The Waypoint Radio crew welcomes Motherboard senior editor Jordan Pearson onto the show to talk about gaming NFTs. We discuss how some of the current trends portend a grim future, the NFT games that already exist and how they operate, and what a AAA developer might do with this technology. Come along and listen as we collectively stare into the abyss! After the break, Rob, Patrick, and Cado talk about two recent sci-fi epics: Foundation and Dune, and how they both tackle the way empires oppress ...
Nov 09, 2021•1 hr 42 min
We’ve got an extra beefy episode today, because guess what, it’s JRPG time! Gita Jackson joins the pod to talk Shin Megami Tensei V , a game we totally don’t call “the dark souls of Pokemon” in any serious way but it was too cursed to not get out of my head I’m sorry. It is, however, a traditional JRPG in a lot of ways that most other franchises have moved on from, for better and for worse. After the break, Rob and Patrick have been revving up their engines in the new Forza Horizon 5. Patrick is...
Nov 05, 2021•2 hr 35 min
We’re back and boy, do we have GAMES to talk about! Natalie is taking the traditional Animal Crossing walk of shame, as all her villagers berate her for being gone so long, but the real problem with being away for so long is much worse, and flower shaped, and might have its roots in some real life, uh, tendencies that everyone except Patrick share. Patrick is finding time for gaming with his kid in Zookeeper World, a solid match three game. Rob has the answers to all of our organizational worrie...
Oct 29, 2021•1 hr 42 min
Rob, Patrick, and Cado are joined by special guest Yussef Cole to talk about Guardians of the Galaxy , a surprisingly not horrible action game that has flown over expectations by being just … fine. Patrick and Yussef break down the game’s workable combat, and the way side stories let these characters breath in a way the movies don’t. After the break, Rob has been enjoying a dip into history, both his own and that of medieval Europe in Age of Empires IV, an RTS that not only throws back the clock...
Oct 26, 2021•1 hr 48 min
The bucket calls to us, and we must answer. We’re doing a heft dive into the question bucket today, but first! We hit some news stories, like “Does Tom Holland Age?” and “Hey, wtf is up at Bungie?” Patrick is also getting back into VR with Resident Evil 4 VR . After the break, we take a quick look at the trailer for Haunted Chocolatier, the newly announced game from the creator of Stardew Valley, and get into the new home Chocolatier fad that Rob has the skinny on. Then we dive into the question...
Oct 22, 2021•1 hr 57 min
It’s a new Monday in October, which means we’re one week closer to the spooky apex of the season. We’re slowly ratcheting up the spookiness this week by immersing ourselves in S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl. We discuss the early game as Patrick continues to play on stream, and we start to reach some of the scarier moments of the game. Rob is being Rob by reaching back in time to play Medal of Honor Airborne, a game that has Rob considering a path that Military FPS games could’ve taken in a d...
Oct 19, 2021•2 hr 5 min
The WPR crew is back from their day off on Monday recharged and ready to discuss the finer points of … the best way to make a PB&J. The crew talks about their time with Back 4 Blood, the new iteration on the Left 4 Dead formula made by some of the people who created it. While it has an uneven first showing, as with most co-op games it’s often better with friends. After the break, Natalie and Cado dive into their time with Deltarune Chapter 1+2, and discuss the ways the game continues to play...
Oct 15, 2021•1 hr 34 min
The fall game season is in full swing! Gita is on today's pod to talk all things Remedy , but first! We talk about Far Cry 6 and the Ubisoft franchise fatigue so many of us have felt at one point or another. Patrick has been checking out Metroid Dread , a good game that is limited by the conventions that the Metroid franchise introduced to games as a whole. After the break, Gita has been diving back into the world of Alan Wake Remastered, and ended up taking a tour through many other Remedy game...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 49 min
The SPOOKS never end! The podcast is haunted by the spirits of Waypoints past, and one particularly tenacious intern is making a surprise appearance! Natalie is back on Waypoint Radio today to talk about her Waypoint hiatus, how she was briefly in the world of e-sports, and her current job in game dev. Then the whole crew dives into the question bucket to talk buying the same game multiple times, moon trips, and favorite life hacks. Oh also Rob played a Poirot mystery game. Discussed: Death Stra...
Oct 05, 2021•1 hr 59 min
WE'RE TAKING OVER! Special Guest Cameron Kunzelman was lured him onto the podcast to supposedly talk about Sable, which he reviewed for Waypoint but instead Patrick took it upon himself to take over Just King Things and rebrand it "KingPoint." Listen as the crew dives into everything Steven King, and who knows, we might even talk about a few video games. Discussed: Sable 6:58, Unsighted 52:36, Demon's Souls 58:02, The Question Bucket 1:02:12 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more inform...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr 55 min
We’ve got special guests Natalie Flores and Moises Taveras join Patrick and Cado to talk all things Life is Strange. But first, we’ve got some ranting to do about a certain film lineup that is truly cursed. After the break, we dive deep on all things Life is Strange, from the series history with queerness to our own personal head cannons. We go full spoilers for the entire franchise to contextualize the latest entry, True Colors, and ask the hard questions like “who would ever choose Ryan over S...
