Console Wars, Oculus, SXSW, Palmer Luckey, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Facebook Concerns with Blake J. Harris

Bestselling author Blake J. Harris talks about the Console Wars documentary premiering at SXSW after 7 long years in the making, along with it being adapted into an upcoming TV series. Hear how all the key people from that era of the SEGA vs Nintendo battle is part of the documentary to capture what it was really like. Learn my perspective from working for the TurbGrafx-16 and going head-to-head with the SEGA Genesis, along with how surprising it was when they started beating Nintendo after losing the 8-bit battle.

Hear how Console Wars changed his life after working as a commodities broker through his 20s while also writing the book until getting picked up by a publisher. Learn how he met the former CEO of SEGA and his unorthodox way of recruiting Tom Kalinske to the company. Learn how CBS All Access will release the documentary along with working on the TV series.

Learn how unusual it was writing The History of the Future and the meteoric rise of the Palmer Luckey and the Oculus VR platform. How the controversy around Luckey caused his firing at Facebook after the Oculus buyout, along with our concerns about Facebook. Hear how he spent 3.5 years writing the book and had access to 25,000 emails to verify people’s stories. Learn how his opinion of VR is tainted, hopes for Nintendo and Apple in the mixed reality space, and the privacy risks around VR.  

Hear how he unwinds with the Nintendo Switch and thoughts about the Sonic the Hedgehog movie listening to fan feedback. Learn thoughts on breaking the stereotype around videogame based movies and books’ not being commercially successful and plans to be on a panel at SXSW along with another anticipated documentary, Josh Tsui’s Insert Coin. 

Resources:

*Blake J. Harris website

*Blake J. Harris Twitter

*Tom Kalinske Twitter

*Al Nilsen Twitter

*Hayao Nakayama (former CEO of SEGA) Wikipedia

*Jordan Vogt-Roberts IMDb

*Mike Rosolio IMDb

*Palmer Luckey Wikipedia

*Third Eye Center website

*Industry Review Boards are Needed to Protect VR User Privacy World Economic Forum

*Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Design To Be Changed Following Criticism Kotaku

*Nintendo vs SEGA Console Wars Movie Premieres in March Game Rant

*Insert Coin trailer SXSW

*Top 15 Game Design Podcasts You Must Follow in 2019 website picked Game Dev Advice at no. 8!

*Level Ex website - we’re hiring for all kinds of roles

*New: Game Dev Advice Patreon

*Game Dev Advice Twitter

*Game Dev Advice email

*Game Dev Advice website

*Game Dev Advice Hotline: (224) 484-7733

*And thanks to Charles Dike Production podcast editing 

*Don't forget to subscribe and go to www.gamedevadvice.com for full show notes with links

About My Guest 

Blake J. Harris is the bestselling author of Console Wars: SEGA, Nintendo and the Battle that Defined a Generation, which is currently being adapted for television by Legendary Entertainment, and producers Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg and Scott Rudin. Harris has written for ESPN, IGN, Fast Company, /Film and The AV Club and appears regularly on Paul Scheer’s How Did This Get Made? podcast (where he interviews the biggest names responsible for the worst movies ever made). His latest book The History of the Future: Oculus, Facebook and the Revolution that swept Virtual Reality was published by HarperCollins in 2019.

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