Podcasts about video game storytelling

In this episode of 3v0, Brendan and Jordan explore the beautifully cryptic indie puzzle game Chants of Sennaar. From deciphering fictional languages to uncovering deep cultural commentary, they dive into the game's Tower of Babel-inspired premise and innovative linguistic mechanics. Stick around for a powerful Reddit-based bonus round that delves into friendship, and the value of virtual escapism.

In this episode, we're diving into the dark side of gaming as we discuss our favorite video game villains! Because every great hero needs an even greater enemy. Catch the stream on Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/3v0podcast) Be our Friend on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/3v0Podcast) Follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/3v0podcast/) Follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/3v0Podcast) Peep our YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0GSPhszNu0y5_yKMPNxC8w) Send us a message: 3v0PodcastTeam@gmail.com

In this episode of Unqualified Game Chat, hosts Azario Lopez and Spencer Legacy dive into gaming nostalgia, personal anecdotes, and industry news. Key highlights include reflections on gaming executive Shuhei Yoshida's impactful career as he departs from Sony, a discussion of industry icons and formative gaming experiences, and Azario's personal encounter with Yoshida. They also explore the cultural significance of long-running series and share insights on recent games like Metaphor, Stalker 2, and Shanghai Summer. The episode balances humor, heartfelt stories, and deep appreciation for gaming history, making it a delightful listen for fans.Timestamps of Significant Topics: 00:01 – Introduction and recap: Azario and Spencer discuss returning after a missed week. 01:27 – Thanksgiving plans and Patreon updates. 03:15 – Shuhei Yoshida's legacy and emotional reflections on his career. 06:00 – Impact of gaming icons leaving the industry (e.g., Sean Layton, Mark Cerny). 11:20 – Nostalgia: E3 memories and legendary gaming moments. 17:25 – What Spencer is playing: Metaphor and its standout features. 19:41 – Game reviews and development transparency, with examples like Stalker 2. 21:10 – Azario's December project: Revisiting Sandland, Bandai Namco's best anime game. 27:51 – Insightful interview with Kento Jobana, writer of Phantom Brave: The Lost Hero. 30:49 – Shanghai Summer: Underrated storytelling and the value of niche games. 37:41 – Closing thoughts: Gratitude for fans, Patreon plugs, and farewell.

Alex and Luke talk The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.Majora's Mask is a standout title in The Legend of Zelda series known for its time-bending adventures and dark, compelling narrative. Developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 in 2000, this game takes players on a race against time in the mysterious land of Termina, employing a unique mechanic of a three-day cycle and a collection of transformative masks. The game received a fresh face with its 3DS remake in 2015. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D not only polished its graphics but also refined gameplay mechanics, making this enigmatic adventure more accessible to a new generation of players, while still captivating those who cherished the original. This version added a new layer of depth to the classic, proving the game's timeless appeal.At the time of this recording, Majora's Mask boasts a Metacritic score of 95. According to How Long to Beat, the main story can be completed in around 21 hours.Alex and Luke revisited this classic on the Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack. Both hosts were able to play with the Switch's official N64 Controller, which was quite the treat.Join us as we unravel the mysteries of Majora's Mask, discuss its legacy, and share why it remains a beloved adventure that stands the test of time.This episode is unofficially brought to you in part guides.We mentioned Hand-Drawn Game Guides during our discussion. If that's something that piques your interest, check out Phil's site. No affiliation. No partnership. His stuff is just super rad!Support the showVisit us at LowFiveGaming.com.Join the Low Five Discord!Email us at hello@lowfivegaming.com.Theme music is by AJ Norman. Design assets were created by Studio Day Job.Low Five Gaming is a Studio Low Five Production.

