On tap for this week's show is a talk with Washington-based developer Alice Bottino! Alice's gamedev career has taken her to studios like Xbox and Harebrained Schemes, and to the indie space with her current project, the ethereal rhythm game Hyperbeat. We chat about making games out of spite, the similarities between game development and skateboarding, and the importance of a strong aesthetic vibe. Music from bit.umen!

LINKS:

🗣️ Alice's Socials: @Bottinogames (Twitter), @Bottino.games (Bluesky)

🎮 Hyperbeat: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2263360/HYPERBEAT/

💿 Bit.umen: https://bit-umen.bandcamp.com/

Joining us this week is talented game composer Star Victoria Power, aka Slide20XX ⭐️ They've recently done work on games like Calico and Bloodstained: Dominique's Curse, and were even featured as part of Bandcamp's best soundtrack releases of 2022. Having worked towards making music for games since the age of 13, Star offers a lot of meaningful insight into how to balance pursuing your passions while still being practical. With music from Mistil!

LINKS:

⭐️ Star's socials: @Slide20XX

💿 Mistil: http://mistil.bandcamp.com

📕 The Algebra of Wealth by Scott Galloway

🍕 Pizzeria of the Week: Rocco’s Pizza in Seattle

We've got two incredible guests for you this week! Coming to us from Furniture & Mattress Games are co-founders David Hellman (art director) & Nico Recabarren (game designer). David's best known for his work on the landmark indie game Braid, and Nico made a splash designing acclaimed puzzle game Ethereal. We go over both of their past experiences as well as their time working on their latest project, the puzzle/RPG hybrid Arranger! Music from Reia!

LINKS:

🖌️ David's Twitter: @Davidhellman

🧩 Nico's Twitter: @Cabezotta

🎮 Arranger: https://arranger.quest/

💿 Reia: https://reiaa.bandcamp.com/

✉️ Contact us: pixelpizza at yahoo dot com

Today we dive into the heart of one of Hollywood's most prolific animators, Seth Kearsley! He's worked with every animation studio under the sun--Disney, Sony Pictures, Fox, Warner Bros, Dreamworks, Illumination, the list goes on--but you probably know him best for developing the Kingdom Hearts pilot animatic that's recently made the rounds online. We chat about his development as an artist, how he adapted the story of Kingdom Hearts into the structure of an animated series, and what makes a great game->animation adaptation. Taking us out is a personal favorite chiptune artist, Blitz Lunar!

LINKS:

🐦Seth’s Twitter: @SethKearsley

📀Blitz Lunar: https://blitzlunar.bandcamp.com/

🍕Pixel Pizza Socials: @PixelPizzaPod

📺Pixel Pizza YouTube: https://bit.ly/3BgOyHX

Get ready for a tootin' good time with the creator of viral hit Trombone Champ, Dan Vecchitto! We chat about making games in Brooklyn, "yes and"-ing your game ideas, and even get a bit real about the emotional weight of games. But make no mistake, this is still very much an episode about the world's premiere virtual trombone simulator(?). For you to fully understand the Trombone Champ experience, this week's music all comes from real play sessions with the game. Brought to you by creators across YouTube: Tim & Matt Play, Michamaru, and JawGBoi! An episode for the ages.

LINKS:

🐦Holy Wow Twitter: @HolyWowStudios

🎮Trombone Champ: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1059990/Trombone_Champ/

📀Tim & Matt Play: https://youtu.be/bf021cCR7tQ

💽Michamaru: https://youtu.be/QKd4C4se-Io

💿 JawGBoi: https://youtu.be/1pYm-_C91wQ

🍕Pixel Pizza Socials: @PixelPizzaPod

📺Pixel Pizza YT: https://bit.ly/3BgOyHX

Choose your pizza and get ready to fight on this week's episode! Matt DeLucas is in the (Zoom) house talking about making his own fighting games, Battle High and MerFight. And it's not only those-- he's been working with the studio Fighting Chance on their drag queen-inspired fighter, Drag Her! Plenty of cool game design nuggets on this episode. Plus, MisfitChris gives us some throwback trance off his recent Downer EP! 

