Kiwi Talkz

Joe Houston who worked on Demon Souls Remake joins me to review the GTA of indie games Hollow Knight:Silksong!! I did an interview with him a number of years ago, which you can find here. https://youtu.be/skAWid5zYfg #silksong #hollowknight #hollowknightsilksongTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:40 - Silksong Overview01:30 - Silksong’s Difficulty/The Purpose Of Difficulty In Games07:10 - Runbacks10:54 - Bosses Of Silksong13:40 - Progression Doesnt Help With The Difficulty16:20 - Top Moments In The Game/Story19:50 - Best Areas In Silksong22:45 - Demon Souls & Dishonored Shaping Joe’s Views On Silksong26:37 - Why Demon Souls Remake Didnt Have An Easy Mode/Silksong Nerfs29:10 - Team Cherry Sticking To It’s Vision/Serving Core Players31:30 - Silksong Is Too Long/Length In Games35:12 - Replayability37:45 - Bosses That You Die on The Most39:37 - Will Silksong Win GOTY/GOTY Nominees44:05 - Specificity Of Silksong45:09 - Tastes In Games Change As You Get Older 48:18 - Distribution Model Of Games50:00 - Team Cherry’s Intentions/Devs Get Bored While Developing Games52:00 - Playtesters On Games56:00 - Team Cherry Won’t Make An Easy Mode/Achievements Provide Data To Devs 58:30 - WHATS MORE IMPORTANT TO DEVS - PLAY TIME OR SALES?1:00:20 - Vertical Slices/Why A Games Quality Can Be All Over The Place1:02:40 - Closing Comments/Silksong DLC

In this engaging conversation, Filip Coulianos, co-founder of Keepsake Games, discusses his journey in game development, the influence of Half-Life 2 on his career, and the creative processes behind his latest project, Jump Space. He shares insights on addressing motion sickness in games, the importance of marketing for indie developers, and the evolving landscape of the gaming industry. The discussion also touches on the impact of working with Josef Fares and the lessons learned from successful titles like It Takes Two.#jumpspace #ittakestwo #fpsgamesTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:42 - Half-Life 2 Is The Citizen Kane Of Video Games01:52 - Becoming A Video Game Designer03:34 - How Half-Life 2 Influenced Jump Space06:00 - FPS Evolution/Animation Is Key To A Good FPS Camera09:10 - Motion Sickness In FPS Games14:30 - Moving Between First Person & Third Person In Jump Space17:30 - Camera Techniques/It Takes Two Camera19:19 - It Takes Two Devs Studied Super Mario 64 & Odyssey To Make The Game23:20 - The Making Of It Takes Two28:22 - Working With Josef Fares36:30 - Why Filip Left Hazelight/Having The Idea Of Jump Space Since 201241:43 - Jump Space’s Popularity/Daniel Kaplan’s Importance/Marketing48:00 - Jump Space’s Early Access Release Was Threatened By Silksong And GTA 651:09 - Jump Space’s Release Date52:00 - The Cost Of Game Development/Why So Many Game Studios Close57:38 - Where The Term AAA Came From/Some Games Will Survive The Game Studio Apocalypse59:37 - Studios Need To Sell 10 Million Units To Break Even On $100 Million Budget1:02:10 - Sweden Game Industry/Filip Was Determined To Succeed In The Game Industry1:05:15 - Will Jump Space Be Relased On Switch 2/PS5?1:08:17 - Where To Follow Keepsake Games & Jump Space

