Kiwi Talkz

Podcast with various Video Game developers as well as other people involved in entertainment such as TV/Film

Kiwi Talkz is a leisure podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Kiwi Talkz, a leisure show with 0 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

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  Episode #214

  #214 - Kris Roberts On Midnight Club 5, RDR1, GTA 6, Rockstar, RAGE Engine, Houser Brothers etc.

  Aug 17, 20261h 8m

  Kris Roberts was a former designer on Midnight Club 3, Los Angeles and Red Dead Redemption, in this episode he talks about his work at R*. WEBSITE - https://www.robertsmania.com/ T WITCH - https://www.twitch.tv/robertsmania YOUTUBE - @Robertsmania TWITTER - @Robertsmania #rockstargames #midnightclub #reddeadredemption TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - How Kris Got Into Cars 01:58 - Working On Midnight Club Series/Angel Studios Early Days 05:57 - Midnight Club 2/Working In Gamesb 07:40 - The Key To Good Vehicle Simulations & Tuning 10:05 - Kris Takes Shots At Need For Speed 11:00 - iRacing Simulation/Realistic Simulations 12:30 - VR Driving Simulation 14:15 - GTA’s Vehicle Tuning 16:06 - Kris Is Not Interested In GTA 6 16:30 - The ARTS Engine Became The RAGE Engine 18:40 - How The RAGE Engine Evolved By RDR1 20:52 - RAGE Engine Summit 22:45 - Why Midnight Club 5 Was Cancelled 27:00 - Red Dead Revolver 29:00 - Initial Skepticism Over Developing Red Dead Redemption 30:15 - Being The Lead For RDR1 Multiplayer 33:15 - Kris Was Stressed Being A Leader 38:00 - Crunch On RDR1 42:15 - Dan & Sam Houser 45:45 - RDR1 Multiplayer Never Got Relief Unlike The Main Team 47:43 - Rockstar Wives Fallout/Jury Duty 48:40 - RDR1 Multiplayer Being Broken At Launch 52:20 - Why Kris Left Rockstar/Completion Bonus/Layoffs 59:10 - Kris Only Does Contracting Now/Working With Sony Online 1:03:21 - Q+A - Was RDR1 Multiplayer Always Planned As A Sandbox 1:03:50 - Q+A - How Fun Was It To Debug Customisation Options In MC3 1:05:40 - Q+A - Was Undead Zombies Considered For RDR1 In Free Roam 1:06:38 - Where To Follow Kris/Doing A 2nd Podcast About Valve

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #213

  #213 - Unleash The Avatar - India's First AAA Game | Developer Interview With Varun Mayya

  Jul 25, 20261h 21m

  Varun Mayya is an entrepreneur, content creator, author and now he is venturing into game development and working on India's most ambitious game ever. Unleash The Avatar #unleashtheavatar #indiangaming See the latest trailer gameplay footage here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_zBp21BWI0 WEBSITE - https://www.unleashtheavatargame.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:28 - Varun Loves The Mechanics Of Dota & Rocket League 03:56 - How Varun Started Making Video Games 05:15 - Journey To Making Unleash The Avatar/Multiplayer Games 06:00 - Soulslikes/Black Myth Wukong/Sekiro 07:39 - Games Are Sustainable/Gamers Demands 11:19 - Unreal Engine/Photogrammetry Of India For Unleash The Avatar 12:48 - Scanning An Entire Indian Town For Assets In Unreal Engine 15:00 - 1st Trailer For Unleash The Avatar Was To Hire Talent 16:15 - Varun’s Smart Plan To Hire The Best Engineers 19:12 - Aftermath Of 2nd Trailer 21:30 - Developing The Game Start Up Style/Revelation From The 2nd Trailer 23:02 - Bollywood Influence On The Game/Anatomy Of The Story 28:10 - Varun Is Closely Involved With The Entire Project 29:43 - Target Audience For Unleash The Avatar 32:10 - Using A Metronome For The Bosses 33:20 - Aura Farming/Taunts In The Game/Difficulty Settings 36:22 - Black Myth Wukong Inspirations & Differences 41:39 - Black Myth Wukong’s Marketing 43:16 - Bold Marketing Strategy For Unleash The Avatar 50:14 - Why India Hasn’t Produced AAA Games/Entrepreneurs 54:55 - Risk & Reward/Varun’s Views On Business 57:00 - Stigma From Parents Regarding Gaming & Content Creation In India 59:00 - Success & Failures Drives Everything Forward 1:00:10 - Economics Of AAA Games In India Vs U.S. 1:06:40 - Unleash The Avatar Was Largely Made Inhouse/Rockstar India 1:08:31 - Why India Will Become A Haven For Game Development 1:13:30 - Assassin’s Creed Setting In India 1:15:30 - Indian Lore & Culture In Unleash The Avatar 1:18:39 - Where To Keep Up To Date With Unleash The Avatar

