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GDC Radio, in association with the Game Developers Conference and Gamasutra.com, provides professionally recorded MP3s featuring the game industry's top leaders and innovators. Choose from a wide variety of downloadable GDC lectures or Panels, including GDC itself, GDC Austin, Serious Games Summit GDC, Independent Games Summit, Casual Games Summit, and Game Career Seminar.
[*NEW*: The GDC 2008 audio lectures are now available on GDC Radio, offering a complete set of sessions from the inaugural CMP-run GDC event and available in both CD-ROM and individual MP3 download versions.]
 The organizers of the Austin Game Developers Conference have announced that it has made audio proceedings from Austin GDC 2008 available for individual purchase via the GDC Radio service.
The individual MP3 download versions are priced at $7.95 per lecture and available via GDC Radio, with many of the notable sessions now available from the September event, which was attended by a record number of online, audio and writing-centric game professionals.
The GDC Radio service itself works in association with the Game Developers Conference and Gamasutra.com, provides professionally recorded MP3s featuring the game industry's top leaders and innovators. Interested parties can choose from a wide variety of downloadable GDC lectures or panels, including GDC itself, GDC Austin, Serious Games Summit GDC, Independent Games Summit, Casual Games Summit, and Game Career Seminar.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's podcast, we present an interview with Shawn Elliott, newly appointed associate producer at 2K Games, Boston. He was previously senior executive editor of 1UP.com's PC coverage after having served prior stints as Features and Previews editor at Games for Windows and Electronic Gaming Monthly magazines. Before retiring the show, Shawn was also a co-host of the rambling and rambunctious GfW Radio Podcast. Shawn has been a staple in games coverage since 2003 after starting out his career at EGM.
Over the years, Shawn has proven to be an observant and vocal commentator on, and participant in the video game and PC enthusiast press. He has brought his background as an English Literature major and his graduate studies in creative writing to his career.
Although to date he hasn't worked in game development, he literally made it his business to examine and reflect on the factors and mechanics that make games compelling, and to write about his experiences playing games in a manner that both served the enthusiast press. Yet, he still ventured outside of the solid practice of writing about games as consumer product.
Our interview starts with a word of explanation from Shawn about his decision to leave games journalism and enter the field of game development, including Shawn's thoughts about the applicability of his work experience, advice for aspiring game developers, and some direct answers behind his motivations to shift his career.
We discuss Shawn's opinions about the difference between writing for print versus writing for the Web. Shawn muses about the end of the print incarnation of Games for Windows Magazine. We then talk about his background, specifically his decision to pursue his given fields of study and how gaming intersected with his other interests.
Shawn further explains how his academic background informed his thought process and writing about games, including his shifts in language and attitude depending on the audience. We also discuss his approach to writing reviews -- how he tries to capture the experience of playing a game and to explain in a tangible way exactly what makes a game compelling to him -- plus the various implications of attaching scores to reviews.
We transition to Shawn's advice for aspiring game writers, both in general and specific terms. He then muses on the genres of games that appeal to him and why, including some personal anecdotes relating to his fascination.
He goes on at length about the fulfillment one feels regarding mastery and competence in games as far-ranging as the Soulcalibur series and Company of Heroes. Shawn then tries to explain the motivations behind his creative griefing, and some very general behavioral observations of online communities while playing games, comparing his virtual pranks to some of the stunts that he's pulled in reality.
We close out our conversation with some thoughts about unacknowledged gaming treasures and developer and publisher leverage in the marketplace. Because we recorded the interview before the launch of Spore, we speculate on what features of gameplay we were anticipating in that title.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast interview with Shawn Elliott, new associate producer at 2K Boston.
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's podcast, we present an interview with Iain Simons, writer and live events coordinator of Nottingham's GameCity Festival. Besides serving as the co-creator of GameCity -- now going on to its third year, Simons is the author of three books: Difficult Questions about Videogames, BFI Film Guides 100 Videogames, and Inside Game Design -- part of which was recently excerpted on Gamasutra. He is a tireless advocate for the cultural significance of games.
In the course of conversation about the festival, which grew out of and evolved from initially more informal alcohol- and curry-fueled get-togethers, Iain speaks passionately about various subjects such as the role of game advocates as apologists of the medium, the lack of a human face to the games industry, and the reluctance of game publishers to discuss the process of creating games as opposed to promoting finished product. He also takes the comparison of games and cinema to task, particularly regarding what that analogy implies about the aspirations of the form.
He talks about themes that have been going through his mind recently, such as non-threatening entertainment, the removal of player-character death from modern game design, and safety and the permission to explore in-game environments.
He also discusses how to make games and game culture more palatable to non-gamer audiences. These include directly addressing the creative process of making games -- getting to questions that one might ask of any creator working in better known contemporary mediums.
Finally, Simons discusses ideas that didn't quite make it into his latest publication, Inside Game Design, and what factors defined which ideas made it into the book or not. He also shares some wonderful personal anecdotes about developer involvement with both GameCity and Inside Game Design. And he closes with Nottingham Trent University Undergraduate and Post-graduate programs' support of GameCity's latest project: an archive of early to current game artifacts and history.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast with GameCity director Iain Simons (.MP3, 108 minutes, 32 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's podcast, we present an interview with Mike Wilson, Grand Champeen of Gamecock Media Group, who we caught up in Chicago with after a marketing and promotion planning meeting with Wideload Games.
Co-founder Wilson has a vital business role in game history over the past 15 years - working at id, setting up the influential GodGames, and now running his upstart publisher (Dementium, Hail To The Chimp), and this latest Podcast, he talks about his storied career and intriguing plans.
Gamecock's business philosophy sees it stretching themselves to leverage very asset from box designs, guerrilla marketing to reach untraditional audiences, and direct communications with gamer communities. It also secures approval from the developer on all phases of marketing, advertising, promotions, and PR.
This philosophy stems from Wilson's deep history in game development and publishing, starting out at DWANGO and id Software, and moving on to Ion Storm, and his first venture in artist-driven publishing, Gathering of Developers. Wilson generously shares his personal experiences and observations working in the game development and publishing industries, and how he has refined his personal and professional approach along the way. Although Gamecock Media Group is a new venture, Wilson reveals how the principles on which the company was founded have been in existence for more than a decade.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: The Strange History Of Gamecock's Mike Wilson (.MP3, 54 minutes, 25 MB). Today's podcast is also being simultaneously offered as a feature on Gamasutra.com.
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's program, we wrap up our interviews from this year's Penny Arcade Expo with double-header conversations with both president and CEO Vlad Ceraldi and COO Joel DeYoung of Penny Arcade Adventures developer Hothead Games, and CCP Whitewolf's Peter Golan and Noah Ward, marketing director and lead game designer of EVE Online.
In the first part, Hothead Games' Ceraldi and DeYoung describe the challenges studios faces from quality of life for older employees with families, staffing and outsourcing pressures, new technologies, and as-yet still small installed bases. The two talk particular Hothead strategies such as taking advantage of alternate distribution platforms, adopting novel production models for games using a best-fit supplier model and scalable staffing to maximize efficiency. They also discuss how these strategies don't mean that a developer has to sacrifice on quality.
Next, Peter Golan and Noah Ward discuss the longevity of their lead franchise, EVE Online. EVE has been on the marketplace since 2003, far longer than most MMOs. Interestingly, EVE has always had great subscriber retention and a steadily growing base since its launch. Golan and Ward explain how they aren't afraid to make a specialized experience for a hardcore audience, and in fact how their focus has lead to their ongoing success.
In their upcoming expansions, they state that CCP has no plans to simplify their game, but are interested in providing tools to the player to more clearly introduce new players to the options their game has to offer. Although they don't seek to make their game more mainstream, they discuss their efforts to ensure that everyone has a significant role, regardless of their experience or rank.
They talk about how most of the changes to the game to date have been directly driven by their player base and how their design philosophy has always allowed their players to dictate a remarkable level of input and control over the lore and design of the EVE universe.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: PAX 2007 Interviews with Hothead Games and CCP Whitewolf (.MP3, 32 minutes, 14.8 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest free Game Developers Conference recording, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For this week's special GameCareerGuide.com podcast we cover five Game Career Seminar sessions from the recent Austin Game Developers Conference, all of which are being brought to you in association with The Art Institute Online.
The topics covered in the sessions range from choosing a school, to breaking into the industry, to improving your networking skills, to a special interview with industry veteran David Perry on his rise through the industry to his successes today.
The five sessions are as follows:
A Game Industry Journeyman
Speaker: Andy Schatz (Pocketwatch Games)
From his start as an intern at one of the first internet gaming portals in 1995 through his work in the big budget console world to the happy land of indie game development and the casual gaming gold rush, Andy has seen it all. Learn about how to break into the industry, and then how to break out of it.
Download the Game Career Seminar lecture, 'A Game Industry Journeyman' (.MP3, 62 minutes, 14.1 MB).
Schools Under the Microscope: An Open Q&A
Speaker: Gordon Dutrisac (Student Services Director, DigiPen Institute of Technology)
Jeannie Novak and Stacey Simmons (Director, BRADIC)
Casey Jones (Instructor, Texas State Technical College)
Bob McGoldrick (Video Games Coordinator, Austin Community College)
Representatives from various types of schools that offer degrees in, or related to, game development and design are on-hand to take your questions.
