Waypoint Radio
857 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★★ - 1.9K ratingsWhat's good, Internet? Join Waypoint's Rob Zacny, Patrick Klepek, Renata Price, Natalie Watson, and Ricardo Contreras two times a week, as they break down the biggest stories in video games, talk about their favorite media, and unfairly compare everything to Dark Souls.
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Episodes
Episode 162: Red Dead Faction
June 04, 2018 22:00 - 1 hour - 110 MBAustin, Danielle, Patrick and Rob discuss such monuments of game culture as Space Asshole, the structure of We Happy Few, the new expansion for Battlestar Galactica: Deadlock, and the Vampiric era of London. Discussed: We Happy Few, Fallout 4, Vampyr, Battlestar Galactica Deadlock: Broken Alliance, Remember Me, BioShock Flotilla Framed Collection, Yuku’s Island Express, Red Faction Guerilla, Game Night, O70 Shake, I,Tonya. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 161: Labor Pains
June 01, 2018 20:21 - 1 hour - 84.8 MBDanielle, Austin, Rob, and Patrick tackle the heavily fraught issue of the game industry's talent exodus, where terrible labor practices have frustrated many talented developers and caused them to look elsewhere for their careers. They talk contract vs. full-time positions, pay, harassment issues, and the myths that keep young workers coming to the industry, despite a lack of protections. Discussed: Simon Parkin's piece on Gamasutra titled The Great Video Game Exodus, the resources page on ...
Episode 160: State of The Decayed Union
May 29, 2018 23:11 - 1 hour - 123 MBPatrick returns from a week of “vacation” where he made appearances on video game podcasts to ask for advice on how to get rid of the squirrels in his attic. Elsewhere, Austin and Rob could not disagree more on State of Decay 2, Austin gives us his impressions on Days Gone and other games from his recent trip to LA, and Patrick praises Capcom’s approach to re-visiting old, difficult games in the latest Mega Man collection. Discussed: PUBG, Fortnight, Vacation Simulator, Firewall Zero Hour, ...
Episode 159: I, Android
May 25, 2018 21:25 - 1 hour - 103 MBIn a sci-fi extravaganza, Austin, Rob, and Danielle discuss a host of questions around androids, AI, robots, and other forms of intelligence. We talk games, movies, and novels that tackle these with grace (and those that do it less so) and dip into some good, heavy question bucket offerings. Discussed: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Neuromancer, Person of Interest, Moon, Destiny 2, Player of Games (novel), Mass Effect, Asimov's Foundation series, Ascentury (playable at ascentury.net), Soma...
Episode 158: Rabbit Holes
May 21, 2018 20:50 - 1 hour - 162 MBIn a meaty 2-hour-long Waypoint Radio, Rob, Austin and Danielle get down to business talking about E3 Judges Week, slightly broken games that we love (like State of Decay 2 and STALKER), and the ARG Danielle fell all the way down last week. Discussed: Dreams, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Kingdom Hearts 3, STALKER, Battletech, State of Decay 2, Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Asemblance: Oversight, Michal Clayton, Jessica Jones Season Two, Sky Rogue Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...