LINKS:

🐦 Matt’s Twitter: @Mattrified

🎮 Mattrified Games: www.mattrifiedgames.com

💿 MisfitChris: https://misfitchris.bandcamp.com/

🍕 Pixel Pizza Socials: @PixelPizzaPod

📺 Pixel Pizza YouTube: https://bit.ly/3BgOyHX

It's a double order of pizza this week when PS1/Dreamcast-inspired musician Pizza Hotline (aka Harvey Jones) joins the show! He's just released the new album Level Select. It's been a smash hit not only on all the streaming platforms, but also on PS1 and Dreamcast discs?! We get into that, plus how to create a sonic mood board, promoting your work, and performing in VR Chat! This week's musical interludes come straight off of Level Select, of course~

LINKS:
🍕Pizza Hotline: @PizzaHotline_


📀Level Select: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2pgl3x3t8w0jiQ9PxMreRN?si=VvVjzZtzRGOlEkPqzkxuww&utm_source=copy-link

🎧Level Select Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgCrOaWmMrzkt_LSe9cJev3oasEMkcQYr

💻Pixel Pizza Socials: @PixelPizzaPod

▶︎Pixel Pizza YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0d0z50dWcdc_dpEdbM8n5A

Welcome back, Pixel Pizza community! This week we are joined by Kay-Lynne Fehr, Community Manager at Noodlecake Studios. Noodlecake is both a developer and a publisher-- you might've heard of their in-house games like Golf Blitz and their collaborations like Soundfall. Kay-Lynne tells us about her role in helping to launch both types of games and managing their player bases post-launch. If you've wanted a deep dive into what a community manager in the game industry does, this is the episode for you! Previous guest DJ Slope brings us his video game mixtape for this week's music.

LINKS:

🎮 Noodlecake Games: https://noodlecake.com/

🐦 Kay-Lynne’s Twitter: @KayLynneJean

💿 DJ Slope: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awO2gJCdeTs

🍕 Pixel Pizza Socials: @PixelPizzaPod

▶︎ Pixel Pizza YouTube: https://bit.ly/3BgOyHX 

The year is 2022...and Pixel Pizza is chatting with one of the UK's most prolific gaming content creators, Daniel Ibbertson - better known as DJ Slope! You may know him from his popular YouTube series "The Complete History" and "Kickscammers", or from his live podcast called the Slopescast. We delve into all three of those, plus his work as an actual DJ, how he transitioned into being a full-time YouTube creator, and how to keep evolving your content. Chiptunes this week courtesy of Calavera!

LINKS:
📺 Slope’s Game Room: https://www.youtube.com/c/djslopesroom

🐦 Daniel’s Twitter: @SlopesGameRoom

💿 Calavera: https://beacons.ai/calavera

🍕 Pixel Pizza Socials: @PixelPizzaPod

▶︎ Pixel Pizza YouTube: https://bit.ly/3BgOyHX

Prepare to vibe out with some chill beats from this week's guest, Joe Burke (better known as Obfusc)! His ambient tracks have been featured in hit indie games like Monument Valley, Neocab, and Harlow. Joe talks about his process of gathering field recordings, how he collaborates with devs to understand their vision for the sound of the game, and how he transitioned from having his tracks featured in games to working on them more directly.

LINKS:

📀 Joe's Bandcamp: https://obfusc.bandcamp.com/

🎶 Joe's Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7mxWXS9vNabNww98k0dyDn

🍎 Joe's Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/obfusc/199840107

🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter/Insta: @PixelPizzaPod

Join us this week on the Pixel Pizza Podcast for a special chat with PR pioneer Matt Atwood! Matt's been around the block, starting as a voice actor for Working Designs in the 90's to mastering the world of gaming PR at companies like Sega, Capcom, 2K, and EA. We chat about how the process has changed in that time, as well as more practical tips like how to communicate the essence of what makes a game worth playing. Taking us in and out of the episode are tracks by chiptune artist Giant Robot!

LINKS:

🎮 Reverb Communications: http://reverbinc.com/

🐦 Matt’s Twitter: @Matwood11

💿 Giant Robot: https://giant-robot.bandcamp.com/

🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter/Insta: @PixelPizzaPod

📺 Pixel Pizza YouTube(!): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0d0z50dWcdc_dpEdbM8n5A

Time to make the impossible possible! This week on the show we've got art director and industry veteran Vincent Perea. You may have seen his work at studios like Disney Interactive and Jam City, or on indie hits like Neocab and The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom. He gives some insightful thoughts on the different ways that art direction can work together with game design, plus much more! Taking us in and out of the show are songs from the super talented Sven Arweiler.

