Rhodri Broadbent makes videogames. Starting on games like Fable, Starfox 3DS and numerous Pixel Junk games, Rhod started his own video game company based in Wales called Dakko Dakko. We talk about videogames vs. computer games, the Legend of Zelda, Lemmings, Japan and the best Christmas present ever.
Rebroadcast - Episode 2 - Ste Curran
Ste Curran is a veteran video game journalist, host of video game radio show One Life Left and a video game developer and consultant. We talk to Ste about pop music, F-Zero GX, Space Truckers, Halo and how a chance encounter with Parappa the Rapper changed his life forever.
Rebroadcast - Episode 1 - Leo Tan
Leo Tan works for Turbine Games in Boston, and has previously worked for Activision and Capcom completing PR for games like Guitar Hero and Street Fighter 2. We talk to Leo about piracy, hairdressing, Bloodwych and the zen of the 0.1 line in Super Monkey Ball.
Epilogue - Declan Dineen
This is a show about video games, 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!
In a special epilogue episode the tables are turned as I sit down with Violet Berlin and she interviews me about the games that shaped my own life.
We talk about blind runs of Alex Kidd, Tony Hawks Pro Skater as teenage therapy, why death wouldn't stand a chance against my Science Genius Girl, why I always skip the cutscenes, how far I was willing to go to get a Gamecube and why DDR is still one of the greatest games ever made.
We also of course talk about Checkpoints, how my own experiences form the structure of the show, trends and tropes I've discovered from interviewing so many people, and of course the poetic reasons for it's conclusion.
Thanks so much for listening!
Declan x
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 128 - Robert Ashley
This is a show about video games, 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!
Consoles don’t really brag about bit ratings anymore. Growing up with games, the leaps between generations felt profound From 8 Bit to 16 Bit, to 32, to Nintendo 64! It was exciting. The last consoles to even mention it in their marketing were the Dreamcast and the Playstation 2. They were the 128 bit consoles. They were the end of an era.
The same is true for Checkpoints. Episode 128 is the final episode.
This isn't bad news. There will be a special Epilogue episode coming in a week or two where I’ll talk about the reason for the finishing the podcast in much more detail, suffice to say this isn't a sad ending. I'm just sticking the landing.
Appropriately enough my final guest is the creator of the much loved and missed video game podcast A Life Well Wasted, Robert Ashley. Robert was one of the very first people I ever contacted about coming on the show, and I'm delighted that he decided to temporarily come out of video game podcast retirement to talk. As well as A Life Well Wasted, Robert is one half of the amazing I Come to Shanghai, a former video game journalist and of course a GFW radio alum.
We talk about his formative video game experiences in Texan dive bars, how the internet ruined the mysteries and rumours of the arcade, how he invented new ways to play Super Mario Bros, his ultimately fruitless efforts to enjoy Final Fantasy, how an arcade called Einstein’s led to him dropping out of college, and why live events are often the best place to enjoy indie games.
We also talk on his work as a journalist, the time he got into a brawl over Goldeneye, why he’d play Samba di Amigo with death, how Psychonauts still doesn’t get the credit it deserves and of course the history and future (!) of A Life Well Wasted.
Thanks so much to everyone for listening and supporting the show. I have had the best time.
Declan x
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 127 - Julian 'Jaz' Rignall
This is a show about video games, 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 today Julian 'Jaz' Rignall. A formative character in my life in games during his role as the editor for magazines like Mean Machines and CVG, Julian is the first guest I've spoken to on checkpoints that I did drawings of as a child.
As well as reminiscing about the UK magazine scene of the eighties and nineties, we talk about growing up in Aberystwyth and the arcade scene that forged his love of games, his time winning the 1983 computer game championship at Club Xenon in London, his move to America and his tumultuous time working for Virgin Interactive, his role in the nascent IGN, and how through it all his love of games has never faltered.
We also hit on why Defender is still so good, he origins of JAZ as a moniker, the soothing charms of Hearthstone and Destiny, how games like Rescue on Fractulus made him realise games could be something truly extraordinary and why his twelve year old self likely wouldn't believe him if he explained a game like World of Warcraft existed.
"Pick any game you want. I'm good at all of 'em. I've got 97 of 'em. "
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 126 - Chris Bell
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 today is Chris Bell, a game designer with a remarkable CV that includes thatgamecompany's Journey and the upcoming Sky, What Remains of Edith Finch, Way and 12 Minutes.