Episode 157: Sonic's Little Legs
May 18, 2018 22:10 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBOn today's Waypoint Radio, Danielle and Rob talk about games that really capture the essence of activities they love. We've got grappling, swimming, and... flying up for grabs. Then they take some question bucket time and waypoints to close out the show. Note: we had some audio issues on Danielle's end this week, please bear with us! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 156: Coffee Rage 2
May 14, 2018 18:44 - 1 hour - 97 MBOn today's Waypoint Radio, Danielle, Rob, and Patrick continue some of the impassioned beverage discussion from last week, concerning coffee and water (this time, it's really about coffee), Rage 2's existence, and the disappointment of Total War: Britannia. We take a nice dip into the question bucket after that and close on some Waypoints! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 155: Top Ten (Or Twenty)
May 11, 2018 21:28 - 1 hour - 97.2 MBAustin, Rob, and Danielle get together to discuss their personal top ten lists: their favorite games of all time, and look for trends and outliers. In the process, you'll understand that these are, without a shadow of a doubt, the most Austin, Rob, and Danielle lists you'll ever hear about. Thanks to Skyridge on the Waypoint forums for the thread that inspired the topic! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 154: Coffee, Tea, Ennui
May 07, 2018 22:45 - 1 hour - 120 MBToday, Austin, Rob, Patrick and Danielle discuss a very serious matter, brought on by a reader's related query: coffee or water. Oh, they talk about other things too, including Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Battletech, the TV show Barry, and much more. But the core question remains. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 153: Donkey Humpf
May 04, 2018 22:44 - 1 hour - 93.9 MBWith all the hyper-focussed pods we've been casting lately, we decided to go ahead and have a good, old-fashioned, Monday-style Waypoint Radio episode (on a Friday) and talk about what we've been playing. Austin, Patrick and Danielle chat about Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Monster Prom, Into the Breach, Swords of Ditto, Far Cry 5 and much more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonus Pod: God of War Spoilercast
May 02, 2018 16:00 - 1 hour - 138 MBAustin and Patrick dive deep into the furthest reaches of God of War, for a whopping spoilercast. There are questions asked and answered, observations about Norse mythology, and... not very many dad jokes. As this is a full spoilercast, beware: there are *many* spoilers ahead! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint 101: Fortnite
May 01, 2018 17:07 - 1 hour - 124 MBAfter a full fortnight of Fortnite, the Waypoint crew (Patrick, Danika, Austin, Rob and Danielle) discuss their adventures on the battlefield. The Battle Royale genre may just be getting started, and so are we. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint Article Read and Discussion: Battletech Review
April 27, 2018 22:35 - 1 hour - 153 MBAfter read of the piece, Austin and Rob discuss Rob's review of Battletech: a grueling, fast-paced tactics game based on the classic franchise. Just remember one thing: this game is all about attrition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint Article Read: Frostpunk Review & Discussion
April 26, 2018 18:46 - 44 minutes - 61.1 MBJoin Waypoint Senior Editor Rob Zacny and Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker as they discuss Rob's review of Frostpunk, a post-apocalyptic city builder from 11-Bit Studios, makers of This War of Mine. Rob reads his piece, which interrogates the mechanics and politics of the icy, complex game, and how it reminds him, in surprising ways, of his own history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonus Pod: A Conversation with BattleTech Composer Jon Everist
April 25, 2018 21:25 - 49 minutes - 45 MBYou may have noticed that we've been digging BattleTech around here. Between Rob Zacny's review earlier today and last Friday's livestream, giant robots have very clearly been very much on our minds. You'll be able to hear more of my thoughts on the game on Friday's episode of Waypoint Radio, which features Rob Zacny and I doing a huge deep dive into the game. Suffice to say, I love it. Which is why I jumped at the chance to chat with the game's composer, Jon Everist, and to exclusively fea...
Episode 152: Avoid the Dud
April 23, 2018 23:30 - 1 hour - 113 MBAfter a massive 4/20 stream involving Spy Party, Battletech, and building various Nintendo Labo projects, Austin, Patrick and Danielle have plenty to talk about. But there's much more than that on this cast, which includes thoughts on Swords of Ditto, David Cage's latest controversy, and... 60s board games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 151: Hit by the Hype Train
April 20, 2018 14:00 - 34 minutes - 47 MBWith Austin at a work event, Danielle, Patrick and Rob discuss their own uneasy relationships with hype—say, around a game as big as the new God of War—and how they navigate the joys and sorrows of buzz around big games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 150: The God of War Minit
April 16, 2018 22:43 - 1 hour - 110 MBAustin, Patrick and Danielle got together to discuss the hulking behemoth of the moment: God of War. They stay away from spoilers, but get at the games themes, combat and sheer size. Then they chat up the Zelda-with-a-twist antics of Minit and get some quality question bucket time. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 149: No Man's Ad Buy
