Waypoint Radio

Austin, Patrick and Danielle convene to talk about new Breath of the Wild DLC, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and high-level play in the games we just can't quit. Then, they take a dip in the question bucket and get ready for the weekend. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a few days off, Patrick has returned to Waypoint Radio with Rob and Austin. (Danielle is taking some well-earned rest.) Naturally, the conversation turns to "accidental" fraud, the secret motivations to play golf, and, eventually, video games. We muse over Forza Motorsport 7's 100GB download, games reinventing themselves after release, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob, Austin, and Danielle sat down to take on indie horror games, the many incarnations of Sherlock Holmes, and... imaginary Pokemon. Then, we take a question bucket inquiry from long ago—all the way back in December 2016. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austin and Patrick are out recovering from E3, so Rob and myself were joined by our excellent summer intern, Natalie Watson to dissect the most memorable aspects of E3 2017. We touched on the difficult politics of The Last Night and Far Cry 5, the excitement and energy of Ubisoft and Bethesda’s press events, and the most off-the-rails parts of the Coliseum, and we took a nice dip into the question bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We made it to the final night of E3, and we all survived! Join Patrick, Danika, Rob, and Austin for a discussion of Nintendo, our interview with Reggie Fils-Aime and the company’s treatment of fan work, Monster Hunter, Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite, Middle Earth: Shadow of War, and much, much more. We did it, folks! We made it through Waypoint’s very first E3, and we couldn’t have done it without you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For day two (or five?) of E3—ok, let’s just call it Wednesday night—Austin, Danika, Rob, and Patrick sat down to talk about all the games they saw, played, or got pitched on during a wild and woolly day on the show floor. They take on the wild scale of Beyond Good and Evil 2, the difficulties of The Last Night, the sheer iciness of Frostpunk, and much, much more. Also, there is a mysterious Red Door. It’s scary. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danika welcomes Steve Gaynor of Fullbright—the studio behind Gone Home and the upcoming Tacoma—onto the show to talk E3 excitement, fans, and setting games in space. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austin and Patrick discuss their adventures in Sony's E3 booth, with talk of Knack, Detroit: Become Human, Spider-Man, and much more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patrick and Austin report from the show floor/parking lot, with tales of Devolver Digital's finest wares at the show. They talk Absolver, Minute and more as they attempt to keep all glasses on faces for the duration of the show. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austin, Danika, Rob and Patrick have survived the first "official" day of E3, and they have a 2-hour episode to show for it! They talked about the E3 show floor (and how it's overflowing with people this year), Call of Duty: WWII, Talos Principle VR, Absolver, and few other things! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mario Odyssey is real, it's coming in August, and Danika and Austin have played it. Patrick interrogates them for important hat-based information, and declares his eternal love for Rabbids. Rob wonders what he's gotten himself into now—and imagines a world where Mario commits to doing terrible violence. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As proof that E3 2017 is in full swing, Austin, Rob, and Patrick have gotten hands on time with Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Crackdown 3, Sea of Thieves—and they’re here to let you know what games will make you say “Yo.” Also: impressions from the Sony press briefing, theories about Keyser Soze and the templars, and an angry rant about an unfortunate encounter with bright lights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patrick, Rob, and Austin are burning the midnight oil so that they can dish out their thoughts on Bethesda's E3 2017 press conference. They chat about Doom VFR, Fallout 4 (VR), Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, The Evil Within and more!​ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Danika, Patrick, Rob, and Austin have gathered in beautiful Los Angeles, California to drop hot takes and turn cold shoulders to the best and worst of E3. Today, they tackle the EA and Microsoft press conferences. Come for the excitement about exosuits & actually good zombie games, stay for the bad shoutcasting and milkshake ducks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's just about E3 time! And that means that the usual Waypoint crew of Austin, Patrick, Rob and Danielle are filled with hope, excitement, and just a touch of terror for the upcoming mega-show. We talk about what we're hoping to see from the big publishers, what we will probably see, and what would get us to do a standing ovation in the middle of the show floor, then we go to a special, E3-shaped Question Bucket to answer your burning queries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gotta admit, this episode might have gotten away from us a little bit. You've been warned, as Patrick, Austin, Rob, and Danielle have a long discussion about Goatsegate (don't ask), the surprisingly neat shooter Tormenter X Punisher, our thoughts on the state of independent developers' relationship with E3, and a trip into The Question Bucket to discuss best writing practices. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The moment Rob started talking about his experience with BattleTech, a new strategy game from the folks behind the recent excellent Shadowrun games, it was all over. Get ready for robot talk. Over in The Question Bucket, a listener asks about our various experiences with being a critic, and how we draw the line on when criticism gets too personal. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Waypoint 101 is our new, semi-regular podcast where Waypoint editors play through an old game, maybe one we've always wanted to get around to, and discuss it. Unlike Waypoint Radio, this is meant to be a deep dive, with everyone participating having spent time with the game. To kick things off, we're playing through Binary Domain, a Gears of War-style sci-fi shooter from Sega in 2012. The first podcast covers the game's first three chapters. The second will cover the remaining three. (E3 planning is throwing off our schedule. We'll figure out the kinks for the second installment. And, yes, you'll help us pick the next game!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