Download the Game Career Seminar lecture, 'Schools Under the Microscope' (.MP3, 59 minutes, 13.6 MB).
What are Employers Looking for Now?
Speaker: Robin McShaffry (VP Operations, Mary-Margaret.com)
Michael Nichols (Senior Recruiter, THQ/Vigil Games)
Jackie Shuler (Recruiter, Electronic Arts, Inc.)
What are the latest hiring trends in the game industry? What do companies look for in entry-level candidates? Which skills are most sought after? Learn, from search to follow-up, how to showcase the skills you are equipped with. Followed by Q&A.
Download the Game Career Seminar lecture, 'What are Employers Looking for Now?' (.MP3, 56 minutes, 13 MB).
Networking 101
Speaker: Darius Kazemi (President, Orbus Gameworks)
Get out of your seats for an interactive networking live game! It's more than just shmoozing, it's a valuable way to open up new opportunities.
Download the Game Career Seminar lecture, 'Networking 101' (.MP3, 63 minutes, 14.3 MB).
When did You last Level Up? Career Advice from an Industry Veteran
Speaker: David Perry (CEO/Founder, Gameconsultants.com)
It's like going on a diet, it won't be easy, but if you want to spike your career right now, David Perry (a 25 year industry veteran with multiple #1 games under his belt) is here to share some advice. This Q&A with GDC's Executive Director Jamil Moledina, should reveal some insights into how this multi-millionaire developer has found ways to keep a career growing in this fast moving and highly-competitive business.
Download the Game Career Seminar lecture, 'Career Advice from an Industry Veteran' (.MP3, 62 minutes, 14.2 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest free Game Developers Conference recording, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This week's podcast comes from this year's Austin Game Developers Conference, with a roundtable consisting primarily of voice recording artists DB Cooper and Pat Fraley.
Both veterans of traditional and game-related voiceovers, DB Cooper's work has appeared in titles by studios such as Blitz Games. Fraley has appeared in a number of classic LucasArts titles such as Escape From Monkey Island, as well as Armed and Dangerous and is currently recording original sounds and languages for user-created creatures in EA's Spore -- the latter of which he previews over the course of the podcast.
For their extensive and entertaining Austin GDC lecture, the two, as well as a number of audience participants, give practical advice for voice actors, audio engineers, script writers, designers and more can do to get the best performances for their games. From the official roundtable description:
"This roundtable is for the exchange of ideas between writers, designers & audio people, and voice actors & AFTRA in the interest of learning what game developers need the most from voice talent and what the "perfect-world" deliverables would be from talent and contracts. There will also be discussion about the things game designers and audio directors can expect from voice actors and the union and what changes can be made in their concerted approach to best aid the game design process from the very beginning."
Examples of all of the tips and processes covered are given, including how to coach a elegant and graceful performance out of actors who are only recording gun-shot character grunts, screams, and falls.
You can now download the Austin GDC lecture, Creating a New Age of VO in Games (.MP3, 70 minutes, 16 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today we present a two-part show featuring live interviews at PAX with Richard Iggo of GameCock Media Group and Joe Ludwig and Rick Saada of Flying Lab Software, developers of the upcoming MMO, Pirates of the Burning Sea.
Much has been made of the cavalier attitude and indie spirit of GameCock Officers, Mike Wilson, Harry Miller and Rick Stults. After taking some hard licks with the implosion of their previous publishing venture, Gathering of Developers, the founders of the new company are capitalizing on their experience and giving indie publishing another go.
Prior to its untimely demise, GodGames's PR antics often upstaged the fact that they managed to make the relationship-based publisher model work and released a number of critically and commercially successful games.
Likewise, Gamecock certainly attracts its share of interesting PR. But there seem to be some more serious activities going on behind the scenes. GameCock VP of Marketing, Richard Iggo takes a moment from his duties wrangling his bosses at PAX to talk about GameCock's efforts to repeat the behind the scenes successes of GodGames with the benefit of its founders' hard earned experience.
For the second interview, Joe Ludwig and Rick Saada of Flying Lab Software share a long and storied history of the independently developed MMO, Pirates of the Burning Sea. Starting out as a small-scale casual title, Pirates of the Burning Sea has grown to a full-blown MMO with loads of content and an impressive set of features. Joe and Rick talk about how the growth of their game influenced the growth of their company, and what they have learned along the way.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: PAX 2007 Interviews with Gamecock Media Group and Flying Lab Software (.MP3, 34 minutes, 16 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
The organizers of the Austin Game Developers Conference have announced that it has made audio proceedings from AGDC's first day available for individual purchase via the GDC Radio service.
As well as the individual MP3 download versions, which are priced at $7.95 per lecture and available via GDC Radio, full audio DVD-ROMs are also now ready for pre-order, with the full conference audio available for $249, and individual conference tracks for $129.
Some notable sessions already available for purchase are Raph Koster regarding 'Designing For Everywhere', Vicarious Visions' Evan Skolnick discussing 'Everything I Needed to Know about Game Writing I Learned from Star Trek', and Mike Morhaime's keynote called 'How to Rule the World (of Warcraft): Ten Lessons'.
The GDC Radio service itself works in association with the Game Developers Conference and Gamasutra.com, provides professionally recorded MP3s featuring the game industry's top leaders and innovators. Interested parties can choose from a wide variety of downloadable GDC lectures or panels, including GDC itself, GDC Austin, Serious Games Summit GDC, Independent Games Summit, Casual Games Summit, and Game Career Seminar.
 In the latest Gamasutra Podcast, presented by Tom Kim, we present a round table on the new format of the E3 Media and Business Summit. The panelists discuss the new format of the show and reflect on their impressions resulting from these changes.
Representing the gaming press, we have Susan Arendt of Wired's News Blogging team at Game | Life, N'Gai Croal, General Editor of Newsweek and John Davison of the Ziff Davis Game Group's 1UP Network. From the developer and technology services side, we have Todd Northcutt, Director of IGN / GameSpy Multiplayer Technology and Denny Thorley, President of Day 1 Studios.
This year's E3, spread out over several hotel suites and the Barker Hanger at Santa Monica was an effort by the event's organizers to offer a more viable environment for exhibitors to present their products and to conduct business.
Susan Arendt of Wired commented initially on the changes in the podcast: "E3, to me this year, felt more like it was being done out of habit than anything else. There weren't any big surprises, really. Just about every game that we saw we knew was coming had already seen at a game day event. With rare exception, we pretty much had already heard everything everyone had to say. It just felt like we were all kind of there because we all get together for E3 every year."
The panelists discuss how access to materials was affected by both the invitation-only attendance as well as the physical layout of the expo, spread out as it was between multiple locations.
Newsweek's N'Gai Croal added of these issues: "Obviously there was no Kentia Hall, so there goes a lot of the obscure, the Korean, the sort of the variety of stuff that you would see over in Kentia Hall. That was deliberate on the part of the ESA. In previous years they had allowed a range of smaller publishers to draft on their coattails as they saw it, and this year they decided not to do that... For me, coming from Newsweek I tend to have to cover some of the bigger games with a mix of smaller games, and I am personally more interested in indie games than I've been in the past, and again, because I couldn't get over to Barker Hanger I couldn't see those."
Their reports weren't all critical. Particularly from the developer side, the panelists go into some specifics about how well the format worked for them in terms of doing business. And on the press side, the journalists appreciated the quality of access they got unfettered access they got directly with the developers themselves.
The panelists wrap up their commentary by speculating on how the ESA could address some of the perceived deficiencies of this year's format, and some of the challenges they might have to face to do so.
Newsweek's Croal particulary noted: "I go to a news conference for news, and little news was being made... You have all these companies, these video game publishers that are based in the United States, yet Sony and their third parties just announced a whole slew of new games in Japan [immediately following E3] and it's not even Tokyo Game Show. What does that say when those games could have been announced at E3?"
He concluded: "I know the Japanese market needs a boost as far as the PS3 is concerned, but what does that say about North America's position in the global game market - when Sony can just have its own event not even a full week after E3 and unveil a slate of new games from itself and third parties, and it’s not even TGS?"
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: 'Does The New E3 Work?' (.MP3).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's show, with Manifesto Games now open for a couple years, we check in with Greg Costikyan to see how the independent digital distribution service has fared. In the years since the service has opened its doors, the gaming landscape has changed perceptibly, though even with many more distribution channels emerging on both the PC and consoles and a broadening of the market, Manifesto Games still offers titles that appeal to particular interest groups that conventional games don't.
Despite the varied offerings of casual games portals such as Pogo, online distribution services such as Steam, and classic games and new content services such as GameTap, Costikyan says that he does not feel that the marketplace is crowded. Rather, he feels that games are now common cultural currency, perhaps to the degree where people can be convinced to check out games in subjects that appeal to them, whether they are self-identified "gamers," or not, and says success is really a matter of identifying the right markets for the titles that each service offers.
Costikyan explains that one of the most significant challenges for the indie space is to convince the public that games produced by independent, smaller teams don't equate to poor quality, but instead says that individual creators can work with a more singular vision to craft worthwhile experiences. The games that have done best for Manifesto, such as Impact Games' PeaceMaker and Wadjet Eye's The Shivah, says Costikyan, distinguish themselves by being particularly innovative in theme and topic or game play.