Joshua Jay was a former world artist at Bethesda who worked on Fallout 4, 76 & Starfield, prior to that he was a world artist on the Gears Of War trilogy. Josh built a living saloon set in the style of Fallout 76 here! Check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7gBi3_lyag&t=167s #fallout #starfield #gearsofwar JOSHUAS ARTWORK CAN BE FOUND HERE https://www.joshuajayart.com/ https://www.artstation.com/joshua_jay_artTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:38 - Lord Of The Rings/Kurt Kuhlmann04:18 - Building A Fallout 76 Saloon13:43 - Todd Howard/Early Work On Fallout 417:51 - Fallout 4’s Colour Palette19:00 - Josh’s Work On Fallout 4’s World Art21:38 - Josh’s Gears Of War 3 Art Was Inspired By Fallout 322:30 - Epic Games Base Their Games On Licensing/Bethesda Vs Epic Culture25:10 - Unreal Engine Vs Creation Engine28:20 - Problems Developing Fallout 7633:25 - Why Fallout 76 Wasnt Delayed/Starfield Was Delayed Due To F07635:18 - Josh & Kiwi Butcher Shigeru Miyamoto’s Quote37:00 - Game Development Costs/Fallout 538:45 - What Josh Wants To See In Fallout 540:15 - Fallout TV Show Being 5 Seasons/TV Shows With Filler42:50 - Video Games With Filler/Alien Isolation45:15 - Video Games Should Be Shorter/Elder Scrolls VI/Rockstar Games48:30 - Josh Got Burned Out On Gears Of War/Josh Avoided Starfield For As Long As Possible52:40 - Working On Starfield53:30 - Q+A - How Bethesda Seamlessly Transition From Different Biomes In Their Games58:09 - Q+A - Were There Talks For Smaller Galaxies In Starfield In Pre-Production59:25 - Game Devs Not Having Time To Play Games/Josh Doesnt Play Many Games These Days1:01:42 - Josh Loves Shadow Of Mordor & War1:02:10 - Q+A - How Was Josh’s Day Organised In A Pie Chart At Epic & Bethesda1:04:45 - Pros & Cons Of Big & Small Studios/Star Wars Games1:07:32 - Josh Loves & Hates The Industry/Story Of Soldiers In Afghanistan1:11:24 - Josh Tells A Touching Story Of A Fallout Fan Who Died1:16:41 - Outro

GOG is a digital distribution platform with a mission to preserve video games. I spoke with 3 employees Piotr(Senior PR), Marcin (Senior Business Developer) and Adam(Technical Producer). #gog #gamepreservation #pcgaming SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - https://www.gog.com/en/ X - @GOGcom NOTE: Unfortunately the guys had some technical and internet issues, so we needed to use Google Meet to record this so the audio quality and even the video feed arent up to my usual standard, this is also why the layout is different to my usual format. Apologies for this, the guys are keen to do another one at some point, so if you would like that then like this post. timestamps00:00 - Intro00:50 - FFVII Is The Best Game Ever/Why Final Fantasy Isnt On GOG Yet03:29 - Japanese Publishers Are Coming Around To No DRM In Games08:50 - Why No DRM Is Important/Games Are Aging Slowly11:10 - Making GOG Viable For Publishers From A Cost Perspective16:34 - Working Around The Rights/Japanese Rights Are Very Complicated21:05 - GOG Preservation Program27:05 - GOG Has A Small Amount Of QA People/GOG’s Internal Tools31:48 - Simplying The Tools To Preserve Games32:58 - GOG’s Thoughts On AI36:01 - Working With Sony Was A Milestone/Japanese Publisher GOG Wants To Get38:20 - Offline Launchers40:20 - People Approaching GOG With Rights To Games/System Shock 243:29 - Gamers Care More About Gameplay Than Graphics Now49:57 - Q+A - What Has Enabled GOG To Give Away Free Games On Twitch/Amazon Prime52:34 - Q+A - Recreating Box Art & Manuals For Old Games55:55 - Q+A - Will GOG Collaborate With Stop Killing Games Initiative58:30 - Working With Politicians In The EU59:10 - Most Important Lesson Piotr Learned From His Late Uncle(THIS IS FUNNY ASF LOL) 1:00:46 - Closing Comments