Sep 28, 2021•2 hr 3 min
We’ve got special guest Dia Lacina on the show today to talk about Lost Judgment, but somehow also stumble into yet another discussion of S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl. Patrick’s dipped a toe into the Guardians of the Galaxy video game, which begs the question: why? And Cado’s been playing Sable, a visually stunning platforming exploration game where you set out to try on different hats (both literally and figuratively) in a beautiful post-post-apocalypse with your trusty hover bike. Discus...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr 39 min
Video games! They're happening, and we're playing them. Patrick is checking out Kena: Bridge of Spirits and finds a game that's been ripped from the early aughts in everything but art style, and that might be ok? Cado has been playing Eastward and learns that maybe his taste in pacing has changed. Rob's learning everything he needs to be his most productive self with a new tech purchase. After the break, we discuss next month's project: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Which game are we playing? What mods are we ...
Sep 21, 2021•2 hr 10 min
We’re all caught in it so we might as well talk about it! Deathloop has it’s hooks in the entire Waypoint Radio crew to the point that we invited on a special guest just so we could talk about it more. Moises Taveras joins Rob, Patrick, and Cado to talk about the game’s stellar mix of roguelike and immersive sim systems. After the break, Patrick shares his ending thoughts on Life is Strange: True Colors , and discusses how the franchise’s arc with supernatural powers seems to be waning, even tho...
Sep 17, 2021•2 hr 4 min
And then there were three! Rob, Patrick, and Cado reconvene for a new sort of waypoint podcast, part games, part pop culture. With only three people left as full time staff we’re going to start splitting up game talk and putting in more discussions of the film/tv/whatever that’s been inspiring us lately, this week: Patrick and Rob give their early Deathloop impressions, as they both learn the ins and outs of the time loop, and try to decipher which proper noun is the one their trying to kill. Af...
Sep 14, 2021•1 hr 56 min
I may have rewritten this description four times at this point, because it's hard to sum up my feelings today. This is Austin’s last podcast as host of Waypoint Radio. We're all going to miss him on these podcasts, from his incisive analysis to jovial enthusiasm, he put so much of himself into Waypoint and Waypoint Radio over the last five years. And now he's moving on to greater and better things, but not without one last episode. We'll miss you Austin! Discussed: Judgement 1:54, Patrick Key Up...
Sep 10, 2021•3 hr 3 min
Patrick lost his keys. There’s apparently some bears paraphernalia and a beer opener on the ring. Please email gaming@vice.com if you have found some keys matching this description. Thank You. Discussed: Pokemon Unite 11:41, Psychonauts 2 26:07, Genshin Impact 34:48, Cursed to Golf 54:28, Golf Club Wasteland 1:06:51, Question Bucket 1:21:20, Midnight Suns 1:43:19 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 03, 2021•2 hr 12 min
It’s been a slow week for new releases, but there’s plenty of new Elden Ring news to talk about! First, Cado walks Austin and Patrick through the new Destiny 2 announcements, and how the new structure of Destiny is shaping up after a year of continuous narrative. Austin and Patrick are excited by the implications of new Elden Ring previews, what they mean for invasions and co-op, and the possibility of rolling deep with pot boys. Then Patrick talks us through the Blasphemous 2 announcement and t...
Aug 31, 2021•2 hr 2 min
Patrick has some BREAKING NEWS to share, as the CEO of Unity has responded to complaints from employees about parts of the company working with the US military. Rob and Austin jump in to talk about labor organizing and the reasons certain strategies have fallen out of use in the US. Then the WPR crew talks through the Gamescom opening night live, but not before losing their minds at the latest Fortnite event, a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. After the break, Austin, Rob, and Cado took on some...
Aug 27, 2021•2 hr 2 min
Content Warning at 1:22:00 for discussion of Violence against a pregnant woman, Death, Incest, and Drugging You ever have one of those days where nothing can go right? Well what if you had to have that day over and over again. Sound familiar? No, I’m not talking about the seminal time loop dark comedy Groundhog Day , a time loop I’d rather be stuck in than play another loop of Twelve Minutes. The whole Waypoint Radio crew played through it and boy do we have a meaty spoiler segment for you. Befo...