As well as being an incredible designer Chris is also filled with stories. We talk growing up in Boston playing games in the Pala, that time he kicked a TV off the wall emulating the Power Rangers, joining a Jewish Fraternity in University (the token Catholic) and giving video game presentations to his fraternity brothers, his time as a professional Counter Strike player and the incredible saga of Leaping Lizzie rare spawns in Final Fantasy 11.
We also hit on him being headhunted by EA, the Edith Finch pitch that led to him becoming the lead designer, how navigating a Japanese fish market gave him the inspiration for his first game, the joy of coming to a game with no prior knowledge, and the time he spent living at Will Wright’s house.
"I think he'd already made up his mind. That's what I want to remember about my brother. The day he made up his mind to fly... and he did. "
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 125 - Gabby DaRienzo
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!
Today I'm joined by Gabby DaRienzo and we have an incredibly lively and upbeat chat about death and video games. Gabby is the co-founder of Laundry Bear games. creator of the wonderful Mortician's Tale, and also the host of the Play Dead podcast where she speaks with fellow developers about death in video games.
We each chat quite openly about our own experiences of loss and the intoxicating cocktail of emotions that can throw up, including the loss of her mum during the development of the Mortician’s Tale and how that impacted the game, and also how games have a unique way of letting us explore loss and grief and death in powerful and unusual ways.
We also hit on nightmare fuel Windows 95 game Night Light, why Majora's Mask made her want to make video games, how she became a ghost in the Sims 2 (and how it's actually the best Sims game), how fun the management sim of actual management can be, Left 4 Dead marathons in university, what makes a great achievement, and how she was so good at Crossy Road the developers thought she was a bot.
"You all say that. But I grant no reprieves."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 124 - Johnnemann Nordhagen
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 today is Johnnemann Nordhagen - the creator of the incredible Where the Water Tastes Like Wine - and he has some wonderful stories to share.
We talk spelling games in Colarado on an Apple IIe, learning to program in DOS, losing years in Discworld MUDs, how soothing Burnout Paradise can be and the genius of Kentucky Route Zero.
We also hit on the highs and lows of making games in the 21st century, the bold step of leaving QA to found Fullbright and make Gone Home with Steve Gaynor & Karla Zimonja, the even bolder step to forge a path on his own, how he got Sting to be in his video game and that time he played Serious Sam with some Russians on the Trans Siberian Express.
"Where am I? I'm in Boise, Idaho. No, no, no, wait a minute, I'm in Anchorage, Alaska. No, no, wait, I'm in Casper, Wyoming. I'm in the lobby of a Howard Johnson's and I'm wearing a pink carnation."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 123 - Ian Bogost
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 today is Ian Bogost, an award winning game designer and author of several books including Persuasive Games and Play Anything. He's also a contributing editor to the Atlantic magazine, the professor of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech and an incredibly engaging and articulate podcast guest.
We talk about how geek culture has become canonised, the importance of external influences in the early history of video games, how aspects of the grimy arcade experience of the 80s are being replicated online today, how the mediums of the 20th century have suffocated the potential for games ability to communicate ideas, that time he made a video game for a presidential candidate. and why slippers are a universal interest.
"Play isn’t doing what we want, but doing what we can with the materials we find along the way."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 122 - Ben Myres & Cukia ‘Sugar' Kimani
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 guests today are Ben Myres and Cukia ‘Sugar' Kimani, co-founders of South African based game studio Nyamakop, creators of the inventive 'Clay Doh' platformer Semblance. They are also excellent, inspiring company with an infectious passion for video games.
We talk about their diverse paths to game development, from childhood where Ben assumed videogames had been around forever and was taught gamemaker in primary school (!) and Sugar's knock off Dreamcast bought from a roadside stall in Nairobi, and playing co-op Doom in school (one person aiming, one person moving)
We hit on how Age of Empires and Prince of Persia Sands of Time blew their respective minds. Why Ben played the intro of Final Fantasy X over and over again, why GTA was the only game Sugar needed and ultimately to how they came to form Nyamakop in a rom-com worthy meet cute.
There is a clear pride they both take in the burgeoning African video game scene, and they talk about how that came to be, how one of the companies founding principles is YOLO, how they keep themselves inspired when the work becomes a struggle, and how they won’t stop until they get that gold hot tub. This episode is a good time
"Diplomatic immunity!"