It's the end of the year, which means it's time for us to put out a new episode and feel guilty for not releasing more this year! (We were busy, but we got lots more planned for next year!) Our guests this month are George Lockett (Senior Writer at Failbetter Games and a Narrative Consultant, Writer, and Designer at Bear Wolf Narrative. Previously the Narrative Lead on The Last Clockwinder, the Scriptwriter and Interactive Designer for BBC Earth - Micro Kingdoms: Senses, and a Contributing Writer to Where the Water Tastes Like Wine) and Mary Goodden (Senior Narrative Designer at Maze Theory currently working on Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom. Previously a Writer and Editor on Zombies, Run!, a Writer and Narrative Designer at Failbetter Games on Sunless Skies and Fallen London, a Writer on Inkle's Pendragon, and co-created Funicular Simulator 2021), and they join us to discuss how their marketing backgrounds have helped with their writing, how to make a writer's room work, advice for thinking in terms of design, what's helped maintain their writing output, what they've learned from the other writers they've worked with, giving feedback, tips for writing themselves out of problems, the best ways we can diversify the voices in the industry, how they approach working with other departments to get their needs taken care of, what their favorite narrative tools are, favorite thesauruses, what their ghosts are, and more, more, MORE!Our Guests on the InternetGeorge's Twitter, Website, and you should wishlist/check out Mask of the Rose when it comes out next yearMary's Twitter, Website, and you should wishlist/check out Peaky Blinders: The King's Ransom when it comes out next yearStuff We Talked AboutZombies, Run!TwineInkjamWriting for Games by Hannah NicklinThe “Reverse of the Spielberg Gaze”: Jordan Peele, Rian Johnson, Tony Kushner and More Talk Shop on THR's Writers RoundtableMiroMicorosft OneNoteObsidian (the notes app)Webster's 1913 Power ThesaurusWordHippoOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

Somehow we're over halfway through the year, but this podcast is still going! Our guests this month are Sarah Baylus (Principal Writer at Larian Studios where she's currently working on Baldur's Gate III, and previously she wrote on Divinity: Original Sin, and its sequel Divinity: Original Sin II) and Mike Laidlaw (Chief Creative Officer at Yellow Brick Games working on an unannounced title, and previously was a creative director at Ubisoft, a Senior Creative Director on the Dragon Age franchise as well as a Lead Designer, and was the Lead Writer on Jade Empire), and they join us to discuss why Dragon Age's storytelling has struck such a chord with people (especially in game development), what they look for in a creative director, what makes a good game writer, the best ways to keep teams updated on a game's ever-evolving story, favorite software for collaboration, what's one thing they wished games delved into more often, whether their definitions of good writing and narrative design have changed over time, common mistakes they see writers making these days, favorite game writing/design experiences they've had, writing/directing nightmares, localization notes, resources they go back to a lot, things they would've changed to their favorite game narratives, the most effective narrative-based techniques they like to see being used in games to immerse the audience, and more more MORE!Our Guests on the InternetSarah has an Inactive Twitter, but Larian Studios has Baldurs Gate 3 on Early Access right now, and Larian's hiring!Mike's Twitter, and Yellow Brick Games is hiring! Stuff We Talked AboutThe Dragon Age franchiseGoogle DocsMiroJam BoardCitizen SleeperThe Stillness of the WindAn Essay on Criticism by Alexander PopeJade EmpireDivinity: Original Sin 2Understanding Show, Don't Tell: And Really Getting It by Janice HardyThe ending of TransistorThe last hour of Finaly Fantasy XIV: ShadowbringersStar Control IIMoon HuntersOur theme music was done by Isabella Ness, and our logo was done by Lily Nishita.