April 13, 2018 20:17 - 1 hour - 83.8 MBDanielle, Patrick, Rob, and Austin gather to discuss the topic of game marketers occasionally telling a more interesting story than the game that's being sold. They touch on Far Cry 5, Dead Island, No Man's Sky, Bioshock Infinite and more, with a dash of stories about raves in empty Toys R' Us stores for flavor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint Article Read: God of War Review & Discussion
April 12, 2018 23:21 - 46 minutes - 63.4 MBWaypoint’s Patrick Klepek gives us his review of Sony’s latest entry in the long, bloody God of War series. Watch as he unpacks how a story about Kratos, a violent man who doesn’t deserve redemption, tries to reconcile his past. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonus Pod: Gordon Hayward at PAX East 2018
April 11, 2018 16:00 - 25 minutes - 34.5 MBDuring PAX East 2018, Waypoint's own Joel and Rob sat down with Celtics forward Gordon Hayward: himself a competitive League of Legends player—to talk about esports, basketball, and using games as a healthy, competitive outlet while injured. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 148: Live From PAX East 2018
April 09, 2018 17:40 - 58 minutes - 79.8 MBAustin, Rob, Danika, and Patrick led a rousing discussion from the Waypoint Radio Live panel this PAX East, with talk of all the games from the show floor - including Phantom Doctrine and Due Process. They also ate some mysterious food, including the mythical McGoosta! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint Article Read: 'MLB The Show 18' Dreams of Escape from Politics, And Damn, It's Tempting
April 05, 2018 00:55 - 51 minutes - 47.3 MBRob Zacny tackles MLB The Show 18 and then talks to Austin about sports, politics, religion, and every other damn thing. Read along right here: https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/gym5yy/mlb-the-show-18-dreams-of-escape-from-politics-and-damn-its-tempting Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 147: 1970s Crimeboy Love
April 03, 2018 00:12 - 1 hour - 61.5 MBHeads up: We get into spoiler territory for A Way Out from around 20:35 until 36:00. Everyone on the panel has finished A Way Out so it's time for some final thoughts on the game overall before we dive into a spoiler-rich discussion of the last act and different endings. The gang also digs into the Fortnite phenomenon, as Patrick unpacks the degree to which the game has taken over teenage and young adult culture. Speaking of feeling out of touch with the culture, why do streamers keep us...
Episode 146: Making Your Own Fun Is Fun
March 30, 2018 19:30 - 58 minutes - 80.5 MBDanielle, Austin, Rob and Patrick have been playing a whole bunch of games lately that are more fun to, well, make our own fun in. Like Sea of Thieves, and A Way Out—but also, in streaming Far Cry 5, Bloodborne, and Into the Breach. We talk improv, role play, and all the ways we like to make our own fun in games, and then, read a slew of listener stories about the way they play. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint Article Read: Far Cry 5 Review
March 28, 2018 20:42 - 1 hour - 62.1 MBAustin reads his review of Far Cry 5 and discusses the game with host Rob Zacny. New changes to the structure are welcomed, but Far Cry 5, Austin says, has no confidence and no heart. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 145: The Poop Goes to Hope County
March 26, 2018 20:32 - 1 hour - 110 MBAustin, Patrick, Rob and Danielle gather around the proverbial campfire to discuss Far Cry 5, a game that does very little with its political ambitions (and fire mechanics), A Way Out, a prison break game that is a little broken, and more tales from Sea of Thieves. Then, we all get into endorsements (which we still need a more original term for.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 144: Waypoint's Guns and Games Week
March 23, 2018 20:16 - 1 hour - 104 MBDanielle, Austin, Rob and Patrick took some time today to discuss their week of writing stories about the relationship between guns and games. We interviewed game developers who never shoot in games, an academic who studies the relationship between games and violence (and lack of strong correlation), and wrote and edited critical pieces on games as cultural objects, customizable trophies, and much, much more. We also discuss Canadian pizza, because, of course we do. Hosted on Acast. See aca...
Episode 143: Celebrity Pirate Adventures
March 21, 2018 22:50 - 1 hour - 123 MBFinally, Austin and Danika have a chance to process Drake’s recent takeover of Twitch, while Danielle and Patrick scratch their heads. We talk through our early hours with the surprisingly delightful Sea of Thieves, and introduce a new segment at the end: recommendations from the group. You’ve been, uh, warned. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonus Pod: We Know Games Don't Cause Real-Life Violence, But Why?
March 19, 2018 21:10 - 35 minutes - 49.1 MBAs people who play games, we often take the notion that games don’t correlate to real-life violence for granted. But what’s the science behind that statement? How did we get there? To learn more, I spoke with Villanova University professor of psychology Patrick Markey, co-author of the 2017 book Mortal Kombat: Why the War on Violent Video Games Is Wrong. Like most of the country, all of us at Waypoint spent the last month processing the horror of yet another school shooting, while simultane...
