tangents, but we always end up back at videogames - some highlights include how Uncharted might just be a magic trick, how great writing can give you that same Aha! moment the best games can, and how failing at Spelunky helped him cope with his MS diagnosis.

In a packed show we also hit on the hilarity of Spy vs. Spy, the genius of the original Ghostbusters game, the profound impact of Animal Crossing, how important video game magazines were, his friend Stu who brought him back to games, the potential of AI crafted experiences, and how you should never play Cluedo with him and his sister.

"Nice day for the race."

"What race is that?"

"The human race. Kids growing up, so on. Hope for the future."

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Impossible Mission, Spy vs. Spy, Ghostbusters, Titanfall 2, Spelunky, Animal Crossing, PNO3, Tomb Raider, Civilization, Pikmin 3, Jet Set Radio Future, Uncharted, Blitz, Wonder Boy 3, Bonanza Bros, Ghost House, Advance Wars, Burnout 3, Clash Royale, Drop 7, The Saboteur, Fidel Dungeon Rescue, Spelunky, Nex Machina

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

My guest on today's episode is Arthur Gies. Arthur is a veteran video game journalist, former reviews editor for Polygon and long time host of Rebel FM.

We talk about his recent decision to leave Polygon and go back to grad school to study fine art before digging back through his video game milestones including: early memories of Atari 2600, video game sense memories, the power of sequels, how SEGA broke his heart, how Halo made him fall in love with games again, the impact of Bioshock, the thrill of meeting your heroes, the highs and lows of DOTA 2, and why Falllout is his favourite place to escape to.

"We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us. "

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: ET, Q*Bert, Super Mario Bros 2, Goonies 2, Castlevania 2, Megaman 3, Halo, Nights into Dreams, Soul Caliber, God of War 3, Fighting Vipers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Virtua Fighter, Bioshock, Fallout, Mass Effect, Geometry Wars, Pacman CE DX, Nidhogg 2, DOTA 2, Psychonauts.

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson

This is a show about videogames, the people who play them and the people who make them. Each episode, a guest talks about the games that have shaped their life in one way or another. Games that have inspired them, games that have forged connections & games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

Checkpoints 100! Massive thanks to everyone that listens to and subscribes to the show, and of course to all of my previous guests, without whom the show literally wouldn't exist. 

A milestone show requires a milestone guest, so today I'm joined by the creator of several iconic games including Full Throttle, Grim Fandango and Psychonauts and the founder and CEO of Double Fine, Tim Schafer.

We hit on a bunch of topics as we meander through Tim's life in games including computer clubs, summer camps, building kit PCs with his dad, how pirating a game almost cost him his job at Lucasarts, playing Pictionary with Death, the highs and lows of running your own studio and how Animal Crossing made him want to lead a better life.

"Whenever I smell asphalt, I think of Maureen."

PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Herzog Zwei, Adventure, Animal Crossing, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Psychonauts, Super Mario 64, Street Fighter 2, Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, Katamari Damacy, Portal, Civilisation, Loot Rascals, Little Nightmares, Pictionary, Zork, Space Ace, Tetris

Theme song by Samuel Baker

Art work by Craig Stevenson