Beyond Beta Podcast

In episode 34 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey speaks with  Dan Etter, an eighteen year video game veteran who has worked on titles such as Star Wars: Empire at War, Command & Conquer: Renegade, and has now launched his own indie game company—Iron Keep Games. 

In episode 34 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey speaks with Seth Schorr (the CEO of the Downtown Grand Casino & Fifth Street Gaming) about eSports, business, life, and the future of eSports gambling. 

James “Clokke” Lake is a professional Smash Bros. 4 player from Colombia. He is a university student and leader in South America who is partly responsible for organizing tournaments, training players, running the national Smash 4 Power Ranking, and more in the burgeoning South American competitive Smash Bros. scene.       

In Episode 32 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey talks with Carlos Rivera, the Head of Production for Tempo Storm, about his role at Tempo Storm, his experience on television and internet shows, working for Disney, eSports, and more.

Beyond Beta Podcast is proud to introduce our newest program called "The Cross UP." You can find the show on YouTube under the Beyond Beta Podcast channel and on www.beyondbetapodcast.com. The Cross UP features Steve “ShockSmash” Shockey and Zeshan “Z” Farooqi. You know Steve as a writer, podcaster, and blogger…and Zeshan is a professional Smash Bros. 4 player, one of the top Pikachu players in the world, a blogger, and commentator.  Come join them as they dive into Smash Bros. and grow into other eSports.  Enjoy this episode of The Cross UP, and if you enjoy what you hear, please check out the youtube page and subscribe.

In Episode 30 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey talks about his experience at the regional Smash Bros. 4 tournament called “Hyrule Saga,” which took place on June 23rd & 24th, 2018. Steve recaps the overall tournament experience that drew in players from across the United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Europe. 

In episode 29 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey speaks with professional gamer Derek "DunkTrain" Arabian about his career playing Heroes of the Storm, coaching, his transition to becoming a full-time streamer and much more.     

In Episode 28 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey and Patrick Wyatt finish their conversation on Blizzard, ArenaNet, Guild Wars, and the video game industry.  

In episode 27 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey speaks with Patrick Wyatt about life in video games, helping to create Warcraft,  Starcraft and Guild Wars...and much more. 

In episode 26 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve Shockey speaks with Rade Stojsavljevic about his journey into video games, virtual reality, his experiences with creating JetSet Games, economics, eSports, and more. 

In episode 25 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve speaks with Kelsey "SuperGirlKels" Madeiros, a professional Smash Bros. 4 player, about her history in competitive play, women in gaming, sponsorships, and more. 

In episode 24, Brett Abarbanel & Jennifer Roberts speak with Steve about eSports gambling, gambling regulations, eSports outreach, eSports in Las Vegas, and more. 

In episode 23, Erik Mohrmann and Steve speak about physics, video games, STEM programs, and various topics surrounding programs and culture at DigiPen Institute of Technology. 

In episode 22, Frank Klepacki and Steve continue their conversation from part 1. In this episode, Frank speaks about making connections, following your passions, and more. 

In episode 21, Steve speaks with Frank about his path into the video game industry, how he tackles musical compositions for video games, and his audio work on Star Wars: Empire at War. 

In episode 20, Steve speaks with Jordan about his path into the video game industry, his work on Survivor GameZ, spearheading the early years of Twitch, and his new position at Tempo Storm eSports/Media.  

In episode 19, Steve speaks about Genesis 5 in Oakland, California. This was his first time competing in a major Smash Bros. 4 tournament, and he highlights what occurred inside and outside of his matches at one of the largest Fighting Game tournaments of the year. 

In episode 18 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve continues speaking with Zeshan “Z” Fooroqi (a professional Smash Bros. 4 player) about training and progression, player mentality, the evolving meta game in Smash Bros. 4, work ethic, and the Smash Bros. Community. (Part 2 of 2)

In episode 17 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve speaks with Zeshan “Z” Fooroqi (a professional Smash Bros. 4 player) about Smash Bros., Esports, traveling for tournaments, the competitive spirit, and more. (Part 1 of 2)

In episode 16 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Stewart Gilray and Steve continue their conversation from last time. Join them as they dive into V.R., Oddworld, advice for young people trying to enter the video game industry, and more.  (Part 2 of 2)

In episode 15 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Stewart Gilray and Steve speak about Stewart’s path into the industry, his extensive career in video game development in the U.K., his two year break from games, and more.  (Part 1 of 2)

In episode 14 of Beyond Beta Podcast, John Comes and Steve speak about Kickstarter, Virtual Reality, indie game development, and more. 

In Episode 13 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve and Laralyn talk about collaboration, game development, and being a leader in the industry. 

In this bonus Halloween Episode with Randy Greenback, Steve and Randy discuss Friday the 13th, video game development, and building a community. 

In Episode 12 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve and Jason talk about being a writer in the video game industry, the writing process, board games, and dealing with both positive and negative reviews when releasing a new game.  

In Episode 11 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve discusses Esports, marketing, the Las Vegas community, and the future of competitive video games with Max Curtis, the Esports manager for the Downtown Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In Episode 10 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve continues speaking with Denis Dyack about his run-ins with the Press, Gamergate, and the Perimeter Institute. Denis also opens up on the painful experience of having to shutter the doors on Silicon Knights, and what it's like to be a leader...and more. (Part 2 of 2)

In this mini-podcast, Steve introduces a new component to the Beyond Beta Podcast family--a docuseries that will follow a year-long journey into Esports and Smash Bros 4. 

In Episode 9 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Denis Dyack speaks about founding Silicon Knights, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, and his relationship with Nintendo. (Part 1 of 2)

In Episode 8 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Steve speaks with amateur and professional Smash Bros. 4 players about their approach to the game, their sponsorships, their training methods, and more.

In Episode 7 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Milo Ocampo of 8-Bit Esports speaks with Steve about collegiate and professional Esports, his path to becoming a tournament organizer and team founder, the current state of Esports, and his passion for Smash Bros.

In Episode 6 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Dan Cermak and Steve discuss Dan’s career path to Volition, his experiences with layoffs, and his idea to move Volition into the open-world genre with Saint’s Row and Agents of Mayhem. 

In Episode 5 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Louis Castle discusses the history of Westwood Studios, Command & Conquer, Blade Runner, Boom Blox, and more. The episode also includes talk about Louis's career path to Amazon Game Studios and his approach to making great video games. 

In Episode 4 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Brittany Aubert of City State Entertainment and Steve talk about what it's like being an Independent developer. Brittany also speaks about the open development of Camelot Unchained, her passion for wrestling, and how she manages work/life balance in her career as a producer.  

In Episode 3 of Beyond Beta Podcast, Randy Greenback of Gun Media and Steve go over the differences between working for an Indie developer vs. a “Triple-A” developer. Randy explains how his team landed the Friday the 13th license, what they wanted to accomplish with the game, and what it was like having “44,000 bosses.”

In part 2 of 2, Mike Legg of Petroglyph Games and Steve discuss Universe at War, 8 Bit Armies, and MOBAs. They also speak about acquisitions and life as an Indie game developer all while doing some accidental alliteration. 

In Part 1, Steve speaks with Mike Legg about his career in the video game industry and what it was like working on some of the largest IPs in video games.