Off-Topic With Double Fine’s Tim Schafer

March 16, 2012

Before this month Tim Schafer was famous for making a long line of beloved, humor-driven video games. Now he's also the guy who raised over $3 million to make an old-school adventure game. 

In the midst of that historic fundraising drive Gus Mastrapa called Tim Schafer and spoke to him about none of those things. Please enjoy this off-topic conversation about cartoons, A Clockwork Orange and the Iron Maiden poster that Schafer's parents couldn't stand.

Posted in
| Read more

Dylan Cuthbert: Wii U Needs a Super IP

May 13, 2013

In an interview with Siliconera, Q-Games President Dylan Cuthbert says that Nintendo needs to create a new "super IP" to put the Wii U on the map once again, just like it did with the Wii (for example, Wii Sports, Wii Fit, etc.)

"If they are going to win they are going to have to figure out the games," Cuthbert told the publication. "They probably need like new super IP, a special IP that makes people really interested."

| Read more

Richard Garriott on The Difficulties of Being an Exceptional Game Designer

March 20, 2013

In a recent PC Gamer interview Ultima series creator Richard Garriott said that he has never met anyone who is as good a game designer as he is and that the only one that comes close is his old friend and colleague Chris Roberts. Garriott acknowledges that there are proficient game designers in the industry but none that have the skillset that would put them in the category of being "great."

5 comments | Read more

Cliff Bleszinski Talks About The Charge of Marketing Toys Based on Mature Games to Children

January 22, 2013

In an in-depth interview with the artist formerly known as CliffyB (he asked everyone to call him Cliff Bleszinski, and not his nickname as you may recall), GamesBeat grills the former Gears of War designer about the game franchise, perceptions in some circles that he was a bit of a douche, and what he thought about former EGM editor Dan Hsu calling him a d*ck in a cover story.

6 comments | Read more

Valve's Gabe Newell Talks About Invading the Living Room Gaming Space

January 14, 2013

Recently Valve Software co-founder Gabe Newell sat down with Chris Hardwick of The Nerdist Podcast to talk about the company's plans to take over the living room entertainment space with Steam's Big Picture Mode and with hardware like Steam Box. Some of that conversation was transcribed by Games Industry International.

1 comment | Read more

Child Psychologists: 'Video Games Have Achieved the Status of Moral Panic'

December 21, 2012

Winda Benedetti from NBC News conducts an interesting interview with two child psychologist to ask them about the effects of gaming on young children. She interviews Dr. Tyler Black, Clinical Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Emergency Unit at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, BC, Canada; and Dr. Matthew Chow, the Clinical Director of Telepsychiatry at BC Children’s Hospital.

| Read more

Ken Levine: Games Should Not Be Restricted From Using Controversial Subject Matter

December 11, 2012

In a six minute interview with Joystiq, Irrational Games boss and lead on BioShock Infinite Ken Levine talks about why it is important to not be afraid of using topics that some might consider controversial as vehicles for a story. In BioShock Infinite, Levine has weaved a narrative around a number of belief systems and ideals, and all of these things come together in the floating city of Columbia to create tension and drive the narrative.

8 comments | Read more

Marcus Persson 'Worried' About Mojang Growing, Losing Indie Spirit

November 26, 2012

Minecraft creator and Mojang co-founder Markus 'Notch' Persson said in a recent article on Develop that he worries about Mojang growing too big. If that were to happen he thinks that the company could lose the independent spirit it is known for. Persson also said that he did not want Mojang to work on what he called "super polished games," as those tend to require larger teams and bigger budgets.

7 comments | Read more

Ubisoft CEO Not Happy With Wii U Pricing

November 13, 2012

With the Wii U launch less than a week away, many game publishers have strong opinions about Nintendo's newest platform. In an upcoming interview with GamesIndustry International, CEO Yves Guillemot offers his. While Ubisoft is one of the biggest third-party supporter of Wii U at launch, the company's CEO Yves Guillemot acknowledges that Nintendo may have to lower the price of the console.

