The Game Dev Show

We are nearing the end of season 1, but wanted to go out on a special episode. For our last guested episode of Season 1, we are joined by Marty O'Donnell who is, of course, the brilliant composer behind the Halo Trilogy music (stick around for Luke's rendition of the chanting... it's... something...). We talk about Marty's excellent friend, Sir Paul McCartney, Flintstone Vitamins, how to create art that is emotionally resonant without being derivative, and Marty leaves us with the advice to "Do the work and make friends." 

We are so thrilled to host Mike Wilson from Devolver this week! Mike is an absolute Games Industry godperson. He takes Luke and Kaley through his history in the Industry, including insider knowledge of John Romero's glasses through the ages. Mike has made a path for himself by being the bridge between creativity and business. Enjoy an hour of a cat daddy hanging with a guinea pig daddy! 

Our week 29 guest is THE Producer from Moon Studios, Blazej! Luke and Kaley talk about Blazej's career transition from telecom to games industry producer and how he has found success, how to navigate outsourcing art, and the alternate careers Blazej considered when he knew he was leaving telecom. Plus Kaley reveals her love of Blackberry... and this was recorded weeks before Blackberry got popular again thanks to Reddit. 

Our legend of a guest this week is Kassi O'Connor from Glu Mobile. Kassi has spent well over a decade in the industry carving out a niche for herself as the bridge between internal and external development. Beyond having the most positive energy of any guest we've ever had, Kassi is a wealth of knowledge about how to best incorporate external partners into your development process. We talk about how Machine Learning will impact external dev, XDS, excel hacks, and Kassi's days as a competitive Marion Kart player. Kassi is a true 'force for good' in the industry and a great guest. It's worth noting that the audio is a little spotty at times on this episode (the joys of recording at home), but we wanted to make sure it still got out as the content is so great. Enjoy! 

Our week 27 guest is Mike Rose from No More Robots who talks to us about his unique perspective on Indie Publishing, games Marketing and PR, game reviews, why he founded No More Robots, and even the Beanie Baby Battle game that started it all. Enjoy! 

Part 2 with Rami Ismail! If you haven't listened to part one yet, go back and start there (episode 25), and then join us back here for everything in Rami's journey post-Vlambeer. We talk about his process to become GDC ambassador, what he has misses during the pandemic, how he sees his role in the industry today, and the day he ate a fermented egg in China.  We wanted to start the year with this special 2 part episode in hopes that everything Rami shares will give you hope and inspiration for the new year. Onwards and upwards 2021!

We're starting 2021 with a special two part episode with the incredible Rami Ismail.  Rami has been such an influential part of the games industry from when he founded Vlambeer to becoming a GDC ambassador, to his current work in emerging territories.  For this week, we are hitting you with part one where Rami talks to Luke and Kaley about his early life and how growing up between two cultures led to him finding a home in games. He tells us about the cookie mutiny he staged in Kindergarten and how that spirit is still alive in his work today. We will be back next week with part two of our interview with Rami to talk about the current portion of his journey in the industry. For now, enjoy the absolute legend Rami Ismail. 

We wanted to end this incredibly challenging year with some special content, so for this week we are featuring Dr. Mick Donegan from Special Effect; Special Effect is a UK-based Non Profit Organization dedicated to making sure that everyone can access play. They put fun and inclusion back into the lives of people with physical disabilities by helping them to play video games. "By using technology ranging from modified joypads to eye-control, we're finding a way for people to play to the very best of their abilities. But we're not just doing it for fun. By levelling the playing field, we're bringing families and friends together and having a profoundly positive impact on therapy, confidence and rehabilitation." Dr. Mick was an incredible guest, there are tears and laughs on this episode. If you want to know more about Special Effect or support their incredible work, please visit their website Helping people with disabilities to enjoy video games | SpecialEffect 

Our Cyberpunk 2077 theme continues this week with Jacquie Shriver Sladeck from SIDE who is our week 23 guest. Jacquie has been working in games VO since it's infancy and has truly been a pioneer in her field.  Jacquie takes us through her journey in the industry- from listening to Nathan Drake's efforts for 6 weeks, to maintaining audio studio delivery continuity during a pandemic, all the way through to SIDE's role in Cyberpunk 2077.  Jacquie also talks about what it means to bring her own creative energy to a project while still maintaining the original meaning of a game and what it actually takes to delivery great games dialogue.  Thanks for being our guest Jacquie! 

Cherami Leigh is our week 22 guest and she talks to us about what it meant to  provide the Female Voice of V on Cyberpunk 2077. Cherami has an incredible dossier of work including voicing Gaige on Borderlands 2, Niya on World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, and WLF Militia on Last of Us: Part II. We talk about what it took to voice V (it may not be exactly what you think), how she and Gavin (male V voice actor) worked together,  and V even speaks on the podcast for a bit.  Plus, Kaley and Cherami agree to do crimes post-COVID, Cherami tells us about her time on Walker Texas Ranger, and  Barney the purple dinosaur.