David O'Reilly is a former game developer who is best known for his work at Rockstar on GTA, RDR2 and GTA VI, yes you read that right he worked on GTA VI up until 2023 when he left the video game industry. He now has a Youtube channel where he reviews environmental art in games. David's Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@Game-World-Art #rockstargames #gta6 #rdr2TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:30 - Having Imposter Syndrome Working At Rockstar04:30 - Having A Good Manager06:05 - Doing Caves For GTA V08:29 - Doing Environmental Easter Eggs In Rockstar Games10:11 - Rockstar Devs Dont Even Know Whats In Their Games At Release12:53 - David’s Art On GTA VI/The Tech Process At Rockstar15:01 - David Will Be Going Into GTA VI As A Fan16:13 - David Hopes His Name Is In The Credits Of GTA VI17:34 - Character & Environmental Artists Dont Work Together/Trevor Motion Capture Sequence18:42 - Problems With Art In Ubisoft Games20:59 - The Houser Brothers23:11 - Why David Left Rockstar/Burnout27:00 - Telling People You Worked On GTA29:00 - David’s Youtube Channel33:00 - How David Decides What Games To Play On Youtube35:15 - Sending Devs To U.S. To Use For Reference Footage39:15 - Different Leads For Each Rockstar Game/Changes In Development Processes40:40 - Art Is Becoming More Specialized 42:30 - Benefits And Drawbacks Of AI On Art/Chat GPT47:12 - GTA 7/GTA VI Trailer49:00 - Difference Between Movie Trailers And Game Trailers51:00 - How Rockstar Make Game Trailers/Reaction Internally To Trailers53:15 - Assassins Creed/There Is More Potential For Games57:30 - Q+A - How Great Does Your Portfolio Have To Be To Get Hired At Rockstar1:00:31 - Why David Doesnt Have His Rockstar Art On Artstation1:03:20 - David Wont Return To The Games Industry1:04:46 - Q+A - What Is The Most Challenging Part Of Making Environments1:06:53 - Q+A - How Much Freedom Are You Allowed On The Games1:10:07 - Closing Comments/David’s Youtube Channel

Kurt Kuhlmann was a jack of all trades at Bethesda, he was one of the studios most proficient designers and writers, he's best known as the lore master of the Elder Scrolls #elderscrolls #starfield #falloutTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:06 - How Kurt Became The Lore Master Of The Elder Scrolls06:26 - Maintaining The Lore07:57 - Studying History At University/Why Kurt Went To Bethesda09:40 - Evolution Of Quest/Narrative Design At Bethesda10:50 - Using History To Influence Lore/Tolkien’s Influence14:50 - Changing Writing Styles For Fallout18:34 - Using Different Words And Thesaurus For Writing Elder Scrolls/Fallout20:24 - The Evolution Of Voice Acting At Bethesda24:39 - Limitations On Writing At Bethesda26:30 - How Bethesda Changed As The Team Size Grew29:35 - Kurt’s System Designer Role On Starfield32:25 - Why Starfield Took So Long To Make34:30 - The Creation Kit/Things Carried Over From Elder Scrolls/Fallout To Starfield36:15 - Problems With Fallout 7637:00 - Elder Scrolls VI Will Be Bittersweet For Kurt39:17 - Fallout TV Show40:36 - Lord Of The Rings Movies42:38 - Todd Howard/Remote Work Benefited Starfield49:30 - Q+A - What Is Kurts Ideal Sequel To Redguard?51:14 - Q+A - What Makes The Elder Scrolls Feel Grounded54:53 - Q+A - Does Kurt Prefer The Psychelic Lore Of Morrowind Over The European Style Of Oblivion57:58 - Closing Comments/TES:VII/Morrowwind RemakeFollow me 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 BlueSky - @kiwitalkz.bsky.social

Obbe Vermeij, a former technical director at Rockstar Games during GTA III to GTA IV, is now working on his indie game Plentiful, and the demo is out now here.#grandtheftauto #gta #rockstargamesPlentiful Demo is here - https://store.steampowered.com/app/3044790/Plentiful/SOCIAL MEDIATWITTER - @ObbeVermeijBLUESKY - ‪@obbevermeij.bsky.social‬TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:46 - GTA IV Design Document01:20 - Working With The Designers On GTA On What’s Possible & Not Possible02:15 - Gang Wars In San Andreas Was Very Difficult04:05 - GTA Series Moved Away From Gameplay First To Story First06:30 - Obbe’s Thoughts On GTA VI 2nd Trailer07:23 - GTA VI Will Be 30FPS08:39 - GTA III’s Success Caught Obbe By Surprise09:50 - The Vibe At Rockstar When GTA III Kept Selling & Selling11:34 - How 9/11 Affected GTA III13:03 - The Houser Brothers15:20 - How GTA An American Parody Game Was Made In Edinburgh16:40 - What Obbe Worked On In The GTA Trilogy18:10 - Obbe’s Role Decreased As Rockstar Got Bigger And Bigger 21:04 - GTA VI Is The Most Expensive Game Ever22:03 - GTA VII Will Be Cheaper To Make Than GTA VI Due To AI22:50 - AI’s Effects On Programmers/How AI Will Help Game Development27:17 - Leslie Benzies/Mindseye30:40 - Rockstar Were Great With Hiring Staff/Indie Games32:00 - Obbe’s Indie Game Plentiful37:02 - Prototyping To Show A Publisher/Obbe Loves Making Games38:00 - Obbe Is Making Plentiful As A Solo Dev/Music39:15 - Obbe Made A Museum App Called Guide App40:28 - Obbe Misses The Rockstar Games Days/Rockstar North Has A Great Work Culture43:28 - Q+A - What Were The Main Differences Developing GTA IV For PS3 & XBOX36044:53 - Q+A - How Much Is The Product Different From The Start Till Release46:37 - Q+A - Favourite Project & Career Highlight47:39 - The Original Intention With Vice City49:21 - Q+A - The Most Impressive Thing The Devs Pulled Off That They Thought Was Impossible53:30 - Where To Follow Obbie & Get His Game Plentiful/GTA IV Delay Story.