Setting aside the endless talk of systems and mechanics, Lauryn and Nicholas discuss what story in games looks like and the ways in which it differs from other media, such as film or literature. Furidashi Youtube Channel Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/furidashi Twitter: https://twitter.com/furidashipod Lauryn: https://twitter.com/thelaurynash Nicholas: https://twitter.com/academicality

Overview Before Justin wrote his own books, he was involved with writing stories for video games like Tell Tale's Walking Dead series. His writing also has included screenwriting. Justin is an ex-marine and lives with his family in California. He has moved from San Francisco to the L.A. area. His first books were middle grade with the pen name Justin M Sloan. This is on top of the video game writing, screenwriting, sci-fi, and ghost writing. Book https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1503125831/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1503125831&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=adb3285fd3b26acc5a84e4b3a2df079b Heading https://youtu.be/PWAd9LUdSdY Transcript [00:00:49] Stephen: Hey, discovered word Smith. Uh, before we get to the second half of the interview with Justin, where we talk more storytelling, video games, just like last week, I [00:01:00] wanted to let you listen to one of the shout out promos. This is for my friends, Christine and JP. They do these serial fiction show and they'll tell you all about it. And then we'll get right to Justin. [00:01:20] Justin: Hello, we're JP and Christine co-host of the serial fiction show. Do you like to read or write serial fiction and want to learn more? We have two podcasts, the reader serial fiction show and the writer serial fiction show on the readers, the cast, we escape into a new cereal each week. Then interview the author to tell us more. On the writer serial fiction show, we break the serial episode down with the author and talk craft finger serial fiction game together. Come get lost in serial fiction and meet some amazing authors along the way to get you reading and writing serial fiction. So hop on over to serial fiction, show.com and check it out.[00:02:00] We hope to see you there. [00:02:09] Stephen: All right, Justin, welcome to discovered wordsmith. It's really good to see you today. But before we get started, tell everybody a little bit about yourself, where you live, what you like to do. [00:02:21] Justin: Sure. So hopefully you don't hear the garbage truck outside just arrived as we started talking. Yeah. I live in the LA area. It's funny. Cause I always thought about Los Angeles. Just hot and flat and dry and brown, but where I live, it's called lucky yadda it's right up against the mountains and it's just green and it feels like I'm in Seattle, almost not the same amount of rain for sure. But as far as like the greenery and the Hills and the trees it's. I love it. So we moved here about two and a half years ago from San Francisco to pursue the screenwriting side of life. And I've been enjoying [00:03:00] myself and not regretting it one bit. And before that. Yeah, so we were in the San Francisco area, which is where I worked at telltale games and do a little, couple other little stints up there. And before that I lived this whole weird life where I was in the Marines and I did a government stuff. I was in the federal reserve bank of San Francisco and I. Japan and Korea and Italy. So a little bit of all over the place and various careers. Yeah. I like to say I'm on my third year. At this point, the first was dishwasher bus boy. The second one was government brain stuff. And now creative. [00:03:33] Stephen: Yeah. Nice. And we've determined that you can't have good posters or you'll have kids drawing on them. Yeah. Yeah. I have [00:03:40] Justin: a, three-year-old a six-year-old and an eight year old. And so at this point, it's funny because the older two never drew on walls or anything like that. Just, they didn't put any stuff in their mouth or anything weird like that. Now the youngest, she does everything that you ever hear a toddler does, like all the stereotypes as he draws on the wall, she puts on her mouth. One time we had to go to the emergency room to [00:04:00] get a bead taken out of her nose. Why would you put a beat in your nose?

