The Waypoint Radio crew discusses the death of Stadia, yet another Google product killed unceremoniously. Patrick’s definitely not getting into legal trouble by talking about a Sonos speaker on pod. Ren’s been slowly influencing the world economy in Terra Invicta, a sci-fi strategy game that has you lead one of several shadowy international organizations on the eve of an alien invasion. Cado’s going medieval in Inkulinati , the tactical strategy game that has you battling as the various creature...
Sep 30, 2022•1 hr 51 min
The USCS Carver is ejecting it’s escape pod directly into your podcatcher! Tune in as we round out our first “leg” of My Turn with Ren’s choice: the classic space-horror thriller Alien (1979). The crew discusses how the film does an amazing job characterizing the crew of the Nostromo without needing to give everyone a back story, how it handles the gendered nature of its violence, and what the movie might’ve been like if Meryl Streep had been cast as Ripley. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...
Sep 28, 2022•2 hr
E3 has announced its plans for next year’s show and the Waypoint crew is wondering if it’s still worth it for big developers to attend the show. Rob’s back at it again in Isanzo, the latest historically based FPS to catch his attention. Ren’s checking out Roadwarden, which blends modern TTRPG sensibilities with good, unadorned writing and terrific art. Patrick’s returning to times long past in Return to Monkey Island, which has surprised him in more ways than one. Then of course, the question bu...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 54 min
We were so optimistic about the Bears! But as usual, it didn’t last. Your response to the first episode of our sports podcast was so overwhelming that we couldn’t help but return ASAP. Patrick and Rob pour a few beers, recap the misery of losing to the Packers yet again, and use it as a launching point to examine what it means to “root” for a sports team that continually sucks. Why do this? We also listen to a bunch of utterly depressing voicemails. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
Sep 24, 2022•2 hr 31 min
A shorter episode somehow spends 15 minutes on Cado’s new pets, parasitic wasps meant to eat moth eggs. Yuck. If that sounds nightmarish, just wait; Ren takes us into the chrome-infused hell of the very fast Hyper Demon . Cado’s also vibing with the absurdist Betrayal at Club Low , a new Cosmo D joint, and Patrick is surprised by Shovel Knight Dig , a Shovel Knight spin-off that’s gotten its hooks (or shovel?) in him. Then, we get into a spooky question bucket where we talk about Ghosts, Aliens,...
Sep 23, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Grand Theft Auto VI footage has leaked, and Rob, Patrick, and Cado discuss how leaks impact development and employee mental health. In another surprise, the crew (especially Rob) are very into Fortnite . After the break, Rob and Patrick had an uneven experience with Square Enix’s tactics game The DioField Chronicle , and Cado’s delighted by Unexplored 2 playing with familiar roguelike mechanics in new ways. In the Question Bucket, we discuss franchises that should get a haunted house, and of cou...
Sep 20, 2022•2 hr 25 min
Welcome to Waypoint’s new sports (?!) podcast that sets out to disprove the notion that people with lives dedicated to pixels jumping across the screen can’t also be unhealthily interested in what nerds condescendingly refer to as “sportsball” every Super Bowl. In this first episode, Patrick and Rob unpack their generational ties to Chicago sports fandom, the ways in which being emotionally wound up in events you ultimately can’t control generate community, and naturally, assume the Chicago Bear...
Sep 17, 2022•2 hr 26 min
Natalie’s back! After a long time away in the land of game dev she’s returned with tales from… Disney Dreamlight Valley ? But first, we catch up with the news this week, starting with the wave of layoffs hitting G4 and Fanbyte, and how gaming media in general has churned through so much good talent. Then, we check in on the latest Nintendo and Sony announcements, before rounding out the pod with a deep dive into the question bucket that has us dreaming up our ideal gaming spaces. Discussed: Layo...
Sep 16, 2022•2 hr 23 min
My Turn returns with Cado bringing a controversial pick: 2012’s Prometheus. A prequel to the Aliens franchise, we get Ridley Scott’s most cynical views on humanity, hubris, and faith, but without, uh, some of the careful plotting that makes Alien a masterpiece. We discuss our history with the xenomorph, the wild marketing campaign (fake TED talks!), and the bizarre sequel that completely reframes the movie’s cliffhanger. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Sep 14, 2022•2 hr 2 min
Content Warning for discussion of gross bodily fluids from approximately 1:49:11 to 2:15:43 Summer is ending, and what better way to kick off Spooky Season than Demons and Heavy Metal? Patrick has been spending time in Metal: Hellsinger , the rhythm shooter that artfully blends heavy metal with skeleton killing. Then, Ren brings us a look at Gloomwood , a Thief-inspired boomer shooter, which then leads us into a discussion about why Thief ’s magic hasn’t been recaptured (yet). After the break, w...