In the course of the interview, Costikyan addresses Manifesto Games' plans to appeal to community building to foster a relationship with the audiences who are most interested in the kinds of games Manifesto offers. He talks about his general impressions about the indie games scene, and the emergence of digital distribution services such as Xbox Live Arcade and Sony's PlayStation Network. And he shares what accomplishments he is most proud of, and what we might expect out of Manifesto in the future.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview with Greg Costikyan (.MP3, 32 minutes, 15 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's show, we feature an extensive interview with Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter.
His unvarnished opinions and gutsy predictions have garnered him and his firm a high profile among the gaming community.
But, says Pachter in the course of the interview, "I don't solicit all this press coverage. The press finds me. I think that the press finds me because I'm colorful, I'm not shy, I have an opinion and I frankly really don't care if someone agrees or disagrees with it. I'm willing to share."
"The controversy - the invective - that I get comes primarily from the games industry people always writing me emails and asking me, 'what do you think about this?' You know, 'what do you think when one of your competitors said "something"' that I thought was stupid. I wrote back that the guy was naive. And boy, headline: 'Pachter calls other analyst naive.' Today someone asked me, 'what do you think about the Sega marketing guy saying the Wii is a fad,' and I responded. Boy, headline."
We talk about the method behind his madness, delving into some of the thinking and methodology behind his analysis. He talks about how his coverage of the entertainment sector, and games in particular, differs from other categories covered by sales side analysts. We discuss his thoughts on investor-friendly publishing and consumer desire, and why the two might not be mutually exclusive.
In true Pachter-ian fashion, he straightforwardly addresses his cult of personality among message boards and gaming communities.
"I publish my monthly console and handheld hardware numbers because the NeoGAF guys think it's so fun," says Pachter of the infamous messageboard. "But no one's ever asked to see my annual forecast for all those things. I'm spot on, for my annual forecast. I'd love to see those guys put out a contest for annual forecasts for the next five years and then we'll compare my numbers to theirs, because I've been spot on for five or six years now."
"The average NeoGAF visitor isn't equipped to actually prepare those things," says Pachter, "because it requires you to make an assumption about pricing, and I've been great on that as well. It's hard to do."
Pachter shares some of his biggest industry surprises of the past few years, and his personal pick for most under-rated company in the game industry:
"I love the innovation. I love the opportunistic rapid market response. I think this company's going to earn a lot more money than most people do."
And, finally, responds to earlier comments he's made that next-gen game prices are too low and that "consumers are getting a gift":
"I'm just making an economic argument, not so much a suggestion," says Pachter. "[Prices of next-gen games] aren't going up. You're seeing collectors editions at $70 -- you're seeing the GTA collector's at $90. Guitar Hero -- $90. People don't even blink. They stand in line for the thing."
"I just meant that the public is willing to spend more for the content that they want," he adds. "Again, adjusted for inflation, the old PSone game in 1995 that came out at $49.99 would be probably about 70 bucks right now, just at 3 percent inflation compounded for the last 12 years, you'd be up over $70. On an apples to apples basis, $60 is a bargain. And the content of a PS3 game is a lot greater, or an Xbox 360 game, than the content of the first generation PSone games."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview with Michael Pachter (.MP3, 48 minutes, 22 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest free Game Developers Conference recording, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This week's podcast comes from this year's 2007 Game Developers Conference, with a lecture entitled Where Game Meets The Web, from ex-Sony Online Entertainment producer and A Theory of Fun author Raph Koster.
Koster's latest venture, in production at his recently founded studio Areae, hopes to, as he says, marry the MMO world with the philosophies and practices of Web 2.0. "There's a lot of things wrapped up in that," Koster told Gamasutra, "everything from very low-end user costs for being able to participate, lots and lots and lots of listening to users, having them involved, having them contribute."
An explanation and elaboration of many of those principles can be found in his GDC lecture. As the official lecture description reads:
"We've all heard it, and probably even said it: games are kind of like movies. We have the blockbusters, the opening days, the big budgets and interdisciplinary teams... There are many lessons we can learn from the well-established content industries.
But games are also software, and the software world is undergoing a revolution. The web world is in ferment - some say a new bubble - and it's dragging content industries kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The underlying technological assumptions of the web regarding concepts such as IP, distribution, and user participation are very different from the Big Media way of doing things. Could 'release early, release often' possibly apply to the world of gamemaking?
This session is about lessons we can learn from how the web world works, applied to the game industry, and concrete takeaways on how to leverage the brave new Web world."
You can now download the GDC lecture, Where Game Meets The Web (.MP3, 68 minutes, 15.7 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's show, we feature an interview with Kane Minkus, principal and founder of Somatone Interactive Audio.
Although you might not be familiar with Somatone, you are probably quite familiar with their work. Somatone scores and produces music, sound effects, and voice overs for over 120 titles a year, including some of your favorite console, casual and downloadable games, such as EA's Medal of Honor series, PlayFirst's Diner Dash series, 3-Rings' best of IGF winner, Bang Howdy, and PopCap's fiendishly addictive Peggle.
Not only does Somatone handle music composition, sound design, voice overs, and mixing and mastering, but they are also responsible for developing a highly optimized, high quality sound and music technology specifically tailored for downloadable games.
In the interview, Kane talks about his motivation for starting up Somatone, specifically with an eye, or ear, toward servicing the game industry. Kane explains how their movement into the downloadable casual space has been a great challenge to the sound designers and composers at Somatone in terms of the breadth of styles and the diversity of the audience for those games. Also, how Somatone's tight integration of technology for their clients allows them a more cooperative and creative role in working with the game development team.
He addresses some of the technical considerations in the development of their audio technology for downloadables, and how it shapes the feature set of their production tools. The end result being a highly optimized, very efficient and surprisingly flexible solution.
Kane also talks about some of the unique process that Somatone applies to score games, including their use of Laban Movement Analysis, a systematic means of describing and deconstructing motion. Finally, he talks about the musical inspiration behind the score for Peggle, which turns out to have the same controlled randomness as the game itself.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview with Kane Minkus (.MP3, 36 minutes, 16 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest free Game Developers Conference recording, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
With God of War: Chains of Olympus coming to the PSP, and the extremely well received God of War II continuing to be a top seller, we take a look back at the development of the original God of War with a lecture from the 2006 Game Developers Conference.
For his "God of War: How the Left and Right Brain Learned to Love One Another" lecture, Sony Computer Entertainment America director of technology, Tim Moss looked at the left brain/right brain split between David Jaffe and the game's designers and himself and his team of programmers, and how, despite it all, the two sides managed to come together to make a hit game.
Listed as important for "programmers, designers and anyone who has to come up with a project plan that keeps them all happy," the official lecture description reads:
"God of War is a big game, lots of special case elements, high production values. Its lead designer was a Right Brain, random creative type who couldn’t really speak Programmer. Its lead programmer was a Left Brain analytical type who likes things to be methodical, well thought out and hates special cases. Through a 3 year process of arguing, designing, building, programming, and much, much more arguing they managed to find a way to make a game. This session will cover how the code, engine and tools were structured to allow the creative people on the team to make the game we they wanted."
You can now download the GDC lecture, 'God of War: How the Left and Right Brain Learned to Love One Another' (.MP3, 53 minutes, 12.2 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's show, we talk with Stephen Totilo, reporter for MTV News. Stephen is perhaps the only full-time reporter hired by a mainstream news outlet to cover games exclusively. He covers online, on-air, and broadband offerings with MTV News, as well as posting his own Player Two blog at stephentotilo.com.
Newsweek General Editor N'Gai Croal calls him, "the best cultural correspondent covering games." Given Stephen's strong convictions about bringing in more enterprise and initiative into gaming news, his stories consistently define a unique perspective within the games press.
We address the ongoing debate about the role of formal schooling and training in journalism, how to bring more relevance to entertainment media coverage, the power of effective reporting and the true values of journalism, the proper separation between games journalism and game development, and the need to address the curiosity and concerns about game-related cultural experiences. Stephen also talks about his editorial freedom covering gaming news outside of the traditional enthusiast press.
We talk about the recent departure of more seasoned and talented games journalists from the field directly into game development or the game industry overall, and some of the possible factors behind this flight.
Stephen brings up the need to feature more people in game reporting, and some of the obstacles that might apply specifically to the gaming press to cover that kind of story. And the balance between that sort of coverage and the typical reportage seen in the games press.
He proposes some access to alternate coverage that he would like to see from game developers and publishers regarding more interesting ways to talk about their products to the gaming press. And how they could perhaps leverage their fans' deeper curiosity about the process and the people involved with making games to get beyond canned statements and product points.
We discuss how games coverage might differ from traditional news reporting, specifically with regard to blogging and non-traditional first person writing. And lastly, we talk about what might hold games back from being a truly mainstream entertainment and how games might become more accessible to a larger audience.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview with Stephen Totilo (.MP3, 59 minutes, 27 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest free Game Developers Conference recording, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Our latest podcast comes from this year's Game Developers Conference, with Introversion's managing director Mark Morris and financial director Tom Arundel talking about how winning three prizes at IGF 2006 saw a massive turnaround for the UK based, self confessed last-of-the-bedroom-programmers, Introversion Software.
