Kiwi Talkz

John Ricchio was a former producer at Rockstar on games such as GTA 5, RDR1 & Max Payne 3. In this interview he covers his time training people on QA, being a producer and a leader to teams at Rockstar, working on GTA, RDR, MP and more..

#gta #gta5 #rockstargames

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
01:27 - The Importance Of QA/Training QA People
04:30 - QA People At Rockstar/Advancing Your Career From QA
08:19 - Will AI Be Used To Save Time For QA
12:21 - Unicorn Dev Specialists/T Shaped Game Developers
14:30 - Managing Over 200 People On RDR & GTA 5/Producing Challenges
21:45 - Relinquishing Control/R* San Diego Changed Processes For GTA 5
24:40 - Cut Content From GTA 5 Due To Resources
26:10 - Working Through Constraints/Picking Your Battles
27:10 - Having Your Work Cut From R* Games
28:37 - Will GTA 5 Cut Content Be In GTA 6
29:21 - Cancelled Game Content Ended Up In GTA IV/Tech Changes
30:02 - New Ideas Usually Transcend Cut Content
30:57 - RDR Undead Nightmare/Hot Coffee Mini Game
32:05 - Rockstar’s Approach To DLC
33:17 - Managing R* Devs During High Times Of Stress/Crunch
41:20 - R*Can Get Away With Anything/Unionisation
42:15 - R” Are Good Because Of Iteration But It’s At The Cost Of Crunch
43:26 - Why John Left Rockstar/Crunch
46:45 - Leaders Initiate Crunch Either For Results Or Out Of Fear
52:40 - John Speaks About GTA 6
57:40 - The Future Of The Industry
1:00:11 - Q+A - Will R* Devs Lose More Creative Freedom As The Studio Gets Bigger
1:03:43 - Hanging Out With Dan & Sam Houser
1:05:10 - Following GTA 5’s Model For GTA 6
1:06:03 - GTA 5’s Launch
1:07:02 - Q+A - How Much Did The 360/PS3 Limit The Scope Of GTA 5
1:09:30 - Why R* Release On Console First Before PC
1:12:30 - John Is Currently Unemployed/Where To Follow John

Andrew Kim is a freelance concept artist who has worked on video games, tv and film. Hes done numerous concepts for games in the MCU and he did concept art for Uncharted 2-4
#uncharted #uncharted4 #uncharted3
ANDREWS WEBSITE IS HERE https://www.andrewkimart.com/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:34 - Differences Between Working In Video Games & Film/TV
04:41 - Getting A Job at Naughty Dog
07:20 - Working With The Designers On Concept Art For Uncharted
09:03 - The Process Was Similar Between Uncharted 2,3 & 4
10:46 - Leaving Marvel/Being A Freelancer On Uncharted 4
12:30 - Why Andrew Left Naughty Dog
15:30 - How Film Union Works
18:23 - The Challenges Of Being A Freelancer In The Film Industry
20:55 - It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
21:30 - How You Network In The Film Industry
23:10 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 2
33:40 - Sony Santa Monica Has 6 Hour Interviews
35:30 - Naughty Dog Interview Was 20 Minutes
36:19 - Interviewing Process In The Game Industry Now
37:49 - Andrew Would Work On Uncharted 5 If Asked
39:20 - Andrew Had Limited Interactions With Amy & Bruce
40:17 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3
42:39 - Uncharted 3 Piece Got Andrew His Job At Marvel
44:00 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3
59:36 - Where To Follow Andrew

Quentin Cobb is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ironroot Games, he was previously a designer at Naughty Dog on Uncharted 4 & The Last Of Us and did a 5 year stint at Zenimax before on a cancelled project he was laid off.
#uncharted4 #uncharted #thelastofus
SOCIALS
TWITTER - @QTrainCobb
INSTAGRAM @qtrain.cobb/ @I
IronrootGames https://ironrootgames.com/

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Why Quentin Cobb Loves Wutang Clan
01:37 - Crunch On Uncharted 4
04:02 - Working On Lost Legacy
04:40 - Why Quentin Left Naughty Dog
06:07 - Was It Harder To Salvage Uncharted 4 Rather Than Creating A New Game
07:36 - Quentin Worked On Chapter 8 In Uncharted 4
09:00 - Puzzle Sequences Were Difficult In Uncharted 4/Bruce Straley
10:35 - Difficulty Of Making Puzzles
11:50 - Shifting Mindset From Single Player To Multiplayer
13:39 - Why The Last Of Us Was A Life Changing Experience/Working With Bruce Straley
19:30 - Sony Executives Didn’t Believe The Last Of Us Would Succeed
20:30 - Naughty Dog Was Shocked How Well The Last Of Us Was Received
22:30 - Overcoming The Trauma Of Project Blackbird Being Cancelled
27:00 - Indie Dev Community Are Kind & Supportive
28:01 - Ironroot Games New Action-Adventure Project
29:40 - Naughty Dog Teams Were Well Connected/Small Team Sizes
32:00 - AAA Is All About Trends As Opposed To Making Games With A Heart
34:00 - Creating A Unique Game Can Be Tricky
36:30 - Advice From Bruce Straley/Pacing In Games
40:17 - Microsoft Pulled Funding For Bruce Straley’s Indie Game
41:40 - How Devs Try To Get In Front Of Layoffs/AAA Industry Isn’t Stable
43:04 - Naughty Dog Layoffs/No One Is Safe
44:00 - Last Of Us Part II/Quentin Is Glad He Didnt Work On It
45:39 - Working On Last Of Us Part 1 Was Nostalgic
46:30 - Intergalactic/Meeting His Old Naughty Dog Colleagues
48:05 - Quentin Didnt Work Much With Amy & Neil
48:58 - Q+A - Why Was India Chosen For Lost Legacy
50:17 - Is It Easier To Make A Story First Or Design Mechanics First
51:30 - Q+A - How To Get A Design Job At Naughty Dog
54:30 - A Portfolio Is More Important Than A Degree
57:19 - Q+A - What New Things Were Possible Going From PS3 To PS4 For Uncharted
58:55 - Diminishing Returns With The Next Hardware
1:00:30 - Padding In Open World Games
1:03:05 - Where To Follow Ironroot Games & Quentin

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