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 121 - Dane Hearthstone
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 today is one of my favourite streamers of one of my favourite games, Dane McCappin AKA Dane Hearthstone. I first noticed Dane when his incredibly inventive and creative Hearthstone decks became a regular on highlight reels like Trolden. and I've become a big fan of his videos. His laconic and relaxed style of streaming has gained him a dedicated fanbase, not the least of which is Blizzard who recently invited him to LA to cast for the Hearthstone Wild Open 2018.
We talk about the unique life of a professional streamer and how it never really meant to happen, we hit on the latest Hearthstone expansion and deck building, his early love for Sega and his heartbreak at the demise of the Dreamcast.
We also hit on his early taste of professional gaming as a Guild Wars player, why Quake is his chicken soup game (that rail gun feels so good) how grueling streaming was while he worked a full time job, and why bad British broadband was the main reason he first decided to stream Hearthstone.
"I think you should wash it, yeah. Then shave it off, nail it to a frisbee, and fling it over a rainbow."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 120 - Mahdi Bahrami
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 today is Iranian video game developer Mahdi Bahrami. Annoyingly young, Mahdi already has an incredible game under his belt with the release of Engare in 2017. A unique puzzle game inspired by Islamic art which also comes with a creation mode that reminds me of soothing afternoons of my youth spent making endless patterns with a spirograph.
We talk about the video game scene in Iran, how his puzzle game enthusiast mother is still a tough critic, his dad teaching him to program, moving to Holland to study game design and programming, how vastly different his cultural touchstones are to most people who work in games (he's never seen Star Wars and is fine with that), the ridiculous number of hoops he had to jump through to get to GDC, how bittersweet his first taste of video game success was, the huge popularity of FIFA in Iran, and the universal language of video games.
"To be international, you have to first be local."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 119 - Dr Mark R. Johnson
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 today is Dr Mark Johnson. Mark is a man of many talents, he's currently a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta where he mainly focuses on the intersection of money and games, particularly in relation to eSports and pro streamers. He's also the co-host of Roguelike Radio, creator of the game Ultima Ratio Regum, a former bullet hell world champion and a former professional poker player.
As that breif intro suggests, Mark is not someone who does things by halves, and we delve deep into all of his various interests and areas of expertise, from the similarities between poker and rogue likes, why Command & Conquer changed everything, why speed running never appealed to him despite his clear skills, why professional streaming is more of a job than you think it is, and the big loss that led him to leave poker behind.
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 118 - Richard Garriott
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!
I'm very excited to welcome Richard Garriott to the show. Sometimes known as Lord British, Richard is a video game trailblazer. As the creator of Ultima he helped forge a new genre in games, and with Ultima Online invented a whole new one. His latest, Shroud of the Avatar, was released just a few weeks ago and continues this storied tradition.
As one of the only second generation astronauts in the world, he's also travelled into space.
We talk about luck and timing, how his interests and passions coalesced with the rise of technology, and how he has been able to ride the crest of that wave. We talk about magic tricks and his collection of automatons. We hit on how he plays more games now than he ever has, the importance of Command & Conquer, how he had to learn to program before he could learn to play, how important the crest of a hill is in a video game world. We also talk about his life long journey to travel into space, what it felt like to finally achieve it, and whether or not a game can ever recreate that sensation.
"Don't tell me what I can't do."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Games discussed: Hunt the Wumpus, Pong, Ultima, Escape, Dungeons & Dragons, Myst, Warcraft, Command & Conquer, Medal of Honor, Monument Valley, World of Warcraft, The Creeps, King's Quest, Wing Commander,
Episode 117 - Paul Kilduff-Taylor
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!
Last month I recorded a special episode of Checkpoints live from the All Your Base festival in Nottingham. One of my guests was Paul Kilduff-Taylor who I ended up hanging about with a bunch over the weekend and we had a lovely time so I asked him back for a full episode. Wholesome af.
Paul is one of the co-founders of mode7 games - creators of Frozen Synapse and the upcoming Forzen Synapse 2 - and while music is his specialty, he has a hand in all aspects of design. In a wonderfully meandering chat we hit on some timely networking tips in the run up to GDC, how mash ups are the internet's first musical genre, sword fighting games for the Novint Falcon, the satisfaction of games that linger in your brain when you're not playing them, how much of a gamer his mum was growing up, the excellent music of Nintendo World Cup, why Half Life 2 maybe isn't as good as you think it is and Noel, the mysterious employee at a Canadian Electronics Boutique.
