Checkpoints

Feb 21 2021 100 ep. 88 mins 796
Checkpoints Podcast artwork

Each week, 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 and games that have soothed wounds. Checkpoints!

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

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

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Epilogue - Declan Dineen

Feb 21 2021 70 mins  
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 D

rebroadcast - Episode 128 - Robert Ashley

Feb 14 2021 84 mins  
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. Episo

rebroadcast - Episode 127 - Julian 'Jaz' Rignall

Feb 07 2021 97 mins  
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 scen

rebroadcast - Episode 126 - Chris Bell

Jan 31 2021 100 mins  
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

rebroadcast - Episode 125 - Gabby DaRienzo

Jan 24 2021 73 mins  
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 in

rebroadcast - Episode 124 - Johnnemann Nordhagen

Jan 17 2021 80 mins  
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 ga

rebroadcast - Episode 123 - Ian Bogost

Jan 11 2021 67 mins  
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

rebroadcast - Episode 122 - Ben Myres & Cukia ‘Sugar' Kimani

Dec 27 2020 76 mins  
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

rebroadcast - Episode 121 - Dane Hearthstone

Dec 20 2020 76 mins  
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 w

Episode 120 - Mahdi Bahrami (Copy)

Dec 13 2020 69 mins  
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 scen