Pixel Pizza

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 straight line. Definitely a great start to Season 2, made even better with music from Alone!

LINKS:

📺 Good Vibes Gaming: https://www.youtube.com/c/GVGOfficial

🐦 Ash's Twitter: @AshPaulsen

💿 Alone: https://alonemusic.bandcamp.com/ 

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

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 SEASON 2 begins proper! 

LINKS:

📷 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

We've got another pair of guests this week! This time our dynamic duo is the Allanson brothers, indie developers you may know from their games Two Brothers and YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG. Together we have a great chat about their formative years making games, processing online feedback both constructive and hateful, and the massive I.V. update coming to YIIK. Since Andrew is also Ackk's lead composer, we're playing some of his favorite YIIK tracks! 

LINKS:

🐦 Ackk Twitter: @Ackkstudios

🖥 Ackk Website: https://www.ackkstudios.com/

📼 Ackk YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFB-XJP9x8DEUq-vBP-2hSA

👾 YIIKCord (on Discord!)

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Can you smmmelllll what Pixel Pizza's cookin'? (This is the only wrestling reference I know, please do not expect any more) This week we chat with another longtime friend of the show, Niharika Jain! As a technical artist at 2K Games, she recently shipped her first AAA title- WWE 2K22. Niharika tells us about her journey to this point, what she's learned about the animation process, and much more. EchoLane brings us some chill chiptune tracks to go along with it!

LINKS:

📇 Niharika's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niharika-jain-2806b8156/

📀 EchoLane: https://echoln.bandcamp.com/ 

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

In the podcast crossover of the century, Jake Innes of the Gaming Cult Podcast (which recently ended its ten-year run) joins Pixel Pizza for a postmortem on the long-running show, a dive into its various influences, and of course a healthy dose of worldwide opinions on obscure and up-to-date gaming. Since Jake is also an accomplished DJ in the footwork scene, we play some of his most recent tracks! You love it, my boy.

LINKS:

☁️ Jake's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/djinnes

📻 House Nation & OST Live: https://rnb.org.au/

💿 Cult Trax Records: https://culttrax.com/

🎮 Gaming Cult Podcast (RIP 2012-2022): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gaming-cult-podcast/id498397940

📸 Jake's Instagram: @Dj_innes

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📷 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Pixel meets Pixel when I talk with Lex Oberwetter, writer of the cult indie game Pixel Puzzle Makeout League! We dive deep into Lex's writing process, their approach to character dialogue, and current games we've been enjoying with great writing. Supplying the tunes this time around is Polish chip musician Kono Neko! 

LINKS:

🐦 Lex's Twitter: @LexGetDangerous

🧩 Pixel Puzzle Makeout League: https://picross.love/

🐱 Kono Neko: https://kononeko.bandcamp.com/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Here we are at Episode X! I'm joined by my oldest and closest friend, the one and only Alyssa Menes, to discuss her work composing and sound designing for games ranging from indies to AAA, as well as her current venture as conductor of the New Jersey Gamer Symphony Orchestra! This week also marks the 10th anniversary of our shared favorite game, Kid Icarus: Uprising, so of course we sing its praises and play tracks from Alyssa's stellar cover album Meet the Light! 

LINKS:

🐦 Alyssa's Twitter: @ACMenes

💿 Meet the Light: https://acmenes.bandcamp.com/releases

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Guten Tag! We continue the Pixel Pizza World Tour with a stop in Germany to chat with Marcus Horn, better known as Siactro. His budget 3D platformers Toree 3D, Toree 2, and MacBat 64 have made a big splash on the Switch eShop. We talk about the evolution of the indie scene, communicating your vision in marketing, and finding your niche audience. Plus an EXCLUSIVE special announcement! With chiptunes from StrayBoom! 

LINKS:

🐦 Marcus's Twitter: @Siactro

🎵 StrayBoom: https://strayboom.bandcamp.com/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Pixel Pizza goes international this week as we talk with French composer and sound designer Charles Bardin! We talk about analyzing game music, taking risks in the creative process, and his newly-released game, A Musical Story! With musical breaks from another talented French artist, Throno Crigger!

LINKS:

🧀 Glee-Cheese Studio: https://www.glee-cheese.com/

🎸 A Musical Story: @A_Musical_Story

🎮 Steam Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1546100/A_Musical_Story/

💿 Throno Crigger: https://thronocrigger.bandcamp.com/

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @Pixelpizzapod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @Pixelpizzapod

Today I'm joined by Peter Lazarski, longtime indie dev and lover of all things that go bump in the night! We chat about his career in both the indie space and at a larger game company, his development streams on Twitch, and how Dungeons and Dragons has influenced the way he makes games. Featuring some fitting tunes from Witch Café! 

LINKS:

🎃 Peter's Website: www.imaginarymonsters.com

🖥 Peter's Twitch: www.twitch.tv/imaginarymonsters

👾 Peter's Discord: www.discord.gg/imaginarymonsters

📀 Witch Café: https://witchpop.bandcamp.com/

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @Pixelpizzapod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @Pixelpizzapod