LINKS:

🌐 Vincent’s Website: http://www.vincentperea.com/

🎮 Possibility Space: https://possibility.co/

🐦 Vincent’s Twitter: @VincentPerea


💿 Sven Arweiler (Tracks played: Supere FX & Mostly Harmless): https://sbarweiler.bandcamp.com/

🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter/Insta: @PixelPizzaPod

Prepare for trouble...the good kind! Joining in this week is Arman Nobari, the founder of Good Trouble Games. He discusses how his background in UX and portrait art and a battle with cancer and a brain tumor (CW if that subject is sensitive to you) led him to create his own game, Harlow! Also very excited to have music from an artist I've long been a fan of, Mega Flare!

LINKS:
🎮 Good Trouble Games: https://www.goodtrouble.games/
🤖 Harlow: https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/harlow-switch/
🌐 Arman's Website: http://www.armannobari.com/
🐦 Arman's Twitter: @_ArmanNobari
💿 Mega Flare: https://megaflare.bandcamp.com/
🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter/Insta: @PixelPizzaPod

Shoutout to all the Rhapsodogs this week, because we're talking with Nico Papalia, creator of the hit indie RPG Athenian Rhapsody! Nico shares his stories about playtesting for comedy, staying physically active while making games, expanding his IP, and making his own pizza. This week's music comes to us from _beto!

LINKS:

🎮 Athenian Rhapsody: https://linktr.ee/athenianrhapsody

💿 _beto: https://betodev.bandcamp.com/

✉️ Questions? Comments?: pixelpizza at yahoo dot com

Knock knock! New pizza at the door. This time it's with a couple of awesome peeps from Black Cube Games: Narrative Designer Ehsan Tahmoures, and Gameplay/Tools Programmer Hosein Akbari! We chat about their recent release, The Tale of Bistun. It's an adaptation of a Persian myth and it's been getting rave reviews from around the world. Hear all about it and then go check it out on Xbox or PC! Music this week comes from the emo chiptune pop artist Exciting!!Excellent!!

LINKS:
⬛️ Black Cube Games: https://blackcubegames.com/
🎮 The Tale of Bistun: https://linktr.ee/taleofbistun
🐦 Hosein's Twitter: @Hosein_Akbo
🐤 Ehsan's Twitter: @EhsanTahmoures
💿 exciting!!excellent!!: https://excitingexcellent.bandcamp.com/
🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter/Insta: @PixelPizzaPod

Following up on last week's show, we are joined by Sweet Baby CEO Kim Belair! Kim's background writing for games ranges from AAA hits like Assassin's Creed: Valhalla to innovative indies like Lost Your Marbles on the Playdate. She discusses founding the studio and her missions to make the industry more accessible for newcomers and give opportunities to developers from underrepresented backgrounds. She also raves about the story of Elden Ring! The music this week comes from PachiiMochii!

LINKS:
👼 Sweet Baby, Inc.: https://sweetbabyinc.com/
🥯 Kim's Twitter: @BagelOfDeath
💿 PachiiMochii: https://pachiimochii.bandcamp.com/
🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter/Insta: @PixelPizzaPod

In our first two-part episode, we'll be speaking with a couple super-talented people from the narrative development and consultation studio Sweet Baby Inc! This week our guest is Paula Rogers, a game writer who made a name for herself with the award-winning Neo Cab. She's since taught game design at the University of Texas in Austin and done narrative development for several high-profile studios. Paula even shares a personal ghost story with us 😱 And what could make this great talk even better? Music from chiptune artist Noizzica!

LINKS:

👼 Sweet Baby Inc: https://sweetbabyinc.com/

✍️ Paula's Website: https://www.paulacreative.com/

📖 Blind Data Comic: https://www.blinddatacomic.com/

🕊 Paula's Twitter: @Paula_Bot

💿 Noizzica: www.noizzica.bandcamp.com

🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

Dang is right! Today we're joined by CEO of the team behind the critically acclaimed shooter Boomerang X, Ben Caulkins! They talk about getting their game picked up by Devolver Digital, taking lessons from your favorite games, and the conversation of pricing vs. game length. Beats supplied by Lukhash!

