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 Steve McNeil, one of the creators and team captains of Go 8 Bit, a videogame comedy show that started life as a fringe experiment and has now been turned into a real life TV show! It starts tonight in the UK at 10pm on Dave.

We talk through Steve's life in games, from Pong through to the very latest in virtual reality. We touch on his love for the early British videogame pioneers like Jeff Minter and the Oliver Twins, university sessions of Brian Lara Cricket, his deep love of Split/Second Velocity and the potentially friend-ending joy of Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes.

We also touch on Steve's comedy career, how he got his start as a plant in a Brendon Burns fringe show, the origins of Go 8 Bit and the challenge of adapting it for TV, the crazy tech of Wifi Wars and how much Bob Mortimer loves first person shooters.

'Drink the brine!'

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Pong, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Chuckie Egg, Dizzy, Split/Second, GTA 4, Brian Lara Cricket, Ico, Assassin's Creed 2, Track and Field, Gang Beats, South Park and the Stick of Truth

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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 Tony Coles, a freelance videogame writer and former videogame PR.  The length of the episode gives you some idea of how passionate and excited Tony is by videogames. This episode runs on the rocket fuel of enthusiasm and nostalgia.

We talk about Tony's first experience of Space Invaders on a German Military Base and how that continued to be the defining game of his youth, early video game hacks involving shoot em up simulators and Maria Whittaker, some horror stories of play testing, why video game PR was not for him, and how he was the first writer to ever get a named credit in Edge.

We also chat about the wonders of the SID chip, how Jet Set Willy instilled a love of exploration, how much we miss the Aki wrestling games, why Ikaruga is the most powerful example of games as art and why more games should have a shout button.

'My Ninja brings all the boys to the yard.'

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

Games discussed: Manic Miner, Jet Set Willy, Mercenary, Space Invaders, Defender, Ikaruga, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, SWAT 3, Super Shinobi, Fingers Malone, Oblivion, Ultima 3, X-Com, Thunderforce, Golden Axe, Barbarian, Doom, Aliens vs. Predator, Tron 2.0, International Soccer, Uncharted 4.

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 Ellie Gibson, one half of the Scummy Mummies Podcast/comedy team,  an award winning videogame journalist and coming to TVs near you as the videogame expert in Dara O'Briain's Go 8 Bit.  

We talk about the dual impact of Jet Set Willy and Band Aid's Feed The World, the bizarre interview process for her first gaming job, an unforgettable press trip for the videogame Black which involved James Bond's stunt double and a ring of fire, why it really should be about ethics in Vietnamese Journalism, the history of Eurogamer, Dave 'The Animal' Perry, and why you shouldn't say the word Joypad on TV.

'Simon, sidestep to your left!'

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Fruit Mystery http://taxiderby.tumblr.com/mystery

Games discussed: Jet Set Willy, Fruit Mystery, Tomb Raider, Super Mario Kart, GTA, Candy Crush, New Zealand Story, WipeOut, Rockstar Ate My Hamster, The Suffering, Sky Odyssey, Pokemon Go

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 Dr. Jo Twist OBE. As the CEO of UKIE, the UK videogames trade body, Jo works tirelessly to ensure that the UK is a place where videogame creators, developers & publishers can thrive. 

We talk about moving from Hong Kong to Scotland, how she was prescribed her first videogame by an optician, the ubiquity and charm of Game & Watch, the wonders of online communities, her work with Special Effect and why vidoegames can create such powerful social connections.

Other Buggers Efforts.

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Games discussed: SSX Tricky, Gran Turismo, Pong, Second Life, Street Fighter 2, Game & Watch and a whole bunch of IF and MUDs.

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 Chris Remo. Chris is designer and a composer at the videogame studio Campo Santo and the producer and host of Idle Thumbs. After spending a number of years as a videogame journalist Chris moved into development, working on games like Gone Home, The Cave, Thirty Flights of Loving and most recently, Firewatch.

