Waypoint Radio

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!​    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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!)  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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?  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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 gaming@vice.com!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out 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.    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.