LINKS:
🐦 DANG! Twitter: @Videodang
🎮 DANG! Website: http://dang.computer/
💿 Lukhash: https://lukhash.bandcamp.com/
🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter/IG: @PixelPizzaPod

Not skipping a beat, we return this week to chat with a guy who has been all around the industry: Bayaar Lo-Borjiged. We discuss his work on both the east and west coasts, from his surprising start as a Naruto game promoter to his QA work at major companies like Treyarch and 2K to forming the indie studio Skull Fire Games! Our chiptune music of the week comes from Tamás Kátai off his Jupiter 92 LP!

LINKS:

🐦 Bayaar’s Twitter: @SkullFireGames

💀 Skull Fire Games: https://skullfiregames.com/

💿 Tamás Kátai: http://tamaskatai.bandcamp.com

🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

The Reunion draws near...The awesome game composer and DJ, James Landino, returns to Pixel Pizza after our radio run in Boston! He's been up to a lot since then, including writing music for games like No Straight Roads and the hit anime Tower of God. We go over his creative process, how he presents himself professionally, and his new business venture: Rare Drop. And we play music off his newest EP, Gamecore!

LINKS:
🐦 James’s Twitter: @JamesLandino

🌐 James’s Website: www.jameslandino.com

📀 Rare Drop: https://raredrop.bandcamp.com/

🍕 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzapod

Let's get scientific this week and talk with Erica Kleinman, a PhD student currently writing her dissertation at USC Santa Cruz's Game User Interaction and Intelligence Lab. We discuss her research on learning in eSports, decision-making in game narrative, and plenty more. Chiptune music this week comes from Bribed Fuzz! 

LINKS:

🎮 GUII Lab: http://guiilab.ucsc.edu

🌐 Erica’s Website: http://erimedia.us

🕊 Erica’s Twitter: @EricaMKleinman

📀 Bribed Fuzz: https://bribedfuzz.bandcamp.com/

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

Yo yo yo yo! This week we're chatting with Brazilian solo game dev LakeFeperd. He's best known for his action-platforming series Spark the Electric Jester. We chat about his roots in the fan game scene, finding your niche, and how to analyze what works and what doesn't in game design. A super informative chat for anyone looking to jump into making their own stuff! With musical interludes from the awesome Sunnexo.

LINKS:

🐦 Lake’s Twitter: @LakeFeperd

🎮 Feperd Games: https://feperdgames.com/

💿 Sunnexo: https://sunnexo.moe/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Can you believe it's been over 20 episodes of our gaming/chiptune podcast and we HAVEN'T had an actual chip musician on to interview?? Well, it's time to fix that! That's right, this week we are talking to one of the OGs (and the artist who introduced Jared to chiptune), Philly's own Paul Weinstein aka Chipocrite. We talk about discovering the medium, getting involved with the community scene, and the differences between writing music for games versus standalone songs. Naturally the songs this week come from Chipocrite too!

LINKS:

🎧 Paul’s Website: chipocrite.com

💿 Paul’s Bandcamp: https://chipocrite.bandcamp.com/

🐦 Paul’s Twitter: @Chipocrite

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📷 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

🐸🐸 Take a trip to Frog Island with Max Wrighton, intrepid head of Half Past Yellow. We talk about his transition from filmmaking to game dev, the process of naming your game, and wearing multiple hats on a team. Check out their game Time on Frog Island when it launches next month, and enjoy the tunes from Watch Out For Snakes!

LINKS:

🐦 Max’s Twitter: @MaxWrighton

🟨 Half Past Yellow: https://halfpastyellow.com/

💿 Watch Out For Snakes: https://www.watchoutforsnakestheband.com/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Capy Games Director Dan Vader joins us on this week’s show! Over the past 15 years his studio has brought us some incredible original titles, like Grindstone, Super Time Force, Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP, and Below. In our lively and wide-ranging discussion, Dan talks about working on games with very different tones, the collaborative environment at Capy, and how the best ideas come up when you’re getting coffee. Music from Fouinne44!

LINKS:

🐦 Capy Games socials: @Capygames

🎮 Battle Vision Network: https://www.capybaragames.com/games/battle-vision-network/

💿 Fouinne44: https://m.youtube.com/@fouinne44

No matter where you are, it’s time for happy hour! We sit down with Tony Grayson, studio head of Summitsphere. They’ve just fully funded their new game on Kickstarter: The wild retro-inspired platformer Antonblast. Tony shares his candid thoughts on pitching to publishers, taking your game beyond its influences, and much more. He’s also responsible for the music in Antonblast, so we’ve got some tracks to share with you too!