"One year on," the official GDC session description writes, "Introversion returns to spill the beans on what happened when all of the hangovers, camera crews, excitement and hype surrounding IGF dissipated. We will discuss the trials and tribulations of running a small, independent games company, including topics such as:
* Advice on how to attain commercial credibility and compete with the big boys of the games industry whilst retaining creative freedom
* Maximizing the benefits whilst downplaying the limitations of running a small dev team
* Tapping in to the opportunities now present to indies via internet retail and distribution
* Why now is a better time than ever for the budding independent developer."
The session was listed as relevant to anyone "already familiar with and interested in [Introversion's] work and also to those seeking viable, working alternatives within the games industry to the traditional franchise and sequel cash-ins favored by the worst kind of profit-greedy and creatively stunted publishers."
Introversion promised to "prove to developers and publishers alike that the current approach to games development is forcing creative stagnation, but can be overturned by new openings in the industry which allow the small independent to retain creative freedom whilst remaining financially viable."
You can now download the GDC lecture, 'After the Party: Introversion Software One Year On From IGF 2006' (.MP3, 56 minutes, 12.7 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our regular weekly GDC Radio podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's interview, we get some advice from veteran game industry recruiter, Marc Mencher. Marc and his staff at GameRecruiter.com have 18 years of experience recruiting the technical, production, and executive talent who make up game industry companies.
Marc and his firm specialize in strategically important and un-advertised jobs in all segments of the game industry. These are the kinds of positions you won't find in the classifieds or on job boards. Marc believes in a career-building approach, rather than placing candidates in one-off positions.
Marc draws on his 25 years of experience to impart advice to anyone looking to get, and keep, a job in the game industry. We discuss the absolutely crucial role of networking, how to introduce and sell yourself at industry events, how to use job postings as a lead source to take control of your job hunt, and how to stand out among the hundreds of candidates applying for a given position.
In separate segments, Marc shares some practical tips on how to break into the game industry, how to build your skills with the goal of assembling the right work samples, and how to start building your industry mentors and contacts. And he gives his opinion on the value of attending a specialized game school.
For those of you with a few releases under your belt, we talk about how to track industry trends very specifically, and how to keep yourself employable and valuable in the market. We also discuss the impact, from a hiring perspective, due to new consoles, production pathways and agile development, outsourcing, and freelancing.
Marc also provides some insight into the career viability of new growth sectors, such as the mobile and MMO markets, and some of the forces defining the influx of talent from other entertainment fields, and the departure of veterans from gaming into other industries. To round out the discussion, Marc shares his take on this year's Game Developer Magazine annual salary survey, and how it stacks up against his experience.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview with Marc Mencher (.MP3, 63 minutes, 29 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the GDC Radio podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly audio sessions, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Our latest podcast comes from this year's Game Developers Conference, with Harmonix's Guitar Hero producer Daniel Sussman and senior sound designer Eric Brosius explaining that, contrary to other genres, in most music games your songs are your levels, which means your sound designers are your level designers.
Over the course of the lecture, the two discuss specifics on how they created compelling game content from established rock music in Guitar Hero, including how to choose songs that made good levels, some of the tools the studio used to "level the playing field," and specific examples from both Guitar Hero releases.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, 'Is Jimi Hendrix a Good Level Designer?' (.MP3, 59 minutes, 13.5 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's show, we feature two interviews from the Game Developer's Conference. The first is with Dan Snyder, the PR Manager of Intel Corporation and the second is with Joshua Hong, the CEO and founder of pay-to-play MMO company, K2 Network.
In my interview with Dan, we discuss Intel's resurgence and refocus in the gaming market and community. Dan addresses Epic VP Mark Rein's statement that Intel is killing PC gaming, speaking in particular about the bad rap of integrated graphics and its impact on game developer's market presence.
He also comments on Intel's work to improve support, providing more robust and efficient drivers and working with game developers to achieve the best possible performance on Intel hardware including development on multi-core processors on multiple threads.
Finally, he addresses some of Intel's plans for the future including the next generation of 45nm "Penren" processors, new mobility tools and integrated SLI in notebooks, their new streaming Symbion instruction set, SSE4 with 50 new instructions, many of which have direct applications to gaming, and their functioning 80-core prototype chip set.
Joshua Hong talks about how MMO companies should be service companies as much as they address development and publishing. He talks about the importance and difficulties of maintaining a thriving gaming community, especially when that community comprises between 8 - 9 million users worldwide.
Joshua explains how K2 is introducing free-to-play model and adapting the service to Western tastes. He explains how free-to-play is more than a pricing structure, but how it has significant implications for distribution, product development and service as well. And how selling in-game items is not limiting game play, but is actually empowering choice by enabling customers to shape their experience to their personal level of comfort or commitment. In other words, to only have to pay for the content they want to experience.
He also expresses K2's philosophy regarding their product portfolio, and how their business model allows for continuous yearly, monthly, and even daily enhancements and expansions to the game.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: GDC 2007 Interviews with Dan Snyder of Intel and Joshua Hong of K2 Network (.MP3, 35 minutes, 16.1 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast, Tom Kim follows up on the '20 Questions With Phil Harrison' session at this year's DICE Summit by turning the tables on Harrison's interrogator and conducting an in-depth interview with Newsweek video game/technology writer and general editor N'Gai Croal.
In the interview, Croal discusses his interview technique, the differences, as he sees them, between coverage of games from the mainstream press versus the enthusiast press, his passion for new forms of media dissemination such as blogging and podcasting, working as a minority in the gaming press, and his take on critical game industry trends. This interview was recorded prior to the GDC, so the listening audience can decide for themselves how accurate his pronouncements actually were.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Newsweek's N'Gai Croal (.MP3, 72 minutes, 33.4 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly audio sessions, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This technical podcast features our first lecture presented from this year's Game Developers Conference, with Mark Cerny (Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance: Fall Of Man), SCE/Naughty Dog's Jon Olick, and SCE lead graphics engineer Vince Diesi presenting PlayStation Edge, the advanced graphics toolkit for PlayStation 3 development announced and distributed at this year's conference.
Intended to give programmers creating PlayStation 3 content some background and necessary information on the toolset, GDC described the session like so:
"Three first party technology teams within Sony -- the WWS Europe Advanced Technology Group, WWS America ICE team, and WWS America Tools and Technology group -- have combined to create PlayStation® Edge, a set of cutting edge technologies for imminent release to all PlayStation 3 developers. Rather than an overarching engine, these teams have chosen to create specialized systems that demonstrate best practices of SPU and RSX utilization. A unique tool for RSX performance analysis, extensively used in the tuning of first party titles, will also be presented."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, 'Cerny, Olick, Diesi Present PlayStation Edge' (.MP3, 54 minutes, 12.3 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest in the special GDC interview series of our regular podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Jamie Berger, senior vice president and general manager for the consumer products division of IGN Entertainment. Berger is responsible for overseeing IGN's subscription, digital distribution, and e-commerce portfolio, including FilePlanet, 3D Gamers, GameSpy Arcade, Direct2Drive, GameSpy Arena, and IGN Insider.
In the course of our conversation, we talk about IGN's entry into the digital distribution business, with direct downloads of PC games including top tier releases such as Supreme Commander and Jade Empire, as well as niche and legacy titles like Planetside, with Berger explaining that its game sales business isn't a conflict of interest with its game reviews business.
We also talk to Berger about IGN's upcoming channel for independent game titles and outreach program to smaller developers to help them manage and grow their business, and the site's launch of a new non-commercial indie game and mod building site intended as a resource for small developers and an interface between them.
Finally, Berger leads us through its GameSpy technology group, with its more heavily community driven push as late through features like Command and Conquer 3's "RTS As A Sport," which allows players to act as spectators and commentators of streaming or downloadable online matches, and touches briefly on GameSpy's partnership with Nintendo for the DS and Wii, with hints on how its online space might develop.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Jamie Berger (.MP3, 23 minutes, 10.5 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest in the special GDC interview series of our regular podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Tom Anderson, president and CEO of Novint Technologies. Novint's most recent push into the gaming space has come in the form of the Novint Falcon 3D touch feedback device, new hardware that the company calls "a small robot which lets users feel weight, shape, texture, dimension, dynamics and force effects when playing enabled games." Using the Falcon, Novint says, "players experience a full range of realistic touch sensations that allow them to control a game more naturally and intuitively."
In the course of our conversation, Anderson talks about the upcoming commercial launch of the Falcon, arguing that the device is a platform rather than a peripheral, and says why he thinks it will fundamentally change how people interact with the PCs, and possibly even their next-gen game consoles. He discusses the differences between the Falcon and other specialized gaming peripherals that have come before, and why Novint has chosen to pursue the gaming market as opposed to other business where they could just as easily apply their technology.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Tom Anderson (.MP3, 13 minutes, 6 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest in the special GDC interview series of our regular podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Michael Steele, vice president of marketing at physics hardware manufacturer and developer AGEIA. The company has been continuing to make strides at mass-market adoption, most recently announcing both expansion of the company's processing units into mobile hardware, as well as working on original games that take advantage of AGEIA's specialized physics engine, including the action title CellFactor and Warmonger.
In the course of our conversation, we discuss the pivotal year AGEIA has ahead of it, facing competition from ATI's Crossfire and NVIDIA's SLI boards, and how the company can make the case to core gamers that its hardware can provide solutions for real, perceivable improvements in game mechanics, beyond visual effects.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Michael Steele (.MP3, 10 minutes, 4.9 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 GDC organizers have announced that the GDC Radio digital store has already added audio from over 200 sessions taking place at Game Developers Conference 2007, with each downloadable for a small fee.
