Episodes

Tabletop games are proven massive brain stimulators. Playing them stimulates brain areas responsible for memory formation and complex thought processes. Board games' main (and perhaps only) limitation was the in-person aspect of it; the game's playability would be limited by the people around and available. A limitation technology could easily solve. Meet Kenton Hansen, Product Director at Roll20, the only free, community-based tabletop gaming software. Kenton is an experienced product developer...

Although esports is a small part of the gaming ecosystem, it is already a multi-billion industry, and it has a tremendous potential to grow even more. Competing against other players in an esports arena, with a captivated audience, and on a stage prepared just for the competition, is an incredible experience every gamer should have. That same experience, among many other services, is what our guest, Ben Feferman, provides at Amuka Esports, the company he created and directs. Ben Feferman is the ...

Although every part of a video game is indispensable, from storyline to animation, the looks are the first thing we get access to, even before seeing what the characters can do. That sounds like a lot of pressure for those creating the blueprints of how a game would look, doesn't it? Actually, concept artists, those in charge of designing those blueprints, love their job, and we have the pleasure to talk to one of them in today's episode: Christopher Hayes. Christopher Hayes is a concept artist;...

Ask any gamer and they'll tell you that the voice acting in a video game can make or break the experience. The best voice actors are able to connect with their audience on an emotional level, conveying everything from humor to horror. The challenge of a voice actor is more complex because they have only one resource to portray a character's emotions: their voice. Our guest today is Tod Fennell, a Film & Television Actor, Voice-Over Performer, and Screenwriter who has been using his voice to port...

Just like nature, inspiration always finds its way. We might think every story has already been told or written, just as we think there is no way a plant would grow in the middle of a concrete wall, but it happens. Nico Pengin, our guest today, is an excellent example of how amazing stories are still to be told. His imagination takes us to outer space, where an alien city/spaceship rescues humans from their dying planet for their own amusement, to play a game called Batey. Nico Pengin is a Specu...

Unlike traditional sports, where there are systems, adult supervision, structured training, and competition to test participants' skills and growth, gaming and esports are free spaces where new members have to figure out how everything works. A kid that starts playing Fortnite, for instance, must figure out how to play, the best strategies and, after dying a bunch of times, will eventually get better. But as he plays in a space with no restrictions of any kind, he might be exposed to inappropria...

At the beginning of cinema, visual effects were kind of a walking cane for the imagination; they helped create fantastic things that didn't exist in the real world. The first visual effects techniques were miniatures, back projection, smoke and mirrors, and other techniques that today's audience would find, at minimum, unconvincing. Today, visual effects are so smooth that sometimes the audience doesn't even realize they are there. It feels like they don't help people imagine how it would be to ...

Are women better represented in today’s gaming industry? Are there stereotypes that need to be broken down? Are female characters in video games always portrayed as strong, independent women? Are they usually depicted as the damsel in distress, or are there other possibilities? Listen to Geoffrey Bunting discuss how he decided to write about feminism and focus on the lack of diversity in the gaming industry. One of the main reasons Geoffrey, as a disabled person, decided to write about feminis...

During his time in college, Bradford Carlton played religiously 8 hours a day of WoW; he was a guild leader. He was doing recruiting, budget management, strategic planning, quality reviews, and more. But then, after getting into Law School, he committed to being an attorney, and he did it with tremendous success. Bradford learned how to use this new tool, "the Facebook," and his law firm exploded in no time. He was doing presentations on client acquisition and digital marketing; life was great. ...

Paul Saunders' first experience producing content was helping his good friend Graham Stark participate in a film festival. It was an animated video that took a lot of work to put together, but it was an experience both friends enjoyed. They agreed that consistency is vital to becoming good at something, so Paul had the idea of producing one video per week, with the sole difference of filming rather than using computer animation. And they did; they created and uploaded a new video every week for ...

In 1998, Willliam Hunter discovered a classic video games emulator, MAME. He had a great time playing games like Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and Defender. After a while, curiosity kicked in, and he asked himself where all these games came from, how they came about, and who made them. Although the internet was a different place back then, William couldn't find a website that told the story he wanted to read, so he decided to make one himself. William Hunter is the creator of The Dot Eaters, one of the ...

Although there are lots of different paths into the gaming industry, it is not an easy task. Drew Pariser, for instance, started working in an indie studio his brother was running, and from there, following his passion for games, he went to school to strengthen his network. He was already working within the industry when he started his Entertainment, Arts, and Engineering degree, and he went through several internships before he was hired as a Producer and Designer. Visiting us today is Drew Par...

When Andrew Mahone started his first YouTube channel, it was about having fun and expressing his creative nature. He taught himself some video editing and Photoshop to create and post videos of himself and his friends skateboarding when he was 13. Fast forward a couple of years, holding a degree in digital art and digital photography and some experience as a photojournalist, Andrew decided to match his experiences with his passion for Pokemon. He then started creating content for the Pokemon com...

Any college degree can be helpful to get into the gaming industry; every professional will be handy in any gaming company. But to Erik Willis, the best thing those interested in creating a game can do is create a game themselves. We can find online and free the same tools triple-A studios use, Unreal Engine and Unity, for instance. He believes that it doesn't need to be a big game; it can be a simple one. But someone that can show they have what it needs to build a game from scratch has many cha...

A good storyline is not mandatory to enjoy playing video games but when there is a well-written plot behind the main character's adventures, the enjoyment of playing the game goes to a different level. That is the work of people like Geoffrey Golden; they ensure that we not only play the game but most importantly, we become a part of and lost in the characters and plot. Geoffrey Golden is a narrative designer and writer. He has worked on a number of games including Murder in the Alps, an award-w...

Perhaps the first image that comes to mind when we think about the gaming community is a kid in their room playing video games, or if not a kid, young people. But that is just a stereotype; the gaming community is diverse; you can find prominent surgeons in their 30s and 50 years old with kids playing video games. Anyone can be a gamer; that is what today's guest, CoolcatTerri loves most about the gaming community. My first guest for this podcast is CoolcatTerri. She is a gamer, a streamer, an I...

We know a lot about the gaming industry. How much money it generates, the international tournaments, the teams, the professional gamers, and the streamers. But we know very little about the people. This show is not about the games; it is about the people playing them. Welcome, I'm your host, Noah Gicas. I'm a 13-year-old gamer, and in today's podcast, I receive the invaluable help of a special guest host (my mom) to introduce this podcast to you. We will talk about why I decided to start this po...