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Kiwi Talkz

Sports & Recreation Podcasts

Podcast with various Video Game developers as well as other people involved in entertainment such as TV/Film

Location:

United States

Description:

Podcast with various Video Game developers as well as other people involved in entertainment such as TV/Film

Language:

English


Episodes
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Fallout Season 2 Review With Former Fallout Devs (Jonah Lobe, Bruce Nesmith etc.)

3/14/2026
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 Purnell’s Accent As Lucy 08:40 - The Deathclaws 17:05 - The Prydwens/Factions 18:06 - Brotherhood Of Steel Tone Was Wrong 18:50 - Trust The Audience More/Have More Talking Instead Of Actions Scenes 20:21 - S2 Is A Setup For S3/The Roaches Were Scarier Than The Deathclaws 21:07 - Release Strategy 21:56 - Super Mutants/Ron Perlman 26:15 - Super Mutants In Fallout 4/Todd Howard’s Direction 26:50 - Deprioritize Brotherhood Of Steel In Fallout 5 28:10 - Bethesda’s Views On Fallout New Vegas 31:45 - Where Will S3 Go?/The Toddification Might Cause A Degrade 33:00 - Thaddeus/Keep The Show Low Key & Not Focused On Spectacle 35:55 - Casuals Buying The Games As A Result Of The Show 36:37 - Fallout 3 Remaster Will Release After S3/Remasters 37:50 - Bethesda Games Won’t Be Remade 38:57 - Deathclaw Differences Between Fallout 3 & 4 40:10 - Favourite Scenes 46:18 - Devs Give The Show A Score Out Of 10 47:00 - Making The Show Go On Indefinitely 48:13 - Bruce Nesmith Joins & Gives His Review 50:25 - Bruce’s Hopes For S3 50:45 - Will The Show Influence Fallout 5 51:56 - Bethesda Will Give Fallout 5 To Someone Else/Todd Howard 55:45 - Todd Howard’s Retirement 59:22 - Story Threads In S3 Will Be Less 1:01:20 - Hank’s Story/Will The Ghoul’s Story End In S3 1:03:30 - Practical Effects 1:04:59 - Actors Everyone Would Like In A Cameo 1:10:09 - Final Thoughts

Duration:01:15:10

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#202 - Featurecast Interview On Terminator 2D No Fate, Composing, Brad Fiedel, Sound Design....

3/7/2026
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 2D No Fate 14:30 - Scrapping Music And Starting From Scratch/Reviews Praising The Soundtrack 15:45 - Trusting Your Gut 16:00 - How Featurecast Composed For Terminator 2D No Fate 18:10 - Researching The T2 Score/Recreating The Score For T2D No Fate 20:58 - Easter Eggs From T1 & T2 Score/T1000 Death 22:31 - Having The T2 Score On Loop To Prepare/Different Genres In The Music 24:15 - Melody/Terminator Film Scores Don’t Have Melody 26:50 - Blurring The Line Between Music & Sound Design 28:00 - Later Terminator Movies Didnt Capture Brad Fiedels Musical Identity 29:30 - Different Time Signatures/Police Station Time Signature/Future Level 3 31:20 - Writing & Mixing At The Same Time 34:56 - Making The Soundtrack Loud For Bitmap Bureau Games 36:00 - Playing The Game For Inspiration On The Music 38:05 - Music In The Escape From Hospital Level/Bitmap’s Custom Engine 40:10 - Recording The T1000 SFX/Creating SFX/Finding Your Own Way Of Doing Things 43:01 - Not Wanting To Be Influenced By Other Music 44:25 - Going Back And Listening To Your Own Music/LEGO Breakfasts 46:28 - It’s Not What You Know But Who You Know 48:12 - No Longer DJing In Clubs/Patreon/Mashups 51:49 - Q+A - What Drives Composition For Licensed Material 53:22 - Dealing With Imposter Syndrome 54:00 - Playing Music For The Devs The First Time 57:14 - Q+A - What Is Your Favourite Moment From Terminator 2 59:08 - Q+A - What Are Your 3 Favourite VST Instruments 1:00:42 - Changing VSTs For Every Project 1:03:26 - Closing Comments

Duration:01:04:46

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#201 - Jay Epperson Interview On Retro Studios, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 7, Concept Art.....

2/28/2026
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 At Retro/Getting Artists To Draw In Interviews 07:22 - Coming In As A Concept Artist Towards The End Of DKC Returns 10:20 - Retro’s Environmental Artists Were Smart 11:13 - Jay’s Art Is In The DK Theme Park 13:15 - Working With Designers 16:10 - Doing Concept Art On Tropical Freeze 18:42 - Choosing Vikings Over Aliens For The Concept 19:57 - Tikis Vs Snowmads/Reusing Assets 21:20 - Why The Ice World Is The Last Level 22:00 - Sales On Wii U/Coming Up With The Different World Themes 25:06 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Juicy Jungle World 29:27 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Water World 31:11 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Mangroves World/Cut Concepts 32:38 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Savannah World 33:18 - Showing Portfolios To Potential Employers Without Breaking NDAs 33:50 - There Arent Limitations On The DK IP 34:35 - Referencing Rare’s Work 35:33 - Nintendo Japan Were Hands Off On Concept Art 36:22 - Working On Mario Kart 7/Jay Isn’t Included In The Credits 38:30 - Jay’s Outlook “My Next Piece Will Be My Best Piece” 40:25 - Japan & Retro Testing Mario Kart 7 41:06 - Jay Reviews DK Bananza 25:29 - Jay Thinks DK Bananza Is A One Off 47:00 - Jay Doesnt Like K Rool’s Character Design 50:39 - DK’s New Look 52:22 - Why Jay Left Retro Studios 53:20 - Retro Studios Is One Of The Best Studios To Work For 54:00 - Retro Studios Art Team/Metroid Prime 4 55:35 - Nintendo Are Art Forward Not Technology Forward 56:35 - Will Retro Work On Donkey Kong Again? 57:35 - Will Retro Work On Metroid Prime 5/Would Jay Work On DK Again If Retro Asked 59:40 - Closing Comments