I got some of the old Bethesda crew back together (Jeremy Bryant, Nate Purkeypile, Bruce Nesmith & Kurt Kuhlmann) to review the remaster and talk about the old game and Bethesda as a whole. Enjoy! #bethesda #elderscrolls #oblivionremastered Nate Purkeypiles Games! Check them out! The Axis Unseen - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1807810/The_Axis_Unseen/ Deedlee Doo Carkour! - https://store.steampowered.com/app/3582590/Deedlee_Doo_Carkour/ Bruce Nesmiths Books https://www.amazon.com/Books-Bruce-Nesmith/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ABruce%2BNesmithTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:50 - The Artstyle Of TESIV:Oblivion Remastered06:34 - Unreal Engine Replacing Game Bryo Engine In Oblivion Remastered09:14 - TES VI/Fallout 3 Remaster10:35 - History Of The Levelling System In TES:IV Oblivion 16:31 - Devs Tricking Todd Howard To Get Stuff In Oblivion19:11 - Oblivion’s Influence From The LOTR Films22:40 - Copyright Lawsuits24:10 - Why You Couldn’t Sprint In The Original Game25:10 - Getting Oblivion To Run On Xbox 360 Was A Huge Endeavor 26:37 - TESVI Launch Title For The Next Xbox/Cross-Gen Games28:21 - The Overworld Map Design30:00 - The Dungeon Design/Level Designers Started With Oblivion32:15 - Radiant AI Evolution/Emerging Gameplay36:50 - Why Bethesda Games Have So Many Bugs39:00 - Why Bethesda Games Will Never Be Bug Free46:50 - Challenges Of Making An Elder Scrolls Film/TV Show52:40 - Shivering Isles/DLC58:37 - Nate Speaks About His Indie Games/Bruce Speaks About His Novels

Jeremy Huxley is a former environmental artist at Naughty Dog who worked there for 11 years on the Uncharted & Last Of Us franchises. #uncharted #lastofus #lastofuspart2 TIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:31 - Coming To Naughty Dog Partway Through Uncharted 302:30 - Art Test/Learning From The Veterans05:20 - Team Being Split Off After Uncharted 3/Working On Uncharted 4/PBR09:00 - The Jump For Art From PS3 To PS410:20 - Naughty Dog’s Reference Material For Uncharted 412:40 - Uncharted 4’s Jungle Environments13:50 - Ray Tracing Vs Baked Lighting17:40 - Jeremy’s Thoughts On AI For Artists22:10 - Reusing Art Assets From Uncharted For Last Of Us23:20 - Transitioning From Uncharted To Last Of Us Seamlessly (Snow Sections)25:30 - Pressure Of Working On Naughty Dog27:30 - Friendly Rivalry Between Devs At Naughty Dog29:30 - What References Were Used For Snow In Last Of Us Part II30:30 - Working On Last Of Us Remaster/Respecting The Original Artists34:00 - Importance Of Remasters & Remakes/Neil Druckmann36:40 - Jeremy Would Love To Work On Zelda/The Game Industry Is In Trouble Due To Realistic Graphics40:10 - Jeremy Praises From Software/Jeremy Is Playing Older Games42:30 - As A Dev Jeremy Analyses Games/Final Fantasy VII Remake45:30 - Q+A - How Artists Work With Designers51:00 - Q+A - Favourite Environment To Work On52:39 - Q+A - Would You Like To Work On A Stylized Game Over Realistic54:32 - Jeremy Critiques Zelda: TOTK’s Art56:25 - Where To Follow JeremySOCIAL MEDIA ARTSTATION - https://www.artstation.com/jeremyh BLUESKY - @jeremyhuxley.bsky.social

