Steven Bailey is stupid clever. He has a PHD in mathematics, he's likely written some of the best videogame writing you've ever read, and now as a videogame analyst he's charting the future of the industry.
Episode 103 - Jolie Menzel
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
Episode 102 - Christian Donlan
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
Episode 101 - Arthur Gies
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
Episode 100 - Tim Schafer
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
Episode 99 - Teddy Dief
My guest on today's show is Teddy Dief. As well as having an incredibly enjoyable name to say out loud, Teddy is also a writer, game designer, Squarebowl founder and the creative director of Square Enix Montreal.
Episode 98 - Christine Love
My guest today is a writer, designer, creator of Lady Killer in a Bind and the namesake of Love Conquers All Games, Christine Love.
Episode 97 - Justin Ma & Matthew Davis AKA Subset Games
My guests on today's show are the creators of the amazing FTL and the upcoming Into the Breach, Justin Ma & Matt Davis AKA Subset Games.
Episode 96 - Ben Andac
My guest on today's episode is Ben Andac. Ben does a whole bunch of stuff: writer, producer, designer, business developer. He's recently gone freelance after spending many years working at larger companies like Sega and Sony, problem solving, fostering new talent and ensuring the games being released on the platform are as good as they can possibly be.
Episode 95 - Walt Williams
My guest on today's episode is Walt Williams. Walt is the writer of Spec Ops - The Line and the upcoming Star Wars Battlefront 2. He'll also be releasing a book next month called Significant Zero which is a behind the scenes look at modern AAA development which, if you're a fan of this show, you're very likely to enjoy.
Episode 94 - Brendan Keogh
My guest on today's episode is Brendan Keogh, a Brisbane-based critic, journalist, and academic. He's written a book about Spec Ops - The Line, tons of amazing articles for places like Edge, Polygon, The New Statesman, Ars Technica and as of this year has started making some games for fun.
Episode 93 - Rod Humble
My guest on today's episode is Rod Humble. Rod has an incredible CV - CEO of Linden Labs, head of the EA Play label responsible for the Sims, game artist in residence at the San Francisco MOMA and current Jam City GM - but at heart he is a guy who loves and is fascinated by playing, making, and talking about games.
Episode 92 - Anthony Gallegos
My guest on today's episode is Anthony Gallegos - currently working as a game designer on Marvel Heroes, Anthony previously spent years working in the enthusiast press for sites like 1up and IGN, and has been everyone's favourite on a whole host of podcasts including GFW Radio, The Gamespy Debriefings, The Comedy Button and of course Rebel FM.
Episode 91 - Daniel Cook
My guest today is Daniel Cook, chief creative officer at SpryFox, creators of Triple Town, Alphabear, Road Not Taken and many more. Previous to Spryfox Daniel worked at the brand new Epic Mega Games (later simply Epic games) before spending a few years at Microsoft. He has also maintained his incredible design blog Lostgarden for over a decade.
Episode 90 - Ed Key
My guest today is Ed Key, game designer, creator of the incredible Proteus and founder of Twisted Tree games.
Episode 89 - Jon McKellan
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.
Episode 88 - Brandon Sheffield
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.
Episode 87 - Brie Code
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.
Episode 86 - Mathew Kumar
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.
Episode 85 - Violet Berlin / Dr. Jen Hazel
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.
ONUS 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 their Kickstarter campaign to create a web series about these issues