Pixel Pizza

Get ready for a tootin' good time with the creator of viral hit Trombone Champ, Dan Vecchitto! We chat about making games in Brooklyn, "yes and"-ing your game ideas, and even get a bit real about the emotional weight of games. But make no mistake, this is still very much an episode about the world's premiere virtual trombone simulator(?). For you to fully understand the Trombone Champ experience,...

Choose your pizza and get ready to fight on this week's episode! Matt DeLucas is in the (Zoom) house talking about making his own fighting games, Battle High and MerFight. And it's not only those-- he's been working with the studio Fighting Chance on their drag queen-inspired fighter, Drag Her! Plenty of cool game design nuggets on this episode. Plus, MisfitChris gives us some throwback trance off...

It's a double order of pizza this week when PS1/Dreamcast-inspired musician Pizza Hotline (aka Harvey Jones) joins the show! He's just released the new album Level Select. It's been a smash hit not only on all the streaming platforms, but also on PS1 and Dreamcast discs?! We get into that, plus how to create a sonic mood board, promoting your work, and performing in VR Chat! This week's musical in...

Welcome back, Pixel Pizza community! This week we are joined by Kay-Lynne Fehr, Community Manager at Noodlecake Studios. Noodlecake is both a developer and a publisher-- you might've heard of their in-house games like Golf Blitz and their collaborations like Soundfall. Kay-Lynne tells us about her role in helping to launch both types of games and managing their player bases post-launch. If you've...

The year is 2022...and Pixel Pizza is chatting with one of the UK's most prolific gaming content creators, Daniel Ibbertson - better known as DJ Slope! You may know him from his popular YouTube series "The Complete History" and "Kickscammers", or from his live podcast called the Slopescast. We delve into all three of those, plus his work as an actual DJ, how he transitioned into being a full-time...

Prepare to vibe out with some chill beats from this week's guest, Joe Burke (better known as Obfusc)! His ambient tracks have been featured in hit indie games like Monument Valley, Neocab, and Harlow. Joe talks about his process of gathering field recordings, how he collaborates with devs to understand their vision for the sound of the game, and how he transitioned from having his tracks featured...

Join us this week on the Pixel Pizza Podcast for a special chat with PR pioneer Matt Atwood! Matt's been around the block, starting as a voice actor for Working Designs in the 90's to mastering the world of gaming PR at companies like Sega, Capcom, 2K, and EA. We chat about how the process has changed in that time, as well as more practical tips like how to communicate the essence of what makes a...

Time to make the impossible possible! This week on the show we've got art director and industry veteran Vincent Perea. You may have seen his work at studios like Disney Interactive and Jam City, or on indie hits like Neocab and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. He gives some insightful thoughts on the different ways that art direction can work together with game design, plus much more! Takin...

Prepare for trouble...the good kind! Joining in this week is Arman Nobari, the founder of Good Trouble Games. He discusses how his background in UX and portrait art and a battle with cancer and a brain tumor (CW if that subject is sensitive to you) led him to create his own game, Harlow! Also very excited to have music from an artist I've long been a fan of, Mega Flare! LINKS: 🎮 Good Trouble Game...

Knock knock! New pizza at the door. This time it's with a couple of awesome peeps from Black Cube Games: Narrative Designer Ehsan Tahmoures, and Gameplay/Tools Programmer Hosein Akbari! We chat about their recent release, The Tale of Bistun. It's an adaptation of a Persian myth and it's been getting rave reviews from around the world. Hear all about it and then go check it out on Xbox or PC! Music...

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...