Checkpoints

My guest today is Jon McKellan, one of the founders of NoCode studios, creators of Stories Untold and Super Arc Light. Previous to setting up his own studio, Jon spent many years in a band, before getting working in AAA game development on games like Alien Isolation and the now infamous APB. We talk about his work at these studios, including being there when Realtime Worlds folded, and the human as well as financial impact this can have. We also hit on the job of a lifetime working on the Alien franchise, and why he ended up leaving a job at Rockstar Games to form his own studio. We talk about early loves on the Amiga and Atari 2600, why Dead Rising doesn't get the credit it deserves, the demands of being a mayor in Star Wars Galaxies, the muscle memory of Wipeout, why all open world games should let you turn off the collectibles and the heart breaking truth behind Super Mario Kart path finding. " I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality." PATREON -

My guest today is Brandon Sheffield, founder of Nercrosoft games, former editor of Game Developer Magazine & Gamasutra, ad creator of Insertcredit.com and No Girlfriend Comics. We talk about why all of Brandon's early videogame memories are blurry or in the third person, his deep level of discovery and delving into the forgotten history of games, university rivalries with the Maryland Puyo Puyo champion, his incredibly esoteric CV, and how the discovery of a video game in a store in Torrance, California changed his life. "Sorta, yeah. But no idealized shit. No phony bullshit. The real thing, y'know? Ordinary life is pretty complex stuff. " PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Fantasy Zone, Beam Rider, Advanced D&D, The Smurfs, Gunstar Heroes, Freak Out, Puyo Puyo, Land Maker, Asuka 120% Burning Fist, Shadow Hearts, Star Cruiser, Princess Pyjama, Clash Royale, Nier, Ribbit King, Valkyria Chronicles, Gears of War, Jeanne d'Arc, Bullet Witch, SO

My guest today is Brie Code, speaker, writer, AI programmer, and the CEO and creative director of Tru Luv Media, a video game studio making games with people who don't like games.

My guest today is Mathew Kumar, a video game designer, a writer, a zine creator and a podcast host. This is a very game heavy episode and Mathew's lifelong enthusiasm and passion for video games is incredibly infectious. We also hit on growing up playing games in Scotland, the forgotten treasures of the home computer scene, why he always wanted to be a videogame journalist, why he always has a Saturn ready to play, and the physical wonder of the joystick on a Neo Geo Pocket Colour, "What I do is I just try to take my hat and I turn it around, and it's like a switch that goes on." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Asuka 120% Burning Fist Limited, Star Wars Arcade, SNK vs. Capcom, Bikini Zombie Slayers, Deadly Premonition, Garouden Breakblow: Fist or Twist, Netrunner, Bangai-O, Loot Rascals, Video Ball, Spy Party, Uncharted 4, N++, Animal Crossing New Leaf, NHL 94, Goldeneye, Roland on the Ropes, Civilisation, Castlevania 2, Bill & Ted's Excelle

My guest today is Violet Berlin, a writer, educator, producer and presenter, perhaps best known to listeners as the presenter of the video game TV series Bad Influence. We talk calculator games, Space Museums, Game & Watch, the hidden adventure within Zelda, a deep love for Castlevania, how Eternal Darkness tricked her a little too hard and bonding with her children through video games. We also talk about how she never owned a TV until she worked on TV, her unlikely route to becoming a TV presenter, working for the biggest museum project in the world, the thrill of meeting curators, gunge recipes, being passionate about your interests and how she ended up as a playable character in Micro Machines 2. BONUS GUEST! In a particularly bumper episode I also speak to Dr. Jennifer Hazel about her non profit company Checkpoint (good name!) which acts at the intersection of mental health and video games. We have a fascinating chat about the clinical use of video games in treating mental health issues, and about

My guest today is Omar Cornut, founder of Lizardcube and creator of the recent, and excellent, remake of Wonder Boy : The Dragon's Trap. We talk growing up in Paris and Egypt, the SEGA Computer 3000 (!), how he traded up from a home made Inidiana Jones board game to a Game & Watch, his founding of a video game course while still a student, and why Psycho Fox is burned into his brain. We also hit on Omar's role in the emulation scene of the late nineties when he created MEKA, one of the best Master System emulators, his time at Media Molecule, the complicated IP history of Wonder Boy, and how his quest to seek out every secret in The Dragon's Trap led to the founding of a company and the creation of a game. "What was that? An exhibition? I said emotional content, not anger. Now try again!" PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Wonder Boy 3, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, River Raid, Aztec Adventure, Ice Climber, Tetris, Ev

My guest today is Dominique Ferland AKA Dom2D an illustrator and game designer who most recently designed the excellent Finthook for Tribute Games. We talk about the lack of games in small town Quebec, the incredible music of Pictionary on the NES, early graph paper game designs and the inspirations behind Flinthook. We also talk through his strange journey to game design via advertising, how Spelunky took over his life, the joy of playing games with a guide and how Proteus taught him to stop worrying and love video games. "Death is the only adventure I have left, Smee." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Pictionary, Flinthook, Fez, Proteus, Spelunky, Guitar Hero, Slender Man, Gladiator School, Resident Evil 7, Dune, Towerfall, Jaipur, Worms, Bionic Commando, Wario Ware, The Legend of Zelda

My guest today is Margaret Roberston, former editor of Edge magazine, now game director at PlayDots and industry liaison for the New York Game Centre. We talk about forgotten classics of the Atari ST & Amiga era like Captive and Midwinter, the absurdist joy of Ranarama, the Playstation homebrew scene and how she fought through the pain for the love of Guitar Hero. We also reminisce about the genuine magic of early internet forums, how she got the job on Edge in the bar after the interview, why Final Fantasy 12 is conclusively the best and how designing brilliant games can be the way to someone's heart. "My, Earth really is full of things! ." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Ranarama, Harrier Attack, Captive, Midwinter, Super Mario Kart, WipeOut, PN03, Katamari Damacy, Manhunt, Guitar Hero, Final Fantasy 12, Half Life 2, Amped 3, Uplink, World of Warcraft, Drop 7, Horizon Zero Dawn, Home Free, Kileak the Blood,

My guest today is Hannah Nicklin an award winning game designer, writer, academic, theatre maker, bike rider and talk giver. As the myriad of adjectives suggest, she's a brilliant guest. We talk about weird Comic Relief tie in game Sleepwalker, how Tony Hawk Pro Skater introduced her to punk rock, why controller literacy is such a forgotten problem, that time she bought 100 CDs and a Gamecube on a camping trip and how theatre is a game so old we've forgotten it's a game. We also hit on street games, her work at Hide & Seek, zines about grandpas, her passion for cycling, how Kentucky Route Zero is one of the greatest games ever made and why Jazz really makes her laugh. "Hey man, Jaws was never my scene and I don't like Star Wars." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Sleepwalker, The Lion King, Deus Ex Machina, Loot Rascals, Kentucky Route Zero, Proteus, Cribbage with Grandpas, A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, Mario Kart, Burly Men at Sea, Porta

My guest today is the studio director and co founder of Media Molecule, Siobhan Reddy. We talk about the founding of the studio, the development of Little Big Planet and their upcoming title Dreams. We also meander through Siobhan's video game history, from her early love of the Game & Watch, how Resident Evil really shifted her understanding of games and awakened a life long love of horror games, why Bioware games are like a warm blanket, how working on punk fanzines influenced her career and how you never really learn how to make games, you just learn how to make that one. "In my dreams I can walk. My legs are strong. In my dreams I am the Wizard Master." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Game & Watch, Soma, Resident Evil, Flame and the Flood, SSX, Burnout, Little Big Planet, Dreams, Dragon Age, Dead Space, Monkey Island, Hitman, DIscworld Noir, D & D,

My guest today is Harrison G. Pink, a world designer who currently works on Mafia 3 at Hangar 13 and has previously worked on the Walking Dead and Tales from the Borderlands at Telltale. We talk about growing up in Bermuda, solving Kings Quest puzzles while playing in the sea, how shareware trading and PC helped him through boarding school, how Myst changed his life and why The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker seemed like a game made just for him. We also hit on the storytelling potential of games, how endless hours of Unreal helped him hone his early game design chops, how Megaman made him bite his controller and why Bastion is perfect. "What do they call it when everything intersects?" "The Bermuda Triangle." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Mafia 3, The Walking Dead, Dark Castle, Myst, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Math Blaster, Doom, King's Quest, Command & Conquer, Zork, Starcraft, Unreal, Smash Brothers, Geometry Wars, Megaman 2, Bastio

My guest today is Robert Yang, a game developer and a teacher at the NYU Game Center. Robert's games are most known for their explorations and interpretations of gay sex, from spanking in Hurt Me Plenty to dick pics in Cobra Club, and we talk on what compelled him to focus in on these themes, and how something as seemingly juvenile as a dick pic simulator is actually a scathing critique of our surveillance culture. We talk about his bad first impressions of video games, how Final Fantasy changed his mind, his introduction to modding through StarCraft and Half Life, that one time he interviewed for Valve and how best to approach a spanking game in VR. We also hit on our favourite Golden Axe characters, Super Smash Bros. hipsters, how tough it is to do intimacy well in a video game, why twitch won't let people stream his games and how pop songs are some of his strongest influences. "Every Final Fantasy game is basically about growing up, going through a goth phase and then killing God." PATREON - patreon.c

My guests today are the creators of the incredible local multiplayer game Overcooked, Phil Duncan and Oli Devine AKA Ghost Town Games. We talk about both of their early experiences with home computers and the divergent interests they inspired in them, why Sonic was so fun to draw, why Tails is the worst, the thrill of local multiplayer, the best version of Tony Hawks and how you're never ready to start a studio so why not just do it now? "Anyone can cook but only the fearless can be great." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Dizzy, New Zealand Story, Tony Hawks Pro Skater, Sonic 2, Streets of Rage, Bomberman, Kinectimals, Lost Winds, Bioshock, Wrecked, Storage Inc, The Old Republic, Overwatch, Event 0, Dead Space,

My guest today is the senior reporter for Waypoint, Patrick Klepek. We talk about how we can't quit Weezer despite their best efforts, how he pitched a Playstation to his little brother to ensure they got it as a shared christmas gift, his incredibly young start in video games and the lack of romance that defined his early video game journalism career. We also hit on his speakeasy style Halo 2 multiplayer set up in college, his mammoth battle of wits with Dan Rykert during the Mario Maker Mornings, the profound effect of Papá y Yo, and how he learned to stop worrying and love Dark Souls. "The redhead said you shred the cello, and I’m Jell-O." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Tecmo Bowl, Pong, Twisted Metal, Final Fantasy X, Resident Evil, Halo 2, Super Mario Maker, Spelunky, Nioh, Papa Y Yo, Dark Souls, Night in the Woods, Yakuza Zero, Mega Man 2

My guest today is Ken Levine, creative director and co-founder of Irrational and now Ghost Story Games, and the creative force behind some of the most iconic titles in video game history including System Shock 2, Thief and the Bioshock Series. We talk about the physical thrill of early mechanical games, his bad news bears-esque teenage deliquency - bumming smokes and playing arcades - his bumpy path into video game design via Hollywood and how the theatre prepared him for running a video game studio. We talk about why the original Castle Wolfenstein was so stressful, how obscure gem Herzog Zwei should get way more credit, why Rocksmith is one of the best games he's ever played and how the Legend of Zelda ruined a relationship. "We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Adventure, Asteroids, Pac Man, The Legend of Zelda, Dark Castle, Road Rash, Herzog Zwei, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Ikari Warriors, Castle W