The GDC Radio website has full details on the sessions, but the GDC 2007 section of the site already includes many major GDC technical, art, and design sessions, as well as multiple extras from GDC Mobile, Serious Games Summit GDC, and other subconferences.
The .MP3 audio can be downloaded for $7.95 per session, and some of the most interesting sessions already available and not reported on elsewhere include the PlayStation Edge technical presentation featuring Mark Cerny and friends, the 'Creating Original Music For Games' panel with Richard Jacques and Jesper Kyd, as well as major sessions from Cliff Bleszinski and others.
In addition, entire recordings from sessions such as the Independent Games Summit and Casual Games Summit are available, with many more sessions coming online both today and over the next few days. Select videotaped content will also be available in the near future.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest in the special GDC interview series of our regular podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Mike Yuen, senior director of the game group at Qualcomm, responsible for overseeing the direction of the company's BREW solution for next-generation mobile technologies.
In the course of our conversation, we discuss Qualcomm's attempts to stabilize platforms for mobile development regardless of handset or carrier, improving mobile interfaces and decks for game promotion, and the company's recently announced partnership with Microsoft to bring its Live Anywhere services to the mobile sphere through BREW.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Mike Yuen (.MP3, 9 minutes, 4.2 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest in the special GDC interview series of our regular podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Dan Connors, co-founder of episodic adventure game studio Telltale Games, whose most recent work includes CSI, Bone, and Sam & Max.
In the course of our conversation, we discuss Telltale's faith and success in its model of episodic gaming in light or Epic Games' Mark Rein's comments that episodic gaming was a "broken business," its partnership with online service GameTap, and the company's plans in bringing its lineup to Xbox Live and the Wii.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Dan Connors (.MP3, 18 minutes, 8.3 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the first in a special GDC interview series of our regular podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Andrew Pedersen, vice president of Electronic Arts' casual games portal Pogo.com.
In the course of our conversation, we discuss the importance of community to Pogo, its newly announced partnership with NBC Universal's iVillage, the possibility of bringing the Pogo brand to the console space, and casual gaming in general.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Andrew Pedersen (.MP3, 17 minutes, 8 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today, we are proud to present a panel from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's initiative on Digital Learning.
The panel, entitled, "Do Videogames Help Kids Learn," is part of a five-year, $50 million dollar examination on how digital technologies are changing the way young people learn, play, socialize and participate in civic life. The initiative is both marshaling what is already known about the field and seeding innovation for continued growth.
The panelists include Sasha Barab of Indiana University, who demos his latest project, Quest Atlantis, which uses an immersive online world to teach environmental impact and science to junior high school students. Nichole Pinkard, Director of Technology at the University of Chicago also shares her experience creating an innovative digital media after school program for Chicago's Center for Urban School improvement. And David Williamson Shaffer, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and author of How Computer Games Help Children Learn, discusses his latest research on games and learning.
The panel is introduced by Jonathan Fanton, the President of the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, and is moderated by Connie Yowell, MacArthur's Director of Education grantmaking.
We'd like to thank the MacArthur Foundation for the opportunity to air this discussion through GDC Radio and Gamasutra. You can find out more about the Digital Media and Learning initiative at www.digitallearning.macfound.org. And you can direct any inquiries about this or other Gamasutra podcasts to podcast@gamasutra.com.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, MacArthur Foundation Panel, 'Do Videogames Help Kids Learn?' (.MP3, 78 minutes, 38 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly audio sessions, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
The latest podcast features a frank lecture by Ready at Dawn Studios' president Didier Malenfant from Game Developers Conference 2006 on the company's critically acclaimed PSP title Daxter.
Among the numerous topics brought up by Malenfant during the course of his talk, he addresses some of the unique challenges that arose during the game's development, which took place simultaneously alongside the creation of the studio itself. The executive also offers a postmortem of the game itself, noting not only what went right over the course of Daxter's development, but also, in his own words, "what we screwed up."
You can now download the Daxter GDC 2006 lecture by Didier Malenfant (.MP3, 58 minutes, 14 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with DB Weiss, the author of the noted video game-related novel Lucky Wander Boy, as well as one of the screenwriters behind the upcoming, but currently on hiatus Halo feature film.
In the course of our conversation, the podcast discusses such issues as his experiences working on the Halo screenplay for producers Mary Parent, Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, some of the difficulties in capturing the essence of such a popular franchise while dealing with the criticisms of Halo's already rabid fan base, and even some of his classic gaming experiences growing up.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast Interview with DB Weiss (.MP3, 36 minutes, 16 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast comes from the archives of the 2004 Game Developers Conference, with Lionhead founder Peter Molyneux and lead programmer Jonty Barnes asking: as AI becomes ever more complex, does this open the door for more or less gameplay?
From the original GDC 2004 synopsis:
"Lionhead's Jonty Barnes and Peter Molyneux will demonstrate the benefits and drawbacks AI can have on gameplay and design, by looking at games from the past, present, and future. Technology advances are always exciting and it is tempting as a developer to incorporate cutting edge technology wherever and whenever possible but a designer must always remember that the gameplay experience must be the primary consideration in any game design. However, used well, sophisticated AI can open up innumerable gameplay and design possibilities. This session looks at what has now become possible in the field of AI and what impact and effect it will have on the games of the future."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, AI Gameplay & Design: A Marriage of Heaven or Hell? (.MP3, 57 minutes, 13.8 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with Jason Della Rocca, the Executive Director of the International Game Developer's Association.
In the course of our conversation, we discuss such varied issues as changing strategies of attempted game legislation, game ratings and lack of parity between other media and games, the importance of industry credit, awards and recognition, the maturation of game production processes and workforce education and improvement.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Jason Della Rocca (.MP3, 32 minutes, 15.5 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast comes from the archives of the 2006 Game Developers Conference, with Carnegie Mellon University's Experimental Gameplay Project co-founders Kyle Gabler and Kyle Gray, both now part of Electronic Arts, giving advice on how to make games fast with an arsenal of tips, tricks, and examples on extremely rapid high quality prototyping.
From the original GDC 2006 synopsis, which notes that its target audience was game designers, people with short attention spans, and anyone who's been preaching the oncoming return of creativity in gaming:
"A team of four grad students from Carnegie Mellon University locked themselves in a room with 3 rules: 1. Each game must be made in less than seven days, 2. Each game must be made by exactly one person, 3. Each game must be based around a theme like gravity, vegetation, swarms, etc. This is the aftermath. From the whirlwind Experimental Gameplay Project that lovingly brought you TOWER OF GOO and SUBURBAN BRAWL, this session is a giant collection of bite-size tips, tricks, and demos showing how anyone can prototype a ton of games and features in no time at all."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days (.MP3, 60 minutes, 14.6 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast we feature an interview with noted video game writer Susan O'Connor, whose most recent work includes Xbox 360 hit Gears of War and the forthcoming Bioshock. She has also done writing stints on Star Wars Galaxies, Dungeon Siege II, and Act of War.
In the in-depth interview, she talks in depth about her influences, different aspects of her creative process, both practical and intuitive, as well as the difference between writing for games and other media, specifically referencing the games she's worked on.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Interview with Susan O'Connor (.MP3, 39 minutes, 18.9 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast comes from the archives of the 2005 Game Developers Conference, with Infocom, Legend Entertainment, and Atari veteran Bob Bates explaining the classic 'hero's journey' as it relates to the construction of a story, and offers advice on how to tap into that timeless archetype for use in games today.
From the original GDC 2005 synopsis:
"We've heard for years about Joseph Campbell's Hero With a Thousand Faces and how the Hero's Journey underlies most epic stories. But when it comes to putting Campbell's observations to practical use, they become maddeningly elusive. Are there 12 parts of the Journey, or 8, or some number in-between? Must the hero encounter all of Campbell's archetypal characters, or is it okay if he skips a few?
When these questions are met with a shrug and the answer, "It depends," Campbell's observations are in danger of being used only as an analytical device after a story has been written, rather than being used by the game designer during the construction of his or her story.
This talk shows you how to put the Hero's Journey to work while you are building your story. It will explain the function of the various parts of the Journey, and the uses to which the archetypal characters can be put. Attendees will come away with a better understanding of story construction and some practical advice for creating a mythic substructure to their games.
Attendees learn how to convert Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey from a collection of analytical observations to a set of tools they can use in the construction of their stories."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, A Practical Guide to the Hero's Journey (.MP3, 56 minutes, 13.6 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast is part two of our panel on Game Coverage and Reviews, with John Davison, Senior VP and Editorial Director of the 1UP Network, Greg Kasavin, Editor-in-chief of GameSpot, and Greg Vederman, Editor-in-Chief of PC Gamer Magazine.
The first half of the Game Coverage and Review panel discussion dealt with how developers can take a more active role to work efficiently and harmoniously with the enthusiast press to get the coverage they want, and the panel's opinions on the value of game reviews.
In the latest edition of the panel discussion, the guests "discuss their thoughts on how to get more incisive and more useful previews and reviews, they all express their desire for transparency on where their opinions in the rankings are coming from, and posit a few insightful answers to the deceptively obvious question: what's it going to take for developers to make higher scoring games?"
