I sit down with Kurt Kalata of Hardcore Gaming 101, for the occasion of his latest book for Limited Run Games, to discuss movie based games from all ages. We discuss being burned, losing faith, finding it again and playing some of the worst and some of the best ones out there including Jurassic Park, The Lawnmower Man, Friday the 13th.
Take a look at Kurt's book on https://limitedrungames.com/products/now-playing-the-guide-to-1980s-and-90s-movie-games-hardcover
Sitting down to experience The Elder Scrolls again with Twobitmatt, one of the writing leads on Skywind, huge fan project about putting Morrowind in the Skyrim engine. How would a balancing act like that work and what is the real objective of such a huge fan project that has been going on for years?
Together with two experts in the field of game localization, we take a look at what is happening in the market, what AI is contributing (or not) and what translators actually want from the companies they work with.
I spoke with Anthony Jauneaud about his career and how he got to help people with their narrative design in games. His best tip on how to write your story? CUT IT AWAY!!
Intro/outro by mobygratis
Together with Fawzi Mesmar we look back at his long career in gaming, how to handle burnout, the importance of going beyond your limits and working in so many different countries. Fawzi is on Twitter @FawziMesmar
I sit down with the creative director of Polygon Treehouse to discuss his years working in the gaming industry, going from Sony to full indie, how to approach indie publishing and his work on his latest game, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island.
You can find Alex on Twitter (@Kanaratron, @PolyTreehouse) and find out more about Polygon Treehouse here.
In the final episode of Season 2, I go back in time with writer/producer Richard Moss as we discuss the 80s/90s in playing on an Apple computer and - naturally - the shareware years: where did shareware come from, how did it fade and the different experience between Europe and the United States. Along the way, we also touch upon demo discs nostalgia.
I discuss with game designer/writer Xalavier Nelson Jr. the beauty of living in the brainspace of a different world while playing a game, the importance of "choices matter" along with consequences and the way the games we play as kid shape our roles and work as adults.
A very pleasant talk with narrative designer Ben Gelinas on the beauty of writing small details for characters in games from AAA like Mass Effect 3 to small indie visual novels like Speed Dating for Ghosts. We also talk about collecting physical games and dwell into a whole forest of obscure titles.
New Zealand and Sweden come together as I welcome Dave Oshry to the podcast. He is one of the hardest working people in the gaming industry today and we talked about his first contact with the FPS genre, his work on the Rise of the Triad reboot, learning to work as a video game producer and what really makes a "boomer shooter" special.
I welcome Dave Gilbert to the podcast to pick his brain about adventure games and nostalgia. We touch upon the birth of the Adventure Game Studio community, the role of Wadjet Eye as a publisher and also get pleasantly derailed talking about voice acting in games and directing voice actors.
Together with Stephen Kick of Nightdive studios we take a quick look back at some of the FPS that made us fall in love with the genre as kids, before diving head on into the work around the titles released by the company, touching upon the issues with game preservation and possible ideas for future remasters.
New iteam reveal!
I have a new podcast format going live which, starting from Episode 2, will be made exclusively available for "Columns" patrons.
"Bits of Game Design" will be a series of short (10-15 minutes or more if the topic deserves more scrutiny) weekly podcast episodes centered on classic, and less classic, games, with a quick but in-depth look at their game design and mechanics, to find out what is still relevant today along with providing, hopefully, some food for thought. Starting next week, I will feature a poll for Columns patrons so they can decide which game I shall cover in episode number two and all future episodes.
Enjoy this new format!
A very pleasant talk with Jess Morrissette about his years spent with the Sierra games, toxic gaming culture throughout the 80s and 90s plus a possible approach for a game writer in writing sensitive topics, like the correct usage of content warnings.
A very pizza centered episode, as me and Yann discuss his adventure games inspirations, the episodes that would go to inform the narrative in his Inspector Waffles adventure and, of course, a whole lot of pizza: from Naples to Rome.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Florent Guillaume, creative director of Dontnod entertainment, about how the games we play as a child shape our imagination (and his original childhood plans for a sequel to The Legend of Zelda!), the role of a level designer in shaping the narrative of a game and his work on many of Dontnod's important games, along with how the company can help improve things in the current gaming world.
In this very Swedish episode, I speak with Oskar Stålberg about his ideas on game design, his inspirations (Scandinavian and beyond) and his experience on marketing. We also discuss his years in studying as a programmer and how difficult it might be to think of a possible education model for an indie developer. Also: games as "toys".
Lovecraft, gone but not forgotten, as together with game designer and writer Agustin Cordes we discuss about his experience with the Providence writer, along with his early gaming influence and growing up in Argentina. Along the way we also, naturally, discuss Scratches and its Director's cut, along with touching upon the failed Kickstarter of the Case of Charles Dexter Ward and look forward to the release of Asylum.
In what is the most freeform episode yet, with indie developer Jack King-Spooner we ponder about the nature of games, their weirdness and his inspirations for all that fascinating peculiar stuff that he puts in. Along the way we stumble upon various topics, such as politics and fascism, and what about a game based on sex trafficking in Austria? You can find Jack's games here.
A Mediterranean get-together of sorts as Greece and Italy meet. With Konstantinos we chatted about the early gaming industry in Greece, how to design a city in games and a whole lot of horror and Lovecraft as well. It is not Halloween, but we always love to talk horror. Check out Konstantinos' book, Virtual Cities.