Game Dev Advice: The Game Developer's Podcast

GDA24 Timestamps:[01:11] Introductions[01:20] COVID-19[02:50] What Are Your Current Roles in the Game Industry?[04:30] Pursuing VR[06:25] Immersive Meditation Experience Through VR[07:40] Babaroga[09:18] How Did You Get Started?[11:30] Video Game QA in the 90s[14:34] What Would You Have Liked to Have Known When You Started?[16:20] Imposter Syndrome as a Newbie Engineer[18:20] What Advice Would You Give to Someone Looking to Get Their First Job?[19:00] Rubber Duck Debugging[19:40] Any Advice for Someone Furthering Their Career?[21:36] Gaming Industry Always on The Edge of Innovation[22:48] What Has Been Your Favorite Project to Work On?[24:00] Working with Judas Priest[26:42] What Are You Curious About Right Now?[27:30] Concerns About the Industry[30:03] Any Funny Stories?[31:38] What Games Are You Playing Right Now?[32:05] Anything That I Should Have Asked You About That I Didn’t?[36:18] Where Can People Find You?[37:15] Meditation As a Tool For Stress[45:08] Closing Thoughts Description: Founder & CEO of Andreja Djokovic speaks on the recent events happening and the impacts it has on the gaming industry. Andreja talks about his current roles as the founder of Babaroga, and his newest project, Third Eye Center. Starting in QA, Andreja has worked his way through the industry and has shown his success with countless collaborations and whole project developments as well as running his company, Babaroga for over 18 years.Hear how Andreja believes that VR is worth pursuing. Even though VR has not seen the adaptation that was expected, he feels that it’s just a matter of time that a tremendous shift will be seen. With Third Eye Center, Andreja has brought meditation to VR. Third Eye Center is a live feed, VR experience that is described as being transformative and immersive.Learn how Andreja was able to get his start in the video game industry. From a witty newspaper ad starting out as a QA and what his first interview question was. You get a peek into what QA in the 90s looked like and learn something that Andreja would tell his younger self. With resilience and persistence, you have the first characteristics needed to succeed in the industry. Hear how even a successful name in the game, had beginnings that started with insecurity and a life lesson he learned that changed how he approached problems.Andreja gives his own advice to those who are looking to get their first job and those who are already in the industry who are wanting to further advance their career. Mentions of the Rubber Duck Debugging Method are explained and how the constant shift in innovation of the industry can excite you.Hear some of Andreja’s favorite games and projects, including working with the band Judas Priest. Talks of what he’s curious about and what concerns he has about the industry is discussed. See how working in the game industry has changed Andreja’s perspective on gaming over the years and his favorite interview question for potential candidates.Lastly, the discussion turns back to the importance of meditation as a tool to allow yourself to process situations and build a space between the stimulus and response in a challenging world.Resources:Guest:*Andreja Djokovic Babaroga website*Andreja Djokovic Twitter*Andreja Djokovic LinkedIn*Third Eye Center WebsiteGame Dev:*New: Game Dev Advice Patreon*Game Dev Advice Twitter*Game Dev Advice email*Game Dev Advice website*Level Ex website - we’re hiring!*Game Dev Advice Hotline: (224) 484-7733In the News:*The Many Ways the Video Game Community is Helping Coronavirus Relief Efforts GamesRadar+ *Gaming Companies Launch ‘Play Apart Together’ to Push WHO Messaging Insider*COVID-19 Global Case Map Johns Hopkins*XR Association Releases Results of Fourth Augmented and Virtual Reality Survey MarTech SeriesBook/Stories:*The Pragmatic Programmer Andrew Hunt & David Thomas*How an On-Air Panic Attack Improved My Life ABC News Dan Harris Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Edwin McRae talks about his role as a narrative designer and the various projects he’s working on. Hear how housesitting in New Zealand allows him to move around and work remotely with clients in the U.S., Poland, Denmark, Germany, and locally. Learn how he was a writer for the #1 soap opera in New Zealand and how he made the jump into game development.Hear what he’d wished he’d know when starting in the industry and what it was like working on hugely popular Diablo II-style Path of Exile game. Learn how being a narrative designer is very different than writing for TV or film along with advice for someone trying to get into games. Learn about procedural generation and the with favorite projects he's worked on. Hear his thoughts on interactive fiction including some of his favorite games like A Dark Room, plus discussion on game engines and a book he’s written. Hear concerns about the ongoing toxic gamer culture and the potential backlash to shady engagement tactics. Learn a controversial opinion on AR, along with