​For Episode 69 of Waypoint Radio, Senior Editor Rob Zacny and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau invited special guest Tim Barnes (our intrepid producer!) to come from behind the mics and sit center stage with us. Patrick is off at a wedding and Austin was ill, so, we decided to do a special, all bucket episode, pouring into your deepest inquiries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Patrick is off in Montreal, but nothing can stop the sick-but-persevering Editor in Chief Austin Walker from talking about Far Cry 5, coinciding with the game's big reveal today. He's joined by Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau and her Rime-talk, and Senior Editor Rob Zacny, who had wild stories of Endless Space 2 and the Horatio, a species of people with an excellent backstory. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You're going to be shocked that Austin and Patrick found a way to talk about Spelunky again, but it's for a good cause: we're in love with the Castlevania-inspired roguelike Dead Cells. Elsewhere, Danielle explains how she spent 48 hours finishing Prey, and Rob introduces us to the complicated galactic politics of Endless Space 2. Our brief dip into The Question Bucket has us musing about how playing games in a similar genre can help us understand what makes them tick. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austin hasn't been in the office all week because, well, E3 is almost here. While spending a week in LA checking out various games, he hooked up with Rob to attend the big Destiny 2 event. After playing the game, the two of them huddled around some microphones, talked about their impressions, and answered reader questions about the game. The full crew will be back in rotation next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With Austin in Los Angeles for some pre-E3 events and Rob on vacation, we went looking for a familiar face to join us on the podcast today. Fortunately, we found friend of the pod Pat Baer, a New York-based comedian, wrestling aficionado, watcher of anime, and player of video games. (He's finished Person 4 five times. Five times!) Besides talking about anime for a surprising length of time, we checked in on Prey and Flinthook. In The Question Bucket, we're asked about how game publishers handle when (and if) to make new franchises, instead of sequels. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The game that everyone is playing is now the game that Waypoint is playing, as Patrick and Austin have decided to figure out what the heck is up with the shooting game with the super weird name, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. As it turns out, it's really damn good. Elsewhere, Danielle updates us her adventures in lesbian space, aka she's still super into Prey. Oh, and Patrick spent a few hours with the new Souls-like The Surge, which drags the genre into sci-fi. It's hard. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's not very often that everyone at Waypoint is playing the same game simultaneously, but Prey has been scratching a lot of different itches for Austin, Danielle, Rob, and Patrick. Besides an update on our adventures in space horror, Rob provides an update on his raiding in Expeditions: Vikings, including whether or not it's a good fit for casual strategy fans. Over in The Question Bucket, we're asked whether we've ever accepted a job knowing we weren't fully prepared for it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a good time to be a fan of games like Deus Ex. Between Mankind Divided, Dishonored 2, and this week’s Prey, we’re awash in immersive sims. Danielle, Austin, and Patrick have all put a few hours into the latest from Arkane Studios, while Rob probes us about the experience. Though most of our time was taken up by Prey, we still dip into The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Though this latest episode of Waypoint Radio features a surprisingly long tangent about golf courses, we promise you that Austin, Rob, Danielle, and Patrick eventually get to video games. With Nintendo giving everyone a new reason to play their Switch—provided you, unlike Danielle, have already finished Breath of the Wild—we sent Austin to the local “cafe” (aka Dunkin’ Donuts) to research Mario Kart players in the wild. We also answer your questions, though not as many as we wanted to…because we talked about golf courses for a while? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the sea of excellent video games that 2017 has brought us, Nier: Automata still managed to stand out. Designer Yoko Taro’s latest slice of emotional weirdness struck several us at Waypoint, and by the time the credits were rolling for the fifth time, the only thing on our mind was finding a place to spoil the shit out of the game. Thankfully, our former colleague at Giant Bomb, Alex Navarro, was also looking for a place to spoil the shit out of Nier: Automata. It should go without saying that if you haven’t played the game yet, don’t listen to this podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a packed episode of Waypoint Radio this week, as Austin, Patrick, Rob, and Danielle embrace the warming weather to spend the hour talking about storytelling in games. Both Austin and Patrick wrote stories this week in response to an essay by academic Ian Bogost in The Atlantic titled "Video Games Are Better Without Stories," and used our time with the latest walking simulator, What Remains of Edith Finch, to speak more broadly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since the world of video games is (finally!) slowing down a little, Austin, Danika, and Rob talk about what they've been playing with their newly discovered free time... and, of course, they dip into the question bucket for a couple of doozies. There is Minecraft talk (including inspirational Minecraft rap), a discussion of Unexplored, and a look at various Waypointers' life paths, with a side helping of life advice. Remember, you too can submit questions to the crew by sending an email with the subject QUESTION to [email protected]! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No one’s looking forward to the weekend more than the staff of Waypoint, who’ve slogged through colds and the flu all week long. But before a few days off arrive, it’s time for another episode of Waypoint Radio, wherein Rob, Danielle, and Patrick discuss Patrick's article about Telltale’s ongoing technical problems, the tiny details in video games that make us happy, and Danielle’s love for Capcom’s Disney Afternoon Collection, a wonderful tribute to the company’s NES games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For the vast majority of people who cannot stand that it's Monday, we have something for you: a new episode of Waypoint Radio. Austin, Danielle, Rob, and Patrick huddled around some microphones to discuss the tension between explicit and systematic storytelling in games (as evidenced by games like Stellaris and Breath of the Wild), Patrick's inability to cope with Persona 5's social stresses, and more. During our tour of The Question Bucket, we grapple with the prospect of friends in your regular gaming group acting bad—the sexist, racist kind of bad. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rob Zacny is no longer with is—don't worry, he only flew back home to California—but we couldn't resist bringing in another guest. Polygon's Phil Kollar is visiting New York, and despite worries that he'd get thrown in Internet jail for getting too close to us, he joined Austin, Danielle, and Patrick to discuss the state of Hearthstone, what the heck is going on with that PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds game, and find out what's inside The Question Bucket. (And because we couldn't resist, there's some light discussion of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi trailer.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a big week for Waypoint Radio: Rob Zacny's in town! It's an extra special (and extra big) podcast today, as Rob huddled in the New York studio with Danielle and Austin, while Patrick joined from a not-quite-safe-from-nuclear-fallout home in Illinois. (It'll make sense, promise.) We touch on Austin finishing up Nier: Automata, reveal we'll be doing a spoilercast soon with a special guest, and discuss group impressions of an early version of the sci-fi Souls-like, The Surge. Our dip into The Question Bucket brings ruminations on the virtues of the mundane. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There aren’t as many “big” games coming out this month, but there’s still plenty to talk about, especially since April brings the release of Playtonic’s Yooka-Laylee, their long-anticipated riff on Banjo-Kazooie. Patrick has been playing the game, as has Danielle, and the results are...not great. We use Yooka-Laylee as a reason to dive deeper into the merits of modernizing nostalgia, while Austin tries to provide some clarification on his bird opinions. Of course, we also dive into The Question Bucket, wherein we try to figure out who is The Velvet Underground of games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Austin Walker decided to return to Stellaris this weekend, hoping to lead his bird society to the heights of galactic civilization, but when a space anomaly shows up, things go bad, leading to Danielle Riendeau and Patrick Klepek to nod, sigh, and wonder how things might have been different. Elsewhere, I talk about my fear of sea spiders in the underwater horror game Narcosis, and we return to The Question Bucket to ruminate on why some games have a backlash after they're released. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The people of Waypoint have Strong Feelings about Destiny, so we convened Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker, Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau, Senior Editor Rob Zacny, and Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek to work through them. If you're a fan of hearing people talk about lore, do we have the podcast for you! We spend most of the time talking about Destiny 2, but worry not, The Question Bucket will return next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You’ve already finished The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, right? And completed the main quest for Mass Effect: Andromeda? You know that Persona 5 is next week, right? With Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker coughing up a lung, Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek, and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau picked up the slack on the podcast today. After spending 40 hours finishing up Nier, Patrick is unwilling to let the podcast move on before he makes the case for why it’s one of the best games this year, Danielle updates us on her Zelda adventures, we touch on the recent YouTube controversy involving JonTron, and see how far we can dip in The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a series of technical hiccups, we finally managed to record a podcast today—albeit one that's shorter than usual—for our celebratory 50th episode. Prompted by a letter from a listener who couldn't get into The Witcher 3...wait, there are people who can't get into The Witcher 3? Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker, Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek, and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau, all avid fans of The Witcher 3, instead came up with games we couldn't get into, despite the rest of the world telling insisting they were terrific. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a weekend where people proved, once again, that they can't be trusted with the Internet, a podcast was the only way for us to make sense of what happened. Though Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker ran down his initial thoughts on Mass Effect: Andromeda on Friday, he was restricted from talking beyond the first few hours. That's no longer true! While giving us an update on his note-quite-enthusiast adventures in space, Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau and Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek spent a long time geeking out over Nier: Automata, a truly weird and special game. And, of course, no podcast would be complete without a tour of The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are few franchises that made as much impact last generation as Mass Effect, which may help explain why there's so much anxiety over Mass Effect: Andromeda. Both Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau have been playing (or watching someone play) Andromeda, while Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek has been watching, with some horror, as the Internet tear the game to shreds. Beyond impressions of Andromeda, we discussed our long history with the series, why there's so much pressure on the new game, and reach deep into The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s never been a more perfect time to have too many games, given that part of the country may very well be buried under several feet of snow tomorrow. It’s our fullest cast yet, with Social Editor Danika Harrod, Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker, Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau together to talk about their time at PAX East, while Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek and Senior Editor Rob Zacny hop on to chat Breath of the Wild, Nier Automata, tabletop war games, and pluck from The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As thousands descend on Boston for PAX East, including a number of folks from Waypoint, don’t think that means we’d leave you hanging without a new podcast. Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau, Editor-in-Chief Austin Wallker, and Waypoint’s latest band member, Senior Editor Rob Zacny, managed to huddle around the mics. On today’s episode, they enrolled in Rob Zacny 101 to learn more about him, discussed what other games might learn from Breath of the Wild, and got a little dirty with The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last week was particularly exciting in video game land, with the Game Developer's Conference and the launch of Nintendo's brand new Switch console. Social Editor Danika Harrod joins Editor in Chief Austin Walker, Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek, and myself for a discussion of Tacoma and other indie delights Danika saw on the show floor. There were snakes! The discussion turns towards Breath of the Wild, which every non-Danika person on staff is currently playing, loving, and sweating over control-mapping. Then we take a quick dip in the question bucket and get ready for another big week at Waypoint. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As thousands of Nintendo fans nervously smash F5 on their Amazon order windows, hoping their machines show up, Waypoint Radio squeezed in a podcast. At this point, both Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau have managed to put some time into The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, while Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek is left to wonder when there will be a knock at the door. (There was, thankfully.) Besides Zelda, we share general Switch impressions, and use The Question Bucket to talk about fandom and Internet discourse. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's the day that critics get to weigh in on the Nintendo Switch's biggest launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Because we know that a lot of our listeners primarily get their Waypoint #content via this podcast, we decided to offer an audio version of Austin Walker's take on the game! If you'd like to read along or share this with a friend, you can head to waypoint.vice.com and find the full story there. As always, interaction with you is a big part of this new podcast, so make sure to send any questions you have for us to [email protected] with the header "Questions." (Without the quotes!) We can't guarantee we'll answer all of your questions, but rest assured, we'll be taking a look at them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're just days away from Nintendo launching their new console, but the rest of video games haven't gotten out of the way; instead, we're still drowning. Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker is back, as is Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau and Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek. We kick things off with Get Out, the breakout horror debut from Jordan Peele—yes, of Key and Peele. There aren't any spoilers; it's a discussion about tone. Elsewhere, we all spent a few hours with Night in the Woods, a trip to America's rust belt by way of cat people. With the time left, we tapped The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A week from now, Nintendo will not only launch a new console, but a brand-new Zelda game, one that’s promised big changes for a franchise that’s been looking for new directions. Though Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker is technically still on vacation, he’s returned to taunt Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek with a copy of Breath of the Wild, and impressions of his hours with the game—at least, as much as Nintendo’s strict embargo will let him. We also dive deeper into our impressions of Horizon: Zero Dawn, another ambitious open world game that’s finally arriving next week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Even though we're taking the day off, that can't stop the podcast, especially since we're finally allowed to talk about our time with Horizon: Zero Dawn. Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker is still on vacation, but Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek is holding down the fort with Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau and Group Publisher Joel Fowler. (Group Publisher means he helps manage the site and deal with boring stuff like money.) Besides discussing Horizon: Zero Dawn, we celebrate Joel finally beating Dark Souls 3, and dip into The Question Bucket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Since many of the games we're playing right now can't be talked about until embargoes lift, we had to look for different topics of conversation. With Editor-in-Chief Austin Walker on vacation (if you're reading this, Austin, that's not what people do on vacation), Social Editor Danika "Definitely Knows How to Write a Poem" Harrod joined Senior Reporter Patrick Klepek and Managing Editor Danielle Riendeau to discuss recent events with YouTube personality PewDiePie, why I'm interviewing folks who made sexual mods for Stardew Valley, and the games we've been playing. Like I said, we're all over the place on this episode. Hold tight. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.