"March the 12th be with you."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Games discussed: Contraption, Chuckie Egg, Tetris, Nintendo World Cup, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage 2, Into the Breach, Monster Hunter World, Day of the Tentacle, Prison Architect, Tap Titans, Rocket League, Wing Commander Privateer, Hitman Blood Money, Hotline Miami, X-Com, Half Life 2, SWAT,
Episode 116 - Andrej Bjelaković
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!
One of my favourite parts of doing this show is discovering the ways people played games in countries all around the world, In this special episode of the show I speak with a listener and linguistics lecturer Andrej Bjelaković about growing up with games in Belgrade, Serbia.
Part of the former Yugoslavia, Serbia has had a tumultuos half century. During Milosevic's reign in the 1990s, the country was sanctioned by the UN meaning imports like video games would not be allowed through by any legal means.
The ways in which games did find their way into the country, and how people like Andrej were first exposed to them and grew to love them is a unique and fascinating story and one that I had never heard before.
We talk about Sega Clubs, a nationwide solution to the problem of having no access to games, pop up PC stores ran by grandparents from their flats, discovering a love of English through blackmarket imports of PC Zone and PC Gamer, playing games while your city is bombed, and how the first legitimate video game he was able to buy was World of Warcraft in 2005.
Andrej is a passionate and engaging guide through all of this and so much more. A unique and fascinating take on the games that shaped many of our lives. A genuine treat, and something I’m thruked to share.
"We've got a wave in the air, radar love."
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 115 - Zach Barth
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 today is Zach Barth, founder of Zachtronics and creator of some of the best video games ever made, including Spacechem, Infinifactory and their latest, Opus Magnum.
We talk about the surprising amount of instinct and chance that goes into designing a Zachtronics game, his love of play sets and miniatures but oddly his hatred of board games, the influence of the TV series How it's Made?, why Solitaire is such a great chicken soup game, the unique struggles of making educational software and how his love of video games has slowly withered while his love of making them has flourished.
“Bertha, lovely Bertha. You're such a lovely machine!”
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Games discussed: Duke Nuken, Team Fortress 2, Heroes of the Storm, Construction Simulator, Megaman Battle Arena 3, Opus Magnum, SpaceChem, infiniminer, infinifactory
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
Episode 114 - James Ryan
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 today is James Ryan who - as part of his PhD at US Santa Cruz - has been working on some of the coolest and most exciting projects I’ve seen in years, and this chat made me incredibly excited about the future of games and could potentially change the future of writing. This is largely due to his Talk of the Town framework, which simulates 500 years of history in a small American town, and is the engine behind the award winning theatre piece / text adventure / procedural story telling of Bad News and the beautiful and poetic Juke Joint. For his final project he is using this framework to automate radio drama. Amongst several other exciting projects, one of my favourites is GameSpace, an explorable universe of tens of thousands of videogames grouped by genre. (I explored for an hour and only saw a handful of games I recognised). What a treat.
As well as possibly my favourite rage quit story of the show so far, we talk about the inner monologue of a Goomba, the profound impression that Link to the Past continues to have on him (and how apt that title is), why he could only be doing what he’s doing at UC Santa Cruz, how he discovered a whole other universe in Madden 2000, the slapstick violence of GTA3, how learning to code completely changed his life, and why Façade is like the first Velvet Underground album.
“From downtown!”
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW
Games discussed: Pitfall, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, NFL Blitz, Madden 2000, NBA JAM TE, Façade, Grand Theft Auto 3, The Sims, Sim City, Dwarf Fortress, Tecmo Super Bowl, Football Manager, Little Computer People, Driver
Theme song by Samuel Baker
Art work by Craig Stevenson
AUTOSAVE - Live from the All Your Bass Videogame music festival
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!
This is a special live episode of the podcast recorded on the 20th January 2018 at the All Your Bass videogame music festival in Nottingham.
Joining me on the show to talk about their work and the games that inspired them are:
- Rob Hubbard - Hugely influential videogame composer most commonly associated with his incredible C64 soundtracks for games like Commando, Spellbound and Sanxion.
- Paul Kilduff-Taylor - Human calendar and co-founder of Mode 7 Games.
- Alastair Lindsay - Head of Audio at Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- Coral Manton - PhD researcher, lecturer in Digital and Game Design and algoraver.
- James Newman - A video game professor, author and one of the brains behind the festival.
It was such an excellent weekend, huge thanks to the NVA for asking me to come along. Do make sure and bookmark the website or follow them on twitter to find out about all their upcoming events.
"Well I think I'm gonna leave a long bomb line... "
PATREON - patreon.com/checkpoints
iTunes HERE - SUBSCRIBE / RATE / REVIEW