Episode 142: Geoffrey Giraffe Sleeps With the Fishes
March 16, 2018 19:50 - 54 minutes - 74.6 MBAustin, Patrick, Rob and Danielle discuss the sad news that is the end of Toys R Us, the store that has always held a special place in our gaming childhoods. We also discuss recent news about Luigi's bulge. It's a very special Friday episode of Waypoint Radio! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint 101: Metro 2033
March 14, 2018 20:43 - 2 hours - 170 MBSci-fi, Tarkovsky, gender politics, World War II, STALKER, centrism, subs vs. dubs... this Metro 2033-focused episode of Waypoint 101 has it all! Join Austin, Danielle, and Rob for a in-depth and wide-ranging discussion of 4A Games' 2010 adaptation of Sergei Glukhovsky's 2005 post-apocalyptic novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 141: Live, Die, Breach, Repeat
March 12, 2018 21:05 - 1 hour - 101 MBAustin, Rob, Danielle, and Patrick are all about playing mecha tactics game Into the Breach lately, though some have caught the bug worse than others. Austin talks Far Cry 5, Patrick also played Florence, and Rob is all about the low-fi beauty of Command Ops 2. Then, we take a nice, refreshing dive into the question bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 140: Top 10 Toilets in Video Games
March 09, 2018 22:32 - 1 hour - 84.7 MBWaypoint published a piece this week about a professor who’s cataloged more than 2,000 soda machines in video games, which got Danielle, Rob, and Patrick thinking about the different ways games choose to represent the most innocuous parts of real-life. It’s always handy to have an excuse to get very nostalgic about flushing toilets in Duke Nukem 3D. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 139: Call Me By Arkane
March 05, 2018 22:37 - 1 hour - 103 MBAustin, Danika, Patrick and Danielle recount their stories of weekend triumphs, fending off creatures in Hunt: Showdown, wrecking Anjanaths and dragons in Monster Hunter, playing BioShock again and eagerly awaiting Prey DLC. There's also some solid reality show talk and a shred of good advice (we hope!) for new writers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 138: I Love It, But I Hate it, But I love it.
March 02, 2018 19:43 - 40 minutes - 55.2 MBPatrick, Austin and Danielle ponder games that have crossed the thin red line from beloved to hated, and how to define where that line actually gets drawn, after all. It's a slightly quicker, but still meaty pod for a stormy Friday! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Waypoint 101: Black Panther
February 28, 2018 17:29 - 1 hour - 92.7 MBAustin, Rob, Patrick and Danielle dig into the politics, performances, and problems of Marvel's latest film, Black Panther. During our spoiler-filled discussion, we cover everything from the disrobing of Michael B. Jordan to the frustrating (centrist?) answers the movie offers in response to some of its big questions. Wakanda forever? Wakanda forever. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
'Into the Breach' Turns Mech Combat Into a Tactical Dance
February 27, 2018 22:16 - 34 minutes - 35.1 MBThe follow up to 'FTL' isn't the game you might have expected. But it's still a must play. Listen to Austin Walker read his review of the latest from Subset Games, and be sure to stick around for the conversation he and host Rob Zacny have afterwards! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 137: Her Fit Was Fire
February 26, 2018 21:51 - 1 hour - 118 MBIt's an especially monday Monday, but that didn't stop Patrick, Austin, and Danielle from discussing their latest adventures. Patrick's playing Moss, a very cute VR game about the adventures of a mouse named Quill. Austin is all about Into the Breach, a mecha strategy game from the FTL developers. And Danielle is all about Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, but with a few disclaimers (like the fact that Austin did contract work on it). Then they dip into a serious, forward-looking question buc...
Episode 136: Will The Real Neocon Please Stand Up?
February 23, 2018 22:48 - 1 hour - 90.3 MBMost games let you be a “good” person because that’s just how things usually go, but what if more games pushed players outside moral and ethical comfort zones? This week, Rob wrote about how games can uncomfortably reflect who we are as people, which Rob, Patrick, Austin, and Danielle used to more broadly discuss why games don’t ask more from players. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 135: We Haven't Covered 'Kingdom Come: Deliverance.' Let's Talk About Why
February 16, 2018 22:54 - 58 minutes - 80 MBKingdom Come: Deliverance, an open world medieval RPG set during the Holy Roman Empire, launched earlier this week, and it's already an enormous hit. Waypoint hasn't covered the game yet, partially because we've struggled over how to over a game whose creative director has both publicly and forcefully supported GamerGate and made highly questionable statements about the game's "historical" accuracy regarding representing people of color. Maybe we shouldn't cover it all? On the podcast, Austin...