5 comments | Read more

Former Joystiq EIC Dishes on Polygon, AOL's Attitude Towards Games Media

October 25, 2012

Former Joystiq editor-in-chief Chris Grant, who left the publication at the end of 2011 to join what is now known as Polygon, tells GamesIndustry International in a new interview (to promote the official launch of the site on its own domain this week) that Joystiq parent company AOL has no "gaming appetite." AOL acquired Joystiq as part of its buyout of Weblogs in October 2005. Grant went on to say that AOL didn't seem to notice or care about the success that he and his former colleagues at Joystiq had in building up the site over the years.

| Read more

Apple Co-Founder Criticizes iPhone 5 Design

October 12, 2012

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is not happy with the direction of Apple. He has called the company "arrogant' while speaking out against the iPhone 5's design in a recent interview with Tech Central.

Wozniak says that Apple is arrogant for refusing to make the iPhone 5 larger. The phone is a bit smaller than competitors' phones - like Samsung’s Galaxy S III. Wozniak thinks this is a big mistake.

4 comments | Read more

Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime Calls Wii U Supply Chain 'Solid'

September 26, 2012

In a recent interview with Forbes Nintendo of America CEO Reggie Fils-Aime tried to calm fears that supply for the Wii U would not be enough to meet demand when the new console is released in mid-November.

| Read more

Games Industry Reacts to BioWare Founders Leaving Company

September 19, 2012

An interesting article on GamesIndustry International gathers the reactions of several high profile games industry luminaries to the retirement of BioWare founders Dr. Greg Zeschuk and Dr. Ray Muzyka. The duo announced yesterday that they were leaving the company. Later on Facebook Muzyka said that they both had made the decision to leave way back in April.

10 comments | Read more

Star Trek Online: To Boldy Go Where Someone Else has Gone Before

September 6, 2012

Cryptic Studios transitioned Star Trek Online to a free-to-play game recently and Perfect World Entertainment's wholly owned development studio revealed a little more on why they shifted the game from a subscription-based model to free-to-play in an exclusive interview with [A]ListDaily. Star Trek Online executive producer Dan Stahl and Perfect World vice president of business development and corporate communications John Young said the following:

6 comments | Read more

Former OnLive Employee Describes 'Bizarre All-Hands Meeting'

August 17, 2012

A former OnLive employee (who spoke on the condition of anonymity) described to GamePolitics the last meeting the cloud-based subscription gaming service will ever hold. Earlier in the day this source confirmed a rumor that the company had laid off its entire staff and ceased to exist as a company.

First, our source describes the meeting where employees learned that they had all been let go:

12 comments | Read more

Sony: No Price Cut for PS Vita in 2012

August 16, 2012

While many would like to see Sony slash the price of its PS Vita hand-held - mostly because it's the same price as a brand new PS3 - the company says that this is unlikely to happen in 2012. Speaking with Eurogamer, Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida says that the company has taken that option off the table for 2012, but it is trying to find new ways to bring value to customers.

3 comments | Read more

EA CEO Talks Free-to-Play, Investors' Lack of Understanding

July 19, 2012

In an interesting interview with CNBC, Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello says that the company's recent decline in its stock price isn't due to the business, but to a lack of understanding in how the business works on the part of investors. For starters industry's focus on NPD's packaged game sales numbers is "misguided," and ignores the current strong shift towards digital sales - which NPD doesn't have a handle on yet. He points to their success with games on Apple's platforms as well as on Facebook.

| Read more

Valve Rejects EA's Theory on Steam Game Discounting

July 11, 2012

Valve Software's business development chief Jason Holtman finally offered a response to what EA Origin boss David DeMartini said last month about Steam sales "cheapening intellectual property." At the time DeMartini said that EA's digital distribution platform would not copy Steam's frequent and deep discounting sales tactics.

5 comments | Read more

Bobby Kotick Acknowledges the Challenges of Bringing Call of Duty to China

July 6, 2012

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick admitted in a recent interview with CNBC Asia’s Squawk Box that bringing Call of Duty Online to market in China is a risky proposition. While Kotick expresses confidence in Tencent Holdings in making the game based on its popular first-person shooter series successful in Mainland China, Kotick also knows that there is a risk when bringing a Western game into a new market with different business models and player tastes.