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #212

  #212 - John Ricchio On GTA 5, GTA 6, Rockstar, RDR1, Leadership, AI, Crunch, Cut Content etc.

  Jul 11, 20261h 15m

  John Ricchio was a former producer at Rockstar on games such as GTA 5, RDR1 & Max Payne 3. In this interview he covers his time training people on QA, being a producer and a leader to teams at Rockstar, working on GTA, RDR, MP and more.. #gta #gta5 #rockstargames TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:27 - The Importance Of QA/Training QA People 04:30 - QA People At Rockstar/Advancing Your Career From QA 08:19 - Will AI Be Used To Save Time For QA 12:21 - Unicorn Dev Specialists/T Shaped Game Developers 14:30 - Managing Over 200 People On RDR & GTA 5/Producing Challenges 21:45 - Relinquishing Control/R* San Diego Changed Processes For GTA 5 24:40 - Cut Content From GTA 5 Due To Resources 26:10 - Working Through Constraints/Picking Your Battles 27:10 - Having Your Work Cut From R* Games 28:37 - Will GTA 5 Cut Content Be In GTA 6 29:21 - Cancelled Game Content Ended Up In GTA IV/Tech Changes 30:02 - New Ideas Usually Transcend Cut Content 30:57 - RDR Undead Nightmare/Hot Coffee Mini Game 32:05 - Rockstar’s Approach To DLC 33:17 - Managing R* Devs During High Times Of Stress/Crunch 41:20 - R*Can Get Away With Anything/Unionisation 42:15 - R” Are Good Because Of Iteration But It’s At The Cost Of Crunch 43:26 - Why John Left Rockstar/Crunch 46:45 - Leaders Initiate Crunch Either For Results Or Out Of Fear 52:40 - John Speaks About GTA 6 57:40 - The Future Of The Industry 1:00:11 - Q+A - Will R* Devs Lose More Creative Freedom As The Studio Gets Bigger 1:03:43 - Hanging Out With Dan & Sam Houser 1:05:10 - Following GTA 5’s Model For GTA 6 1:06:03 - GTA 5’s Launch 1:07:02 - Q+A - How Much Did The 360/PS3 Limit The Scope Of GTA 5 1:09:30 - Why R* Release On Console First Before PC 1:12:30 - John Is Currently Unemployed/Where To Follow John

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #211

  #211 - Andrew Kim On Naughty Dog, Uncharted, Marvel, Film, Concept Art, Sony Santa Monica