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Game Reviews Roundtable, Part 2 (.MP3, 39 minutes, 18.8 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast comes from the archives of the 2001 Game Developers Conference audio track, with Blizzard Entertainment's Matt Uelmen describing his role on, and giving a general overview of the making of Blizzard's hit sequel Diablo II from an audio standpoint.
As Uelmen introduces in his case study synopsis:
"This presentation will discuss some of the nuts and bolts of one particular aspect of the development of this series: music and sound effects. Relationships in the development world have three facets - business, creative and personal. Despite the obvious fact that none of these three aspects exists in a vacuum, I will attempt to focus on the creative elements of my experience in working on these two titles.
Aside from some work as an itinerant musician in my teenage years, my time at Blizzard has been my only real experience in the working world, so I lack the experience to offer much comparison between the environment we have created here against other workplaces.
Still, I hope that by focusing on some basic elements of the production of these titles I can help shed some light on whatever "magic formula" it is that has given us our string of #1 titles. I will focus specifically on the tools I used in creating these hits; the individuals who played a great part in helping me get my material in the game, and, most importantly, my relationship with the final product while in the muddy trenches of content creation."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Diablo II Case Study (.MP3, 56 minutes, 13.6 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast is part one of our panel on Game Coverage and Reviews, with John Davison, Senior VP and Editorial Director of the 1UP Network, Greg Kasavin, Editor-in-chief of GameSpot, and Greg Vederman, Editor-in-Chief of PC Gamer Magazine.
As the show's introduction says:
"The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes the launch of not one, but two new consoles, and a veritable tsunami of games - some great, some not so great. With so many titles flooding the shelves, a lot of people turn to the enthusiast press and game reviews to help them sort out what to buy and what to avoid.
For this show, we present the first half of an expert roundtable on game reviews and press coverage. Our guests talk specifically about how developers can work more efficiently and harmoniously with the enthusiast press to get the coverage they want. They also share their opinions on the value of game reviews, how the process can be improved, how developers can take a more active role over their own communications, and how they really feel about gamerankings.com."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast, Game Reviews Roundtable, Part 1 (.MP3, 34 minutes, 16.5 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to our latest Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
For today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast, we present a session from the Game Developers Conference 2006, 'Odd vs. God: An Interview with David Jaffe by Lorne Lanning'.
As the official GDC2006 session summary explains:
"This session offers a rare glimpse into the mind of God Of War director David Jaffe in a one-of-a-kind interview by Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning. Lanning sits down with Jaffe and gets him to warm-up with "off-the-record" commentary on his recent commercial and critical hit, God Of War – and its outstanding creative and design aspects that made it a huge success.
He then puts Jaffe on the spot by drilling down on Jaffe's provocative rant on game journalists, why he thinks his comments are taken out of context, why he doesn't care - or does he? - before getting the scoop on his upcoming projects and thoughts about the future of game design. Attendees get a unique opportunity to learn what makes Jaffe tick as Lanning exposes him in a different light - as only a fellow game visionary can."
Over the course of the hour, Lanning speaks with Jaffe on a variety of development issues, including creating concepts and getting them through the green light phase, production and maintaining good relationships with the team members, the future of games as a medium, and life as a designer.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast of 'Odd vs. God' (.MP3, 60 minutes, 14.5 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the fourteenth Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast is the second part of our roundtable discussion about game education, featuring Dustin Clingman of Full Sail Real World Education, DigiPen's Claude Comair, GameCareerGuide's Beth Aileen Dillon, GameRecruiter's Marc Mencher, Paul Newell, course developer for the Art Institute of Vancouver, Parsons School of Design's Katie Salen, Dr. Peter Raad from the Guildhall at SMU, and USC's Tracy Fullerton.
The following passage comes from the show's introduction, as featured in the first part of this podcast:
"Often, discussions among game educators are reduced to the question of "how can these institutions better train folks for jobs in the industry." And although this panel did explore that subject, they also discussed the potential limitations of an industry-driven approach. As much as all of the educators on the panel agree that the medium is still emerging and defining what it might become, the field of game studies likewise is only at a nascent stage regarding its potential.
Indeed, the point that emerges most strongly is that the field is able to support a range of institutions pursuing a broad spectrum of goals. These educational programs offer real differentiated, and excellent choices for those seeking to pursue studies in game production, design, and theory."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast on Game Education, Part 2 (.MP3, 32 minutes, 14.5 MB).
In addition, you can subscribe to the Gamasutra podcasts by clicking this link for iTunes. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present its latest podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's GDC Radio lecture comes from our extensive archive of Game Developers Conference recordings. This week's recorded lecture, "Creating a Monster RPG: The Light and the Dark Side of Development on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic," comes from GDC 2004, and sees BioWare producer/project director Casey Hudson discussing the development of the critically acclaimed console/PC RPG.
An extract from the official lecture abstract follows:
"BioWare’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic started development as an ambitious role-playing game set in the Star Wars Universe. In the end, it achieved almost all of its original design goals and went on to set sales records, becoming one of the most critically acclaimed RPGs of all-time. This talk will cover the entire development process at BioWare, from concept to completion, of this large and complex project. With a length of 40-60 hours, a complex rules system, 20,000 audio assets (including 14,000 lines of spoken dialog) and a 90+ man-year schedule, the physical size of the game alone presented a significant challenge to the developers.
Further challenges faced by the development team at BioWare involved complex testing efforts, licensing and approvals processes, the support of large-scale Marketing initiatives, managing co-development of two SKUs (Xbox and PC) and management of the BioWare online community.
BioWare’s Producer/Project Director of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic will discuss the challenges faced in development as well as the methods used to achieve the original design goals on this ambitious game while still keeping marketing, PR, and licensing responsibilities in balance."
You can now download the 'Creating a Monster RPG' lecture (.MP3, 60 minutes, 15 MB).
[In addition, you can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcast using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually add the GDCRadio podcast to your iTunes by using the Subscribe to Podcast option from the Advanced menu. When it asks for the URL enter feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.]
Gamasutra is proud to present the thirteenth Gamasutra Podcast, part of our weekly podcasts, which include both the Tom Kim-presented Gamasutra Podcast show, alongside the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast is a roundtable discussion about game education, featuring Dustin Clingman of Full Sail Real World Education, DigiPen's Claude Comair, GameCareerGuide's Beth Aileen Dillon, GameRecruiter's Marc Mencher, Paul Newell, course developer for the Art Institute of Vancouver, Parsons School of Design's Katie Salen, Dr. Peter Raad, and USC's Tracy Fullerton.
The following passage comes from the show's introduction:
"Often, discussions among game educators are reduced to the question of "how can these institutions better train folks for jobs in the industry." And although this panel did explore that subject, they also discussed the potential limitations of an industry-driven approach. As much as all of the educators on the panel agree that the medium is still emerging and defining what it might become, the field of game studies likewise is only at a nascent stage regarding its potential.
Indeed, the point that emerges most strongly is that the field is able to support a range of institutions pursuing a broad spectrum of goals. These educational programs offer real differentiated, and excellent choices for those seeking to pursue studies in game production, design, and theory."
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast on Game Education (.MP3, 34 minutes, 16 MB).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the twelfth edition of our free GDC Radio Archives downloads, as part of our series of weekly podcasts which alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra Podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's GDC Radio lecture comes from our extensive archive of Game Developers Conference recordings. This week's recorded lecture, "Big Brands, Small Screens," comes from GDC Mobile 2006, and is a talk on bringing popular brands into the mobile games space.
An extract from the official panel abstract follows:
"From classic arcade titles like PAC-MAN to the always popular TETRIS, branded mobile games are starting to become more everpresent on the carriers' respective top ten lists. Even Hollywood properties like Wheel of Fortune, Spider-Man, and Batman Begins are starting to show that well-made titles matched with big brands equal a lot of revenue for everyone involved. This session seeks to highlight the main advantages and disadvantages of working with big brands for mobile games."
You can now download the 'Big Brands, Small Screens' lecture (.MP3, 49 minutes, 11.2 MB).
[In addition, you can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcast using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually add the GDCRadio podcast to your iTunes by using the Subscribe to Podcast option from the Advanced menu. When it asks for the URL enter feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.]
 Gamasutra is proud to present the eleventh Gamasutra Podcast, part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra Podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast, presented by Tom Kim, features an exclusive interview with The Advantage, the California-based rock band whose entire catalogue consists of guitar-centered renditions of classic 8-bit video game tunes. The interview touches on the band's formation, its techniques, and its selection process for choosing among the literal thousands of available songs from the Nintendo Entertainment System's diverse catalogue.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview With The Advantage (.MP3, 23 minutes, 21mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present a series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will feature exclusively the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conference.
Today's GDC Radio lecture comes from our extensive archive of Game Developers Conference recordings. This week, we present 'AI and Design: How AI Enables Designers', the Game Developers Conference 2004 lecture from Big Huge Games head Brian Reynolds which looks at how the game design process and the creation of AI overlaps in today's game business.
An extract from the official panel abstract follows:
"Whether you're a programmer who's always wanted to work on the game design or a designer who thinks there might be something to this 'programming' thing, here's your chance to talk with someone who has worked both sides of the fence. We'll focus on AI and the ways in which AI development does (or should) overlap with the game design process, drawing case studies from the presenter's experiences as Lead Designer for Rise of Nations, Alpha Centauri, and Civilization II.