2 comments | Read more

David Cage: Industry Will Die if it Doesn't Innovate

July 6, 2012

Quantic Dream founder David Cage thinks that the video game industry needs to learn to innovate or it will inevitably die a slow and painful death. In an interview with GamesIndustry International, the Heavy Rain creator said that creating innovative and new kinds of experiences for consumers is paramount to the survival of the industry.

3 comments | Read more

Warren Spector: What Developers Cut is More Important Than What They Leave in a Game

July 5, 2012

In an interview with IGN UK, Junction Point founder and Epic Mickey and Deus Ex creator Warren Spector says that games are shaped more by what ideas developers cut out than they are by what is left in.

"I always say games are not about what you include in your game, they’re about what you cut; they always are," said Spector. "Ideas are easy. Everybody in the game business just has more ideas than they could possibly put into every game they ever work on in their lives."

| Read more

THQ CEO: The Heavy Lifting is Done

July 3, 2012

THQ CEO Brian Farrell knows his company was in a bad way and part of getting back onto the road to recovery is proving that they know what to do next. The company was in freefall after it announced that its little UDraw experiment had failed miserably, costing the company millions of dollars. Ultimately that led to a series of studio closures, layoffs, and sales of major licenses like UFC. On Monday the company announced that it would do a one-for-ten stock split July 9 to keep it from being booted off the NASDAQ.

| Read more

38 Studios Founder Curt Schilling: 'I'm Tapped Out'

June 22, 2012

Speaking to sports radio station WEEI, former Red Sox pitcher and founder of the now bankrupt 38 Studios Curt Schilling said that he is "tapped out" after his company filed for bankruptcy. Schilling said that he lost $50 million of his own money and is personally responsible for paying back a $2.4 million loan from Citizens Bank parent RBS Citizens.

5 comments | Read more

Super Podcast Action Committee - Episode 5

June 4, 2012

In Episode 5 of the Super Podcast Action Committee, James Fudge talks to GaymerCon organizer Matt Conn about the first-of-its-kind LGBT-focused gaming event (find it at 12:36 mark - you can also find a transcript here). Meanwhile hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight talk way too long about E3, Nintendo, the Wii U and the Game Genie (the segment begins at 25:48 mark).

Square Enix: Activision was 'Crazy' to Abandon True Crime: Hong Kong

May 25, 2012

In an interview with GamesBeat, Square Enix’s Mike Fischer says that Activision was crazy when it made the decision to abandon True Crime: Hong Kong. Mike Fischer is the president and chief executive of the U.S. division of Square Enix, who also happens to own Eidos. Here's what he had to say about Activision letting the game now known as Sleeping Dogs go:

4 comments | Read more

Destructoid's Fireside Chat With ECA President Hal Halpin

May 1, 2012

Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) President Hal Halpin talks to Destructoid about SOPA, PIPA, the importance of advocacy, his thoughts on the VGVN and League for Gamers, Kickstarter, what the gamer advocacy group has planned going forward, and much more.

1 comment | Read more

David Kushner on His New Book, 'Jacked: The Outlaw story of Grand Theft Auto'

April 17, 2012

CNET has an interesting interview with games journalist David Kushner who talks about his latest book, Jacked: The Outlaw story of Grand Theft Auto. The book takes a deeper look at the Grand Theft Auto phenomenon, and delves into related topics such as the game's development, the ESRB, Hot Coffee and Jack Thompson, amongst other topics.

2 comments | Read more

Mass Effect 3 Executive Producer Talks about the Game's Various Controversies

March 14, 2012

In an exclusive interview with Digital Trends, Casey Hudson, the Director and Executive Producer of Mass Effect 3, discusses a number of topics including the kerfuffle over same-sex relationships, negative player reviews on Metacritic, complaints over the game's ending and Day One DLC complaints.

8 comments | Read more

Thinkfinity Education Speaker Series Interviews Sandra Day O’Connor

October 13, 2011

In an exclusive interview with Verizon Foundation's Thinkfinity Education Speaker Series, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor urged educators in the United States to do their part to enliven civics education and engage students in the democratic process.