Duration:01:01:31

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#200 - Denis Dyack Interview On Nintendo, Eternal Darkness, Deadhaus Sonata, AI, Epic Lawsuit......

2/14/2026
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://deadhaussonata.com/ TWITTER - @DDyack TWITTER - @DeadhausGame TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:00 - Whats Changed In 3 Years Regarding Deadhaus Sonata 05:02 - Deterministic Systems/Quantum Theory 12:00 - Why Taking A Break Benefited The Project/Celestial Clock 14:50 - Weather Physics/Zelda: BOTW/History 20:20 - The Game Will Live Forever/Stop Killing Games 25:20 - The Different Engines Used For Deadhaus Sonata/Unreal Engine 5 27:40 - Why Unreal 5 Games Are Badly Optimised/The Industry Is In Dire Straits 34:20 - GTA 6’s Impact On The Industry/AAA Games Are Too Big In Size 37:29 - Denis’s Thoughts On Resident Evil/Pitching A Game To Nintendo 42:00 - Western Publishers Only Care About Graphics 44:00 - Embracers Demise/Why Pitching Games Now Is So Hard 47:28 - Game Devs Are Terrified Of Nintendo Treehouse 51:20 - How Marketing Teams Look At Games/Lack Of Innovation 53:50 - Getting Investment For Games/Denis Couldnt Get Funding 58:30 - U.S. Culture/Talent/ Japan’s Advantage Over The Rest Of World In Game Development 1:01:50 - Darwinism/People Misunderstand AI 1:12:20 -Technology Doesnt Save Time 1:19:30 - Why Nintendo Will Easily Survive The Dire Times InThe Industry 1:22:15 - AI In Games Can Beneift Gamers 1:24:20 - Prophecy Of Tothe 1:28:09 - Silicon Knights Demise Deeply Hurt Denis/Society Is Crumbling 1:29:30 - Making Up With Epic & Tim After The Lawsuit 1:32:10 - Working With Tanabe/Friendship With Iwata 1:35:00 - Exploitation In The West/Denis Is A Japanese Developer 1:38:00 - Why Miyamoto/Kojima Are One Of A Kind 1:41:11 - Denis Was Crushed When Miyamoto Wasnt Impressed By Realistic Graphics 1:44:10 - Denis Changed Deadhaus Sonata Art From Realistic To Stylized 1:46:15 - Criticism Of Game Trailers/CGI Trailers 1:48:48 - Q+A - Who Came Up With TV Change Effect In Eternal Darkness 1:50:30 - Q+A - What Would A Hyperthetical Sequel To Legacy Of Kain Be 1:57:53 - Q+A - Nintendo’s Approach To Marketing On Eternal Darkness 2:00:02 - Eternal Darkness On NSO/Possible Remake And Sequel 2:02:10 - Worldbuilding In Legacy Of Kain & Eternal Darkness/Narrative Games 2:07:41 - Q+A - Adding Transitions In Eternal Darkness Because The Gamecube Loaded Too Fast 2:10:00 - Consoles Are All The Same Now/AAA Is Now A Bad Moniker 2:13:45 - Closing Comments

Duration:02:16:14

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#199 - Alpha 7 Interview On Witcher IV, Witcher III, Motion Capture, CD Projekt Red, Poland and more....

12/27/2025
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 - https://alpha7.pro/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - Mocap Performers Training Regime 03:21 - Gameplay Sessions/Behind The Scenes Of Mocap 04:44 - Advantages Of Mocap Over Shooting On Location 05:45 - Differences Between Mocap In Film & Video Games 07:50 - Motion Capture Changes From Witcher I To Witcher IV 11:21 - Becoming Geralt In The Witcher 14:35 - How The Game Industry Changed In Poland After Witcher III/CD Projekt RED 18:00 - Poland Has An Advantage Over America Now In Terms Of Development Costs 21:23 - Working On The Witcher IV Trailer 25:09 - How They All Met/You Need To Be A Good Actor To Do Mocap 31:35 - Males & Females Playing The Opposite Gender In Mocap 36:55 - Explaining Motion Capture Is Hard To Do Through Words/Gollum 37:50 - Most Challenging Characters To Work On 42:28 - Doing Mocap Despite Being In Pain 43:39 - How Alpha 7 Started 49:21 - Q+A - What Equipment You Need To Do Mocap At Home 52:50 - Q+A - What Is Special About Working With CD Projekt Red 58:55 - Q+A - Benefits & Drawbacks Of AI In Motion Capture & Game Development 1:05:45 - Where To Follow Alpha 7/Gaming Industry Advantages Over Hollywood

Duration:01:13:17

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DK Bananza Review With Former Donkey Kong Country Devs!!!

