Checkpoints

My guest on today's show is Brendon Chung. Founder of Blendo games and creator of Gravity Bone, Atom Zombie Smasher, Thirty Flights of Loving and the upcoming Quadrilateral Cowboy. Many of Brendon's games have been built using the mod tools from games like Half Life 2 and Doom 3, so the games that Brendon creates and the games that have shaped his life intertwine in fascinating way. Things like Doom, Quake, and Thief are both videogame milestones in his life but also their mod tools form the backbone of the games he makes. We talk about kind uncles, pulling things apart to see how they work, environmental story telling in Doom, making movies about a golf club wielding hitman, being so good at Quake multiplayer that you can echo locate players through the pick ups they collect and how you would really act if you were your character in Fallout 4.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Gamecity I recorded a special edition of the show live from the festival. This is different to the usual show where I have one guest and talk about the games that shaped them. In this episode, the checkpoint is a single year, and my panel of guests talk about their life and the games they played at that exact point. Since this was the tenth anniversary of Gamecity, we decided on the year 2005. Myself, creator of Killbox Malath Abbas, host of One Life Left and creator of Chime Ste Curran, and the founder of Gamecity, Iain Simons, ruminate on the impact of that year. This show was recorded live from the National Videogame Arcade at Gamecity on the 29th of October. I was thrilled to do this, I hope you enjoy the show. Josh who was running the desk at the event did an incredible job with the recording, so huge thanks to him, to everyone at Gamecity, to my brilliant guests, and of course, to you.

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Gamecity I recorded a special edition of the show live from the festival. This is different to the usual show where I have one guest and talk about the games that shaped them. In this episode, the checkpoint is a single year, and my panel of guests talk about their life and the games they played at that exact point. Since this was the tenth anniversary of Gamecity, we decided on the year 2005. Myself, creator of Killbox Malath Abbas, host of One Life Left and creator of Chime Ste Curran, and the founder of Gamecity, Iain Simons, ruminate on the impact of that year. This show was recorded live from the National Videogame Arcade at Gamecity on the 29th of October. I was thrilled to do this, I hope you enjoy the show. Josh who was running the desk at the event did an incredible job with the recording, so huge thanks to him, to everyone at Gamecity, to my brilliant guests, and of course, to you.

Today's guest is Richard Lemarchand. A game designer with an enviable CV including Jak X, Soul Reaver and the Uncharted series, Richard is now an associate professor at the University of Southern California where he lectures on the videogame programme. We talk about that transition from AAA development to teaching, how his mum was responsible for getting him his start, the similarities between magic and design, and how sometimes being bad at games can help you be a better designer. Along the way we cover Sonic the Hedgehog, F15 Strike Eagle, Electroplankton, Hurt Me Plenty, Syndicate and Portal. This is a triumph.

Today's guest is Richard Lemarchand. A game designer with an enviable CV including Jak X, Soul Reaver and the Uncharted series, Richard is now an associate professor at the University of Southern California where he lectures on the videogame programme. We talk about that transition from AAA development to teaching, how his mum was responsible for getting him his start, the similarities between magic and design, and how sometimes being bad at games can help you be a better designer. Along the way we cover Sonic the Hedgehog, F15 Strike Eagle, Electroplankton, Hurt Me Plenty, Syndicate and Portal. This is a triumph.

Episode 20: Today's guest is Chris Crawford, an iconic figure in the history of videogames, not least because he was the founder of the Game Developer's Conference, which started as a small meeting of developers in his living room in August 1987. Chris is not one to do things by half, and despite his rich pedigree and his influential writing, he left the videogame industry in 1992 in a blaze of glory with his now famous Dragon Speech. He left to make games about people rather than things. 23 years later he continues this quest, with Siboot being the most recent example. We talk about his beginnings in game design, about working at Atari during the videogame crash, how he's currently building a tank (!), what prompted him to make the Dragon Speech, abut how he perceives stories as algorithms and how maths is the key to the future of our civilisation. We touch on Pacman, Balance of Power, Gossip, Civilisation and Papers Please. Dream well.

Episode 20: Today's guest is Chris Crawford, an iconic figure in the history of videogames, not least because he was the founder of the Game Developer's Conference, which started as a small meeting of developers in his living room in August 1987. Chris is not one to do things by half, and despite his rich pedigree and his influential writing, he left the videogame industry in 1992 in a blaze of glory with his now famous Dragon Speech. He left to make games about people rather than things. 23 years later he continues this quest, with Siboot being the most recent example. We talk about his beginnings in game design, about working at Atari during the videogame crash, how he's currently building a tank (!), what prompted him to make the Dragon Speech, abut how he perceives stories as algorithms and how maths is the key to the future of our civilisation. We touch on Pacman, Balance of Power, Gossip, Civilisation and Papers Please. Dream well.

A few days before his 40th birthday I sat down for a meander through videogame past with Kieron Gillen. After a long and storied career in videogame journalism - starting at Amiga Power to becoming one of the founders of Rock, Paper, Shotgun via New Games Journalism - Kieron has moved on to a successful career as a comic book writer. With a hugely successful run of books from Thor to Darth Vader, as well as his two creator owned books with Jamie McKelvie, Phonogram and the Wicked and the Divine, which has recently been optioned for a TV series. We discuss a lot of videogames, Early disappointment with Tthe Hobbit, the importance of Gauntlet, the quality of writing in Speedball 2, creating poets in Princess Maker, the communal joy of Chaos, an alternate God Hand future, how Let's Plays are the final form of New Games Journalism and you don't want to know what he thinks about Zelda. Also a story of a testicle based injury caused by City of Heroes. You're welcome.

A few days before his 40th birthday I sat down for a meander through videogame past with Kieron Gillen. After a long and storied career in videogame journalism - starting at Amiga Power to becoming one of the founders of Rock, Paper, Shotgun via New Games Journalism - Kieron has moved on to a successful career as a comic book writer. With a hugely successful run of books from Thor to Darth Vader, as well as his two creator owned books with Jamie McKelvie, Phonogram and the Wicked and the Divine, which has recently been optioned for a TV series. We discuss a lot of videogames, Early disappointment with Tthe Hobbit, the importance of Gauntlet, the quality of writing in Speedball 2, creating poets in Princess Maker, the communal joy of Chaos, an alternate God Hand future, how Let's Plays are the final form of New Games Journalism and you don't want to know what he thinks about Zelda. Also a story of a testicle based injury caused by City of Heroes. You're welcome.

Today's guest is Jason Rohrer. Jason worked on a new currency, Jason took on his local government alone and won, Jason is a father, a writer, a programmer, a magician, a musician. Jason also makes videogames. From Passage to Sleep is Death to Cordial Minuet to his latest as yet untitled game which he talks about on the show, Jason is always searching for new ideas and new ways of playing. This passion for exploration and discovery is what makes his games so exciting, and why he's marked himself out as a unique voice in the videogame world. Some of his gaming checkpoints include Rust, the Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros. Wolfenstein and Aliens vs. Predator. 18 episodes in and we finally have a Jaguar game.