Former Retro Studios Dev Eric Kozlowsky (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze) and I review the direct and go way off on another tangent lol. You can watch my life reaction to the Switch 2 direct(with former retro studios devs in the chat) here https://www.youtube.com/live/ocm4oRD-aik Get all the info on Eric and Fuzzybot's game Lynked here http://playlynked.com/ www.landofkoz.com www.fuzzybot.com Bluesky Eric - @vonkoz.bsky.social #nintendoswitch2 #switch2 #nintendoTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:55 - Eric’s & Kiwi’s Overall Thoughts On The Switch 2 Direct04:30 - Discussion On Mario Kart World, Price & Bundle08:50 - Trumps Tariffs10:51 - Price Of Video Games12:05 - Switch 2 Edition Prices/GTA VI16:29 - Metroid Prime 4 18:54 - Nintendo Makes Bad Trailers20:48 - Nintendo Does Weird Stuff21:32 - DS Online/Remastering 3DS Games22:28 - Twilight Princess With Wii U Tech Demo Graphics23:05 - Difference Between Remasters & Remakes/Wind Waker & Twilight Princess24:40 - What Will Happen With Metroid Prime 2 & 3 Now27:35 - Metroid Prime Hunters/Multiplayer28:30 - Smash Bros Is Years Away29:45 - Star Fox 99/Animal Crossing Sales/Nintendo Budgets32:10 - Tears Of The Kingdom/The Future Of Zelda/Zelda II Remake34:15 - Donkey Kong Bonanza/David Wise40:30 - Koji Kondo/Shigeru Miyamoto/The Old Guard Retiring42:28 - Third Party Games On Switch 2/Handheld Market46:04 - Hollow Knight:Sliksong/Drag X Drive48:10 - Eric Home’s In On Art Straight Away49:45 - Linked: Banner Of The Spark’s Development54:26 - Steven Spielberg/Mouse & Keyboard56:00 - Accessibility Options In Game Development57:00 - Kiwi & Eric Won’t Buy A Switch 2 At Launch58:12 - Cost Of Switch 2 In NZ/Zelda Film Trilogy Being Shot In NZ1:01:00 - Chris Mason Working On The Last Of Us/Mario Movie1:02:29 - Will The Zelda Movie Be Original?/Shooting The Trilogy All At The Same Time1:04:00 - Pop Songs In The Mario Movie/Bluelight Samurai/Zelda Trailer1:06:40 - Closing Comments

Chris Detyna is a video game composer who is best known for his brilliant score for Terminator Resistance. #terminator #terminatorresistance #theterminatorTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro01:00 - Meeting Teyon/How Chris Got The Job Composing Terminator Resistance04:19 - Including Electric Guitar In The Main Theme/Being Scared Of Making The Music05:52 - Adapting The Terminator 1 Theme/T1 Theme Weird Time Signature09:05 - Directions From Teyon’s Director On The Music11:25 - The Gear Chris Used To Make The Soundtrack13:52 - Kiwi Praises The OST/Teyon Were Nervous Of The Reception/Ear Fatigue17:06 - Music & SFX Balancing18:27 - Why The Terminator Resistance OST Isnt On Spotify20:04 - Scoring The Kyle Reese Cutscene From T1/Transcriptions23:00 - The Approach To Scoring The Game 25:00 - Composing The HK Combat Theme25:49 - Only One Of Chris’ Tracks Were Cut From The Game27:50 - Communication At Teyon Is Great/No Crunch At Teyon29:00 - Working On Robocop: Rogue City/Autotune32:15 - Writing Melody & Lyrics/Ideas Don’t Get Lost36:15 - Doing The T-800 Heartbeat Theme(Infiltrator Mode)41:00 - Chris & Kiwi Discuss Mixing Tips45:25 - Q+A - What IP Would You Like To Compose For48:50 - Q+A - What Does Chris Feel About The Forgettable Scores Post T251:31 - Q+A - What Was Chris’ Influences Growing Up54:35 - Closing Comments