12/20/2025
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 IN AUSTIN TEXAS INFO IS HERE https://www.oddwoodbrewing.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:39 - 2D Sections In DK Bananza 02:45 - Voxel Tech Limiting DK Bananza/Destructible Terrain 06:15 - Animal Transformations/Nintendo’s Design Philosophy Evolution 17:29 - DK Bananza Is A Beautiful Mess/Honouring Rare’s Contributions 22:00 - DK Bananza Music/David Wise’s Absence Is Felt 26:15 - Nostalgia In Nintendo Games 27:10 - Favourite Layer Debate spoilers 30:20 - Void Kong 31:53 - The Final Boss/Ending ***SPOILERS*** 37:50 - Nintendo Universe Merging 40:51 - Mario & DK Crossover 42:50 - DK Bananza Was Built On The Foundation Of Odyssey 43:49 - DK Bananza Control Scheme 51:20 - Voxel Terrain/Camera Issues 53:33 - Art Direction Of The Final Boss 55:30 - Void Kong Boss Fight/Ending Build Up 58:07 - Pauline Singing Mechanics 01:00:28 - Donkey Kong Film 01:02:03 - Closing Comments/Pixel Arcades

Duration:01:03:37

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REVIEW - Hollow Knight: Silksong (With Demon Souls Dev)

11/8/2025
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 10:54 - Bosses Of Silksong 13:40 - Progression Doesnt Help With The Difficulty 16:20 - Top Moments In The Game/Story 19:50 - Best Areas In Silksong 22:45 - Demon Souls & Dishonored Shaping Joe’s Views On Silksong 26:37 - Why Demon Souls Remake Didnt Have An Easy Mode/Silksong Nerfs 29:10 - Team Cherry Sticking To It’s Vision/Serving Core Players 31:30 - Silksong Is Too Long/Length In Games 35:12 - Replayability 37:45 - Bosses That You Die on The Most 39:37 - Will Silksong Win GOTY/GOTY Nominees 44:05 - Specificity Of Silksong 45:09 - Tastes In Games Change As You Get Older 48:18 - Distribution Model Of Games 50:00 - Team Cherry’s Intentions/Devs Get Bored While Developing Games 52:00 - Playtesters On Games 56:00 - Team Cherry Won’t Make An Easy Mode/Achievements Provide Data To Devs 58:30 - WHATS MORE IMPORTANT TO DEVS - PLAY TIME OR SALES? 1:00:20 - Vertical Slices/Why A Games Quality Can Be All Over The Place 1:02:40 - Closing Comments/Silksong DLC

Duration:01:05:23

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#196 - Filip Coulianos Interview On It Takes Two, Josef Fares, FPS Cameras, Nintendo & Jump Space

10/25/2025
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 discussion also touches on the impact of working with Josef Fares and the lessons learned from successful titles like It Takes Two. #jumpspace #ittakestwo #fpsgames TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:42 - Half-Life 2 Is The Citizen Kane Of Video Games 01:52 - Becoming A Video Game Designer 03:34 - How Half-Life 2 Influenced Jump Space 06:00 - FPS Evolution/Animation Is Key To A Good FPS Camera 09:10 - Motion Sickness In FPS Games 14:30 - Moving Between First Person & Third Person In Jump Space 17:30 - Camera Techniques/It Takes Two Camera 19:19 - It Takes Two Devs Studied Super Mario 64 & Odyssey To Make The Game 23:20 - The Making Of It Takes Two 28:22 - Working With Josef Fares 36:30 - Why Filip Left Hazelight/Having The Idea Of Jump Space Since 2012 41:43 - Jump Space’s Popularity/Daniel Kaplan’s Importance/Marketing 48:00 - Jump Space’s Early Access Release Was Threatened By Silksong And GTA 6 51:09 - Jump Space’s Release Date 52:00 - The Cost Of Game Development/Why So Many Game Studios Close 57:38 - Where The Term AAA Came From/Some Games Will Survive The Game Studio Apocalypse 59:37 - Studios Need To Sell 10 Million Units To Break Even On $100 Million Budget 1:02:10 - Sweden Game Industry/Filip Was Determined To Succeed In The Game Industry 1:05:15 - Will Jump Space Be Relased On Switch 2/PS5? 1:08:17 - Where To Follow Keepsake Games & Jump Space

Duration:01:09:29

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#195 - Joshua Jay Interview On Fallout 4, 76, Starfield, Gears Of War, Todd Howard & Creation Engine