Overview Evan lives in San Francisco and writes stories for video games. He has worked on some big ones like: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Battlefront, Cuphead, and TellTale's the Walking Dead. He has written and edited comics and also teaches game writing at the University of Silicon Valley. We delve into the differences in story between books, movies, comics, and video games. Evan clarifies the different jobs in game writing and how they work together. If you've been interested in how to create stories that work in video games, this is the episode. Book https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385345828/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0385345828&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=8334dc0782f770723515d28c325441d0 Article Here is an article that Evan wrote on his blog about getting into the game writing business. https://www.evanskolnick.com/single-post/2019/08/28/How-does-one-become-a-game-writer Website https://www.evanskolnick.com/ https://usv.edu/ Favorites https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/62276/spider-man_unlimited_1993_12 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0762G6R32/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0762G6R32&linkCode=as2&tag=saschneider-20&linkId=8e9ebe940fbecfe6067f543ac77de927 YouTube https://youtu.be/_9J2UcuBJWE Transcript All right. Evan Lewis officially greet you a welcome to the podcast. Discovered wordsmith. Really great to talk to you, how you doing today besides [00:05:28] Evan: doing fine. [00:05:29] Evan: Thanks. Thank you very much for having me on. [00:05:31] Stephen: Yeah. Great. Okay. So you're a different person to chat with. Usually I talk to new authors who have a Bookout. We are talking for something completely different. So I'm really excited because it is different direction. It's something that a lot of my author friends don't know much about. [00:05:47] Stephen: So before we get into that, tell everybody a little bit about yourself outside of work life. Some of the things you'd like to do where you live that definitely. [00:05:55] Evan: I live in the San Francisco bay area with my lovely wife and two sons who are away at [00:06:00] college. So we're just going to taste it being empty-nesters. [00:06:02] Evan: Now, this is interesting, but I love spending time with my family. I'm a big baseball fan, especially red Sox, van Gogh, red Sox. I'm from the Northeast. Watching the playoffs now with bated breath and I like playing video games that you would expect. And also board, especially with my old high school buddies were spread across the country now, but we play online just about every week to stay in touch and have fun together. [00:06:21] Evan: And I play drums, not well at all, but I do it for fun. And it's one of the things that I do that I have no intention of getting any good at. And that's not the point. So [00:06:31] Stephen: I play some drums and we just drum set from my stepson. He wants to play [00:06:36] Evan: nice electronic. I hope [00:06:38] Stephen: no, he got it from a friend. So it's a starter kit. [00:06:43] Evan: Okay. That's what I, that's why I started a beat kit as well. And all I will say is use ear protection. Cause I did not. And I [00:06:49] Stephen: regret it. I used to have a kid growing up so I know how loud they are. And my, my son, who's a little older than my stepson had a kit and I know how loud they get. So not going into a blind [00:07:00] [00:07:00] Evan: or deaf. [00:07:01] Evan: I hope is actually the one [00:07:04] Stephen: that starts coming with days after you've been playing for [00:07:06] Evan: awhile. Yeah. I used to play really loud drum room in my basement where we listed live in upstate New York. After I play, my ears would be ringing. I'd be like, Hey, that was a good session. My ears are ringing. And then one day it just never stopped ringing. [00:07:17] Evan: And I was like,

Are those sleigh bells in the air? NO, IT'S A NEW EPISODE OF SCRIPT LOCK! After trudging through the hellacious year that was 2020, we're back with Cissy (actress whose voice you may have heard in such games as The Walking Dead, Life is Strange, Firewatch - for which she won a BAFTA - Horizon: Zero Dawn, and most recently Half-Life: Alyx and Call of the Sea) and Erika (actress, host, and producer whom you may have heard in such games as Dream Daddy, Destiny, 2, Fallout 76, Fortnite, Marvel's Avengers, and Cyberpunk 2077) to talk whether you need to live in Hollywood to be a VO actor, being recast, voice matching, auditions, secrecy around characters you’re auditioning for, the luxury of getting scripts before a session, how they like to receive direction, best and worst pieces of direction, vocal health and more!Our Guests on the InternetCissy Twitter and InstagramErika Twitter and InstagramStuff We Talked AboutFinal Fantasy 7 Remake's Voice Cast Got Their Scripts As They Were RecordingOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Hope you're all staying safe out there! This month's fantastic episode has Rex (co-founder and creative director of Foam Sword Ltd, which recently released its first game Knights and Bikes. He was also the creative lead of Tearaway, a production designer on LittleBigPlanet 1 and 2, and the senior graphic designer on The Movies) and Daniel (composer of such games as The Movies, LittleBigPlanet 1 & 2, Knights and Bikes, and has also composed for film & TV on titles including The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Steve Jobs, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and more) joining us to talk about running into Peter Molyneux in the toilet at a conference in Spain, Guildford being the Hollywood of the games industry, whether their collaborative process has changed over the years, how early they started working together on Knights and Bikes, what they wanted to accomplish with the music, throwing stuff away, if people undervalue the storytelling potential of music in games, memorable pieces of nonverbal storytelling, the best and worst they've ever been treated on a job, not knowing what you're doing, and a whole lot more!Our Guests on the InternetRex's Twitter, and here's the official site for Knights and BikesDaniel's TwitterStuff We Talked AboutPopulous II: Trials of the Olympian GodsI Wanna Ride My Bike (From the Videogame 'Knights And Bikes') by the Daniel Pemberton TV OrchestraWe Are the Best!Daniel Pemberton InterviewControlOnce Upon a Time in the WestSpider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseOur theme music was created by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Do you play video games for the plot? Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by former video game professional (current TV development exec) Donald E. Marshall to talk through types of video game narrative, ways of weaving story into a game, balancing gameplay and storytelling, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life network and is curated by openculture.com.