We'll talk about why delaying AI development 'until the design docs are final' is a wasted opportunity, and how both AI and Design benefit from simultaneous prototyping. We'll explore not only the traditional use of AI to determine goals and strategy for computer players, but also the critical role of AI in supplying 'personality' to computer-controlled characters. Perhaps most importantly we'll talk about the sometimes-unexpected ways AI techniques can be invaluable in content generation.."
You can now download the 'AI and Design: How AI Enables Designers' lecture (.MP3, 15 MB).
[In addition, you can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcast using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually add the GDCRadio podcast to your iTunes by using the Subscribe to Podcast option from the Advanced menu. When it asks for the URL enter feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.]
 Gamasutra is proud to present the eleventh Gamasutra Podcast, part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra Podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast, presented by Tom Kim, features the second and final part of a packed panel discussing game localization, including Atlus' Bill Alexander, Nintendo's Nate Bihldorff, Media Sunshine's Heather Chandler, Gaijinworks' Victor Ireland, Capcom's Ben Judd, Mastiff's Bill Swartz, Namco Bandai's Hiroshi Tanaka, and Nintendo's Bill Trinen. The assembled experts talk in detail regarding taking Japanese console titles and bringing them to Western markets - here's the first half of the discussion for those who missed it.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Game Localization Panel, Part 2 (.MP3, 30 minutes, 15mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present a series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will feature exclusively the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conference.
Today's GDC Radio lecture comes from our extensive archive of Game Developers Conference recordings. This week, we present 'Burning Down the House: Game Developers Rant,' GDC 2005's 'Burning Down the House: Game Developers Rant,' the infamous session in which Gamelab's Eric Zimmerman, Deus Ex designer Warren Spector, Maxis' Chris Hecker and others were given the chair to discuss the state of the game biz.
The session originally caused considerable controversy thanks to its frank content, and is being release in audio form for the first time. An extract from the official panel abstract follows:
"Rant: To rave in violent, high-sounding, or extravagant language; to be noisy, boisterous, and bombastic in talk or declamation.
Every year at the GDC, if you listen carefully, there are subtle rumblings beneath the happy audience applause and brisk tradeshow traffic. Every year, in the subtexts of the keynotes and panel discussions, a handful of important issues surface. Are licenses killing games? Are development companies becoming sweatshops? Why does the public think games are bad culture? Where the hell is the indie game industry? Burning Down the House: Game Developers Rant brings these important issues out of the shadows and into your face.
Come to this session prepared to have your assumptions questioned and your sensibilities shaken. You have been warned."
You can now download an audio recording of the entire lecture (.MP3, 60 minutes, 13mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the tenth Gamasutra Podcast, part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra Podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast, presented by Tom Kim, features the first part of a packed panel discussing game localization, including Atlus' Bill Alexander, Nintendo's Nate Bihldorff, Media Sunshine's Heather Chandler, Gaijinworks' Victor Ireland, Capcom's Ben Judd, Mastiff's Bill Swartz, Namco Bandai's Hiroshi Tanaka, and Nintendo's Bill Trinen. The assembled experts talk in detail regarding taking Japanese console titles and bringing them to Western markets.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Game Localization Panel, Part 1 (.MP3, 28 minutes, 13mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the ninth Gamasutra Podcast, part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra Podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast, presented by Tom Kim, features an in-depth interview with Jeff Green, the Editor-in-chief of Computing Gaming World magazine. In it, Jeff discusses the reasons why he and his staff at Ziff Davis decided to rebrand Computer Gaming World as Games For Windows magazine, how to break PC gaming's image as the 'red-headed stepchild' of video gaming, and a plethora of other fascinating issues.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Jeff Green Interview (.MP3, 51 minutes, 26mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Game Developers Conference lecture, as part of a weekly series of podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This week, we present 'Developers are from Jupiter, Marketers are from Saturn: Learn the Secret Codes for Working with a Marketing Team,' the GDC 2005 lecture featuring April Jones from Arctic Light and Billy Cain from Critical Mass Interactive, and focused on the crucial issue of developer/marketing interaction.
You can now download an audio recording of the entire lecture (.MP3, 60 minutes, 13mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the eighth Gamasutra Podcast that is part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast features an in-depth interview with Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall of the Video Games Live game concert events, conducted at the Chicago stop on their U.S. tour, and discussing the state of game audio and their motivations in founding the ongoing orchestral concert series.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Video Games Live Interview (.MP3, 21 minutes, 22mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Game Developers Conference lecture, as part of a weekly series of podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This week, we present 'Murder, Sex and Censorship: Debating the Morals of Creative Freedom,' the GDC 2006 panel moderated by game designer Brenda Brathwaite that features California politician Leland Yee, the IGDA's Jason Della Rocca, and others discussing government legislation against video games on the wake of the "Hot Coffee" scandal.
You can now download an audio recording of the entire lecture (.MP3, 60 minutes, 14mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the seventh Gamasutra Podcast that is part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
Today's edition of the Gamasutra Podcast concludes our previously published interview with The Behemoth executive producer John Baez, (Alien Hominid). This week, we discuss the independent developer's upcoming Xbox Live Arcade game, Castle Crashers, and how an independent developer can learn from its fans.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview with John Baez, Part 2 (.MP3, 35 minutes, 14.5mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the latest Game Developers Conference lecture, as part of a weekly series of podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This week's edition of GDC Radio is a lecture from Game Developers Conference 2004, with Double Fine's Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle) discussing the creation of memorable game characters in 'Adventures in Character Design.'
You can now download an audio recording of the entire lecture (.MP3, 65 minutes, 15mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the sixth Gamasutra Podcast that is part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This week's edition of Gamasutra Podcast is the first half of our exclusive July 14th interview with John Baez, founding member of The Behemoth and executive producer of Alien Hominid where he talks about the challenges and rewards of building your own development studio and independent video game franchise - complete with full-sized body suits and action figures!
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast: Interview with John Baez, Part 1 (.MP3, 26 minutes, 11mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 In this week's edition of GDC Radio, we present a panel from the Serious Games Summit at GDC 2006, featuring University of California, Irvine's Bill Tomlinson and M.I.T.'s Eric Klopfer discussing the potential for shortening a serious game's length to accomodate a student's time in the classroom.
The introduction to this lecture explains:
"The average K-12 class is 45-minutes long. The average college class is 60-minutes. Even if there are longer sessions planned most commercial games easily outstrip the allotted time two to three class sessions provide. This begs the question of how do games and class structures adapt to one another. The options include games that work in small bites, changing the nature of class structures, building supporting tools to aide in-class use, and more.
This panel debates some of the critical issues in an attempt to outline 5-10 critical recommendations to schools, developers, and the serious games community at large, as it relates to this proverbial square peg in round hole issue."
You can now now download the 'Can Serious Games Work in 45 Minutes?' GDC Radio lecture (.MP3, 10.8 MB).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 In this week's edition of GDC Radio, we present a panel from GDC 2003, with Bungie's Jaime Griesemer and Mat Noguchi, along with Microsoft's Marty O'Donnell, discussing the iterative, creative process that went into the making of both Halo and Halo 2, from design, engineering and audio perspectives.
The introduction to this lecture explains:
"Each discipline has a unique insight into how the game should play, and discusses how the process enabled the entire team to contribute to the final product. The lecture explains how early design documents and brainstorming sessions turn into actual content and technology that worked well together and made the game fun to play, deep, and presented with high production values. The lecture looks closely at systems such as AI dialogue that require a high level of coordination between level and character design, tools and programming, and the casting and recording of actors."
You can now now download the 'Halo: Development Evolved' GDC Radio lecture (.MP3, 14.0 MB).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 Gamasutra is proud to present the fifth Gamasutra Podcast that is part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will exclusively feature the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conferences.
This week's edition of Gamasutra Podcast is the second in a two-part roundtable discussion with top developers on the challenges of developing for next generation consoles. It features Brian Eddy of Midway Games (Stranglehold / Xbox 360, PS3,) Nicolas Eypert of Ubisoft Paris (Red Steel, Wii,) Todd Howard of Bethesda Softworks (Oblivion, Fallout 3 / Xbox 360,) Bryan Intihar (Previews Editor of EGM,) Aubrey Pullman of Microsoft Game Studios (Forza Motorsport 2 / Xbox 360,) and Evan Wells of Naughty Dog (Unnamed Next-Gen Title / PS3), discussing vital issues, including next-gen console game pricing and technical-related issues.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast Panel on Next Gen Console Development, Part 2 (.MP3, 24 minutes, 11mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 In this week's edition of GDC Radio, we present a lecture from game designer and regular Gamasutra contributor Ernest Adams from the 2005 Game Developers Conference. Here, Adams revisits a lecture he gave ten years prior, at which point he came to the conclusion that there is no such thing as an "Interactive Movie" (a popular phrase at the time), and that game designers should instead focus on interactive narrative. Has anything suggested otherwise in the last ten years? Adams focuses on this question, and more, in this fascinating lecture.
The following extract is from the lecture's official description:
In 1995 Ernest Adams gave a lecture at the GDC called "The Challenge of the Interactive Movie," in which he outlined some fundamental problems with interactive narrative at that time. He identified three in particular: the problem of internal consistency; the problem of narrative flow; and the problem of amnesia.