accolades for VR. Hear how designers are obsessed with post-apocalyptic storylines and sometimes break the 4th wall of design with continuity issues. Learn now quality TV shows are an inspiration for his narrative design work and what games he’s playing now that influence him.Hear how user experience is one of the most important aspects of narrative design, the importance of online beta play testing, and what happens in focus tests. Learn where to find Edwin online, thoughts on being in the industry now, along with how SIGGRAPH-winning Level Ex is excelling in a unique genre.Resources:*New: Game Dev Advice Patreon*Edwin McRae website*Narrative Design For Indies website*Books website*Facebook site*Game Writer Discord*Path of Exile website*Tencent Wikipedia*80 Days website*Guardian Maia YouTube*Ink Script from Inkle Studios*Project Haven Steam*Drugwars Wikipedia*A Dark Room Wikipedia*Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Wikipedia*Mad Max Wikipedia*Level Ex website*Top 15 Game Design Podcasts You Must Follow in 2019 website picked Game Dev Advice at no. 8!*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 linksAbout My Guest Edwin McRae has been working as a writer and narrative designer in the games industry for ten years. He helps indie and mid-level developers create in-game narratives that work in harmony with game mechanics. More recently, Edwin has written three GameLit novels and a couple of non-fiction books on Narrative Design, the latest of which is coming out in March of 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 linksAbout 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lead Game Designer David Turkiewicz talks about his current role at Phosphor Games, starting in QA, immigrating from Poland as a kid, and how the NES changed his life. Learn how his love for gaming, comics and animation steered him to The American Academy of Art in Chicago. Hear about his lack of confidence held him back from a UI job and decided to start in QA instead. Learn the advice he’d give himself in hindsight with 15 years of experience, along with the initiative he took in QA to use Midway Games’s wiki to learn about game development. His thoughts on the importance of learning and developing games, even if they’re small, and about having passion. Hear advice for mid or senior-level designers, why you need to challenge yourself, and the power of YouTube.Hear about his first designer project on Stranglehold, his indie release SARCOPH, and the challenges of the game market. Learn why he loves the Switch, concerns about the industry, along with what he’s excited about. Learn from his experience in the AR/VR space and working on location-based games, like Predator VR. Hear how I gave him advice which helped him focus on being a designer, later working at a studio on a Facebook world builder that pivoted to social casinos. Learn what it was like during the shift from Facebook gaming to mobile, what games he’s playing now, and how he got his nickname. Hear their thoughts about the importance of creating content, putting it out for the world, getting feedback, and doing it again. Resources:*Turk Twitter*Phosphor Studios website*Alex Ross website*IGDA website*Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks Wikipedia*Midway Games Wikipedia*Unity3D website*Unreal Engine website*John Woo Presents Stranglehold Wikipedia*Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy Eurogamer *SARCOPH App Store*GameSpy Wikipedia*Predator VR Steam preview*Spooky Cool Labs VentureBeat*Discord website*Slack website*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*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 linksAbout My Guest David Turkiewicz is a Game Designer living in Chicago. He started as a QA tester at Midway Games, working on games like Mortal Kombat, NBA Ballers, and Blitz the League. He’s now a Lead Game Designer at Phosphor Studios helping other Designers, Programmers, and Artists work together to bring awesome game worlds to life. Over his career he’s contributed to a diverse list of game including: Predator VR (LBE), Damaged Core (Oculus Rift), Heroes Reborn: Gemini (PS4, XBOX One), Wizard of Oz (Facebook), The Dark Meadow (iOS), Tony Hawk Shred (PS3, XBOX 360), and John Woo Presents Stranglehold (XBOX 360, PS3, PC). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Game Director Chip Sineni talks about the project he’s working on that dates back 20 years and how he got into the industry back in 1994 starting in QA. Learn about odd arrangement of the Beavis and Butt-Head console games each done by different developers. Hear his thoughts about the industry now with tools like Unity3D and Unreal Engine letting developers explore game ideas without publishers, along with challenges to get market attention. Learn thoughts on Twitter’s evolution, how to get into the industry now, and the differences around the type of work and mindsets in Triple-A vs Indie development.Hear a deeper dive on the game engine differences, pros and cons, between Unreal and Unity. Learn about some parallels between his game Corpse of Discovery and Death Stranding. Hear about key lessons he learned working with industry legends like George Gomez, Mark Turmell, Sal Divita, and Ed Boon at Midway Games, including the importance of 60FPS. Learn about the Japanese RPG-inspired game Septerra Core that never found an audience, thoughts about streaming services, and how the industry market leaders and genres are always changing. Learn the challenges of big publishers to figure out what the next breakout game will be, and how ones like Ubisoft have been hammered recently in the marketplace. Hear thoughts on the interesting state of VR, his AR projects, along with difficulties on the platforms. Learn about his A-ha video that went viral, and the Star Wars AR video he created that got covered by the press and upset ILM. Hear thoughts about the slow pace of gender diversity in the industry, his love for Untitled Goose Game, and how genres get resurrected. Resources:*Chip Sineni Twitter*Chip Sineni LinkedIn*Phosphor Studios website*Trixi Studios website*Beavis and Butt-Head Wikipedia*Unity3D website*Unreal Engine website*Corpse of Discovery Kill Screen*Septerra Core Wikipedia*Viacom New Media MobyGames*Grand Theft Auto Online website*Death Stranding Wikipedia*Ubisoft Entertainment Bloomberg*Fragments Asobo Studio website*A-ha AR video Verge*Star Wars AR Mashable*Untitled Goose Game Wikipedia*Goat Simulator website*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*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 linksAbout My Guest Chip Sineni has been professionally making games for over 25 years in Console, PC, Mobile, VR, and AR. Midway and Viacom alumni, currently co-founder of two development studios; PHOSPHOR STUDIOS and TRIXI STUDIOS. Notable titles he’s had significant roles in: Corpse of Discovery, HORN, The Dark Meadow, NETHER, Kinect Adventures, The Brookhaven Experiment, NBC Heroes, Psi-Ops, NFL Blitz, NBA Ballers, MLB Slugfest, Beavis and Butt-Head Virtual Stupidity, and Septerra Core. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NBA Jam writer Reyan Ali talks about being born in the U.S., moving to Pakistan when he was young, and how the NES and Sega Mega Drive II video games influenced him. How the release of NBA Jam got him interested in the NBA, along with getting into Mortal Kombat and working on website in Pakistan. Learn how he wrote a FAQ for the team’s arcade classic The Grid without having actually having played the game by emailing the dev team member John Vogel.Hear how he decided to write a book about NBA Jam after being a longtime freelance journalist writing and interviewing for Rolling Stone, Wired, Spin and other publications. Learn how his extensive pitch to Boss Fight Books helped him land the book deal before having talked to anyone who’d actually worked on the game. Hear about the interview process researching the book, including the CEO of Acclaim, Shaq, John Romero, Nolan Buschnell, musician George Clinton and many others. Learn how the book evolved from just NBA Jam into being a more detailed account of Midway Games, and the fall of arcade games from their peak.Hear how the process created strong relationships with key developers, like Mark Turmell and others. Learn about the surreal process of tracking down and interviewing Shaq. Hear about how much money NBA Jam earned and later ended up being owned by Acclaim. Learn his dream about arcades and companies like Two Bit Circus working to bring them back. Hear what Reyan’s doing now, favorite current games, and plans for the future. Hear him ask me about the challenges at Midway Games during the transition from arcade games to console-only, the resurgence of Mortal Kombat, and thoughts on the company filing for bankruptcy. Resources:*Buy NBA Jam (the book) in print and digital at Boss Fight Books*Order NBA Jam (the book) on Amazon Kindle*Follow NBA Jam (the book) on Twitter*DJ Jazzy Jeff and George Clinton Recall Becoming NBA Jam Hidden Characters Polygon*Sega Mega II (and Genesis) Wikipedia*The Grid Wikipedia*NBA Jam Wikipedia*Two Bit Circus website*RenderWare Wikipedia*Insert Coin YouTube trailer*Raw Thrills website*Level Ex website - we’re hiring for all kinds of roles*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 linksAbout My Guest Reyan Ali is a writer from Columbus, Ohio. His work has been published by Wired, Spin, The Atlantic, The A.V. Club, and alt-weekly papers across the country. Born in Dallas, he grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, where he devoured '90s NBA action almost exclusively through trading cards, Beckett Basketball magazine, and NBA Jam: Tournament Edition on the Sega Mega Drive II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