Do you play video games for the plot? Mark, Erica, and Brian are joined by former video game professional (current TV development exec) Donald E. Marshall to talk through types of video game narrative, ways of weaving story into a game, balancing gameplay and storytelling, and more. For more, visit prettymuchpop.com. Hear bonus content for this episode at patreon.com/prettymuchpop. This podcast is part of the Partially Examined Life network and is curated by openculture.com.

What is your favorite?

Level up your podcasting game with Pt. 2 of our interview with Evan Skolnick: author of everything from Marvel Comics New Warriors, to LucasArts Star Wars games, to recent video game hits like Cuphead and The Walking Dead. In "They Beat Us To The Punch", Evan calls out the writerly virtues — nay, nirvana! — of a solid set of dishwasher instructions. And in "Hit Us With Your Best Shot" Evan invites us into the particular joys and specialized skills he brought to bear as the narrative designer on the smash PS4 game Concrete Genie. (https://www.amazon.com/Concrete-Genie-PlayStation-4/dp/B07NKVW3CH/) Learn more about Evan at his website, evanskolnick.com — and be sure and grab a copy of his #1 guide to video game writing, Video Game Storytelling: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385345828/ Liking what you hear? Leave a review. Subscribe! And invite new listeners to join in: https://anchor.fm/streetwriters Hit us up with questions, comments, whatever you got at: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.com And send us an audio message so we can get your comments in future episodes: https://anchor.fm/streetwriters/message #amwriting #writing #keepwriting #writingtips #creativity #productivity #streetwriting #videogamewriting

What better way to start 2020 than with a new episode of Street Writers? Better yet — the first part of our interview with Evan Skolnick, as he takes us through is writing career that's included Marvel Comics, LucasArts, hit video games like The Walking Dead, Cuphead and Concrete Genie — and the ins and outs of game instruction at the Game Developers Conference and Cogswell College. And in "Take A Swing At This" Evan hits us with the wisdom of "taking a pitch" — passing on writing work when it's not the right fit. Learn more about Evan at his website, evanskolnick.com — and be sure and grab a copy of his #1 guide to video game writing, Video Game Storytelling: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385345828/ Liking what you hear? Leave a review. Subscribe! And invite new listeners to join in: https://anchor.fm/streetwriters Hit us up with questions, comments, whatever you got at: streetwriters.podcast@gmail.com And send us an audio message so we can get your comments in future episodes: https://anchor.fm/streetwriters/message #amwriting #writing #keepwriting #writingtips #creativity #productivity #streetwriting