Episode 134: It's Mediocre, I Like It A Lot
February 12, 2018 23:27 - 1 hour - 109 MBIt's a rousing pod today as Austin, Rob, Patrick and Danielle talk about Monster Hunter, "theatrical" minigolf, Dynasty Warriors 9, Civilization 6, All our Asias, and the PS1 aesthetic, and enjoy a refreshing dip in the question bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bonus Pod: Austin's NYU Game Center Guest Lecture
February 12, 2018 05:03 - 1 hour - 98.8 MBThings have been rough lately. The last couple of years have made it incredibly clear that aspects of American culture that many convinced themselves were latent or diminished were only lurking quietly in the background. We've also seen new forces mobilized, driven by fear and nihilism, to dehumanize others—especially those in the margins. So, uh, where do video games fit into this? Well, that's the question I was asked by the NYU Game Center, who invited me to give a guest lecture titled ...
Episode 133: I Love it, I Love it
February 09, 2018 20:55 - 1 hour - 101 MBAustin, Danika, Patrick and Danielle discuss a whole slew of interconnected stream celebrity issues, first, looking at Twitch and Mixer's new rules. We also look into the curious cases of Dr DisRespect and Logan Paul. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 132: Fiver Bro and Yakuza Dads
February 05, 2018 23:23 - 51 minutes - 70.2 MBIn today's episode of Waypoint Radio, Danika, Austin, Patrick and Danielle discuss Superbowl antics, Monster Hunter, and the excellent pixellated platformers we're playing—including Celeste and Dandara, a Metroid-y Soulslike—before shifting over to Yakuza chat. There will be dads, and especially dads in white pants. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 131: The Subtle Plotting of Turok Evolution
February 02, 2018 23:22 - 54 minutes - 63.4 MBA lot of video game villains are cartoonish and over-the-top, but as Danika Harrod argued in a piece on Waypoint this week, sometimes games go too far in trying to make the point that evil people are evil. Danielle, Rob, and myself huddled around some microphones to use Danika’s piece as a launching pad for a broader discussion about how games use villains, prompting us to discuss everything from BioShock Infinite to Resident Evil: Code Veronica. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for m...
Waypoint 101: Zombi
January 31, 2018 17:17 - 55 minutes - 76.2 MBIn our latest Waypoint 101 excursion, Patrick, Rob, and Austin tackle the grim London of Zombi. Originally ZombiU, an early Wii U game later adapted to other platforms, the game impressed the panel with its tension, early digital video aesthetic, and fresh, high-stakes take on surviving one of video games' most tired settings: the zombie apocalypse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 130: Morality 'n Monster (Hunters)
January 30, 2018 00:08 - 1 hour - 78.7 MBMonster Hunter: World is a very good game, but as Austin pointed out in his review last week, it’s a game that “offers intricate environments, lively creatures, kinetic combat... and a dash of colonialist fantasy." Austin, Patrick, and Rob talk about what to do with complicated (and often contradictory) feelings regarding a video game you’re enjoying, while checking in on Rob’s attempts to survive the zombie hordes in the strategy game We Are Billions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy...
Battling the Beasts of 'Monster Hunter: World' Feels Dynamic and Desperate
January 26, 2018 19:00 - 16 minutes - 16.5 MBThis new world offers intricate environments, lively creatures, kinetic combat... and a dash of colonialist fantasy. Waypoint's Austin Walker shares his thoughts. You can read (and watch!) the full review at https://tinyurl.com/waypointmonhun Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 129: Detroit: Become Sun King
January 22, 2018 23:35 - 1 hour - 83.2 MBOn Waypoint's day off last week, a series of investigations into Detroit: Become Human developer Quantic Dream broke out of France, outlining allegations of a deeply toxic studio culture. (There are good write-ups on both Kotaku and Eurogamer.) Austin, Danielle, Rob, and Patrick consider this means for one of 2018's more high-profile games, and what we're supposed to with this information when eventually playing Detroit: Become Human. Elsewhere, we discuss our time with The Red Strings Clu...