Checkpoints

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

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

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

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, poetry vs. coding, how to quit Final Fantasy Online for real this time and why video games (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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 andof 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

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

All of my guests in December have created some of my favourite games of the year, and this week 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

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

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

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

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

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

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