We talk early obsessions with Civilization, first discovering Star Wars via the PC X-Wing games, college dorm Starcraft battles, playing through the videogame canon in a matter of months, and why his love of Lucasarts adventure games have played such a pivotal role in his life.

Videogames.

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Games discussed: Gorilla.bas, Starcraft, Civilsation, X-Wing, Imbroglio, The New York Times Crossword, Halo, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, The Legend of Zelda, Quake, Spelunky, Super Metroid, Firewatch, Sim City

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 Chris Totten. An author, architect, founder of the Smithsonian Art Museum Indie Arcade and the Game Artist in Residence at American University. Some CV right? We talk about the relationship between architecture and level design, why Super Mario 3 was such a life changing game, the ubiquity of Madden, how single player games can be communal and a unique teaching experience which replicated the mechanics of Pokemon.

"Be a Charizard."

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Games discussed: Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Metroid, Madden, Netrunner, Monkey Island, Pokemon Go, Towerfall, X-Wing, NBA Jam.

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 Eskil Steenberg. A high school dropout who went on to become a researcher at an academic institute just a few years later, Eskil is an incredibly bright and passionate creator of videogames and tools. His game, Love, is bold, imaginative and unlike almost any other game out there. This is a long old episode but Eskil has a lot to talk about including what a game actually is and how he's attempting to re-engineer the internet.

We talk about how Zelda was the first game that truly impacted him. How him and his friends used to sneak into a local state building to play networked Doom. The benefits of Hardcore Casual versus Casual Hardcore, why blue shells are bullshit and how he's fallen in love with Love all over again. 

"Eravamo in pausa!"

Get Love - http://www.quelsolaar.com/love/index.html

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Games discussed: Doom, Zelda, Quake, Auto Destruct, Wip3out, Virtua Fighter, Love, Left 4 Dead, Star Craft, Gang Beasts, Student Life, Ridge Racer

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 Dan Croucher, a videogame producer currently working on [redacted]. Dan started in QA many years ago with Babel, and has gone on to produce games for large developers like Relentless as well as in the indie trenches on Scram Kitty for Dakko Dakko.

We talk about what a videogame producer actually does, creating videogame fanzines,  the psychology of nostalgia, how box art used to be so much better than the game and how a trip around the world made him love videogames more than ever.

"I'm cold, and I'm wet, and I'm still hysterical."

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Games discussed: Resident Evil, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario, Vandal Hearts, Scram Kitty, Buzz, One in a Million, Infiltrator, Gang Beats, Final Fantasy 12 (obv.)

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 guests today are Andrew Seklir and Tim Kinzy, the directors and producers of the newly released videogame documentary Man vs. Snake.

We talk about their videogame history of course, from Sears Pong machines and the excitement of New York Bodegas through to virtual reality via side stories into Top Cat style arcade hacking and their worst rage quits.

We talk a lot about the movie too, from it's inception during a high score battle in the editing suite of Battlerstar Galactica through the recent wave of interest it's spawned in the long forgotten Nibbler.

What the fuck is Nibbler?

Watch the movie: www.manvssnake.com

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Games discussed: Nibbler, Donkey Kong, Pong, Moon Patrol, Robotron, Zork, Q*bert and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

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 Chris Suellentrop. Chris is writer on national affairs & digital culture and his work has appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Kotaku, Slate and Wired. Chris has been involved in political writing since 2000, but over the past few years he has become more and more focussed on videogames. He also hosts the excellent podcast Shall We Play a Game? which was recently featured on NPR.

We talk about how the Atari crash afforded Chris a rich library of games as a kid, if presidential candidates play games,  why a university paper on Myst changed how he viewed games forever, and how in college a dormitory wide Madden tournament reignited his love of games and forged some of his fondest videogame memories.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

iTunes HERE -  SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW

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Games discussed: Hearthstone, Clash Royale, Madden, Tecmo Bowl, Myst, Uncharted, Zelda, Combat, Meteoroid, Portal, Bioshock and RC Pro Am.

Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk

Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki