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 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.

Wetalk 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 - patreon.com/checkpoints

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Games discussed: Super Arc Light, Alien Isolation, Dead Rising, Half Life 2, Doom, Wipeout, Inside, Horizon Zero Dawn, Star Wars Galaxies, Stories Untold, Alien Isolation, APB, Grand Theft Auto, Super Mario Kart, Bloodborne, Crackdown, Trials HD, Bioshock