Stay ConnectedWhat’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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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 with the 1981 film Thief. You can subscribe to Waypoint + for more Mannhunting at waypointplus.com
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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 unexpected journey into the world of online claw machines.
Discussed: E3 is Dead, Long Live E3 5:53, Last Call BBS 19:28, Clawee 41:47, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Shredder's Revenge 58:54, Question Bucket 1:10:47, Outro and Announcements 1:21:27.
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This week we're discussing Patrick's article talking to Call of Duty Developers after a mass shooting, managing a Motorsport franchise (it's hard!) and the new tricks they taught an old Meat Dog in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak. Then we receive some good news and unveil a new Rob power in the Question Bucket.
Discussed: COD Game Devs reactions in the wake of a mass shooting 1:04, Motorsport Manager 49:13, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak 1:19:42, Neon White 36:50, The Question Bucket 1:58:46
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We open this week's episode by discussing the overturning of Roe v Wade, and where we're finding places to take action and find respite in the face of the ever mounting attack on basic human rights. Afterwards we dive into some of the games we've been playing recently, from Cado's speedrunning uhhh.... optimization in Neon White, to Ren's brush with a hot new genre called "a deckbuilding roguelike" in Gordian Quest. Stick around after for a quick dip into the question bucket!
Discussed: Roe v Wade 4:10, The Quarry/Until Dawn 31:21, Neon White 47:21, Gordian Quest 1:02:53, ID @ Xbox Demos 1:21: 04, Raid World 1:35:34, Question Bucket 1:38:35
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Not-E3 continues this week with the Steam Next Fest! Patrick and Cado checked out a bunch of different demos on stream, so they go over what they played and what their impressions are. Then, special Dragon's Dogma Correspondent Austin Walker joins to talk about the announcement of Dragon's Dogma II, and go over a bit of the ten-year road to this new game. After the break, Ren checks in with Dread Delusion, a Morrowind and King's Field-inspired open world RPG with a striking visual style, and Rob's checking in with the alternate-history Steelrising to explore the question "What if Louis XIV had an army of automatons to protect him during the French Revolution?
Discussed: Steam Next Fest 04:59, Metal: Hellsinger 08:26, Beneath Oresa 16:49, Signalis 24:52, Nine Sols 25:41, Moonscars 26:51, Deadlink 28:06, Melatonin 28:44. Stalcraft 30:04, The Dragon's Dogma Zone 34:49, Landlord of the Woods 51:34, Dread Delusion 54:34, Starship Troopers: Terran Command 1:03:06, Steelrising 1:05:00, Question Bucket 1:08:57, Outro and Announcements 1:38:42
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Gamer's Christmas is upon us, in a new but not wholly unfamiliar form. Rob, Ren, Patrick, and Cado all gather round the traditional gamer's yule monitor to discuss the announcements of this year's not-quite-E3-but-basically-E3 season. But first, Patrick has a tale to tell, a story of wheeling, dealing, and high stakes email ignoring as he finds himself in the middle of a veritable Deals whirlwind that might have knocked a Sonos speaker off of a truck. After the break we have a special section from our stream with Nextlander's Alex Navarro and Brad Shoemaker, who joined us to talk over the Xbox/Bethesda showcase!
Discussed: Patrick's Sonos Saga 1:29, Summer Game Fest 12:24, Nextlander x Waypoint Discuss the Xbox Showcase 1:16:12, Outro and Announcements 1:49:44
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CW: Discussion of Suicide at approximately 1:31:42
It's been a banner year not just for narrative games, but for games with themes surrounding labor, surviving under late capitalism, and the self, from Norco, to Citizen Sleeper, to Hardspace Shipbreaker. It should come as no surprise that today we're talking about the Apple TV+ show Severance, which slots neatly and expertly into these same themes. Come for Patrick’s Sonos-buying update, stay for our Spoiler-Lite impressions, and then get ready to deep dive in our Spoiler-Full discussion of this excellently constructed dark comedy about separating your work life from the rest of your life—literally.
Discussed: Patrick's Sonos Update 01:06, Severance Spoiler-Lite Discussion 26:20, Severance - Spoilercast 59:08, CW Discussion of Suicide 1:31:42-1:33:11, Outro and Announcements 2:17:53
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This week, Patrick has a very Dad weekend, Ren tries out sucking blood in V Rising, and we have an extended discussion around free to play monetization around Diablo Immortal. Then after the break, Patrick, Ren, and Cado go full spoiler mode to talk about Citizen Sleeper, a table top RPG inspired narrative game that got it's hooks in all of us with it's unique and fascinating systemic depiction of surviving with a disabled body under capitalism, and the ways community can be built in places you might not expect them to flourish.
Discussed: Patrick's Dad Weekend 3:43, V Rising 14:14, Diablo Immortal 30:38, Citizen Sleeper Spoilercast 48:48, Outro and Announcements 1:56:56
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We've got a particularly Waypoint episode for y'all today, from scamming the rich out of their money for the greater good in Card Shark, to talking about recent grad student unionizations, to talking about learning on the job in Hardspace Shipbreaker. Of course, it wouldn't be a podcast these days without a bit of an update from Rob on his home appliances, luckily y'all have sent in plenty emails to help him on this journey.
Discussed: Card Shark 2:17, School Debt and Unionizing Grad Students 16:33, Hardspace Shipbreaker 31:08, Appliance update 50:21, Elden Ring 1:15:27, Question Bucket 1:26:11, Outro and Announcements 1:31:39
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Rob's been having some bad luck with home appliances recently, and as unfortunate as that is at least it makes for some good Content(tm). Before we get to that though, Rob, Patrick, Ren, and Cado discuss the current wave of unionization efforts across the US, including the ones beginning to crop up in the video game industry. Then, Patrick and Ren have been checking out the thematically resonant Hardspace Shipbreaker, a game about dismantling ships for scrap under contract for a corporation, and has some great writing and pointed criticism of labor practices and physical labor under late stage capitalism. After the break, well, we deal with a break, the potential breakdown of yet another large home appliance in Rob's house. Then, Rob tries to distract us from this tragedy with tales of his campaign in Daemonhunters, which is... almost certainly on the start of a death spiral. Then we enter the Cado Corner, where they talk about Multiversus, the Warner Bros. attempt at a platform fighter that doesn't feel particularly well tuned for the high speed play it's movement would suggest. On the bright side, Cado's been having a great time in the new Destiny 2 sea... wait no, not that, we're actually gonna talk about Roller Champions, the new free-to-play roller derby meets basketball game that actually feels really fun to control.
Discussed: Raven Software Union 0:34, Hardspace Shipbreaker 31:00, Rob's Fridge Debacle 54:40, Warhammer 40k Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters 1:23:19, Multiversus 1:35:22, Roller Champions 1:49:52, Phil Spencer Union Response 1:58:36, Outro and Announcements 2:01:07
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