Kiwi Talkz

Shawn Layden was former CEO of Playstation worldwide studios and former chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment America. His career in Sony is legendary as a Japanese localizer that had a meteoric rise to be one of the head honchos of the whole company. #playstation #sony #ps5SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER -@SHAWNLAYDEN BLUESKY - @shawnlayden.bsky.socialTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:02 - Why Playstation Used Numbers For Each Console Iteration03:26 - Being The Fix It Guy At Sony/What Motivates Shawn05:45 - Building A Reputation07:00 - Doing 18 Hour Days During The PSN Hack09:00 - Why Sony Is So Good At Marketing13:01 - How FOMO Is Used In Marketing14:00 - Why Sony Now Releases 1st Party Games On PC/Initial Pushback15:50 - Why Astro Bot Was Shawn’s 2024 GOTY18:30 - Why The Japanese Are So Good At Game Design 21:57 - Western Games Are Too Big In Scope/Dev Costs Come From Salaries23:05 - Why So Many Game Studios Are On The West Coast Of America/Environmental Costs24:57 - Game Devs Commute Times Create Major Sunk Costs/Working From Home28:30 - Shawn Pushed Realistic Graphics Well Acknowledging It’s Not Sustainable30:52 - How Sony Prices Games & When To Drop The Price33:40 - Concords Failure/Why Games As A Service Was Popular And No Longer Isnt37:31 - Why The PS6 Won’t Be Discless40:00 - Launching Handhelds Are Hard/Why The PS Vita Failed43:00 - Sony Characters Won’t Appear In Super Smash Bros44:20 - Why Playstation All-Stars Didn’t Sell Well46:48 - Q+A - How Will The Market Of Fortnite/Roblox Players Change As They Get Older49:28 - Q+A - Shawn’s Opinion On Microsoft’s Multiplatform Approach51:22 - Nintendo Are Best Positioned To Navigate The “Diminishing Returns” Problem54:18 - Q+A - What Games Did You Think Would Be Big Hits But Weren’t. 58:21 - You Learn More From Failures Than Successes59:43 - Closing Comments

Dennis is an exceptional character artist who is best known for his tenure at Bethesda from Skyrim to Starfield. He has now retired from the video game industry. #starfield #fallout4 #skyrim SOCIAL MEDIA ARTSTATON - https://www.artstation.com/vsions INSTAGRAM - @vsions1 TWITTER - @Vsions YOUTUBE - @Vsions TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:30 - Rivalry With Jonah Lobe At Bethesda04:10 - Werewolf Was Almost Cut From Skyrim08:40 - Dennis Broke Work Protocol To Get Things In Bethesda Games Resulting In Burned Bridges12:40 - Work On NPC Eyes In Fallout 4 That Todd Rejected17:03 - Dennis’ Thoughts On Todd Howard20:48 - Creation Engine Has Been Rewritten Multiple Times/Misunderstanding Of Bethesda Development24:00 - Difference Between Rockstar & Bethesda Games26:00 - Bethesda Devs Agree With Fan Criticisms 28:48 - Modding Community29:50 - Beauacracy Has Changed Bethesda/Staff Are Underpaid34:30 - Fun Isn’t The Focus Of Games Anymore37:05 - Todd Is In A Tough Position With Elder Scrolls VI Cause Of Microsoft40:10 - No One Can Ever Replace Todd42:00 - Q+A - What Were The Teams Feelings Towards The End Of Developing Skyrim44:57 - Q+A - Why Heavy Gore Was Cut From Starfield47:22 - Q+A - Which Model Changes Most From Concept Art To In Game49:20 - Robots Age More Gracefully Than Humans50:58 - 3D Models/Full Sentry Bot Robot Malfunctioning Story55:20 - Fallout TV Show57:16 - Closing Comments

Will Shen was a designer at Bethesda for over 20+ years and his story is amazing as he started off as an intern on Fallout 3 and became lead designer on Starfield. #starfield #fallout4 #bethesdagamestudios SOCIAL MEDIA X - @WillShen101 BLUESKY - @willshen101.bsky.socialJoin this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9jtZN92eGHA9Hxh-jYGqBw/joinTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:30 - Will’s Internship At Bethesda Was A Trial By Fire02:08 - Who Interviewed Will Both Times02:56 - Will’s Relationship With Todd Howard09:20 - Emil Telling Will His Quest In Skyrim Was The Worst Quest In The Game/Redoing Skyrims Design11:44 - The Most Important Aspect Of An Intro & Tutorial13:30 - Bioshock Is An Example Of A Good Intro14:35 - In Leadership You Don’t Have Any Control16:30 - Bethesda Delegates Voice Acting To An External Company18:09 - Learning To Let Go From Being In Control Of Voice Acting/Guidance20:18 - Including Multiple Accents In Starfield22:30 - Maori Tattoo Controversy/Ballooning Of Bethesda Staff30:15 - How Will Would Become More Productive With A Bureaucratic System32:30 - Why Will Left Bethesda35:03 - Elder Scrolls VI/GTA VI Discussion37:30 - More Money = More Problems40:45 - Games Are Too Long Nowadays49:03 - Q+A - Has Bethesda Experimented With Other Game Genres51:34 - Settling On The Number Of Planets In Starfield/Procedural Content System55:16 - Q+A - Who Has Replaced Kurt Kuhlmann As Lore Master Of The Elder Scrolls58:52 - Q+A - Balancing The Main Quest & Side Quests1:01:50 - Production Pipeline/Curveballs1:05:15 - Where To Follow Will Shen

Nate Purkeypile is a former world artist and art lead at Bethesda who worked there for over 14 years. He has now released his indie game The Axis Unseen that you can purchase here! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1807810/The_Axis_Unseen/ SOCIAL MEDIA FOR NATE WEBSITE - https://www.justpurkeygames.com/home BLUESKY - @npurkeypile.bsky.social TWITTER - @NPurkeypile YOUTUBE - @justpurkeygames #skyrim #fallout #bethesdaTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:53 - Working At Retro Studios On Metroid Prime 302:25 - Why Nate Left Retro Studios04:40 - Moving To Bethesda/Fallout 3’s Brown Colour Palette06:15 - Fallout 4’s Vibrant Colour Palette/Fallout TV Show09:24 - Nate Handed In Resignation To Bethesda On April Fools Day10:46 - Bethesda’s Inefficient Management Style13:23 - Unrealistic Expectations Of Elder Scrolls VI15:21 - Game Developers Who Don’t Play Games17:02 - Nate’s Relationship With Todd Howard18:06 - How Nate Mastered Quantity & Quality19:46 - Morons, Crunch & Insane Commutes22:30 - Remote Work/Forcing People Back Into The Office23:32 - Shadow Of The Colossus Influence On The Axis Unseen24:57 - The Scope Of The Axis Unseen26:50 - Timeline Of Axis Unseen27:53 - Useless Meetings At Bethesda30:45 - Being A Lead On Fallout 7632:05 - Todd Howard Obssesses Over UI/Convincing Todd Of Things33:59 - UI In The Axis Unseen34:20 - Working With Different Gaming Engines36:00 - Bethesda Should Migrate To Unreal Engine 540:20 - Nate Programmed The Edge Trimming For Fallout 341:30 - Working Within Constraints/Layoffs44:10 - Q+A - Favourite Project To Work On45:08 -Q +A - How Far Along In Development Would Elder Scrolls VI Be?47:01 - Q+A - Game Development Differences Between Nintendo & Bethesda50:38 - Fallout 3 Switch Port With Metroid Content52:34 - Console Ports Of The Axis Unseen/Certification/Logos57:09 - Vacations Aren’t Vacations With Bethesda1:00:10 - How Pay Works At Bethesda1:01:47 - Nate’s Blood Pressure Was Bad Due To Bethesda1:03:00 - Final Thoughts

Kenny Young is the composer on the Astro Bot series including the recently acclaimed new Astro Bot game. He has also worked on games such as Tethered, Little Big Planet, Tearaway and more.... #astrobot #littlebigplanet #ps5 KENNY YOUNG SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @kcmyoung FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/KennyYoungMusic/ BLUESKY - @kcmyoung Follow me KIWI TALKZ on Social Media TWITTER -https://twitter.com/kiwitalkz Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kiwi_talkz/?hl=en Discord - discord.gg/yWRCM2aDRT FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/KiwiTalkz TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@kiwitalkz Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9jtZN92eGHA9Hxh-jYGqBw/joinTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:42 - Astro Bot Is A Culmination Of All His Work To Date04:20 - Blending Different Genres Seamlessly/Catchy Melodies07:40 - How Long To Make Melodic Tracks/Nic Doucet’s Advice11:05 - Relationship With Nic Doucet/Astro Bot Originally Had Licensed Music15:26 - Using The Vocoder & Talkbox In Astro Bot20:01 - Getting Access To The Stems For GOW, Uncharted & Horizon Themes22:14 - Working On The Remix Themes Of GOW/Uncharted & Horizon Themes30:00 - Using AI For Extracting Stems/AI Technology/Melodyne36:04 - Using The Nyckelharpa For Bot Of War & Tethered OST39:20 - How Many Times Kenny Had To Iterate On Themes42:46 - Leaving Sony To Do Freelancing 46:46 - Making Disco Schmisco In LBP253:01 - Q + A - What Are You Looking For From Game Devs In The Creative Process57:30 - Q + A - What Was The Main Inspiration With Astro Bot1:00:42 - Q + A - How The Gardens Theme Was Made In LBP 11:06:30 - Outro/Astro Bot

MP2 Designer Kynan Pearson returns to talk about all his work on Metroid Prime 2 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Prime 2. You can check out our previous interview here https://youtu.be/4sWfE2x-ClM #metroid #nintendo #metroidprime Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9jtZN92eGHA9Hxh-jYGqBw/joinTIMESTAMPS00:00 - EA Preparing Bryan To Work With Japanese Producers01:49 - Challenges Of Working With Nintendo Japanese Producers06:12 - Streamlining The Production Of Metroid Prime 209:35 - Managing Differences Between Japanese & American Culture11:15 - Nintendo Is Obsessed With Microsoft Excel12:30 - After Mario Kart 7 Nintendo Were Giddy With Retro Studios Processes13:45 - “Always Give Developers Options” 15:08 - Bryan Was Hands Off With Prime 2’s Development16:52 - Nintendo Doesnt Care About Marketing/Reggie Fils-Aime20:18 - Metroid Prime 2 Sales/Metroid Prime 2 Remastered22:38 - Favourite Boss23:50 - Tanabe’s Influence On Bosses26:00 - What Aspect Of Development Is The Most Costly28:57 - Cost Of Game Development33:10 - Metroid Games Are ONLY Made To Diversify Its Games LineUp35:29 - Favourite Area37:40 - Favourite Item Upgrade39:10 - Favourite Music Track/Importance Of Music & Sound Design41:54 - Celebrity Game Developers44:22 - AAA Games These Days Are An International Endeavor47:12 - Q+A - What Inspired The Darker Direction Of Prime 2 48:43 - Nintendo Thinks Of Games In Isolation50:04 - Q+A - Nintendo’s Guard Rails51:00 - Sakamoto’s Involvement52:30 - Q+A - Lore Details That Bryan Thought Were Cool/Galactic Federation53:43 - Bryan’s Thoughts On Metroid Prime 4 Trailer55:43 - Metroid Fans Often Knocked On Retro Studios Doors Asking About Metroid Dread57:09 - Retro Studios Is Kept In A Bubble/Metroid Series Sales59:08 - Final Thoughts

MP2 engineers Jack Mathews & Zoid Kirsch return to reminisce on the development of Metroid Prime 2 #metroidprime2 #nintendo #metroidTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:45 - Developing Multiplayer/Original Ideas08:15 - Biggest Engineering Challenges In Prime 214:42 - Sanctuary Fortress17:07 - Metroid Prime 2 Remastered Challenges/Prime 2 Constraints20:15 - Devs Didnt Recognise Prime 2’s Difficulty At The Time22:41 - Japanese Versions Were Made Easier23:50 - Tanabe, Miyamoto & Sakamoto’s Involvement In Prime 2/Luminoth28:06 - Rezbit29:55 - Dark Visor30:50 - Why Dark Visor Wouldn’t Have The Same Problems As Thermal In A Remaster32:12 - Favourite Boss33:10 - Favourite Item Upgrade35:00 - Most Memorable Music Theme37:01 - Favourite Puzzle/Caretaker Drone39:20 - Boost Ball As An Offensive Weapon41:34 - Q+A - Sales Of Metroid Prime 242:21 - Q+A - Why Prime 2 Has Samus’ Ship From Super Metroid & Metroid II43:20 - Q+A - Ridley Being Cut From Prime 244:29 - Q+A - Experience Working With Android Jones48:12 - Q+A - Scrapped Metroid 1.5 Concept Of Rogue AI Personalities49:59 - Concept Of Memento Film Gameplay For Prime 251:33 - Thoughts On Metroid Prime 4 Announcement Trailer56:13 - Gap Between Prime 3 & 457:42 - Problems With Prime 2’s Ammo System1:03:13 - Final Thoughts On Prime 2

MP2 Designer Kynan Pearson returns to talk about all his work on Metroid Prime 2 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Prime 2. You can check out his previous interview here https://youtu.be/y6YKebkPZNM you can follow Kynan on Twitter - @KynanPearson #metroid #nintendo #metroidprimeTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:50 - How Metroid Prime 2 Ended Up With Its Zelda Esque Design03:00 - Every Nintendo Game Is It’s Own Thing/Link To The Past Discussions04:00 - Designing Prime 2’s Biomes/Dark World Was Originally Silhouetted 05:50 - How The Designers Decided What To Put In A Room/Morph Ball Puzzles09:50 - Boost Balling Off Spider Ball Tracks12:30 - Reserving Pickups For Player Testing Outcome13:30 - Design Is About Perception17:00 - Coming Up With Prime 2’s Unique Upgrades/21:50 - Working On The Boss Rooms23:50 - Deciding How Big To Make A Boss Room27:16 - Limitations Fosters Creativity 29:30 - SPD & Retro’s Collaboration On The Prime Games32:57 - VR Will Never Be Mainstream Due To Motion Sickness34:30 - How Speed Booster Would Work In First Person35:54 - How They Figured Out How To Do Screw Attack/Metroid Is For Hardcore Gamers38:00 - What QOL Changes Should Be In Metroid Prime 2 Remastered40:50 - Kynan Doesn’t Like Prime 2’s Key Hunt42:30 - Kynan’s Favourite Boss43:35 - Kynan’s Favourite Item Upgrade44:32 - Kynans Favourite Area/Biome46:30 - Kynan’s Favourite Puzzle48:02 - Kynan’s Favourite Room49:16 - Q + A - Biggest Missed Opportunity In Prime 253:16 - Q + A - Why The Dark Luminoth Was Cut55: 03- Q + A - Most Difficult Puzzle1:00:37 - Wall Jump Design1:01:07 - Q + A - What Would Be Included If Prime 2 Was Made Today1:03:55 - Prime 2’s Amazing Team/ Jack Mathews Funny Story1:08:43 - Final Thoughts

Here is the panel I did with Sonia Coronado at PAX AUS. Due to NDA's, we had to cover generic things involving her role for Playstation. All content is courtesy of PAX Australia, also thanks to the amazing crowd! Make sure you keep up to date with @PAXAustraliaOfficial #playstation #godofwarragnarok #ghostoftsushima TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:49 - How Sonia Got Into The Video Game Industry03:19 - What Does A Music Designer Do05:56 - How Sonia Approaches Mixing 100+ Stems06:55 - Blending Music & Sound Design/Composers Involvement10:09 - What Is Playstation Studios Creative Arts13:32 - How The Interactive Systems Work15:27 - Scenes Sonia Enjoys The Most/Implementation17:50 - Making Sure Music Doesnt Hit The Same Frequencies As Sound Effects18:57 - Dealing With Work Being Chucked Out20:10 - Ear Fatigue22:18 - How Covid Changed Creative Arts Work Situation26:13 - Sonia’s Favourite Game She Worked On27:05 - Where Sonia Wants To Go With Her Career28:20 - Evolution Of The Interactive Systems30:36 - Writers Block32:17 - Q+A Game To Win Prizes/33:25 - Q+A - Do Sony’s First Parties Pay For Creative Arts To Work With34:00 - Q+A - Adapting To Working With Studios In Different Timezones35:00 - Q+A - Game Designers Working With The Audio Team?37:22 - Q+A - Procedurally Generated Music37:50 - Q+A - Non Sony Game Music Sonia Likes38:30 - Q+A - Working With Other Music Designers Outside Sony40:20 - Q+A - Avoiding Mud & Clutter42:00 - Q+A - Favourite Film Scores42:20 - Q+A - 3D Audio43:20 - Q+A -Sneaking In Musical Cues44:20 - Q+A - DAW That Is Used45:00 - Q+A - Advice For Upcoming Music Designers45:45 - Q+A - Being Brought On Too Late With Music47:40 - Q+A - Most Valuable Skills Required For Music48:55 - Q+A - Using Different Speaker Systems For Mixing49:57 - Q+A - Involvement In On Streaming Platforms For Soundtracks51:11 - Q+A - What Instruments Sonia Plays52:20 - Q+A - Being A Female In Game Development53:22 - Q+A - Making Something Melodic54:46 - Prizes For Questions/Outro

Here is the panel I did with Josh Weier at PAX AUS. I spent a year planning this with Josh and PAX AUS to make this happen. #portal2 #valve #halflife2 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 02:21 - Why Valve Games Are Very High Quality 05:25 - Steam Originally Had Some Skepticism 09:07 - Importance Of The Source Engine On Valves Games 12:04 - Advanced Physics In Half-Life 2/Gravity Gun 15:20 - The Modular Nature Of Portal & Portal 2 17:10 - Why Valve Games Have Great Pacing 20:35 - Valve's Approach To Tutorials 22:30 - Super Metroid's Influence On Portal 2 25:00 - Why Valve Games Don't Have Cutscenes 28:02 - Interweaving Design & Story 31:08 - Original Idea Of Wheatley/Rehabilitating Ideas 34:27 - Valve's Structure To The Ending Of Games 38:04 - Overcoming Despair During Game Development 41:30 - Q + A - Game Mechanics That Were Removed 42:22 - Q + A - Difficult Parts Of Development 44:26 - Q + A - Wheatley Killing You Section 46:21 - Q + A - Things That Were Cut 47:39 - Q + A - Thoughts On Speedrunners 48:30 - Q + A - Hardest Things To Implement 50:11 - Q + A - The Best Qualities Of The Valve Devs 53:04 - Q + A - Josh's Hopes For Valve In The Future 54:46 - Q + A - How Josh Stays Fit 55:44 - Deciding Who Should Get Prize Money/Outro