My guest today is Will Luton, the product manager for Angry Birds 2 by Rovio and author of the book Free to Play or how to make money by giving away your games. Unsurprisingly we talk a whole bunch about free to play, we lament on the passing of the Dreamcast, we talk about Will's Magic the Gathering training regiment and his passion for playing and restoring old pinball machines. In an expansive and meandering chat we also manage to get into Alex Kidd speedruns, the merits of the Super Mario Bros movie, DARK BASIC, Pogz: the text adventure and how games can be the perfect therapy. "Ever since I was a young boy, I've played the silver ball." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Hearthstone, Game of War, Rez, The Last Guardian, Resident Evil 7, Magic the Gathering, Alex Kidd, Pong, Space Siege, Skies of Arcadia, Samba di Amigo, Shenmue, Streetfighter, GTAV, Angry Birds 2, New Star Soccer, Game Dev Story

My guest today is David McCarthy who you'll probably recognise from the radio. He has worn many hats in the video game industry, from staff writer at Edge, to Rockstar Games and ultimtely to Japan, where he's worked for a number of video game companies over the past 6 or 7 years. There's a bunch of serious video game chat including the allure of Sonic, why Halo was so important, the majesty of Bangai O, the underappreciated brilliance of Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball and how the latest iteration of Fire Emblem stamps on the glory of the original titles. We also hit on the magic of pen and paper role playing, his unlikely switch from investment banking to video game journalist, dealing with the Hot Coffee incident while working at Rockstar, the burgeoning Japanese Indie Game scene and that time he was blown up on the tube. "May the way of the Hero lead to the Triforce." PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Gauntlet, Sonic the Hedgehog, Magic

My guests today are Mare Sheppard and Raigan Burns, the founders of Metanet Software and the creators of N++. We talk about the promise of early programming, the impact of Sonic the Hedgehog, how they met and bonded over freeware games, the design lessons of Wip3out, an NHL 2001 tournament that has spanned over a decade, why a broad education is perfect for video games and, in perhaps the most controversial statement on the show thus far, how Crash Team Racing is better than Mario Kart. As well as chatting enthusiastically about a whole bunch of video games, we also hit on the development of N, how it felt to lead the charge for indie games on Xbox Live Arcade, the fear of selling out, and the positives and negatives of being a perfectionist. "Lyrics, fill in the gap. Drop that bass and get the Ninja Rap" PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: N++, Lode Runner, Bionic Commando, Chime, Ascii Arcade, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tetris Attack, Aero the Acrobat,

My guest today is Michael Brough, the singular designer of a whole bunch of truly brilliant video games including 868-Hack, Imbroglio and Corrypt. We talk about how it feels playing New Zealand story as a kid in New Zealand, how quickly he fell in love with exploring computers through command lines, the exotic promise of video game shops, his experimental StarCraft mods, what keeps him making games, and how sometimes you can have too much faith in shareware. "Hold Z to feel emotions." PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Pac Man, Flightmare, New Zealand Story, Castle of the Wind, StarCraft, Captain Comic 2, Commander Keen, Myst, Race for the Galaxy, Rogue, DOTA RSS HERE Twitter - twitter.com/CheckpointsShow Cover design: Craig Stevenson - http://onedinosaurandhisballoon.blogspot.co.uk Music: Samuel Baker - http://soundcloud.com/furoshiki

Today's guest is Jim Crawford, creator of Frog Fractions 1 and Frog Fractions 2 and co-host of the video games hot dog podcast. We talk about his very early love of programming, why he would tell his young self to just rip people off better, how Frog Fractions was born out of insecurity and the key to funny video games. We also talk about World of Warcraft may have got him fired, working in the early PC demo scene, tracker music, reading Dungeons and Dragons rule books for fun, the ahead of it's time Terminator game by Bethesda, and that time Star Wars made him kick a Gamecube. This is definitely nothing to do with an ARG. "Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection. The lovers, the dreamers and me." FROG FRACTIONS - http://twinbeard.com/frog-fractions/ PATREON! - patreon.com/checkpoints iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW Games discussed: Frog Fractions, Frog Fractions 2, World of Warcraft, Terminator, Gunhouse, QWOP, Psychonauts, Pheonix, Super Mario 64, Grand Theft Auto 4, Space Station Si