"You have to study [civics] and be taught how our system of government works," Justice O’Connor said. "And you have to be shown how each individual can be part of it and can make things work.”

| Read more

Mojang Sticking with 'Scrolls' Name Despite Bethesda Legal Threats

August 29, 2011

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson spent the weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle showing off new features in the latest Minecraft update (1.8) and the first official trailer for its upcoming game Scrolls. While there, he answered some questions about his pending lawsuit with Bethesda over the Scrolls game name. Bethesda alleges that the name "Scrolls" infringes on their trademark for "The Elder Scrolls."

When asked if he had any back-up names for Scrolls in the event that he lost the legal fight with Bethesda, Persson joked:

6 comments | Read more

 
Forgot your password?
Username :
Password :

Poll

Are you excited for the Xbox One?:

Shout box

You're not permitted to post shouts.
Andrew EisenOh look, Dying Light was just announced For Everything But Wii U. That's 73.05/23/2013 - 2:06pm
james_fudgeZippy: they said the same thing about Cell. How did that turn out.05/23/2013 - 1:28pm
Andrew EisenNeed for Speed Rivals is coming out For Everything But Wii U - PS3, 360, PC, PS4 and Xbox One. That brings the grand total up to 72.05/23/2013 - 12:55pm
PHX Corphttp://wiiudaily.com/2013/05/microsoft-is-selling-the-wii-u-better-than-nintendo/ Wii U daily Opinion: Microsoft is selling the Wii U better than Nintendo05/23/2013 - 12:23pm
E. Zachary KnightZippy, they very well may be. But that will only last until they are released. At that time, they will be two generations behind.05/23/2013 - 11:14am
ZippyDSMleefor a good luagh, http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/124288-EA-Exec-Xbox-One-and-PS4-Are-A-Generation-Ahead-Of-PC05/23/2013 - 10:55am
james_fudgeIt's about time! I need W805/23/2013 - 10:49am
MaskedPixelanteLooks like Gamepot is more willing to play ball than Square Enix. Wizardry 6+7 and 8 are available on GOG.05/23/2013 - 10:36am
DorthLousAnybody tried Hiversaire? Thoughts?05/22/2013 - 5:48pm
E. Zachary KnightNew Humble Bundle Weekly Sale. Alan Wake: https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly No Linux or Mac support. :(05/22/2013 - 1:46pm
E. Zachary KnightMicrosoft talks about the lack of backward compatability. You're backwards. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192801/If_youre_backwards_compatible_youre_really_backwards.php05/22/2013 - 1:39pm
E. Zachary KnightThat is absolutely nuts there. As bad an experience XBox Indie Games was, the problems weren't with the self published side of things. Forcing a publisher onto independent studios is not going to help.05/22/2013 - 10:43am
MaskedPixelantehttp://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-22-microsoft-wont-let-indies-self-publish-on-xbox-one And the hits just keep on coming.05/22/2013 - 9:20am
E. Zachary KnightAE: You beat me to it. That's what I get for taking the night off.05/22/2013 - 7:40am
E. Zachary KnightTo continue the confused and convoluted messaging system present in EA, They are making Wii U games: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192753/EA_is_working_on_Wii_U_games_after_all.php05/22/2013 - 7:33am
ImautobotI gotta admit, I seriously believed Microsoft was going to "Bring It" with this new console. But they failed, and I think that failure might be Epic.05/22/2013 - 7:27am
Andrew EisenWell, the Xbox One reveal certainly had an interesting affect on the big 3's stock prices. https://twitter.com/AndrewEisen/status/33705126448977100805/21/2013 - 10:45pm
PHX Corphttp://kotaku.com/so-the-xbox-one-reveal-screwed-up-a-lot-of-peoples-kin-509179256 So The Xbox One Reveal Screwed With Some People's Kinects05/21/2013 - 10:36pm
ZenOn a funny side note...both of my boys have already voted NOT to get the Xbox One as soon as they found out Minecraft won't transfer lol. Some people have priorities damnit! ;)05/21/2013 - 9:27pm
Andrew EisenHere's the full quote on EA making Wii U games according to Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56112105/21/2013 - 8:19pm
 

Be Heard - Contact Your Politician