Kiwi Talkz

Jérémy Hartvick is.a former designer at Rockstar, best known for his work on RDR2 and GTA 6 (he left Rockstar in 2020). In this episode, Jérémy shares insights from his experience at Rockstar, discussing leadership, mission design, technical challenges, and the future of game development. CONSULTING WEBSITE - https://jeremyhartvick.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:03 - Having A Good Leader At Rock...

Matt Radford was a VFX Artist on TLOU and Uncharted 4, he began research into volumetric rendering during the development of Uncharted 4 and that led to it being used in TLOU Part 2. He has now founded his own studio 5th-Corner which is also the name of his studio's upcoming game. #uncharted #uncharted4 #unrealengine WEBSITE - https://www.5th-corner.com/ X - @mradfo21 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:3...

Emanuel Palalic was a former character artist on DOOM 2016 & DOOM Eternal he has now founded the studio emptyvessel and is working on their indie game DEFECT (which looks sick). https://www.emptyvessel.io/ TWITTER/INSTAGRAM - @epalalic ARTSTATION - https://www.artstation.com/drheadpop @emptyvesselplay #doom #doometernal #idsoftware TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Working With Teams On Differe...

Andrew Willis was a producer on DOOM TDA & Revelations and planned on staying at ID Software till retirement, till the dreaded Microsoft layoffs. In this episode he covers his time at ID Software and the terrible layoffs. #doom #doomthedarkages #idsoftware TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - Going From Manager At A Pizza Place To ID Software Producer 06:38 - Why ID Software Culture Was So Great 0...

The legendary Shawn Layden returns to provide wisdom on things surrounding the video game industry. As was the case last time, I tried to ask him a lot of stuff he hasn't been asked before. Enjoy!! TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro/Shawn Layden Made Kiwi Smarter 01:49 - Differences Between Working At Sony’s Offices In Japan,UK & US 05:45 - How The Japanese Felt When Sony HQ Moved From Tokyo To Californ...

Rico Flores is an animator who is best known for his tenure on Uncharted 3 & 4, he is currently at emptyvessel working on their game DEFECT #uncharted4 #uncharted #uncharted3 TWITTER - @r1c00 WEBSITE - https://www.emptyvessel.io/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - Animating Doors Is Tedious/Naughty Dog Has A Door System 03:12 - Being Chucked In The Deep End On Uncharted 3/How Rico Got Hired 08:1...

Kris Roberts was a former designer on Midnight Club 3, Los Angeles and Red Dead Redemption, in this episode he talks about his work at R*. WEBSITE - https://www.robertsmania.com/ T WITCH - https://www.twitch.tv/robertsmania YOUTUBE - @Robertsmania TWITTER - @Robertsmania #rockstargames #midnightclub #reddeadredemption TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - How Kris Got Into Cars 01:58 - Working On Midni...

Varun Mayya is an entrepreneur, content creator, author and now he is venturing into game development and working on India's most ambitious game ever. Unleash The Avatar #unleashtheavatar #indiangaming See the latest trailer gameplay footage here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_zBp21BWI0 WEBSITE - https://www.unleashtheavatargame.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:28 - Varun Loves The Mechanics O...

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...

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 - Wo...

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 Co...

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 -...

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 0...

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:/...

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 O...

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...

Rob Carr is an audio designer who is best known for his tenure at Rockstar Games on L.A. Noire, RDR1, GTA 5 and RDR2. He is currently living in Finland working on his game Nyrkkipöytä #rockstargames #gta #gta5 WEBSITE - https://audioexpat.wordpress.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - How Rob Went From Being A Music Teacher To Working At Rockstar Leeds 07:51 - Moving From Handheld Games To Consol...

I got some of the old devs who worked on Fallout to help review Season 2 of the Fallout series. Bruce Nesmith got the time wrong so didnt join until the last 20 minutes. #fallout #falloutnewvegas #bethesda TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Fallout Is The Best Video Game Adaptation Of All Time 02:21 - Fallout S2 Thoughts Overrall 05:40 - Macauley Caulkins Acting 06:48 - Walton Goggins/The Ghoul 07:44 - Ella Purne...

Featurecast is a DJ turned video game composer, he is most associated with @BitmapBureau and his most recent work was his stellar work on Terminator 2D No Fate. #terminator #terminator2 #terminator2dnofate TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:19 - How The Name Featurecast Came About 04:05 - Working With Bitmap Bureau 08:57 - Learning To Make SFX While Doing It 10:50 - Getting Creative Freedom On Terminator...

Jay Epperson is a concept artist who is probably most famous for his concept art on Donkey Kong Country Returns and especially on Tropical Freeze. #nintendo #donkeykong #donkeykongcountry Thanks to the Patreon Producers for making this happen Stipe, Borkey, Magic8 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:35 - How Jay Went From Being An Illustrator To Becoming A Concept Artist At Retro 04:50 - Interview Process...

Denis Dyack is a legend in the industry and one of the few devs who has been exposed to both the Japanese and Western way of designing games. He is the man behind Legacy Of Kain and Eternal Darkness. I spoke with him in 2023 and he returns to promote his new game Deadhaus Sonata #nintendo #legacyofkain #epicgames My first interview with him is here https://youtu.be/Txt85DT68rQ WEBSITE - https://de...

Alpha 7 is a professional mocap studio that was spun off from owner Maciej Kwiatkowski from working with CD Projekt RED( He played Geralt in the Witcher from 1 through to III.) Staff as follows Maciej Kwiatkowski, Madeline Page and Michal Derlicki #cdprojektred #witcher #cyberpunk2077 SOCIAL MEDIA INSTAGRAM MACIEJ - @maciej_kaskader MADELINE - @madeline_maddie_page MICHAL - @derlickimichal WEBSITE...

I am joined by Kynan Pearson (Senior Designer on DKC Returns) and Ted Anderson (Environmental Artist on DKC Returns & Tropical Freeze) to review DKC Bananza #donkeykongbananza #donkeykong #donkeykongcountry TED ANDERSONS UPCOMING GAMES https://store.steampowered.com/app/3565460/Tahitian_Driftin/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/3968340/Foolish_Earthlings/ TED ANDERSONS GAME STUDIO PROMOTION...

Joe Houston who worked on Demon Souls Remake joins me to review the GTA of indie games Hollow Knight:Silksong!! I did an interview with him a number of years ago, which you can find here. https://youtu.be/skAWid5zYfg #silksong #hollowknight #hollowknightsilksong TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:40 - Silksong Overview 01:30 - Silksong’s Difficulty/The Purpose Of Difficulty In Games 07:10 - Runbacks 10:5...

In this engaging conversation, Filip Coulianos, co-founder of Keepsake Games, discusses his journey in game development, the influence of Half-Life 2 on his career, and the creative processes behind his latest project, Jump Space. He shares insights on addressing motion sickness in games, the importance of marketing for indie developers, and the evolving landscape of the gaming industry. The discu...