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO DOOM ETERNAL!! To celebrate I spoke to former DOOM Eternal animator Chris Cantero, he left a few years to make his own indie game High Fructose, you can find here https://store.steampowered.com/app/2506550/High_Fructose/ #doom #doometernal #idsoftware SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @canterochris BLUESKY - @canterochris.bsky.socialTIMESTAMPS00:00 - Intro00:28 - Glory Kills03:48 - Mocap/Principals Of Animation05:55 - The Hardest Part Of Animating Glory Kills07:30 - Making The Marauder Hard/QAing At The End Of The Project08:52 - Working With Hugo Martin/Jiu-Jitsu12:04 - Working On The ID Tech Engine14:48 - Animating Maligog/Chris Loves The Lord Of The Rings Films17:30 - Chris’ Thoughts On DOOM The Dark Ages Trailers19:15 - Doing Pre Production On DOOM The Dark Ages21:10 - Animal Crossing/DOOM Eternal Meme22:00 - Favourite Areas22:56 - Favourite Bosses24:11 - Speedrunning25:55 - Favourite Music Track/Mick Gordon/Using The OST For The Gym27:15 - Self-Imposed Crunch27:45 - Banana Story/Getting In Trouble From HR29:15 - Marty Stratton Story/Commander Keen Story/Meeting The OG ID Software Crew31:40 - Q+A - What Is Some Cut Content From The Game33:47 - Q+A - Was Slower Gameplay Than DOOM 2016 Ever Considered34:20 - Motion Sickness/Camera Work36:00 - Chris’ New Game High Fructose 40:57 - Marketing High Fructose42:15 - Hugo Martin Is Amazing At Marketing43:00 - ID Software Teams Are Siloed/Marty & Hugo Are Very Approachable45:20 - Multiplayer Being Cut From DOOM The Dark Ages46:15 - DOOM Benefits From Not Being Grounded In Realism47:20 - Where To Follow Chris Cantero

Jeremy Bryant was an animator at Bethesda for over 15 years from Skyrim to Starfield. This is his first interview! #starfield #fallout #skyrimTIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:26 - Jeremy Commuted To Work By Plane 04:07 - Working With Dennis On The Werewolf 06:26 - How The Animation Tools Evolved From Skyrim To Starfield 08:43 - Mocap Use On Skyrim/Jeremy Used His Own Mocap On Skyrim DLC 10:35 - Animating Hands/Hardest Things Animating 11:54 - Jeremy Was Known As The Gun Reloader Animator Guy 14:06 - Non-Combat Animations 15:20 - Non Humans Were Key Framed Not Mocapped/Only 7 Animators On Skyrim 16:55 - Bethesda’s Management System In The Old Days Doesn’t Scale Well 18:50 - Bethesda Expanded Too Fast For The Culture To Remain The Same/Team Sizes 20:15 - Starfields Roadmap Required A Massive Team 21:45 - Rockstar’s Level Of Polish/Downsides Of Large Teams 24:00 - Animating Procedural Generated Content 25:00 - Jeremy’s Thoughts On Todd Howard 28:50 - Jeremy Changed From A Full Time Employee To A Contractor Part Way Through Starfield 30:00 - Pros & Cons Of Remote Work/How Covid Impacted Starfields Development 32:15 - Microsoft Acquisition 33:15 - Modding Community 35:20 - Bethesdas Feature Creep Culture 36:30 - Why Jeremy Left Bethesda 39:10 - Games Are Costing Too Much To Make/Layoffs/Dev Salaries 43:15 - Larian Studios/Growing Studios Gradually 44:45 - Q+A - Why Slo Mo Kills Were Removed From Starfield 45:45 - Q+A - How Does An Animator Go About Animating A Mythical Creature 47:00 - Game Jams At Bethesda/Originally There Was A Mad Max Motorcycle In Fallout 4 50:00 - Many Vehicles Made For Starfield That May Still Be Added/Vampire Lord In Skyrim 51:30 - Pros & Cons Of Bethesda Migrating To Unreal Engine 5/Creation Engine 57:52 - It’s Easier To Make Realistic Graphics Than Stylized Graphics 1:00:25 - Elder Scrolls VI/Gameplay Is More Important Than Anything Else 1:02:10 - Bethesda’s Culture Is Great/Game Devs Who Have Never Shipped A Game Due To Layoffs 1:04:30 - Jeremy Asks Kiwi For His Thoughts On Xbox Multiplatform Strategy/Gamepass & Game He Played Most In 2024 1:08:30 - Closing Comments/LinkedIn Is Facebook 2.0

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