Aug 24, 2021•2 hr 16 min
There’s some big news in this pod! We kick things off with two special announcements, then dive right into the game's we've been playing. Austin’s started the next Waypoint 101 game Super Metroid, Patrick and Cado joined him on stream so they discuss the early hours of the game. Then, Rob and Patrick discuss some of the less convincing moments in Twelve Minutes , an adventure game with some interesting time looping mechanics but questionable plot points. After the break, Austin is getting out of...
Aug 20, 2021•1 hr 56 min
Gita Jackson is on the pod today to tell Rob, Cado, and Patrick all about the different dates they've been on while delving into Boyfriend Dungeon . The crew discuss the content warning controversy around the game, how the visual novel genre has handled similar content in the past, and what “play with care” can mean for different people. After the break, Patrick checked out Axiom Verge 2, the sequel to the 2015 indie Metroidvania that leaves something to be desired. Rob is checking out Humankind...
Aug 17, 2021•1 hr 29 min
It’s hot as hell in NYC this week, which is apt for this particularly hellish episode! Austin, Rob, and Cado discuss some of their recent games of Hell Let Loose, and the different ways the tactical layer can (and will) break down. Then Austin and Cado check out Jupiter Hell , an isometric ranged combat based “traditional” roguelike, which translates FPS mechanics into its tile and turned based gameplay. After the break, we enter the atomic hell of the exclusion zone in Chernobylite , where Aust...
Aug 13, 2021•1 hr 59 min
Very special guests Em and Jackson from Abnormal Mapping join Austin and Cado to discuss the hot new game that everyone’s playing: The New York Times Crossword. Thanks to Chris Remo’s new video series , everyone on the pod has been learning the nuances and tricks the NYT like to employ, from esoteric clues that appear again and again to the specific clue construction logic that allow just enough space for multiple interpretations that might still fit in the puzzle. After the break, Cado and Jack...
Aug 10, 2021•2 hr 29 min
Gita Jackson joins Rob and Cado today to talk about Neo The World Ends With You, a worthy successor to the original The World Ends With You, whose episodic structure and focus on character writing makes it feel like playing a CW show. After the break, Cado fills in the crew on Gengar's fall from grace as the new patch hits in Pokemon Unite . Then Rob and Gita talk infrastructure games and how roads and bridges can cause all sorts of headaches in City Skylines. Then, Cado joins the other scavenge...
Aug 06, 2021•1 hr 43 min
Austin and Cado have joined Rob in the trenches, and they’re having a hell of a time! Commander Rob is joined by a few new squaddies in Hell Let Loose , and someone messed up and let Cado get behind the wheel of a tank. After the break, Patrick is exploring his own cyberpunk hell in The Ascent , an extremely divisive top down shooter with a very slow start. Austin and Rob are scavenging a new exclusion zone in Chernobylite, Cado is doing a dance of deductions in The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles...
Aug 03, 2021•1 hr 59 min
It can be difficult to give game recommendations to people, but every once in a while a game lines up so purely with a person’s tastes it almost felt like it was made for them. This is the case with Hell Let Loose , a World War Two military shooter with a chain of command system that Rob described “[like] an RTS, but your units are other people.” Austin and Cado accidentally convince the rest of the crew to download Pokemon Unite, even as they complain about their less than ideal patch notes. Af...
Jul 30, 2021•2 hr 14 min
Austin and Cado are still playing Pokemon Unite , and do some live research into some of it's more hidden forms of microtransactions. Patrick is living his best music playing life with Ragnarock, a VR drum rhythm game with a slightly frustrating boost mechanic. After the break, Cado's been playing The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, the historical fiction entry into the Ace Attorney franchise that has only just been released outside of Japan despite the first game being six years old at this poin...
Jul 27, 2021•1 hr 44 min
Content Warning for discussion of Misogyny, Sexual Harassment, and Suicide from 7:28 - 46:49 The video game industry has historically been a boys club. Men have often claimed video games as something women weren't interested in or weren't good at. In recent years that line of thinking has shifted towards inclusivity on the community side of things, but within the industry many of the old company structures are still in place, and still undervaluing and endangering women. This week, the state of ...
Jul 23, 2021•1 hr 58 min
Spoilers for Final Fantasy VII Remake: Episode: INTERmission at ~1:24:05 It’s been a very sports filled week for the Waypoint Radio crew. Basketball is good, Space Jam is bad, and Rob’s getting back behind the wheel with F1 2021, with it’s new “Longshot-eqsue” story mode: Braking Point. Patrick’s looking within in Psychonauts 2, and Austin is looking back by revisiting Dark Souls. Skyward Sword HD continues to frustrate everyone, Austin and the crew take a short detour into Colombian children’s ...
Jul 20, 2021•2 hr 18 min