In this lecture, Adams looks back on the last 10 years and examines how both academic research and the game industry as a creative business have addressed these and other issues in the design of interactive narratives. He draws on the published literature and on his own experience as a player and a professional game designer to illuminate the progress that has been made, including numerous examples from real games.
This lecture will also be a partial summary of Mr. Adams' Ph.D. research.
The lecture brings the attendee up-to-date on the current state of the art and offers direct suggestions for further work. It includes a history of efforts to merge interactivity with narratives; a statement of the key issues faced in combining the two. It incluseds an examination of the work done over the last ten years, with comments on the degree of success of different approaches, and examples taken from published games. It also includes concrete proposals for future research, development, and experimentation.
You can now now download the 'Interactive Narratives Revisited: Ten Years of Research' GDC Radio lecture (.MP3, 15.7 MB). You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
[Additionally, until June 30, 2006, all individual GDC radio downloads have been reduced to only $2.99. You can purchase individual sessions at GDCRadio.net.]
Gamasutra is proud to present the fourth Gamasutra Podcast that is part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will feature exclusively the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conference.
This week's edition of Gamasutra Podcast is the first in a two-part roundtable discussion with top developers on the challenges of developing for next generation consoles, and features Brian Eddy of Midway Games (Stranglehold / Xbox 360, PS3,) Nicolas Eypert of Ubisoft Paris (Red Steel, Wii,) Todd Howard of Bethesda Softworks (Oblivion, Fallout 3 / Xbox 360,) Bryan Intihar (Previews Editor of EGM,) Aubrey Pullman of Microsoft Game Studios (Forza Motorsport 2 / Xbox 360,) and Evan Wells of Naughty Dog (Unnamed Next-Gen Title / PS3.)
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast Panel on Next Gen Console Development, Part 1 (.MP3, 26 minutes, 12.2mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 In this week's edition of GDC Radio, we take a trip back to 2002, with Ion Storm's then-Project Director Randy Smith discussing stealth gameplay fundamentals in the Thief series, in a talk titled 'GDC Radio: Design Fundamentals of Stealth Gameplay in the Thief Series.' The lecture provided what was then an early glimpse at the mechanics of the third entry in the series, Thief: Deadly Shadows, which premiered on store shelves over two years later.
Although Ion Storm closed its doors in early 2005, and Smith is now doing contract work on games such as the upcoming film adaptation Open Season and franchise continuation Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (both for publisher Ubisoft), the design theory presented in this lecture remains as solid and relevant today as it was four years ago.
The following extract is from the lecture's official description:
"This presentation deconstructs the stealth gameplay in the Thief series of games by using the design concept of analog interaction structures. Analog interaction structures (roughly, a collection of player-influenced, interacting game systems) contrast with discrete interaction structures by creating environments where open-ended player expression is possible. Analog interaction structures empower players with meaningful choices in the game world and enable players to make plans and take actions that do not require explicit designer support. These qualities are essential not only to stealth in Thief but to other types of core gameplay in any number of products that enjoy both critical and financial success.
This presentation lists and describes the elements of analog interaction structures, discusses the boundaries between analog interaction structures and discrete interaction structures, and illustrates how analog interaction structures enable meaningful, open-ended player expression. In order to illustrate concepts, examples are drawn from Thief and many other games.
You can now now download the 'Design Fundamentals of Stealth Gameplay in the Thief Series' GDC Radio lecture (.MP3, 13.3 MB). You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
[Additionally, until June 30, 2006, all individual GDC radio downloads have been reduced to only $2.99. You can purchase individual sessions at GDCRadio.net.]
 We are pleased to offer a special $2.99 price for all GDCRadio.net downloads for the month of June. Sales ends June 30, 2006. Click the conference name below to view the sessions available for purchase:
The bestselling downloads from May include:
The latest installment of Gamasutra's original podcast show - aptly named "Gamasutra Podcast" and operating under the GDC Radio brand - continues our original May 2 discussion on gamer demographics.
The discussion is moderated by Tom Kim of Fatpixels Radio, the video game-related podcast which industry site GameDaily recently singled out as the only compelling video game podcast online. Joining Kim are veteran game designer Chris Crawford, gameLab's Nick Fortugno, PopCap's James Gwertzman, analyst Michael Pachter, and NPD's Martin Zagorsek.
The podcast also includes an introduction featuring Tom Kim and Gamasutra/Game Developer magazine Editor in Chief Simon Carless.
You can now now download the Gamasutra Podcast on Gamer Demographics, Part 2 (.MP3, 31 minutes, 14.5mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 In the latest edition of the GDC Radio Podcast, recorded at the 2006 Game Developers Conference, EA/Maxis' Caryl Shaw discusses building community features and a 'pollinated content system' for the much-anticipated Spore in her GDC lecture.
This feature continues the site's weekly podcasts, which alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will feature exclusively the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conference.
As the session description for this Gamasutra-exclusive audio recording explains:
"When you fire up your copy of Spore, that crazy three-headed, five-legged creature you see coming over the hill to attack your creature may have been created by another community member, or your best friend, or maybe someone you've never even heard of. The experience that the creature has in your game will become part of its recorded history as it gets downloaded and challenged by other players in the Spore universe. Through in-game and web-based features, the person who created the creature can review and share its stats with friends and other community members building notoriety for both the creature and the creator.
This session explores how user-created content in other Maxis products like SimCity and The Sims 2 created a different kind of online community, and how those lessons are being applied in the Pollinated Content System in Spore. Specifically, we'll look at how to tailor the system to appeal to both users who specialize in creating content and users who are more likely to download someone else's creations."
You can now now download the 'Building Community Around Pollinated Content in Spore' GDC Radio lecture (.MP3, 9.4 MB).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
Gamasutra is proud to present the second Gamasutra Podcast that is part of our series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will feature exclusively the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conference.
In this installment of the podcast, Gamasutra Podcast exec producer Tom Kim took the chance to quiz veteran San Jose Mercury News journalist Dean Takahashi, who has just published the eBook The Xbox 360 Uncloaked. In a fascinating longform interview, Takahashi discusses the book, which charts "a true insider's look at the creation of the XBox 360 and Microsoft's multi-billion dollar gamble to become a leading force in the globalvideo game industry", and commented on Microsoft's efforts so far to dominate the home game console market.
You can now download the Gamasutra Podcast Interview with Dean Takahashi (.MP3, 16mb).
You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcasts using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually subscribe to our feed in your favorite RSS reader that supports enclosures by using this URL: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
 We are proud to present our first free MP3 from our archive of GDC recordings. This week we introduce you to one of the most popular sessions at the last few GDC's The Game Design Challenge which pits well known designers against their peers to find a compelling game concept on a novel topic.
In the 2005 Game Design Challenge, Will Wright returned to face off against Peter Molyneux and Clint Hocking in a challenge moderated by Eric Zimmerman. The theme? Design a game around a highly unusual "license" -- the poetry of Emily Dickinson. Licensed properties are a hotly debated topic in the game industry. Does the use of a license hamper design creativity? Or will the unusual "license" of Emily Dickinson spur the Game Design Challenge panelists into new design territory?
You can now now download the Game Design Challenge: Emily Dickinson License (.MP3, 12.7mb). You can subscribe to GDCRadio.net podcast using iTunes and searching the directory for GDC Radio or by clicking this link. You can manually add the GDCRadio podcast to your iTunes by using the Subscribe to Podcast option from the Advanced menu. When it asks for the URL enter feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
Gamasutra is proud to present the first in a series of weekly podcasts will alternate between two sources under the overarching GDC Radio brand - the Gamasutra podcast, a new original podcast show, and GDC Radio Archives, which will feature exclusively the best lectures, tutorials, and roundtables from this and previous years' Game Developers Conference.
For the Gamasutra podcast, the site is pleased to be partnering with Tom Kim of Fatpixels Radio, the video game-related podcast which industry site GameDaily recently singled out as the only compelling video game podcast online. Kim's excellent panel discussions with leading industry figures have made his podcast unmissable, and he will now be shifting his existing transmission to become Gamasutra Radio.
The first segment of Tom's first panel, on Gamer Demographics, is now available, and features veteran game designer Chris Crawford, gameLab's Nick Fortugno, PopCap's James Gwertzman, analyst Michael Pachter, and NPD's Martin Zagorsek discussing the changing demographics of video game consumers, in a fascinating and exclusive discussion. The podcast also includes an introduction featuring Tom Kim and Gamasutra/Game Developer magazine EIC Simon Carless, setting up the panel and explaining a little more about the schedule for these regular weekly podcasts, which will debut each Tuesday.
You can now now download the Gamasutra Podcast on Gamer Demographics, Part 1 (.MP3, 12.4mb). You can also manually add our podcast to your iTunes by using the Subscribe to Podcast option from the Advanced menu. When it asks for the URL enter feeds.feedburner.com/GDCRadio.
The best sellers of this week include:
Best Sellers for the Week of April 19, 2006 include:
The complete set of recordings of lectures and panels from GDC 2006 has been added to the GDCRadio download library. Lectures & panels were recorded at the main GDC conference as well as GDC Mobile and Serious Games Summmit GDC. To see the complete list of sessions click here.
Best Sellers for the Week of April 11, 2006 include:
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