  Jun 20, 20261h 3m

  Andrew Kim is a freelance concept artist who has worked on video games, tv and film. Hes done numerous concepts for games in the MCU and he did concept art for Uncharted 2-4 #uncharted #uncharted4 #uncharted3 ANDREWS WEBSITE IS HERE https://www.andrewkimart.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:34 - Differences Between Working In Video Games & Film/TV 04:41 - Getting A Job at Naughty Dog 07:20 - Working With The Designers On Concept Art For Uncharted 09:03 - The Process Was Similar Between Uncharted 2,3 & 4 10:46 - Leaving Marvel/Being A Freelancer On Uncharted 4 12:30 - Why Andrew Left Naughty Dog 15:30 - How Film Union Works 18:23 - The Challenges Of Being A Freelancer In The Film Industry 20:55 - It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know 21:30 - How You Network In The Film Industry 23:10 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 2 33:40 - Sony Santa Monica Has 6 Hour Interviews 35:30 - Naughty Dog Interview Was 20 Minutes 36:19 - Interviewing Process In The Game Industry Now 37:49 - Andrew Would Work On Uncharted 5 If Asked 39:20 - Andrew Had Limited Interactions With Amy & Bruce 40:17 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3 42:39 - Uncharted 3 Piece Got Andrew His Job At Marvel 44:00 - ART CONCEPT REEL - Uncharted 3 59:36 - Where To Follow Andrew

  ListenShow Notes
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  Episode #210

  #210 - Quentin Cobb Interview On Uncharted 4, The Last Of Us, Naughty Dog, Ironroot Games

  Jun 6, 20261h 5m

  Quentin Cobb is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ironroot Games, he was previously a designer at Naughty Dog on Uncharted 4 & The Last Of Us and did a 5 year stint at Zenimax before on a cancelled project he was laid off. #uncharted4 #uncharted #thelastofus SOCIALS TWITTER - @QTrainCobb INSTAGRAM @qtrain.cobb/ @I IronrootGames https://ironrootgames.com/ TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 00:30 - Why Quentin Cobb Loves Wutang Clan 01:37 - Crunch On Uncharted 4 04:02 - Working On Lost Legacy 04:40 - Why Quentin Left Naughty Dog 06:07 - Was It Harder To Salvage Uncharted 4 Rather Than Creating A New Game 07:36 - Quentin Worked On Chapter 8 In Uncharted 4 09:00 - Puzzle Sequences Were Difficult In Uncharted 4/Bruce Straley 10:35 - Difficulty Of Making Puzzles 11:50 - Shifting Mindset From Single Player To Multiplayer 13:39 - Why The Last Of Us Was A Life Changing Experience/Working With Bruce Straley 19:30 - Sony Executives Didn’t Believe The Last Of Us Would Succeed 20:30 - Naughty Dog Was Shocked How Well The Last Of Us Was Received 22:30 - Overcoming The Trauma Of Project Blackbird Being Cancelled 27:00 - Indie Dev Community Are Kind & Supportive 28:01 - Ironroot Games New Action-Adventure Project 29:40 - Naughty Dog Teams Were Well Connected/Small Team Sizes 32:00 - AAA Is All About Trends As Opposed To Making Games With A Heart 34:00 - Creating A Unique Game Can Be Tricky 36:30 - Advice From Bruce Straley/Pacing In Games 40:17 - Microsoft Pulled Funding For Bruce Straley’s Indie Game 41:40 - How Devs Try To Get In Front Of Layoffs/AAA Industry Isn’t Stable 43:04 - Naughty Dog Layoffs/No One Is Safe 44:00 - Last Of Us Part II/Quentin Is Glad He Didnt Work On It 45:39 - Working On Last Of Us Part 1 Was Nostalgic 46:30 - Intergalactic/Meeting His Old Naughty Dog Colleagues 48:05 - Quentin Didnt Work Much With Amy & Neil 48:58 - Q+A - Why Was India Chosen For Lost Legacy 50:17 - Is It Easier To Make A Story First Or Design Mechanics First 51:30 - Q+A - How To Get A Design Job At Naughty Dog 54:30 - A Portfolio Is More Important Than A Degree 57:19 - Q+A - What New Things Were Possible Going From PS3 To PS4 For Uncharted 58:55 - Diminishing Returns With The Next Hardware 1:00:30 - Padding In Open World Games 1:03:05 - Where To Follow Ironroot Games & Quentin

  ListenShow Notes

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