My guest today is Adriel Wallick a programmer, developer and creator of the Train Jam, an annual game jam that, unsurprisingly, takes place on a train as it travels across the US toward GDC.
Rebroadcast - Episode 37 - Marc Flury
Today's guest on the show is Marc Flury. Marc worked at Harmonix before leaving to form his own company, Drool. Alongside his partner and Lightning Bolt alum Brian Gibson, they've spent the last few years working on the upcoming rhythm violence game, THUMPER. The all caps are mine, but entirely necessary.
Rebroadcast - Episode 36 - Shailesh Prabhu
Today's guest on the show is Shailesh Prabhu, creative director of Yellow Monkey Studios and owner of one of the finest beards I know of.
Rebroadcast - Episode 35 - Jeff Green
Today's guest on the show is Jeff Green. Jeff has spent a the past few years working for Popcap and EA, but is perhaps best known for his long tenure on GFW/CGW magazine, and as the host of GFW Radio, one of the very first videogame podcasts and certainly one of my favourites. He is also the nicest guy, and an excellent guest.
Rebroadcast - Episode 34 - William Pugh
My guest on today's show is William Pugh, one of the co-creators of the Stanley Parable and now director of a new studio, Crows Crows Crows.
Rebroadcast - Episode 33 - Keith Stuart
My guest on today's show is the games editor for the Guardian, Keith Stuart. One of the recurring themes of Keith's life in games is family. From his earliest memories of he and his dad as co-conspirators in the notion that a home computer would be 'good for homework', through to his own life as a father, and how he and his son's relationship has been completely transformed by Minecraft. A story which is soon to be fictionalised in his book, A Boy Made of Blocks. Keith's life in games is a heartwarming one.
Rebroadcast - Episode 32 - Mel Croucher
Mel Croucher is a living legend. You may not have heard of him and might be thinking, 'Declan, that's a bit strong.' and I'd say, 'Listen to the episode first.'
Rebroadcast - Episode 31 - Shahid Ahmad
My guest on today's show is Shahid Ahmad. For many people, Shahid is best known as the Playstation Indie Champion. He was part of a team that changed the landscape at Sony, and made Playstation a home for indie developers, developing the rich ecosystem we see today. But before that, Shahid had already had a rich and varied history with videogames.
Rebroadcast - Episode 30 - John Robertson
Today's guest is John Robertson. John is a stand up comedian, the host of Videogame Nation on Challenge TV and the creator of the world's only live-action videogame, The Dark Room.
Rebroadcast - Episode 29 - Gita Jackson
My guest on today's show is Gita Jackson, a Chicago based writer and critic and one of the hosts of the Match 3 Podcast. You may have read some of her work on Giantbomb or Polygon or Twitter or Paste. She is smart and funny and her gaming history is absolutely nothing like mine which makes for a terrific guest and a perfect example of why I started this show.
Rebroadcast - Episode 28 - Steven Bailey
Steven Bailey is stupid clever. He has a PHD in mathematics, he's likely written some of the best videogame writing you've ever read, and now as a videogame analyst he's charting the future of the industry.
Rebroadcast - Episode 27 - Greg Rice
Greg Rice is the VP of Business Development for Double Fine, and was the producer of the Double Fine Adventure and Broken Age. Greg Rice also has a minor in dance.
Rebroadcast - Episode 26 - Kerry Turner
Today's guest is Kerry Turner. Kerry makes games under the banner of The Rabbit Club, is a programmer in the games industry and founded Make,Play,Code - a course designed to encourage more women to make games. We talk about videogames as places to visit, rediscovering a love of coding, solo LARPing, why snow in games is amazing, revisiting that game that you could never beat and the videogame equivalent of guitar feedback.
Rebroadcast - Episode 25 - Adam 'Atomic' Saltsman
Rebroadcast - Episode 24 - David Farrell
My guest on today's show is David Farrell, lecturer in videogame design at Glasgow Caledonian University. We recorded this live at the university and discuss the amazing set up that they have and the fun toys they can use to understand how people play games. There is some serious 'What is a game?' chat so be prepared, and we delve into David's videogame history, from tape trading on the spectrum to time management in The Witcher 3. David also talks about his job, and how teaching games and teasing apart how they work can be just as much fun as playing them.
Rebroadcast - Episode 23 - Brendon Chung
My guest on today's show is Brendon Chung. Founder of Blendo games and creator of Gravity Bone, Atom Zombie Smasher, Thirty Flights of Loving and the upcoming Quadrilateral Cowboy. Many of Brendon's games have been built using the mod tools from games like Quake 2 and Doom 3, so the games that Brendon creates and the games that have shaped his life intertwine in fascinating way. They become both cultural milestones in his life and the bedrock of the games he creates.
Copy of Episode 22 - Live from Gamecity
To celebrate the tenth anniversary of Gamecity I recorded a special edition of the show live from the festival. This is different to the usual show where I have one guest and talk about the games that shaped them. In this episode, the checkpoint is a single year, and my panel of guests talk about their life and the games they played at that exact point. Since this was the tenth anniversary of Gamecity, we decided on the year 2005.
Reboradcast - Episode 21 - Richard Lemarchand
Today's guest is Richard Lemarchand. A game designer with an enviable CV including Jak X, Soul Reaver and the Uncharted series, Richard is now an associate professor at the University of Southern California where he lectures on the videogame programme. We talk about that transition from AAA development to teaching, how his mum was responsible for getting him his start, the similarities between magic and design, and how sometimes being bad at games can help you be a better designer.
Rebroadcast - Episode 20 - Chris Crawford
Today's guest is Chris Crawford, an iconic figure in the history of videogames. Chris was a visionary creator in a time when the industry was still finding it's feet and when anything seemed possible. Many of his design ideas and principles are still taught and read by new developers, and his influence can be seen through the generations. Not least of which in the annual Game Developer's Conference which Chris founded in 1987. The first GDC was in his living room.
Rebroadcast - Episode 19 - Kieron Gillen
A few days before his 40th birthday I sat down for a meander through videogame past with Kieron Gillen. After a long and storied career in videogame journalism - from early beginnings at Amiga Power to becoming one of the founders of Rock, Paper, Shotgun via New Games Journalism - Kieron has moved on to a successful career as a comic book writer and been annoyingly great at that too. With a hugely successful run of books from Thor to Darth Vader, as well as his two creator owned books with Jamie McKelvie, Phonogram and the Wicked and the Divine, which has recently been optioned for a TV series.