We've got Kelsey (game writer and narrative designer on Outer Wilds with Mobius Digital, along with Stormland for Insomniac, and wrote the unreleased Tales from the Minus Lab for USC’s Interactive Media & Games Division) and Olivia (script writer and narrative designer at Ubisoft Montreal on Far Cry 5 and Far Cry: New Dawn, and previously a scriptwriter at Ubisoft Quebec on Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey and its DLC) in this month to talk about the hardest parts of working with nonlinear storytelling, stress, taking feedback, nonlinear murder mysteries, quantifying values that are hard to quantify, assuming that players are smart, tracking all the permutations in branching narratives, player assumptions when it comes to knowledge of the story and vice versa, letting players pull in information instead of pushing it on them, what makes a good opening and ending, DnD, and more.Our Guests on the InternetKelsey's Twitter and Website.Olivia's Twitter.Stuff We Talked AboutOuter WildsTwineGDC 2019: Technical Tools for Authoring Branching Dialogue by Carrie Patel and SzymczykSteven UniverseOverqualified by Joey ComeauOur theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita. 

It's localization month, baby, and we've got Lola (producer at SEGA where she’s worked on Sonic Mania, and Sonic Mania Plus. She’s also a gaming consultant and has previously worked in development support at Kojima Productions LA on Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain, PR at Square Enix on games including Sleeping Dogs, Final Fantasy 13, and Kingdom Hearts, and has also worked in localization and QA at Activision Blizzard) and Scott (Localization Producer at SEGA of America, where he just finished working on Judgement, and before that worked on Yakuza Kiwami 2 and Yakuza 6. Was also an Associate Producer on Yakuza 0, a Senior Copyrighter and Associate Product Manager at Square Enix, a Product Manager at Level 5, and Project Lead and Editor at ATLUS) in to talk about why localization is not another word for translation, balancing standards/concepts that exist in one culture that don’t really exist in the other, mahjong, localizing tropes and archetypes that have no analogue in Western media, tone shifting differences in the East vs West, deviating from the script, the difference between a good localization and a great one, dialects, lip flaps, why your localization team should be integrated early in the process, work/life balance, and using editors in addition to translators. Our Guests on the Internet Lola's Twitter Scott's Twitter Stuff We Talked About The bizarre, true story of Metal Gear Solid's English translation by Jeremy Blaustein The Yakuza series Judgment Our theme music was composed by Isabella Ness, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Ben, Will, Anthony and Andrew dive into the discussion of Crunch Culture within the video game industry, and their favorite moments in video game storytelling!

We discuss whether storytelling in video games is limited, the PS5’s rumored backwards compatibility, and much more! Time Codes: 1. PS Classic Now $50 On Amazon (0:48) 2. PS5 To Be Backwards Compatible With ALL Previous PS Consoles? (1:51) 3. Yasunori Mitsuda Doing A Chrono Cross 20th Anniversary Tour (5:27) 4. Another Eden - New Game From Chrono Writer (6:15) 5. Is Video Game Storytelling Limited? (8:17) 6. Community Stories (40:29) Links We Referenced: PS Classic $50 On Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/PlayStation-Classic-Console/dp/B07HHVF2XG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549400845&sr=8-3&keywords=playstation+classic PS5 Backwards Compatibility Patent: https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2019/02/ps5_backwards_compatibility_suggested_by_sony_patent Chrono Cross 20th Anniversary Concert Tour: https://www.siliconera.com/2019/02/01/yasunori-mitsuda-celebrates-chrono-cross-20th-anniversary-with-a-live-concert-tour-in-november/ Another Eden - Chrono Writer’s New Game: https://www.siliconera.com/2019/01/28/chrono-writers-smartphone-rpg-another-eden-launches-worldwide-today/ Tactics V: “Obsidian Brigade” Closed Beta: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeBKKxXSOPcRIg1gaTajVC6JbHDHKiAQk0wyJaqawgVccHADA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR36tEPjHoOo8WkhmxKXhol0LRVTG98IGM4gcAQduQaaa7Fgmh112m_kh6c Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review (by surpremakatakuri): https://fullmetaldrippy.wordpress.com/2019/02/03/xenoblade-chronicles-2/

This week special guest Mike Reis stops by the Almigo cave to talk about one of our favorite mediums: Video Games. Video games have evolved into compelling and excellent narrative pieces of art that rival the storytelling of film and tv. Games like Bioshock, The Last of Us, Spec Op: The Line are all discussed so don't miss this episode!