10/4/2025
Joshua Jay was a former world artist at Bethesda who worked on Fallout 4, 76 & Starfield, prior to that he was a world artist on the Gears Of War trilogy. Josh built a living saloon set in the style of Fallout 76 here! Check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7gBi3_lyag&t=167s #fallout #starfield #gearsofwar JOSHUAS ARTWORK CAN BE FOUND HERE https://www.joshuajayart.com/ https://www.artstation.com/joshua_jay_art TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:38 - Lord Of The Rings/Kurt Kuhlmann 04:18 - Building A Fallout 76 Saloon 13:43 - Todd Howard/Early Work On Fallout 4 17:51 - Fallout 4’s Colour Palette 19:00 - Josh’s Work On Fallout 4’s World Art 21:38 - Josh’s Gears Of War 3 Art Was Inspired By Fallout 3 22:30 - Epic Games Base Their Games On Licensing/Bethesda Vs Epic Culture 25:10 - Unreal Engine Vs Creation Engine 28:20 - Problems Developing Fallout 76 33:25 - Why Fallout 76 Wasnt Delayed/Starfield Was Delayed Due To F076 35:18 - Josh & Kiwi Butcher Shigeru Miyamoto’s Quote 37:00 - Game Development Costs/Fallout 5 38:45 - What Josh Wants To See In Fallout 5 40:15 - Fallout TV Show Being 5 Seasons/TV Shows With Filler 42:50 - Video Games With Filler/Alien Isolation 45:15 - Video Games Should Be Shorter/Elder Scrolls VI/Rockstar Games 48:30 - Josh Got Burned Out On Gears Of War/Josh Avoided Starfield For As Long As Possible 52:40 - Working On Starfield 53:30 - Q+A - How Bethesda Seamlessly Transition From Different Biomes In Their Games 58:09 - Q+A - Were There Talks For Smaller Galaxies In Starfield In Pre-Production 59:25 - Game Devs Not Having Time To Play Games/Josh Doesnt Play Many Games These Days 1:01:42 - Josh Loves Shadow Of Mordor & War 1:02:10 - Q+A - How Was Josh’s Day Organised In A Pie Chart At Epic & Bethesda 1:04:45 - Pros & Cons Of Big & Small Studios/Star Wars Games 1:07:32 - Josh Loves & Hates The Industry/Story Of Soldiers In Afghanistan 1:11:24 - Josh Tells A Touching Story Of A Fallout Fan Who Died 1:16:41 - Outro

Duration:01:18:32

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#194 - GOG Interview On Game Preservation, DRM, Japanese Laws, Stop Killing Games.......

8/17/2025
GOG is a digital distribution platform with a mission to preserve video games. I spoke with 3 employees Piotr(Senior PR), Marcin (Senior Business Developer) and Adam(Technical Producer). #gog #gamepreservation #pcgaming SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - https://www.gog.com/en/ X - @GOGcom NOTE: Unfortunately the guys had some technical and internet issues, so we needed to use Google Meet to record this so the audio quality and even the video feed arent up to my usual standard, this is also why the layout is different to my usual format. Apologies for this, the guys are keen to do another one at some point, so if you would like that then like this post. timestamps 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - FFVII Is The Best Game Ever/Why Final Fantasy Isnt On GOG Yet 03:29 - Japanese Publishers Are Coming Around To No DRM In Games 08:50 - Why No DRM Is Important/Games Are Aging Slowly 11:10 - Making GOG Viable For Publishers From A Cost Perspective 16:34 - Working Around The Rights/Japanese Rights Are Very Complicated 21:05 - GOG Preservation Program 27:05 - GOG Has A Small Amount Of QA People/GOG’s Internal Tools 31:48 - Simplying The Tools To Preserve Games 32:58 - GOG’s Thoughts On AI 36:01 - Working With Sony Was A Milestone/Japanese Publisher GOG Wants To Get 38:20 - Offline Launchers 40:20 - People Approaching GOG With Rights To Games/System Shock 2 43:29 - Gamers Care More About Gameplay Than Graphics Now 49:57 - Q+A - What Has Enabled GOG To Give Away Free Games On Twitch/Amazon Prime 52:34 - Q+A - Recreating Box Art & Manuals For Old Games 55:55 - Q+A - Will GOG Collaborate With Stop Killing Games Initiative 58:30 - Working With Politicians In The EU 59:10 - Most Important Lesson Piotr Learned From His Late Uncle(THIS IS FUNNY ASF LOL) 1:00:46 - Closing Comments

Duration:01:01:48

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#193 - David O'Reilly Interview On GTA 6, GTA V, RDR2, Rockstar Games, Gameworld Art and AI.....

7/27/2025
David O'Reilly is a former game developer who is best known for his work at Rockstar on GTA, RDR2 and GTA VI, yes you read that right he worked on GTA VI up until 2023 when he left the video game industry. He now has a Youtube channel where he reviews environmental art in games. David's Youtube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@Game-World-Art #rockstargames #gta6 #rdr2 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:30 - Having Imposter Syndrome Working At Rockstar 04:30 - Having A Good Manager 06:05 - Doing Caves For GTA V 08:29 - Doing Environmental Easter Eggs In Rockstar Games 10:11 - Rockstar Devs Dont Even Know Whats In Their Games At Release 12:53 - David’s Art On GTA VI/The Tech Process At Rockstar 15:01 - David Will Be Going Into GTA VI As A Fan 16:13 - David Hopes His Name Is In The Credits Of GTA VI 17:34 - Character & Environmental Artists Dont Work Together/Trevor Motion Capture Sequence 18:42 - Problems With Art In Ubisoft Games 20:59 - The Houser Brothers 23:11 - Why David Left Rockstar/Burnout 27:00 - Telling People You Worked On GTA 29:00 - David’s Youtube Channel 33:00 - How David Decides What Games To Play On Youtube 35:15 - Sending Devs To U.S. To Use For Reference Footage 39:15 - Different Leads For Each Rockstar Game/Changes In Development Processes 40:40 - Art Is Becoming More Specialized 42:30 - Benefits And Drawbacks Of AI On Art/Chat GPT 47:12 - GTA 7/GTA VI Trailer 49:00 - Difference Between Movie Trailers And Game Trailers 51:00 - How Rockstar Make Game Trailers/Reaction Internally To Trailers 53:15 - Assassins Creed/There Is More Potential For Games 57:30 - Q+A - How Great Does Your Portfolio Have To Be To Get Hired At Rockstar 1:00:31 - Why David Doesnt Have His Rockstar Art On Artstation 1:03:20 - David Wont Return To The Games Industry 1:04:46 - Q+A - What Is The Most Challenging Part Of Making Environments 1:06:53 - Q+A - How Much Freedom Are You Allowed On The Games 1:10:07 - Closing Comments/David’s Youtube Channel