Sep 13, 2022•2 hr 29 min
Content Warning for Discussion of Suicide during the Kiwi Farm's segment (starting at approx. 22:02 through 50:39) We’re back after a long weekend followed by an eventful week. First up we talk about the recent news that Cloudflare is finally dropping Kiwi Farms, the infamous harassment forum. After the break, we check in on Splatoon 3, the follow up to Nintendo’s popular competitive shooter, and have a conversation on what makes for good spectator sports in gaming. Rob’s been playing Two Point ...
Sep 09, 2022•2 hr 14 min
Rob hosts this weeks My Turn, and he’s brought us the new prequel to last week’s movie: Prey. Set in the 16th century, the movie follows Comanche wannabe hunter Naru and her quest to prove her prowess to the rest of her tribe. What follows is one of the better examples of a new creator understanding not just the surface level story beats of the original material, but deeply understanding it’s themes and creating something new and exciting for a franchise that’s had many subpar sequels. Hosted on...
Sep 07, 2022•1 hr 38 min
Rob’s out, so we’re making him watch Prometheus next week. Happy anniversary! We also talk about Nintendo Direct rumors, Konami’s new “game,” and Patrick’s new son, the Home Dept skeleton. After the break, Rob, Patrick, and special guest Matthew Gault gather to discuss the new remake/remaster/whatever of The Last of Us Part I, Naughty Dog’s flagship zombie-killing Dad game, and how the failures of Part II make Part I shine. Discussed: News 17:51, TinyKin 39:57, Question Bucket 47:49, The Last of...
Sep 02, 2022•2 hr 29 min
On the eve of another day long stream, 3/4 of the Waypoint Crew took a break from their regularly scheduled setup to talk video games, and we roped in Motherboard managing editor Emanuel Maiberg to boot. We’ve all played a bit of Immortality , Sam Barlow’s new love letter to cinema that is a deft examination of exploitation and the process of making movies. Rob’s feeling a need for speed that isn’t quite being manifested in the way he’d hoped in F1 Manager 2022. Emanuel’s deep dive into the Dawn...
Aug 30, 2022•2 hr 3 min
There’s a lot of news out in the gaming world this week, and at some point between Gamescom opening night reveals and new Bioshock movie news, Sony decided to raise the price of the PS5. After discussing some of our favorite new reveals at Gamescom, Patrick brings us dire news of the Saints Row reboot, and how it’s missed the mark on what made the humor of prior entries into the franchise work. Cado’s been playing I Was a Teenaged Exocolonist, a visual novel life sim with, you guessed it, a card...
Aug 26, 2022•2 hr 1 min
Welcome to the first episode of My Turn, our new movie podcast where each week one of the Waypoint staff picks a new movie that is related in some way to the movie from the previous week, culminating in a vote where you, our listeners, get to choose a movie to cap of the run. To start us off, Patrick has picked 1987’s Predator, an action horror sci-fi film that ends up being surprisingly subversive to its own genre tropes. Next week: Prey (2022) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more in...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 42 min
The Embracer Group is embracing game companies again and…Lord of the Rings? Patrick takes us through its effort to consume all. Then, Rob digs into the Total War: Warhammer III called The Immortal Lords, which dares to ask: how many sieges is too many sieges? After the break, Patrick has been checking out We Are OFK, which sadly is no Sayonara Wild Hearts, before Cado and Ren debate playing as (and against) Bridget in Guilty Gear Strive. And in the question bucket, we debate if Napoleon was the ...
Aug 23, 2022•2 hr 24 min
This week, Patricks kicks off with a discussion of how the industry exploits game guides writers, even while they keep some gaming sites afloat. Then, we roll into new games territory with Rollerdrome, a rollerskating game with guns, and Ren checks in with the (disappointing) Soul Hackers 2, a sequel to a game near and dear to her heart. Cado’s also dropped into Fortnite simply to watch Goku hit Darth Vader with a Kamehameha, and share thoughts and prayers on the next Destiny 2 expansion. Later,...
Aug 19, 2022•2 hr 2 min
It’s been a regular feature on Waypoint’s streams this year, but still we wonder, how deep does Rob’s love for Warhammer 40k really go? He’s gathered a cadre of fellow Warhammer 40k enthusiasts, including Motherboard’s managing editor Emanuel Maiberg, staff writer Matthew Gault, and special guest: Nextlander’s own Vinny Caravella! They journey through each-other’s Warhammer origin stories, discuss their favorite bits of lore, and agree that the tabletop game is too much for them, but hey at leas...
Aug 16, 2022•1 hr 52 min
We’ve got a very special waypoints for y’all today! Friend of the pod Adam Conover is joining the Waypoint crew to talk about the recent Warner Media/Discovery merger. We discuss how the merger might affect one of the better streaming libraries out there in HBO Max, the callousness of television execs when making decisions to cancel shows, and how the exponential growth mentality of the industry will kill some of its best works. Then we dig into the games Adam’s been playing recently, his recent...