Summer is here and so is a new episode! Today we're talking with Marc (author, game writer, designer, and previously worked at Valve on Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episodes 1 & 2, and Dota) and Chris (narrative director at Failbetter Games, previously a staff writer and head writer, and has written on Fallen London, The Last Court, Sunless Skies, and Sunless Seas) about storytelling transmedia synergy in 1990s Japan, what makes a good narrative director, planning a career as a writer, core skills writers should have, getting into writing with a team too early in your career, keys to good worldbuilding, creating the illusion of depth, the poop caves of Nottingham, having end goals in mind as a team, trusting your teammates, avoiding your first thoughts in writing, how expectations of more dialogue can put the wrong weight on characters, big failures, changes in writing processes, and player literacy. Our Guests on the Internet Marc's Twitter and Website. Chris' Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Which Legend of Zelda Game Was Inspired By Twin Peaks? by Michael McWhertor Woodcutters from Fiery Ships Machine Cares The Clarion Workshop Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Spring is here, and so are Charlene (writer at Larian Studios on Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2) and Jana (game writer and narrative designer on Battlestar Galactica: Squadrons, Assassin's Creed Origins, and currently at Guerilla Games where she just finished working on Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds)! They join us to talk about what makes a good bark, writing a good tooltip, finding inspiration in others, doing different types of writing at different times of day, solving a writing problem by articulating it to someone else, working with different team sizes, best practices for breaking through creative ruts, honing your judgment, the need for simplicity and clarity in game writing, the craving for more narration through items, and never retiring a tool in the storytelling toolbox. Our Guests on the Internet Charlene's Twitter. Jana's Twitter. Stuff We Talked About Hag-Seed: A Novel by Margaret Atwood Borne: A Novel by Jeff VanderMeer The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron Caves of Qud Our theme music was composed by 2Mello, and our logo was created by Lily Nishita.

Join us as we talk about all the best in Video Game Storytelling (and a little bit of the worst). #savetheprincesssavetheworld

Wherein the show has been hijacked by villainous Greg Holbus, spelling ruin for the Creative Commoners. Will they defeat this dastardly foe? Will they then go on to discuss videos games, linear v. open storytelling, games that defy traditional expectations, and surviving the zombie apocalypse? And then will they reveal awesome new content for the Creative Commoners franchise? Tune in for the answers! Theme music by Latché Swing. “Exciting Trailer,” “Easy Lemon,” and “Movement Proposition” by Kevin MacLeod.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's Raef "Hollywood" Granger! Yep, Raef joins us in the third chair and we get to talk about the games we're playing and enjoying.  Up first we discuss the "State of Miniature Gaming" as we see it, colored by our local scene.  Which games are sticking and why? Later Raef and Russ discuss storytelling in video games.  Seems like there have been some great examples this year, and we dive into the techniques we like and make us feel part of the game. And the Hollywood Miniute is back! All that and our other not-too-horrible segments including:  - Total Fan Girl - Do You Ever Notice  - News - & More If you'd like to discuss the show with us and others in our forum thread: .   The following fine organizations help make this show possible:  , on behalf of friendly, professional gaming stores everywhere. , latest gaming news, great stores, & more!    ==Quick Reference== The News:   1 hr 29 min State of Miniature Games:  1 hr 34 min Total Fan Girl: 2 hr 43 min Video Game Storytelling: 3 hr 18 min     Links Discussed in the show: Craig's Blog: Russ's Blog:  Total Fan Girl Blog:  Pulp Gamer Network: