Kiwi Talkz

Jason Schreier the legendary video game journalist talks to me about his new book PLAY NICE that you can purchase here https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/jason-schreier/play-nice/9781538725429/ #blizzard #blizzardentertainment #bloomberg NOTE: Jason had to bail urgently which is why the podcast ended very abruptly.TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:23 - Researching & Preparing For Play Nice04:01 - Movie/TV Adaptation Of Play Nice04:50 - Blizzard Sex Parties07:09 - Will Blizzard Ever Be On The Level They Once Were08:40 - Why Jason Wanted To Write About Blizzard 10:02 - How Jason Decided To Finish The Book11:30 - Crunch At Blizzard & In The Industry14:30 - Blizzard Employees Dating & Marrying Each Other16:30 - Blizzard Approach To Polish20:00 - Blizzard Devs Clashing With Upper Management21:30 - CEO’s In The West Won’t Follow Iwata’s Model25:15 - Trauma For Devs Following Lay Offs26:51 - Commute Times For Blizzard Devs28:39 - Crunch/Devs Being More Open Of Work Conditions29:57 - Jason Doesn’t Leak Info/Still Being Blacklisted From Bethesda31:40 - Jason’s Dream Book To Write/Japanese Culture Barrier33:50 - Japanese Game Industry35:10 - Play Nice Is A Very Dense Book In Terms Of Stories36:19 - Blizzard Devs Opinions Of Armin Zerza37:09 - Game Devs Vs The Suits

Joel Mason was a developer on the indie game Dredge and works for @blacksaltgames #dredge #gaming SOCIAL MEDIA FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/blacksaltgames/ INSTAGRAM - @blacksaltgames YOUTUBE - @blacksaltgames TWITTER - @blacksaltgames TWITTER JOEL MASON - @bsg_joel TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:37 - How The Concept Of Dredge Came About03:10 - The Artstyle Of Dredge04:56 - Most Difficult Things To Implement07:47 - Joel Has Never Played Zelda: Wind Waker/Keeping Scope In Check08:50 - Comparisons To Resident Evil 4 With The Inventory/Influences10:45 - How The Panic Eye/Sanity Meter Came About/Time13:30 - Why Multiplayer Wasn’t Implemented/Overcoming Hardware Limitations15:32 - How They Came Up With The Biomes/Cut Jungle Level18:55 - Feature Creep20:52 - Being Nervous About The Reception After Release22:19 - Dredge Film Adaptation25:47 - Evolution Of The Fishing Mechanic28:31 - The Endings Of Dredge**MINOR SPOILERS**31:30 - Evolution Of The Story32:50 - The Leviathan35:44 - Development Of The Iron Rig DLC39:05 - Next Stages Of Dredge/Team Size41:50 - Being Out Of Your Depth/Team Effort43:30 - Joel Is Tired Of Working On Dredge44:45 - Expectations On Their Next Game46:54 - Where To Follow Joel & Dredge Social Media

Bruce Nesmith was a former designer at Bethesda and worked at the studio from Elder Scrolls II:Daggerfall before leaving and returning part way through Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion up until Starfield. He is now a novel writer who just launched his newest novel Glory Seeker Book One: Feast Of Ghouls #skyrim #bethesda #starfield Purchase Bruce's new book here! https://www.amazon.com/Glory-Seeker-Ghouls-LitRPG-Adventure-ebook/dp/B0D94KTJTNTIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:45 - Lord Of The Rings Film Trilogy’s Impact On Oblivion 03:11 - Re-learning Game Development When Rejoining Bethesda 05:37 - Todd Picking Bruce To Be Lead Designer On Skyrim 07:30 - Bruce’s Relationship With Todd Howard 09:15 - Todd Howard’s Time Management Skills 14:15 - Todd Will Be Difficult To Replace/Todd Doesn’t Let Go Of Things 16:10 - Reality Vs Expectations/Elder Scrolls VI 18:20 - Negative Effect Skyrim Had On Bethesda Games 20:05 - Pressure Of Developing Elder Scrolls VI/Larian Studios 21:45 - Developing Sequels 24:10 - Feature Creep In Bethesda Games/Cut Systems From Starfield 26:00 - Designers Block/Being Hard Headed 28:45 - Self-Identity Being In Your Job/Writing Novels 34:45 - Bethesda’s Retention Rate Created A Problem/Layoffs 38:30 - Why Fallout 76 Initially Failed 43:06 - Fallout TV Show 45:30 - Travelling Inspiring Bruce’s Work/Being A Jack Of All Trades 52:40 - Glory Seeker Book One: Feast Of Ghouls 57:00 - Process Of Writing A Novel 1:00:11 - Q+A - Challenging Aspects Of Starfield 1:01:47 - Q+A - Criticism Of Starfield/Differences In Terms Of Design Between Fallout 4 & Starfield 1:04:21 - Q+A - Features Cut From Fallout 4 & Starfield 1:07:18 - Where To Get Glory Seeker Book One: Feast Of Ghouls

Shawn Green was a former developer at ID Software, ION and Escalation Studios. He was part of the original ID Software team and worked alongside legends such as John Romero and John Carmack #doom #idsoftware #johnromeroTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:36 - How Shawn Ended Up At ID Software/Commander Keen05:05 - Learning The DOOM Editor06:40 - Doing The Ports For DOOM10:55 - Designing Levels For Ultimate DOOM13:10 - Making E4M8 - Unto The Cruel16:25 - How Shawn Learned To Design DOOM Levels18:15 - Working With John Romero21:30 - Romero & Carmack’s Differences23:40 - ID Software Didn’t Have A Hierarchy27:00 - John Carmack Is A Monster28:30 - The Circumstances Of Crunch Matters/Carmack Is A Workaholic30:30 - John Carmack Sacrificed A Lot To Be Who He Is32:30 - Getting Into A Zone/Working On Halo: Combat Evolved38:30 - Shawn Puts His Programming Hat On While Playing Games39:31 - Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom’s Amazing Physics Engine41:15 - The QA On DOOM Ports43:20 - The Hardest Thing About Programming44:30 - Integration Is An Important Part Of Coding46:30 - The Curve Balls Of Running Escalations Studios48:35 - The Pros And Cons Of AI53:10 - Design Differences Between Japan & The West/Layoffs1:06:40 - Shawn’s Final Thoughts/Working For Nintendo

Jonah Lobe is a former artist at Bethesda and did the art for a number of characters on Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as well as Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. He is currently working on his Fantasy Novel: Quiet Level One that you can support here. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/quietlevelone/quiet-level-one-by-jonah-lobe #bethesda #fallout #skyrim SOCIAL MEDIA YOUTUBE - @JonahLobeDraws TWITTER - @Jonahlobe FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/jonahjonahlobe INSTAGRAM - @iamjonahlobe00:00 - Intro01:14 - Getting Tendonitis From Working On Alduin The Dragon08:47 - How The Balrog From LOTR Influenced The Deathclaw Horns14:15 - What Makes Art Iconic/Why Deathclaw Is Iconic21:00 - Critiquing Games & Movie Art/Why The Sharks In Aquaman Are Terrible22:35 - Sandworms In Dune Are Iconic/Across The Spiderverse Is Perfect24:30 - Deadlines On Art At Bethesda/Jonah’s Specialty/Iterations Of Art29:04 - What Jonah Learned From Adam Adamowicz/Letting Go Of Your Ego33:50 - Why Bethesda Has High Retention Of Its Employees39:10 - Working With Todd Howard45:10 - Todd Howard Is Irreplaceable46:50 - Fallout 76 Was Wasnt Decided By Todd But By The Suits48:40 - Jonah’s Review Of The Fallout TV Series51:40 - Why Bethesda Games Don’t Have A Signature Artstyle53:15 - Realism Vs Stylized Art54:30 - Jonah’s Fantasy Novel Quiet: Level One

Stephen Hughes is a renowned director, producer, voice actor and teacher. He is well known in Spain in the voice over industry. He helped to direct the voice actors on Metroid Dread including Nikki Garcia(The Voice Of Samus) and he voiced the character Quiet Robe. #metroid #metroiddread #nintendo TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - How Stephen Ended Up In Madrid, Spain 05:05 - Ongoing Consulting Work For American Companies 06:19 - Spain Is The Best Country In The World For Dubbing/Dubbing For The Arabic World 10:15 - So Many Studios In Spain/How Mercurysteam Found Stephen 11:50 - Early Work With MercurySteam/Acting For Animation 15:25 - Voice Acting For Videogames Compared To Animation 17:30 - Language Of The Chozo/Nikki Garcia Did Voice Of Samus In 1 Take 18:30 - Stephen Helps Direct The Voices Sometimes At MercurySteam/Enric Alvarez Is Well Versed In English 19:50 - Game Directors Are Like Film Directors 21:55 - Previous Work Stephen Has Done For Mercurysteam 22:49 - How MercurySteam Made The Chozo Language/Nikki Has A Great Sense Of Language 25:31 - How To Speak In Made Up Languages And Make Them Sound Good 26:50 - Confidence Comes A Lot Easier To Americans Than Other Cultures 28:24 - How Stephen Did The Voice Of Quiet Robe/Being Careful With The Voice You Create 30:30 - Vitamin A + E Repairs Vocal Chords 31:55 - Foods & Drinks To Avoid Before A Vocal Session/Anchovies Are Great For Your Voice 37:45 - The Problems Of AI On Voice Artists 41:00 - Being A Jack Of All Trades/Advertising/Jobs Already Taken By AI 48:43 - AI Is Replacing Jobs For Young People/Being Adaptable 51:10 - Voice Actors Won’t Be A Sole Career 54:40 - Stephens Early Days In Voice Acting 57:08 - Why Pro Voice Actors Sometimes Give Bad Performances 58:00 - Translations/Translating Spanish/Dubbing 1:08:00 - Where To Keep Up Stephen

Former architecture degree holder turned lighting artist on GTA V, Omar Fernandes, talks about his transition into video game art, working on Star Wars and Avengers. He discusses challenges of lighting, his approach, crunch on GTA V, and the differences between games and film. Omar shares insights on working on Star Wars: Rogue One, highlighting the importance of lighting characters and managing light sources.

Jonathan Gwyn is a veteran artist in the video game industry having been in the industry for over 25+ years. He has worked on prestigious franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, The Matrix, Resistance etc. #rockstargames #gta #gtavTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:01 - Jon’s Favourite Art To Work On Is Environment Art03:00 - Stylised Environmental Art04:20 - Restrictions Working On The Matrix Games06:40 - Referencing The Matrix Movies While Working On The Games09:10 - Jon Loves Movies/Seeing Reloaded & Revolutions Material Before The Movies Release10:40 - The Wachowskis Were Video Games Guys/Path Of Neo/Animatrix11:20 - Jon Likes To Draw While Watching TV & Movies13:15 - Jon Doesn’t Like Being An Art Director & Prefers Working Alongside Artists15:00 - Ego’s Getting In The Way With Some Artists Due To Age/Jon Doesn’t Want To Be A Lead Again16:40 - Why Jon Has Moved Across So Many Gaming Studios19:10 - How Jon Got The Job At Rockstar20:10 - GTA Is Made In Scotland/Artists Pipeline For GTA V/Red Dead Redemption 222:00 - Rockstar Has A Toxic Work Environment24:30 - The High Pressure Of Working At Rockstar/Rockstar Crunch25:20 - People Love His Boring Environmental Work Just Because Its GTA26:00 - The Art Lead’s Job For GTA V Would’ve Been Hell27:35 - Concept Room At Rockstar28:15 - Meeting Sam Houser/Houser Brothers29:15 - Video Game Celebrities/Ego’s Within The Video Game Industry32:13 - Brutal Commute In L.A. & San Diego35:35 - Working From Home36:40 - Being Extroverted/Mistakes Extroverts Make At Game Studios38:30 - ARTWORK REEL - GTA V Environments50:15 - ARTWORK REEL - The Matrix Games Environments1:00:10 - Where To Follow Jonathan Gwyn

Chandler Murch worked at Valve for over 8 years in IT infrastructure; and oversaw a lot of esports Valve events specifically for Dota 2, he also did some work in the Dental AI space. #valve #steam #dota2TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro/Being Associated With F.R.I.E.N.D.S01:30 - How Chandler Ended Up At Valve04:10 - What His First Job At Valve Was/Customer Service06:59 - Valve’s IT Infrastructure When Chandler First Started08:55 - How Chandler Improved Valve’s IT Infrastructure/Network Speeds14:15 - Hitting Milestones With The Content Delivery Network/Capacity Planning17:00 - Taking Into Account Internet Infrastructure Improvements Globally19:09 - Organising E-Sports Events/DOTA 223:10 - Mitigating Problems With Live E-Sports Events/Audio & Player Problems26:40 - Testing Live Setups With Players29:20 - How Chandler Got Into Gaming & Steam31:30 - Chandler’s Favourite Valve Games32:45 - Chandler’s Involvement On Portal 2/How Valve Does Credits In Games35:15 - Chandler’s Work On Left 4 Dead 2/Portal 2 Bugs38:54 - Valve Games Have To Reach A Certain Milestone Before QA Testing39:45 - A Valve Employee Did Wheatleys Voice Before Stephen Merchant40:30 - Chandler Never Got The Passion For Game Design41:35 - Chandler’s Interactions With Gabe Newell46:45 - Steam Avoided Fragmentation Unlike TV/FIlm Streaming Platforms49:35 - Misunderstanding That Valve Doesn’t Make Games Now52:40 - The Cost Of Running Valve Servers/Valve’s Value55:45 - What Chandler Did After Valve/Dentistry AI1:00:37 - Dental Work Is Very Costly In The West/Dentistry AI Is Only Available In USA/Canada1:04:00 - Where To Follow Chandler Murch

David Crislip has had quite the life! The man studied Japanese at Ohio University before moving to Japan to become an English Teacher there before ending up at Capcom Japan where he did localization for over 10+ years. #capcom #residentevil #streetfighter SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @DavidCrislip INSTAGRAM - @davidcrislipTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:20 - What Prompted David Wanted To Learn Japanese02:50 - How Long It Takes To Be Fluent In Japanese/Being An English Teacher In Japan05:20 - Early Days Of Localisation Capcom Japan06:20 - Why Direct Translation Doesn’t Work08:16 - Japanese Is A Very Dense Language09:00 - How Localisation Has Changed From The Old Days11:20 - Playing Games In Different Dubs12:30 - Ghost Of Tsushima Is An Example Of A Western Game That Got Japanese Correct13:20 - Lip Flapping In The Old Days Vs Now/David Is Glad He Doesn’t Have To Localise AAA Games These Days14:10 - Immigration Officers Geeking Out Over David Working At Capcom16:42 - David’s Favourite Capcom Games19:45 - Resident Evil 4 Remake20:30 - Capcom Were Aware Well Making Resident Evil 4 That It Would Be Special22:20 - Capcom’s Renaissance Is Very Gratifying24:00 - David’s Favourite Capcom Game To Work On25:45 - Capcom Have Westernised Games With Japanese Flavour26:15 - How David Ended Up Voicing Winston Payne/Recording Lines28:10 - Difference Between Translating Text Vs Dialog29:40 - The Misunderstanding Gamers Have Of Localisation31:00 - How Long It Took David To Adapt To Japanese Culture35:10 - Its Very Difficult To Get A Job At Capcom/Applying For Jobs In Japan36:40 - Japanese Are Aware Of Western Culture/Language Shapes Your Behaviour 38:15 - David Doesn’t Translate In His Head Whether Its Japanese Or English39:15 - Why Lay Offs Don’t Happen Often In Japan42:00 - Japanese & Western Games Are Both On Equal Footing Now43:00 - Consoles David Plays/David Shows Off His Game Collection44:15 - David’s Favourite Game Of All Time/David Plays Games Most Days46:09 - David’s Advice For Getting Into The Video Game Industry In Japan48:07 - Where To Follow David Crislip