Aug 12, 2022•1 hr 56 min
Episode 500 is here with a surprise: Waypoint+ now offers ad-free versions of the podcast! Then, Ren talks through an exciting EVO 2022, and how Bridget in Guilty Gear Strive mirrors a shift in the broader fighting game community. After the break, Patrick checks in with Cult of the Lamb, a charming roguelike with surprising sim elements, such as getting to brainwash people! For evil! Then, Rob tries to explain the madness of canceling a Planet Fitness subscription, while totally justifying some ...
Aug 09, 2022•2 hr 6 min
Cado's back! They've brought stories of mountains, horseback rides, and funnel cakes. But first, we discuss the lawsuits Bungie is bringing against users who have harassed its employees. After the break, Ren has been checking out an overhaul mod for 2018's Battletech called Battletech Advanced 3062, which adds infantry, vehicles, and more 'Mechs to the already great tactics game, and Patrick is checking in with the Live a Live Remaster, the first official western release of the cult classic game...
Aug 05, 2022•2 hr 16 min
Special guest Trone L. Dowd from the Vice News team joins the Waypoint crew today to talk about balancing news writing with games writing, wrestling, and the games he’s been playing! As of this recording Cado is still out, which means the crew is gonna take a chance to totally blow up their opinion of a game ( MultiVersus) without letting them defend themselves! But that’s ok, because they have control of the podcast description and can say that maybe they had come off a little bit strong in the...
Aug 02, 2022•2 hr 13 min
We have the first details on 'Grand Theft Auto VI,' and consider what it means for a (supposedly) kinder, gentler Rockstar Games to make a GTA game. This gets us thinking about the unfolding madness in VR Chat, how it relates to Rockstar's own metaverse in Grand Theft Auto Online, and that wild Oculus Quest price hike. Elsewhere, Ren's getting headbutted by bears in Caves of Qud, and Rob has discovered a level of racing sim that may even be too much for him. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...
Jul 29, 2022•2 hr 17 min
With Cado exploring the Colorado wilderness, everyone else gathers around to hear stories of Patrick...stalking his neighborhood for a chance to look into other people's garages? Huh. Elsewhere, we discuss Stray breaking its containment field and being discovered by a huge audience that's going to think all video games are about cats, Ren channels Danielle Riendeau and digs into the latest Into the Breach update, and Rob is, somehow, talking about the Civil War again. Discussed: Into the Breach ...
Jul 27, 2022•2 hr 5 min
Patrick returns! He's brought a tidy little knapsack of news, from new unionization efforts at Activision-Blizzard, Unity’s CEO putting his foot in his mouth (again), and Minecraft coming out anti-NFT. We circle back to Stray and talk more about its particular form of platforming, Ren is forced to pay Mario a 50-cent fee to use her 3DS again, and the question bucket forces us to ask a very weird question: is the conclusion of the O.J. Simpson trial a spoiler? Discussed: News 11:16, Stray 47:48, ...
Jul 22, 2022•2 hr 26 min
Meow! Meow meow mrrrow. Meow mmeow *hiisss*. Mrow mrow Stray, mew meow meow meow. Rob meow meow Gran Turismo 7 meow meow. Meow, meow meow meow The Question Bucket. Discussed: Stray 1:02, Gran Turismo 7, The Question Bucket 1:04:35 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 19, 2022•1 hr 57 min
The release schedule is slow so we're taking a big old shlorp from the question bucket! Acast destroyed my description and now we're streaming so that's all for now, enjoy the podcast! Discussed: Gwent Rogue Mage 1:05, Inscryption Kaycee's Mod 14:23, Company of Heroes 3 26:38, The Question Bucket 57:26, Outro and Announcements 1:56:57 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 15, 2022•2 hr
Content Warning - Racial Slurs and Threat of Rape in a movie clip at 2:51:39 In memory of James Caan, Rob asked Nextlander's Alex Navarro to record a new segment discussing the late actor's career, from his defining role in The Godfather to his many turns as a tough-guy character actor. Then, listen along to the first ever episode of our Waypoint+ show Mannhunting, where special guests Dia Lacina and Alex Navarro join Rob as they work through the filmography of director Michael Mann, starting wi...
Jul 12, 2022•3 hr 34 min
This week we're serving up a heaping scoop of everyone's favorite summer snack, podcast-cream! Ren and Cado have been deep in the food-court automation mines in Last Call BBS, the final game from Zachtronics, which is an excellent tribute to a specific age of computing and trying to pass on the nostalgia you feel for that time to a person who might've never experienced it. But first, we discuss the resurrection of E3 and what a Reed Pop owned show might look like. Then Patrick takes us on his un...
Jul 08, 2022•1 hr 24 min