Duration:01:12:15

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#192 - Kurt Kuhlmann Interview On Elder Scrolls Lore, TES:VI, Starfield's Design And Fallout......

7/12/2025
Kurt Kuhlmann was a jack of all trades at Bethesda, he was one of the studios most proficient designers and writers, he's best known as the lore master of the Elder Scrolls #elderscrolls #starfield #fallout TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:06 - How Kurt Became The Lore Master Of The Elder Scrolls 06:26 - Maintaining The Lore 07:57 - Studying History At University/Why Kurt Went To Bethesda 09:40 - Evolution Of Quest/Narrative Design At Bethesda 10:50 - Using History To Influence Lore/Tolkien’s Influence 14:50 - Changing Writing Styles For Fallout 18:34 - Using Different Words And Thesaurus For Writing Elder Scrolls/Fallout 20:24 - The Evolution Of Voice Acting At Bethesda 24:39 - Limitations On Writing At Bethesda 26:30 - How Bethesda Changed As The Team Size Grew 29:35 - Kurt’s System Designer Role On Starfield 32:25 - Why Starfield Took So Long To Make 34:30 - The Creation Kit/Things Carried Over From Elder Scrolls/Fallout To Starfield 36:15 - Problems With Fallout 76 37:00 - Elder Scrolls VI Will Be Bittersweet For Kurt 39:17 - Fallout TV Show 40:36 - Lord Of The Rings Movies 42:38 - Todd Howard/Remote Work Benefited Starfield 49:30 - Q+A - What Is Kurts Ideal Sequel To Redguard? 51:14 - Q+A - What Makes The Elder Scrolls Feel Grounded 54:53 - Q+A - Does Kurt Prefer The Psychelic Lore Of Morrowind Over The European Style Of Oblivion 57:58 - Closing Comments/TES:VII/Morrowwind Remake Follow me on Social Media TWITTER -https://twitter.com/kiwitalkz Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kiwi_talkz/?hl=en Discord - discord.gg/yWRCM2aDRT FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/KiwiTalkz TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@kiwitalkz BlueSky - @kiwitalkz.bsky.social

Duration:01:00:31

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#191 - Obbe Vermeij Interview On The GTA Trilogy, GTA VI, Rockstar And His Indie Game Plentiful.....

7/3/2025
Obbe Vermeij, a former technical director at Rockstar Games during GTA III to GTA IV, is now working on his indie game Plentiful, and the demo is out now here. #grandtheftauto #gta #rockstargames Plentiful Demo is here - https://store.steampowered.com/app/3044790/Plentiful/ SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @ObbeVermeij BLUESKY - ‪@obbevermeij.bsky.social‬ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - GTA IV Design Document 01:20 - Working With The Designers On GTA On What’s Possible & Not Possible 02:15 - Gang Wars In San Andreas Was Very Difficult 04:05 - GTA Series Moved Away From Gameplay First To Story First 06:30 - Obbe’s Thoughts On GTA VI 2nd Trailer 07:23 - GTA VI Will Be 30FPS 08:39 - GTA III’s Success Caught Obbe By Surprise 09:50 - The Vibe At Rockstar When GTA III Kept Selling & Selling 11:34 - How 9/11 Affected GTA III 13:03 - The Houser Brothers 15:20 - How GTA An American Parody Game Was Made In Edinburgh 16:40 - What Obbe Worked On In The GTA Trilogy 18:10 - Obbe’s Role Decreased As Rockstar Got Bigger And Bigger 21:04 - GTA VI Is The Most Expensive Game Ever 22:03 - GTA VII Will Be Cheaper To Make Than GTA VI Due To AI 22:50 - AI’s Effects On Programmers/How AI Will Help Game Development 27:17 - Leslie Benzies/Mindseye 30:40 - Rockstar Were Great With Hiring Staff/Indie Games 32:00 - Obbe’s Indie Game Plentiful 37:02 - Prototyping To Show A Publisher/Obbe Loves Making Games 38:00 - Obbe Is Making Plentiful As A Solo Dev/Music 39:15 - Obbe Made A Museum App Called Guide App 40:28 - Obbe Misses The Rockstar Games Days/Rockstar North Has A Great Work Culture 43:28 - Q+A - What Were The Main Differences Developing GTA IV For PS3 & XBOX360 44:53 - Q+A - How Much Is The Product Different From The Start Till Release 46:37 - Q+A - Favourite Project & Career Highlight 47:39 - The Original Intention With Vice City 49:21 - Q+A - The Most Impressive Thing The Devs Pulled Off That They Thought Was Impossible 53:30 - Where To Follow Obbie & Get His Game Plentiful/GTA IV Delay Story.