28-year video game and toy industry veteran Chris Nicolella talks about moving from the U.S. to living in Bangkok as an expat that included some initial challenges. How he started in the video game industry working at NEC’s TurboGrafx-16, then transitioning to NuFX, which was later acquired by Electronic Arts turning into EA Chicago. Hear the challenges of game industry crunching and what it was like in the early 2000s, along with breaking into making iPhone apps on the side.Learn how he transitioned into video game publishing to get his first job at Electronic Gaming Monthly that was like a frat house, then transitioning to the more professionally run GamePro magazine. Hear why he left the publishing business, worked briefly in Florida, plus how we worked together on projects back for Turbo Technologies Inc. and the TurboGrafx-16 consoles.Hear what he wished he’d done earlier in his career and how it might be useful advice for you. How Nintendo was very protective of their games out for reviews and a story about Lebron James and NBA Street Vol. 2. Learn about working on best-selling toys like Giga Pet and the late ‘90s cultural phenomenon that sold 40 million units, Furby. Hear about working on toys for Star Wars: Episode I, II, and III, that included flying out on Hasbro’s jet to Skywalker Ranch and the Halo movie that never came out but had content repurposed for another movie.Learn how in 2006 Marvel launched their own movie studio to create Iron Man film in 2008, which was controversial in some ways. Hear about traveling throughout SE Asia, sobering thoughts on the Hong Kong crisis, advice for breaking into the toy or game development industry, and how to get in touch with him, hosted by John ‘JP’ Podlasek. (See gamedevadvice.com for show links and details.)Resources: *@Ultimatetoy Twitter*chris@set-to-stun.com email*chris-nicolella: Skype*Chris Nicolella LinkedIn*TurboGrafx-16 Wikipedia*NuFX Wikipedia*Electronic Gaming Monthly Wikipedia*GamePro Wikipedia*n-Space Wikipedia*Turbo Technologies Inc. Giant Bomb*Donkey Kong Country Wikipedia*NBA Street Vol 2 Wikipedia*Giga Pet Wikipedia*The History of Furby, the Electronic Pet That Took the Late ‘90s by Storm Bustle*Furby a Threat to National Security? CNN*Why the Halo Movie Failed to Launch WIRED*Iron Man (2008 film) Wikipedia*A Troubled Actor’s Rude Awakening L.A. Times*Giga Pets Amazon*Hong Kong’s Troubles Are Just Beginning Forbes *Expat Guide to Living in Bangkok, Thailand Expatolife*Level Ex website - we’re hiring for all kind of roles!*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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

25-year industry entrepreneur and designer Doc Mack of Galloping Ghost Productions talks about his game production company and working on his arcade fighting game, “Dark Presence”. How the company has mushroomed into creating the biggest arcade in the world (731 games and counting!), a reproductions company, gym and martial arts studio, automotive repair shop, and a pinball arcade. Learn about his desire to work in video games growing up and a chance encounter with a game industry legend spurred him to start the company, plus how the Galloping Ghost arcade opened in 2010 after frustration while researching the arcade market.Hear about what he wishes he’d known when he started, along with how they’ve helped open 29 arcades. Learn how 80,000 people a year go through the arcade and how their passion for arcade records lead them to purchase the scoring house, Aurcade. Learn how he’s able to get rare games that were never commercially released, some current arcade and indie companies, and the resurgence of pinball. Learn thoughts on the current state of arcades and how open play has changed things. Hear about outdated laws he had to overcome and ignorant perceptions proven wrong about violence and video games from examples like the Mortal Kombat “Kombat Kon” 25th anniversary event. Hear how arcades can help people with anxiety or struggling with personal challenges, plus bond as families.  Hear about the challenges for opening an arcade the right way, how location isn’t critical, along with the satisfaction of sharing player excitement for classic games with the original designers. Learn thoughts on mobile and VR games going into arcades, why arcades died off, and what game caused a couple to hitchhike from Oregon. Hear about his passion for shining a spotlight on industry people giving them credit like movies and other forms of media and how to get in touch with him, hosted by John ‘JP’ Podlasek. (See gamedevadvice.com for all the details.)Resources:*Galloping Ghost Productions website*Galloping Ghost Arcade website*Galloping Ghost Arcade Facebook*Galloping Ghost Arcade Twitter*Dark Presence website*Aurcade website*King of Kong Wikipedia*The Spectre Files: Deathstalker YouTube*Beavis & Butt-head Polygon*Raw Thrills website*Killer Queen website*Stern Pinball website*Kombat Kon YouTube*The Grid YouTube*Toru Iwatani Wikipedia*Level Ex website - we’re hiring*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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

