Category: Game Developers

PadCast: BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk Talks Games, Social Media, Fitness Titles, and Being Awesome

BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk completely rules. He truly is one of my favorite people in the business (as is his partner in crime, Dr. Ray Muzyka). After the diabolical Chris Taylor missed our interview session at DICE 2010, Dr. Greg was there to save the day. Naturally I asked him about the crazy three months BioWare has had, with two giant games — Dragon Age: Origins Awakenings and Mass Effect 2 — released in short period of time. The good doctor revealed which characters he used in Dragon Age. I also asked him about BioWare’s efforts to extend its properties through web games, Facebook games, iPhone titles, books, and more.

Since he was a practicing physician before starting up one of the best development houses in the business, I wanted to get Dr. Greg’s view on games like Wii Fit and EA Sports Active. This led to a pretty cool tangent about performing remote operations with Wii-like controls. The interview ends a little abruptly because the press room was being shut down, but it was an absolute pleasure chatting with Dr. Greg and I think you’ll enjoy our chat.

(Yes, it sounds like I’m totally kissing his ass, but I’ve known Greg and Ray for several years. I assure you that my fondness is genuine.)

DICE 2010 in Pictures: Cool Developers and an Awards Show

Here are some photos I snapped during DICE 2010. You’ll see some of gaming’s top talent, a sexy Italian cameraman, a tap gaming analyst, and a great comedian in this set. Enjoy!

Mark Cerny Was Inducted Into the AIAS Hall of Fame Because He’s Awesome

EAT Sleep Play’s David Jaffe Says “Egg”, I Say “Chicken”

Electric Playground’s Enzo Zanatta and the Legendary Designer/Producer Don Daglow

EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich Was Great to Chat with — I Hope Bsukenyan Enjoys the Interview!

I Want This Flower Art!!!

Epic’s Dr. Mike Capps Didn’t Drunkenly Renew My Unreal Engine License This Year

Jay Mohr Rocked It (Again) As the Host of the Interactive Achievement Awards

Here’s a Shot of Jay From the Screen

Here’s What the Awards Show Looked Like From the Last (Troublemaker) Table

Attack of the Giant Interactive Achievement Award!!!


Coffee Talk #91: Why Am I Here (Part II)?!?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, U.S.A. trouncing the Royal Kingdom of Canadia in Olympic hockey, Bryan Danielson finally making it to a WWE broadcast show, or the WWE making Bryan Danielson change his name to Daniel Bryan, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Way back when I started this site, I posted an entry called “What Am I Here?!?”. It’s been what? About four months since I started? RPad.tv has definitely had its ups and downs, and lately I’ve been questioning why I’m doing what I do since I’m not making any money and bills are piling up. DICE 2010 was a brilliant reminder of why I love all of this. I’m definitely recharged from DICE and I wanted to use today’s Coffee Talk to tell you why.

First and foremost, I love interacting with you guys and gals (I think RPad.tv has three female readers now). I love talking about games, gadgets, and geek culture with you. I love that I was able to share some of DICE with you. It was like bringing you all to Vegas with me (though you didn’t see me drunk). Talking about OnLive and Bobby Kotick with you was definitely fun. I’m sorry I didn’t get to do more of that during DICE, but you’ll understand why when you read reason #2.

So yeah! The second reason DICE was reinvigorating was that it reminded me of how ridiculously lucky I am. I get to write about one of my favorite hobbies and talk with the people that create the games I play. It was fun catching up with people like BioWare’s Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor, Insomniac’s Ted Price, and so many others. I feel incredibly honored that these amazing people remember my name — I’m a nobody! To me, it’s the same as writing about movies or sports and getting to hang out with actors or athletes. The one difference is that gaming is still small enough and fun enough that I still get to interact with a lot of these guys on a somewhat social level.

So today’s Coffee Talk is late because I wasn’t sure about sharing all of this because it makes me feel kind of exposed…but then I remembered that you guys are awesome. As always, thanks for visiting!!!

Coffee Talk #90: Mark Cerny is Awesome and You Should Know This

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the chicken or egg debate, sexual thoughts of Bobby Kotick, or Jay Mohr being awesome, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Last night Mark Cerny was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences’ hall of fame. The man is greatly respected by his peers and a few gaming writers know how incredibly important he is to the industry, but not enough gamers appreciate his contributions. My friend Sam from 1Up and I were talking about this at 3:30AM today (what happens when nerds are in Vegas). Mark Cerny is completely awesome and you, as a gamer, should know how awesome he is.

If you’ve owned a Sony console, chances are you’ve played and enjoyed a Mark Cerny game. He has contributed to great titles in the Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, and Uncharted series. If you’re old school, then you’ve probably enjoyed his work on Marble Madness, Sonic 2, and Kid Chameleon. He has helped numerous creators harness the power of the PlayStation 3 with various tools created by Sony’s Ice Team. He’s a big reason why two of the best PlayStation developers — Insomniac and Naughty Dog — are where they are today.

If you have some time, do a little bit of research on Mark Cerny. There’s an extremely high chance you’ve enjoyed several of the games he’s worked on, but you probably didn’t know he was involved in making them. It’s fantastic the he has been recognized by organizations like the AIAS and IGDA, but for writers like Sam and me, it’s important that gamers recognize his awesomess too.

With that in mind, let me know what Mark Cerny games you’ve enjoyed over the years.

DICE Questions Wanted: Double Fine’s Tim Schafer

It looks like I’ll be meeting up with Double Fine’s Tim Schafer at DICE tomorrow. Naturally, I want you guys to be a part of my meeting. Let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to ask Tim. Please note that in general, I’ll be staying away from game-specific questions. I want to talk to Tim about broader aspects of game creation and the gaming industry. So unless you have a really excellent question about Brutal Legend, I probably won’t use it.

Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor Wants Your Help in Developing Kings and Castles

Gas Powered Games creative director Chris Taylor is taking a unique approach to developing Kings and Castles for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. He wants as much fan input as possible, using Facebook, Twitter, and silly YouTube videos like the one above to make development decisions. In a recent press release Taylor said:

We’re doing something different this time around. We want to take our fans on a great adventure with us. They’ll get to go behind-the-scenes and watch the game come to life from start to finish.

Synergy will be leveraged, and paradigms will be established. More importantly, buzzwords will be utilized.

Gamers are encouraged to follow Taylor on Twitter, email crackedout@gaspowered.com, join the game’s official Facebook page, and watch more silly videos on the official site to participate in the game’s creation. If you’re not up for that, watching Taylor with farm animals is always fun.

Chris is awesome and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with Kings and Castles!

Akira Yamaoka Joins Suda51’s Grasshopper Manufacture

Former Konami music composer and game producer Akira Yamaoka — best known for his work on the Silent Hill series — has joined Goichi Suda’s (aka Suda51) Grasshopper Manufacture. The extremely tall Kevin Gifford reported the news at 1Up and provided some fine translation from a recent Famitsu article. Here are Suda51’s thoughts on Yamaoka:

I really love Yamaoka. Ever since I saw a video of Silent Hill 2 at the Tokyo Game Show nine years ago, I’ve always dreamed of working alongside him. That’s why I thought I’d invite him over when I started hearing rumors that he left [Konami].

Yamaoka’s first project will be composing music for game being designed by Suda51 and former Capcom ace Shinji Mikami. That’s one hell of a dream team! The unannounced title will be published by Electronic Arts and is sure to make millions of otaku wet themselves.

Seriously though, this is fantastic news. I’m a huge fan of Yamaoka as an artist and as a person. It’s brilliant that he’s teaming up with other powerhouse creators.

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Coffee Talk #78: Your Game Developer Dream Date

I’ve “known” a lot of you long enough that I have a pretty good idea of what games you like and don’t like. However, I’m not so sure about your favorite game designers and developers. So let’s play a game! If you could have dinner with one famous game designer, who would it be and why? What questions would you ask him or her?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames,the season premiere of Lost, if Adrien Grenier should change his name to Vincent Chase, or why pinch-to-zoom is a must-have feature, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve “known” a lot of you long enough that I have a pretty good idea of what games you like and don’t like. However, I’m not so sure about your favorite game designers and developers. So let’s play a game! If you could have dinner with one famous game designer, who would it be and why? What questions would you ask him or her?

As for me, it would be Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto. I’ve had one-on-one interviews with him in the past, but that was in the late ’90s. My recent encounters with the legend have been in group settings. I want more! I’d love to hang out with Miyamoto over a slow dinner, followed by dessert and coffee. I’d love to pick his brain, to see how he gets his amazing ideas. I’d even enjoy observing his use of ordinary objects like a fork or a coffee cup. His perspective is just so different. Remember, this is the guy that came up with Nintendogs and Pikmin after getting a pet and taking up gardening, respectively. Maybe he could come up with a marvelously entertaining game base on my morning ritual of grinding beans and making coffee in a French press.

So yeah! Who is your developer dream date? In addition to who it would be and what questions you’d ask, let everyone know what the setting would be. Also, I reserve the right to punch anyone that selects Cliffy B (I’m kidding. He’s awesome!).

PadCast: Tarver Games’ Chris Cross Talks iPad Game Design

Last week I chatted with Tarver Games president and co-founder Chris Cross for an RPad.tv PadCast. Cross gave me an update on what’s going on with his excellent iPhone game Ghosts Attack and his upcoming project Brickman. Naturally, I was interested to hear his thoughts on the Apple iPad as a game designer. The always entertaining Cross revealed some cool insights that will give you an idea of how iPad games will be different from their counterparts for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Check it out!

David Crane Receiving “Pioneer Award” From the AIAS

The legendary David Crane (Pitfall!, A Boy and His Blob) is being awarded the new “Pioneer Award” from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Here are more specifics from Wired Game|Life’s Chris Kohler:

The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, the industry group which puts on the prestigious DICE Summit each year, would choose Crane as the recipient of its first Pioneer Award, which recognizes videogaming visionaries who took the first steps in the early days of the industry. The academy will present Crane with the award at its 13th annual Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony Feb. 18 in Las Vegas.

Crane is a legend and absolutely deserves the award, though I am a bit confused as to why the AIAS needs this award and the hall of fame. That aside, Crane had a huge influence on the industry and it’s fantastic that he’s being recognized. The AIAS is one of my favorite organizations in the business and its DICE Summit is — by far — my favorite industry event of the year. A truly great game developer being lauded by an excellent organization? That is excellent news.

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