Duration:00:56:48

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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered Review With Ex Bethesda Devs (Kurt Kuhlmann, Bruce Nesmith, Nate Purkeypile & Jeremy Bryant)

6/15/2025
I got some of the old Bethesda crew back together (Jeremy Bryant, Nate Purkeypile, Bruce Nesmith & Kurt Kuhlmann) to review the remaster and talk about the old game and Bethesda as a whole. Enjoy! #bethesda #elderscrolls #oblivionremastered Nate Purkeypiles Games! Check them out! The Axis Unseen - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1807810/The_Axis_Unseen/ Deedlee Doo Carkour! - https://store.steampowered.com/app/3582590/Deedlee_Doo_Carkour/ Bruce Nesmiths Books https://www.amazon.com/Books-Bruce-Nesmith/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ABruce%2BNesmith TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:50 - The Artstyle Of TESIV:Oblivion Remastered 06:34 - Unreal Engine Replacing Game Bryo Engine In Oblivion Remastered 09:14 - TES VI/Fallout 3 Remaster 10:35 - History Of The Levelling System In TES:IV Oblivion 16:31 - Devs Tricking Todd Howard To Get Stuff In Oblivion 19:11 - Oblivion’s Influence From The LOTR Films 22:40 - Copyright Lawsuits 24:10 - Why You Couldn’t Sprint In The Original Game 25:10 - Getting Oblivion To Run On Xbox 360 Was A Huge Endeavor 26:37 - TESVI Launch Title For The Next Xbox/Cross-Gen Games 28:21 - The Overworld Map Design 30:00 - The Dungeon Design/Level Designers Started With Oblivion 32:15 - Radiant AI Evolution/Emerging Gameplay 36:50 - Why Bethesda Games Have So Many Bugs 39:00 - Why Bethesda Games Will Never Be Bug Free 46:50 - Challenges Of Making An Elder Scrolls Film/TV Show 52:40 - Shivering Isles/DLC 58:37 - Nate Speaks About His Indie Games/Bruce Speaks About His Novels

Duration:01:00:27

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#189 - Jeremy Huxley Interview (Senior Environmental Artist At Naughty Dog)

5/11/2025
Jeremy Huxley is a former environmental artist at Naughty Dog who worked there for 11 years on the Uncharted & Last Of Us franchises. #uncharted #lastofus #lastofuspart2 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:31 - Coming To Naughty Dog Partway Through Uncharted 3 02:30 - Art Test/Learning From The Veterans 05:20 - Team Being Split Off After Uncharted 3/Working On Uncharted 4/PBR 09:00 - The Jump For Art From PS3 To PS4 10:20 - Naughty Dog’s Reference Material For Uncharted 4 12:40 - Uncharted 4’s Jungle Environments 13:50 - Ray Tracing Vs Baked Lighting 17:40 - Jeremy’s Thoughts On AI For Artists 22:10 - Reusing Art Assets From Uncharted For Last Of Us 23:20 - Transitioning From Uncharted To Last Of Us Seamlessly (Snow Sections) 25:30 - Pressure Of Working On Naughty Dog 27:30 - Friendly Rivalry Between Devs At Naughty Dog 29:30 - What References Were Used For Snow In Last Of Us Part II 30:30 - Working On Last Of Us Remaster/Respecting The Original Artists 34:00 - Importance Of Remasters & Remakes/Neil Druckmann 36:40 - Jeremy Would Love To Work On Zelda/The Game Industry Is In Trouble Due To Realistic Graphics 40:10 - Jeremy Praises From Software/Jeremy Is Playing Older Games 42:30 - As A Dev Jeremy Analyses Games/Final Fantasy VII Remake 45:30 - Q+A - How Artists Work With Designers 51:00 - Q+A - Favourite Environment To Work On 52:39 - Q+A - Would You Like To Work On A Stylized Game Over Realistic 54:32 - Jeremy Critiques Zelda: TOTK’s Art 56:25 - Where To Follow Jeremy SOCIAL MEDIA ARTSTATION - https://www.artstation.com/jeremyh BLUESKY - @jeremyhuxley.bsky.social

Duration:00:59:48

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Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Review With Ex Retro Studios Dev Eric Kozlowsky