+15-year industry veteran John (JJ) Williams of NetherRealm Studios talks about his current role as Advanced Designer at NetherRealm Studios and the challenges we had working on a Disney IP. Learn how he decided to get out of a career as a headhunter with a business degree and into game development. Hear about going back to school for an art degree and getting his first job as a freelance animator on WrestleMania 21. Learn about his first role at Studio Gigante, then Stainless Steel Studios, and missing a job email from Harmonix because of a spam filter. How he got a job at Midway in the QA dept and all the Mortal Kombat games he tested plus working on NBA Ballers 2. How he worked in Unreal Engine building levels showed him his true passion and calling in the industry. Hear how he got his first design role on Midway’s John Woo’s Stranglehold, then went to Vogster Entertainment, saw that close, and went to Disney Interactive’s Wideload Games. Hear about the projects he worked on at Disney including Kingdom Hearts Mobile, and another (well-handled) studio closure.Learn about him branching out to create his own game, Pirate Blitz, with some money from a motorcycle accident, then joined the mobile team at NetherRealm Studios 5 year ago. Hear what he wished he’d known when he started and advice he shares. About the importance of getting that first job and the value of getting into QA, plus stories of working together shipping games. Hear about him branching into narrative design enjoying it. Learn ideas around game design, where to get inspiration from, and the hidden value of GDC. Hear about his favorite projects, which include making his own indie game and the work he’s doing now at NetherRealm. Discussion about games being scapegoated for gun violence since an easy target for politicians. Learn about how the ESRB started and what it looked like from the inside. Hear funny stories about a game industry closures and them getting into an argument that broke out into laughter. Hear thoughts on VR games, the industry, and what’s lacking with AR right now. Learn what future game he’s excited about, plus the ones he’s playing now, along with how to follow him.  Resources:*J.J. Williams Twitter*J.J. Williams website*Mortal Kombat: Armageddon Wikipedia *John Woo’s Stranglehold Wikipedia*Pirate Blitz Polygon*Call of Cthulhu Wikipedia*Pirate Blitz YouTube*Cyberpunk 2077 website*Oxygen Not Included Steam*Level Ex website - we’re hiring*Game Dev Advice Twitter*Game Dev Advice email*Game Dev Advice website*Game Dev Advice Hotline (224) 484-7733 - give a call*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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nick Laing talks about his new role as Senior Publishing Producer at Amazon Games and working before at Turn 10 Studios on the Forza series. Hear how his path diverted from following in his family’s footsteps to going to a specialized comic book artist school. Learn how in the late 90s iconic comic book companies went bankrupt or struggled to stay in business (it’s hard to believe now). Learn how he transitioned those skills to being hired as a Concept Artist and UX Designer for his first industry role. Hear how he then got into Game Design, Lead Art, then Production. Learn about moving to EA’s Orlando studio and working on MMA, NASCAR, their incubation group, and helping on Madden during a 10-year run. Hear how after a recruiter called he moved to Seattle to work on the Forza franchise at Turn 10 Studios for 5 years. Hear what he knows now that he didn’t know when getting into the industry, along with advice for breaking in. Learn what advice he has for others looking to further their career in Production, or any field in general. Hear about EA’s Subject Matter Expert track and how it gives a career path for high output, individual contributors. Learn why NFL Street was one of his favorite series to work on, plus MMA. Hear about work on great games that were commercial failures and how to rebound. Learn about the challenge of designing great game experiences versus using data to drive unhealthy compulsion loops. Hear about his biggest concern for our industry, along with thoughts on good and bad loot boxes. Learn the reasons why he’s bullish on the current state of VR. Hear war stories of submitting discs to console platforms and the crazy challenges of down-to-the-wire deadlines. Hear the games he’s most excited to be playing now online, along with an accurate rant about game industry titles, especially in Production. Learn best and worst Production practices, along with how to follow or get in touch with Nick. Resources:*Nick Laing’s Twitter*Nick Laing’s LinkedIn*Amazon Game Studios website*Lord of the Rings MMO announcement*The Kubert School website*NFL Street 3 Wikipedia*Forza Wikipedia*Beginner’s Mind Wikipedia*Buzz Monkey Software Wikipedia*EA Sports MMA Wikipedia*Level Ex website - and we’re hiring!*Game Dev Advice Twitter*Game Dev Advice email*Game Dev Advice website*Game Dev Advice Hotline (224) 484-7733 - give a call*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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices