Kiwi Talkz

Jake Kazdal is a japanese game developer who has worked on games such as Galak-Z and Skulls Of The Shogun, he has worked for Nintendo, SEGA and Square Enix and is releasing his new game Awaysis very soon. This is a rare pullback of the curtain on Japanese design.
#nintendo #zelda #botw
WEBSITE - http://awaysis.jp/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3334760/Awaysis/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:45 - Differences Between Japanese & Western Development
02:30 - Differences Between SEGA & Square Enix/Japanese Work Culture
07:00 - Nintendo Devs Are Retiring/Japanese Devs Are Nimble
09:15 - Kyoto’s Indie Scene/Hiring People At 17-Bit
10:39 - Japanese Labour Laws
11:40 - What Nintendo Devs Do Once They Retire/Retirement Age At Nintendo
11:46 - Nintendo Dev Legends Have Playtested Awaysis
14:11 - Playtesting With Awaysis
16:25 - Importance Of Iterating On Tutorials/What Is Awaysis
20:20 - Local Multiplayer Can’t Be Matched/Online Multiplayer/Covid
23:30 - Getting Hirokazu Tanaka To Compose Awaysis/Jake Is A Huge Nintendo Fan
25:40 - Pitch To Hirokazu Tanaka
26:50 - Physics System Of Awaysis
29:54 - Super Mario 64/Game Controls Are Too Tight Nowadays
33:28 - Graphics Take Precedent Over Physics
34:28 - The Physics System In Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
36:40 - Being Friends With Eiji Aonuma/The Glider In BOTW
38:14 - Physics Limitations In Unreal Engine
42:24 - Zelda BOTW & TOTK Are Masterpieces/Next Zelda
43:15 - Friendship With Eiji Aonuma
44:17 - Working At SEGA/Being Mentored By Tetsuya Mizuguchi
46:19 - Working With Steven Spielberg On Elemeno/Mirrors Edge
50:21 - Original Ideas In Games Are Few & Far Between
52:30 - Oversaturation Of Indie Games/Devs Leaving The Industry
55:11 - Devs Getting Laid Off Despite Success/The Dire State Of The Industry
56:15 - Stability Working At Nintendo & Valve/Struggles For Funding
01:01:00 - Gen-Z Play GAAS/Gamers Are Playing Old Games
1:03:49 - Where To Keep Up With Awaysis

I got together some of the old Retro Studios crew including Kynan Pearson (Metroid Prime 2,3 & DKCR), Jay Epperson (DKCR & Tropical Freeze), Eric Kozlowsky (DKC Tropical Freeze) and Brad Taylor (DKC Tropical Freeze), the latter has never appeared on the show before. Hope you enjoy this, cause we had a blast recording it.

#supermariogalaxy #supermario #mariogalaxy

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:25 - Overrall Thoughts
08:30 - Fox/Starfox Movie
09:53 - Smash Bros Movie
12:00 - Super Mario World Vinettes
13:12 - Lack Of Story/Nintendo Are Still Learning How To Make Movies
14:53 - Nintendo Fans Are Aging Out
16:00 - The Movie Shouldve Been Super Mario World Instead Of Super Mario Galaxy
18:03 - No Licensed Music
19:46 - Should Mario Have A Deeper Story?
24:04 - Film Critics Don’t Respect Gaming/Video Game Films
25:01 - Peach Is OP/Super Mario Bros 2
27:15 - Where Do They Go From Here
30:21 - Rumored Star Fox Game/Fox Appearance
33:38 - Kiwi’s Opinion On The Film/Hollwood Actors Being Mario Fans
36:25 - Being An Artist And Picking Apart Art In The Movie
39:43 - The Film Should Be Watched At 0.7 Watch Speed
40:30 - Nintendo Are Hands On With Legacy Characters
43:10 - Bowser Jr
44:30 - Koopalings/3rd Mario movie/Cappy
45:30 - Super Mario Odyssey/Original Idea For SMO’s Artstyle
48:00 - The Soundtrack/Starfox
49:23 - Nintendo Cross Promotion
52:40 - DKC Tropical Freeze Original Name
53:53 - Final Thoughts/Plugs For Nothing LOL
54:57 - The Dire State Of The Game Industry

Heather Cerlan a former artist at Naughty and Bethesda, in this interview she shares her journey from a passionate artist to a studio founder, discussing her experiences at Naughty Dog and Bethesda, her insights on game development, and her ambitious new project Hawthorne. Discover lessons on persistence, navigating industry challenges, and the future of game art and design.

HAWTHORNE INFO
https://playhawthorn.com/

#thelastofus #starfield #uncharted

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:55 - Being In A Rockband
02:30 - Heather Kept Pestering Naughty Dog Till They Hired Her
06:17 - Having Imposter Syndrome At Naughty Dog/Naughty Dog Didnt Have Producers
08:30 - Bethesda Are About Quantity/Naughty Dog Is About Quality
10:36 - Heather’s Role At Bethesda/Starfield
13:45 - Pros & Cons Of Creation Engine
15:05 - There Was Pressure Internally For Bethesda To Migrate To Unreal Engine
16:59 - Uncharted Lost Legacy Production Issues/Intense Crunch
22:44 - Working On The Shiva Temple
24:28 - Heather’s View On Her Work Getting Remastered/Originals Vs Remasters
29:28 - Working With Neil Druckmann/Lesbian Stories
33:04 - Heather Had Concerns On LGBTQ Themes In Last Of Us Part II
38:00 - Naughty Dog Were Split On Joel’s Death In TLOU Part II
38:48 - The Reason Heather Left Naughty Dog
40:04 - Work On Hawthorne/NEAR Studios
43:41 - Bruce Nesmith
46:00 - Hawthorne Is Skyrim Meets Stardew Valley/Raising Money/Bad Publisher Terms
48:15 - How Naughty Dog & Bethesdas Culture Has Influenced Hawthorne
51:16 - Q + A - Differences Between Naughty Dog & Bethesda
54:54 - Todd Howard Is A Neil Druckmann Fanboy
56:42 - Heather Feels Very Lucky/The Decision To Start Her Own Company
59:18 - Overcoming Fear With Hawthorne
1:05:22 - Where To Follow Heather & Keep Up With Hawthorne

Gabriel Betancourt is a former lighting artist at Treyarch and of course Naughty Dog. We cover his career at Naughty Dog and various other topics on the game industry.
#thelastofus #lastofus #lastofuspart2
WEBSITE - https://gabereel.com/
CALORIE GAME - https://www.caloriequest.app/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro/Gabriel Watches Kiwi Talkz & Lists His Favourite Guests
01:44 - It’s Hard To Find Info On Lighting Artists/Early Days As A Lighting Artist
03:00 - Naughty Dog Has A Designer First, Speciality Second Philosophy
06:25 - Naughty Dog Devs Had Huge Arguments During The Last Of Us
09:17 - Game Development Requires The Risk Of Offending People
13:00 - Delivering Negative News In A Positive Way
14:54 - Game Devs Being Passionate & Emotional
18:45 - Naughty Dog Changed As The Studio Got Bigger/AAA Team Sizes Are Too Big
24:43 - The Brilliance Of Nintendo/Making Your Game Fun
27:35 - 60 People Worked On World Of Warcraft/Small Teams Make The Best Games
29:38 - Graphics & Gameplay Were Even During The Seventh Generation
31:00 - Art Is Used To Cover Up Gameplay Issues
32:34 - Everyone At Naughty Dog During The Last Of Us Was A Monster In Skill
33:00 - How Gabriel Joined Naughty Dog/New IP’s Increasingly Are Risky
36:20 - Bruce Straley & Neil Druckmann Risked Their Careers For The Last Of Us
37:45 - Uncharted 2 Put Naughty Dog On The Map
38:42 - Last Of Us Happened Because Bruce & Neil Were Influenced By Robert McKee Conference
43:44 - Why Gabriel Left Naughty Dog
46:49 - Last Of Us Part 2 Pre-production Ran Like Clockwork
49:58 - Gabriel Was Surprised By The Last Of Us Part 2 Controversy/Gabriel’s Suggestion Was Shot Down By Neil
52:19 - Neil Druckmann’s Specialty/Problems With The Last Of Us Part 2
55:00 - Dubar’s Number/Bureaucracy
01:01:40 - Changes At Naughty Dog That Impacted Last Of Us Part 2
1:06:30 - Specialists Left Naughty Dog Which Created Gaps In Skills Needed In The Teams
1:07:50 - A Game Will Be Good If The Director Has A Vision
1:09:54 - Gabriel Was Initially Skeptical Of The Last Of Us
1:11:39 - On Gabriels First Day Neil & Bruce Had A Special Presentation About The Last Of Us
1:16:35 - Q+A - How Did The Lighting Change Between Uncharted & The Last Of Us
1:30:22 - Q+A - Is Baked Lighting Better Than Path Traced Lighting
1:35:00 - Lighting On GTA 6 Trailers
1:36:03 - Closing Comments/Where To Follow Gabriel

Benson Russell was a former designer at Naughty Dog on The Uncharted Trilogy and The Last Of Us.He has now started his own consulting firm to help game developers navigate a lot of the pitfalls in game development.
#uncharted #thelastofus #naughtydog
WEBSITE FOR CONSULTING
https://www.unhandledexceptions.io/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:32 - The Most Important Aspect Of Design/Player Fantasy
02:50 - Why Games Take So Long To Make/North Star You Need For Development
05:45 - Why Naughty Dog Games Are So Well Made/Story Is Their North Star
08:18 - Games Shouldn’t Take So Long To Develop/Wandering
13:30 - Scope Neglect/The Doomsday Clock
16:00 - Why Intergalactic Crunch Happened/Naughty Dog Treats Internal Deadlines Like External Deadlines
18:23 - Bureauacracy/How Games Differ From Other Creative Outlets
23:13 - Naughty Dog’s Work Structure
26:20 - Planning/Core Mechanics
27:00 - Flexible Working Hours At Naughty Dog/Crunch At Naughty Dog
29:00 - Why Benson Left Naughty Dog
32:45 - Benson Was P!ssed Off With Naughty Dog Deleting His Work On Last Of Us Part 1
46:01 - Working With Evans Wells & Neil Druckmann
47:00 - Clashing With Neil Druckmann
50:14 - Working With Amy Hennig
51:20 - Uncharted 2’s Introduction/Creating Introductions In Games
56:00 - Focus Testing At Naughty Dog/Companies Interpret Data Wrong
1:02:30 Q+A - How Much Naughty Dog Looks At The Competition When Designing Games
1:06:10 - AAA Studios Pivoting When They Are Too Deep/Games Should Be Cheaper
1:10:00 - Cost Of Game Development On The West Coast/China’s Meteoric Rise
1:16:04 - Uncharted 2 Was Influenced By Resident Evil 5
1:16:48 - Q+A - What Is Naughty Dog’s Hiring & Training Process
1:24:00 - Why Naughty Dog Started Losing Talent
1:26:00 - Is Game Development A Young Person’s Game/Knowledge Isnt Being Passed Down
1:31:00 - Closing Comments