4/8/2025
Former Retro Studios Dev Eric Kozlowsky (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze) and I review the direct and go way off on another tangent lol. You can watch my life reaction to the Switch 2 direct(with former retro studios devs in the chat) here https://www.youtube.com/live/ocm4oRD-aik Get all the info on Eric and Fuzzybot's game Lynked here http://playlynked.com/ www.landofkoz.com www.fuzzybot.com Bluesky Eric - @vonkoz.bsky.social #nintendoswitch2 #switch2 #nintendo TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Eric’s & Kiwi’s Overall Thoughts On The Switch 2 Direct 04:30 - Discussion On Mario Kart World, Price & Bundle 08:50 - Trumps Tariffs 10:51 - Price Of Video Games 12:05 - Switch 2 Edition Prices/GTA VI 16:29 - Metroid Prime 4 18:54 - Nintendo Makes Bad Trailers 20:48 - Nintendo Does Weird Stuff 21:32 - DS Online/Remastering 3DS Games 22:28 - Twilight Princess With Wii U Tech Demo Graphics 23:05 - Difference Between Remasters & Remakes/Wind Waker & Twilight Princess 24:40 - What Will Happen With Metroid Prime 2 & 3 Now 27:35 - Metroid Prime Hunters/Multiplayer 28:30 - Smash Bros Is Years Away 29:45 - Star Fox 99/Animal Crossing Sales/Nintendo Budgets 32:10 - Tears Of The Kingdom/The Future Of Zelda/Zelda II Remake 34:15 - Donkey Kong Bonanza/David Wise 40:30 - Koji Kondo/Shigeru Miyamoto/The Old Guard Retiring 42:28 - Third Party Games On Switch 2/Handheld Market 46:04 - Hollow Knight:Sliksong/Drag X Drive 48:10 - Eric Home’s In On Art Straight Away 49:45 - Linked: Banner Of The Spark’s Development 54:26 - Steven Spielberg/Mouse & Keyboard 56:00 - Accessibility Options In Game Development 57:00 - Kiwi & Eric Won’t Buy A Switch 2 At Launch 58:12 - Cost Of Switch 2 In NZ/Zelda Film Trilogy Being Shot In NZ 1:01:00 - Chris Mason Working On The Last Of Us/Mario Movie 1:02:29 - Will The Zelda Movie Be Original?/Shooting The Trilogy All At The Same Time 1:04:00 - Pop Songs In The Mario Movie/Bluelight Samurai/Zelda Trailer 1:06:40 - Closing Comments

Duration:01:08:27

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#187 - Chris Detyna Interview (Composer On Terminator Resistance)

3/26/2025
Chris Detyna is a video game composer who is best known for his brilliant score for Terminator Resistance. #terminator #terminatorresistance #theterminator TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:00 - Meeting Teyon/How Chris Got The Job Composing Terminator Resistance 04:19 - Including Electric Guitar In The Main Theme/Being Scared Of Making The Music 05:52 - Adapting The Terminator 1 Theme/T1 Theme Weird Time Signature 09:05 - Directions From Teyon’s Director On The Music 11:25 - The Gear Chris Used To Make The Soundtrack 13:52 - Kiwi Praises The OST/Teyon Were Nervous Of The Reception/Ear Fatigue 17:06 - Music & SFX Balancing 18:27 - Why The Terminator Resistance OST Isnt On Spotify 20:04 - Scoring The Kyle Reese Cutscene From T1/Transcriptions 23:00 - The Approach To Scoring The Game 25:00 - Composing The HK Combat Theme 25:49 - Only One Of Chris’ Tracks Were Cut From The Game 27:50 - Communication At Teyon Is Great/No Crunch At Teyon 29:00 - Working On Robocop: Rogue City/Autotune 32:15 - Writing Melody & Lyrics/Ideas Don’t Get Lost 36:15 - Doing The T-800 Heartbeat Theme(Infiltrator Mode) 41:00 - Chris & Kiwi Discuss Mixing Tips 45:25 - Q+A - What IP Would You Like To Compose For 48:50 - Q+A - What Does Chris Feel About The Forgettable Scores Post T2 51:31 - Q+A - What Was Chris’ Influences Growing Up 54:35 - Closing Comments

Duration:00:57:27

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DOOM Eternal - 5th Anniversary Interview With Animator Chris Cantero

3/1/2025
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO DOOM ETERNAL!! To celebrate I spoke to former DOOM Eternal animator Chris Cantero, he left a few years to make his own indie game High Fructose, you can find here https://store.steampowered.com/app/2506550/High_Fructose/ #doom #doometernal #idsoftware SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER - @canterochris BLUESKY - @canterochris.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:28 - Glory Kills 03:48 - Mocap/Principals Of Animation 05:55 - The Hardest Part Of Animating Glory Kills 07:30 - Making The Marauder Hard/QAing At The End Of The Project 08:52 - Working With Hugo Martin/Jiu-Jitsu 12:04 - Working On The ID Tech Engine 14:48 - Animating Maligog/Chris Loves The Lord Of The Rings Films 17:30 - Chris’ Thoughts On DOOM The Dark Ages Trailers 19:15 - Doing Pre Production On DOOM The Dark Ages 21:10 - Animal Crossing/DOOM Eternal Meme 22:00 - Favourite Areas 22:56 - Favourite Bosses 24:11 - Speedrunning 25:55 - Favourite Music Track/Mick Gordon/Using The OST For The Gym 27:15 - Self-Imposed Crunch 27:45 - Banana Story/Getting In Trouble From HR 29:15 - Marty Stratton Story/Commander Keen Story/Meeting The OG ID Software Crew 31:40 - Q+A - What Is Some Cut Content From The Game 33:47 - Q+A - Was Slower Gameplay Than DOOM 2016 Ever Considered 34:20 - Motion Sickness/Camera Work 36:00 - Chris’ New Game High Fructose 40:57 - Marketing High Fructose 42:15 - Hugo Martin Is Amazing At Marketing 43:00 - ID Software Teams Are Siloed/Marty & Hugo Are Very Approachable 45:20 - Multiplayer Being Cut From DOOM The Dark Ages 46:15 - DOOM Benefits From Not Being Grounded In Realism 47:20 - Where To Follow Chris Cantero

Duration:00:48:26

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#185 - Jeremy Bryant Interview (Animator On Skyrim, Fallout 4, 76 & Starfield)

2/11/2025
Jeremy Bryant was an animator at Bethesda for over 15 years from Skyrim to Starfield. This is his first interview! #starfield #fallout #skyrim TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:26 - Jeremy Commuted To Work By Plane 04:07 - Working With Dennis On The Werewolf 06:26 - How The Animation Tools Evolved From Skyrim To Starfield 08:43 - Mocap Use On Skyrim/Jeremy Used His Own Mocap On Skyrim DLC 10:35 - Animating Hands/Hardest Things Animating 11:54 - Jeremy Was Known As The Gun Reloader Animator Guy 14:06 - Non-Combat Animations 15:20 - Non Humans Were Key Framed Not Mocapped/Only 7 Animators On Skyrim 16:55 - Bethesda’s Management System In The Old Days Doesn’t Scale Well 18:50 - Bethesda Expanded Too Fast For The Culture To Remain The Same/Team Sizes 20:15 - Starfields Roadmap Required A Massive Team 21:45 - Rockstar’s Level Of Polish/Downsides Of Large Teams 24:00 - Animating Procedural Generated Content 25:00 - Jeremy’s Thoughts On Todd Howard 28:50 - Jeremy Changed From A Full Time Employee To A Contractor Part Way Through Starfield 30:00 - Pros & Cons Of Remote Work/How Covid Impacted Starfields Development 32:15 - Microsoft Acquisition 33:15 - Modding Community 35:20 - Bethesdas Feature Creep Culture 36:30 - Why Jeremy Left Bethesda 39:10 - Games Are Costing Too Much To Make/Layoffs/Dev Salaries 43:15 - Larian Studios/Growing Studios Gradually 44:45 - Q+A - Why Slo Mo Kills Were Removed From Starfield 45:45 - Q+A - How Does An Animator Go About Animating A Mythical Creature 47:00 - Game Jams At Bethesda/Originally There Was A Mad Max Motorcycle In Fallout 4 50:00 - Many Vehicles Made For Starfield That May Still Be Added/Vampire Lord In Skyrim 51:30 - Pros & Cons Of Bethesda Migrating To Unreal Engine 5/Creation Engine 57:52 - It’s Easier To Make Realistic Graphics Than Stylized Graphics 1:00:25 - Elder Scrolls VI/Gameplay Is More Important Than Anything Else 1:02:10 - Bethesda’s Culture Is Great/Game Devs Who Have Never Shipped A Game Due To Layoffs 1:04:30 - Jeremy Asks Kiwi For His Thoughts On Xbox Multiplatform Strategy/Gamepass & Game He Played Most In 2024 1:08:30 - Closing Comments/LinkedIn Is Facebook 2.0

Duration:01:09:46

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#184 - Shawn Layden Interview (Former CEO & Chairman of Playstation & SIEA)

2/1/2025
Shawn Layden was former CEO of Playstation worldwide studios and former chairman of Sony Interactive Entertainment America. His career in Sony is legendary as a Japanese localizer that had a meteoric rise to be one of the head honchos of the whole company. #playstation #sony #ps5 SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER -@SHAWNLAYDEN BLUESKY - @shawnlayden.bsky.social TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:02 - Why Playstation Used Numbers For Each Console Iteration 03:26 - Being The Fix It Guy At Sony/What Motivates Shawn 05:45 - Building A Reputation 07:00 - Doing 18 Hour Days During The PSN Hack 09:00 - Why Sony Is So Good At Marketing 13:01 - How FOMO Is Used In Marketing 14:00 - Why Sony Now Releases 1st Party Games On PC/Initial Pushback 15:50 - Why Astro Bot Was Shawn’s 2024 GOTY 18:30 - Why The Japanese Are So Good At Game Design 21:57 - Western Games Are Too Big In Scope/Dev Costs Come From Salaries 23:05 - Why So Many Game Studios Are On The West Coast Of America/Environmental Costs 24:57 - Game Devs Commute Times Create Major Sunk Costs/Working From Home 28:30 - Shawn Pushed Realistic Graphics Well Acknowledging It’s Not Sustainable 30:52 - How Sony Prices Games & When To Drop The Price 33:40 - Concords Failure/Why Games As A Service Was Popular And No Longer Isnt 37:31 - Why The PS6 Won’t Be Discless 40:00 - Launching Handhelds Are Hard/Why The PS Vita Failed 43:00 - Sony Characters Won’t Appear In Super Smash Bros 44:20 - Why Playstation All-Stars Didn’t Sell Well 46:48 - Q+A - How Will The Market Of Fortnite/Roblox Players Change As They Get Older 49:28 - Q+A - Shawn’s Opinion On Microsoft’s Multiplatform Approach 51:22 - Nintendo Are Best Positioned To Navigate The “Diminishing Returns” Problem 54:18 - Q+A - What Games Did You Think Would Be Big Hits But Weren’t. 58:21 - You Learn More From Failures Than Successes 59:43 - Closing Comments

Duration:01:01:26