Pixel Pizza

Following up on last week's show, we are joined by Sweet Baby CEO Kim Belair! Kim's background writing for games ranges from AAA hits like Assassin's Creed: Valhalla to innovative indies like Lost Your Marbles on the Playdate. She discusses founding the studio and her missions to make the industry more accessible for newcomers and give opportunities to developers from underrepresented backgrounds....

In our first two-part episode, we'll be speaking with a couple super-talented people from the narrative development and consultation studio Sweet Baby Inc! This week our guest is Paula Rogers, a game writer who made a name for herself with the award-winning Neo Cab. She's since taught game design at the University of Texas in Austin and done narrative development for several high-profile studios....

Dang is right! Today we're joined by CEO of the team behind the critically acclaimed shooter Boomerang X, Ben Caulkins! They talk about getting their game picked up by Devolver Digital, taking lessons from your favorite games, and the conversation of pricing vs. game length. Beats supplied by Lukhash! LINKS: 🐦 DANG! Twitter: @Videodang 🎮 DANG! Website: http://dang.computer/ 💿 Lukhash: https://l...

Not skipping a beat, we return this week to chat with a guy who has been all around the industry: Bayaar Lo-Borjiged. We discuss his work on both the east and west coasts, from his surprising start as a Naruto game promoter to his QA work at major companies like Treyarch and 2K to forming the indie studio Skull Fire Games! Our chiptune music of the week comes from Tamás Kátai off his Jupiter 92 LP...

The Reunion draws near...The awesome game composer and DJ, James Landino, returns to Pixel Pizza after our radio run in Boston! He's been up to a lot since then, including writing music for games like No Straight Roads and the hit anime Tower of God. We go over his creative process, how he presents himself professionally, and his new business venture: Rare Drop. And we play music off his newest EP...

Let's get scientific this week and talk with Erica Kleinman, a PhD student currently writing her dissertation at USC Santa Cruz's Game User Interaction and Intelligence Lab. We discuss her research on learning in eSports, decision-making in game narrative, and plenty more. Chiptune music this week comes from Bribed Fuzz!  LINKS: 🎮 GUII Lab: http://guiilab.ucsc.edu 🌐 Erica’s Website: http://...

Yo yo yo yo! This week we're chatting with Brazilian solo game dev LakeFeperd. He's best known for his action-platforming series Spark the Electric Jester. We chat about his roots in the fan game scene, finding your niche, and how to analyze what works and what doesn't in game design. A super informative chat for anyone looking to jump into making their own stuff! With musical interludes from the...

Can you believe it's been over 20 episodes of our gaming/chiptune podcast and we HAVEN'T had an actual chip musician on to interview?? Well, it's time to fix that! That's right, this week we are talking to one of the OGs (and the artist who introduced Jared to chiptune), Philly's own Paul Weinstein aka Chipocrite. We talk about discovering the medium, getting involved with the community scene, and...

🐸🐸 Take a trip to Frog Island with Max Wrighton, intrepid head of Half Past Yellow. We talk about his transition from filmmaking to game dev, the process of naming your game, and wearing multiple hats on a team. Check out their game Time on Frog Island when it launches next month, and enjoy the tunes from Watch Out For Snakes! LINKS: 🐦 Max’s Twitter: @MaxWrighton 🟨 Half Past Yellow: https://ha...

No matter where you are, it’s time for happy hour! We sit down with Tony Grayson, studio head of Summitsphere. They’ve just fully funded their new game on Kickstarter: The wild retro-inspired platformer Antonblast. Tony shares his candid thoughts on pitching to publishers, taking your game beyond its influences, and much more. He’s also responsible for the music in Antonblast, so we’ve got some tr...

Ever wondered what it's like to be a writer for one of gaming's biggest news sites? Get the lowdown on this week's Pixel Pizza featuring Ruby Innes of Kotaku Australia, also an alum of the Gaming Cult Podcast! We chat about developing your personal writing style, spotlighting indie developers, and the differences between print, audio, and video journalism. And the most pressing question of all: WH...

We've got a (mostly) virus-free chat this week with rising indie star Millie Walker, better known as Karatkuro! Our discussion delves into her upcoming monster-catching/3D platformer hybrid Myth Caller: The Nightmare Shaman, the journey of getting into game development via Game Maker, and the importance of being open about your failures. Add in some sick beats from Heavy Viper, and you've got an e...

That nasty BA.2 variant has struck again, but we're powering through to give you the pizza you crave. So excuse the voice as I talk with the prolific content creator Daan Koopman, better known as Nintendaan. Whether it's advising on indie games, covering press events and reviews for Nintendo World Report, or First Look videos on YouTube, the man has done it all and he's here to talk all about it....

In an episode 7 years in the making, I sit down with the one and only Ash Paulsen to discuss his career and involvement in all parts of the industry, from working on games as a lead producer with ShiftyLook and WhatPumpkin to a content creator with GameXplain and his current venture, Good Vibes Gaming! We get real about the challenges he's faced and how making it in the industry isn't always a str...

Hey guess what? I got sick this week. It wasn't fun, and had to push our regularly scheduled recordings back a week. But you know what are fun?? Clip shows! That's right, in true podcast fashion, we're doing a roundup of all 14 of our guests thus far. From each one we've hand-picked a story that was educational, insightful, or just plain funny. Hope y'all enjoy and we'll see you next week when SEA...

We've got another pair of guests this week! This time our dynamic duo is the Allanson brothers, indie developers you may know from their games Two Brothers and YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG. Together we have a great chat about their formative years making games, processing online feedback both constructive and hateful, and the massive I.V. update coming to YIIK. Since Andrew is also Ackk's lead composer...

Can you smmmelllll what Pixel Pizza's cookin'? (This is the only wrestling reference I know, please do not expect any more) This week we chat with another longtime friend of the show, Niharika Jain! As a technical artist at 2K Games, she recently shipped her first AAA title- WWE 2K22. Niharika tells us about her journey to this point, what she's learned about the animation process, and much more....

In the podcast crossover of the century, Jake Innes of the Gaming Cult Podcast (which recently ended its ten-year run) joins Pixel Pizza for a postmortem on the long-running show, a dive into its various influences, and of course a healthy dose of worldwide opinions on obscure and up-to-date gaming. Since Jake is also an accomplished DJ in the footwork scene, we play some of his most recent tracks...

Pixel meets Pixel when I talk with Lex Oberwetter, writer of the cult indie game Pixel Puzzle Makeout League! We dive deep into Lex's writing process, their approach to character dialogue, and current games we've been enjoying with great writing. Supplying the tunes this time around is Polish chip musician Kono Neko!  LINKS: 🐦 Lex's Twitter: @LexGetDangerous 🧩 Pixel Puzzle Makeout League: h...

Here we are at Episode X! I'm joined by my oldest and closest friend, the one and only Alyssa Menes, to discuss her work composing and sound designing for games ranging from indies to AAA, as well as her current venture as conductor of the New Jersey Gamer Symphony Orchestra! This week also marks the 10th anniversary of our shared favorite game, Kid Icarus: Uprising, so of course we sing its prais...

Guten Tag! We continue the Pixel Pizza World Tour with a stop in Germany to chat with Marcus Horn, better known as Siactro. His budget 3D platformers Toree 3D, Toree 2, and MacBat 64 have made a big splash on the Switch eShop. We talk about the evolution of the indie scene, communicating your vision in marketing, and finding your niche audience. Plus an EXCLUSIVE special announcement! With chiptun...

Pixel Pizza goes international this week as we talk with French composer and sound designer Charles Bardin! We talk about analyzing game music, taking risks in the creative process, and his newly-released game, A Musical Story! With musical breaks from another talented French artist, Throno Crigger! LINKS: 🧀 Glee-Cheese Studio: https://www.glee-cheese.com/ 🎸 A Musical Story: @A_Musical_Story 🎮...

Today I'm joined by Peter Lazarski, longtime indie dev and lover of all things that go bump in the night! We chat about his career in both the indie space and at a larger game company, his development streams on Twitch, and how Dungeons and Dragons has influenced the way he makes games. Featuring some fitting tunes from Witch Café!  LINKS: 🎃 Peter's Website: www.imaginarymonsters.com 🖥 Peter...

New week, new guest! This time we're chatting with talented voice actor Alana Marie Cheuvront, who's appeared in hit games like Observer: System Redux and Trials of Mana. As a fellow voice actor it was a real treat to talk with her about getting into character and giving honest performances. Enjoy the discussion and the music courtesy of KELChip!  LINKS: 🎙 Alana's Website: http://www.alanamar...

This week we have not one, but TWO guests joining us to talk about their games! Denny McCorry and Lesther Reynoso run the indie gaming outfit Possum House Games, where they make pixelated projects of all kinds, from shepherd sim Heavy is the Crown to the upcoming shooter TankPig. It was especially cool hearing both an artistic and technical perspective! Plus great music from another upstate NY nat...