-No episode next week, we will be on vacation-

LINKS:

🐦 Summitsphere Twitter: @Summitsphere

💥 Antonblast Kickstarter: antonblast.com

🎮 Tony’s Twitter: @GraysonZ80

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Ever wondered what it's like to be a writer for one of gaming's biggest news sites? Get the lowdown on this week's Pixel Pizza featuring Ruby Innes of Kotaku Australia, also an alum of the Gaming Cult Podcast! We chat about developing your personal writing style, spotlighting indie developers, and the differences between print, audio, and video journalism. And the most pressing question of all: WHERE IS GEX?? The tunes this time come from chip artist BC Likes You!

LINKS:

✍️Ruby’s Writing: https://www.kotaku.com.au/author/rubyinnes/ 

🐦 Ruby’s Twitter: @RubyInnes

💿 BC Likes You: https://bclikesyou.bandcamp.com/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

We've got a (mostly) virus-free chat this week with rising indie star Millie Walker, better known as Karatkuro! Our discussion delves into her upcoming monster-catching/3D platformer hybrid Myth Caller: The Nightmare Shaman, the journey of getting into game development via Game Maker, and the importance of being open about your failures. Add in some sick beats from Heavy Viper, and you've got an episode you don't wanna miss!

LINKS:

🐦 Millie’s Twitter: @Karatkuro

🎮 Myth Caller: https://www.mythcaller.com/

💿 Heavy Viper: https:/heavyviper.bandcamp.com/

🕊Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📷 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

That nasty BA.2 variant has struck again, but we're powering through to give you the pizza you crave. So excuse the voice as I talk with the prolific content creator Daan Koopman, better known as Nintendaan. Whether it's advising on indie games, covering press events and reviews for Nintendo World Report, or First Look videos on YouTube, the man has done it all and he's here to talk all about it. With music from Astro Grey!

LINKS:

🐦 Daan's Twitter: @Nintendaan

🐘 Daan's Mastodon: @Nintendaan

💿 Astro Grey: https://astrogrey.bandcamp.com/

🎶 Marly Records: https://marlyrecords.bandcamp.com/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

In an episode 7 years in the making, I sit down with the one and only Ash Paulsen to discuss his career and involvement in all parts of the industry, from working on games as a lead producer with ShiftyLook and WhatPumpkin to a content creator with GameXplain and his current venture, Good Vibes Gaming! We get real about the challenges he's faced and how making it in the industry isn't always a straight line. Definitely a great start to Season 2, made even better with music from Alone!

LINKS:

📺 Good Vibes Gaming: https://www.youtube.com/c/GVGOfficial

🐦 Ash's Twitter: @AshPaulsen

💿 Alone: https://alonemusic.bandcamp.com/ 

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Hey guess what? I got sick this week. It wasn't fun, and had to push our regularly scheduled recordings back a week.

But you know what are fun?? Clip shows! That's right, in true podcast fashion, we're doing a roundup of all 14 of our guests thus far. From each one we've hand-picked a story that was educational, insightful, or just plain funny. Hope y'all enjoy and we'll see you next week when SEASON 2 begins proper! 

LINKS:
🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📷 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

We've got another pair of guests this week! This time our dynamic duo is the Allanson brothers, indie developers you may know from their games Two Brothers and YIIK: A Post-Modern RPG. Together we have a great chat about their formative years making games, processing online feedback both constructive and hateful, and the massive I.V. update coming to YIIK. Since Andrew is also Ackk's lead composer, we're playing some of his favorite YIIK tracks! 

LINKS:

🐦 Ackk Twitter: @Ackkstudios

🖥 Ackk Website: https://www.ackkstudios.com/

📼 Ackk YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFB-XJP9x8DEUq-vBP-2hSA

👾 YIIKCord (on Discord!)

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Can you smmmelllll what Pixel Pizza's cookin'? (This is the only wrestling reference I know, please do not expect any more) This week we chat with another longtime friend of the show, Niharika Jain! As a technical artist at 2K Games, she recently shipped her first AAA title- WWE 2K22. Niharika tells us about her journey to this point, what she's learned about the animation process, and much more. EchoLane brings us some chill chiptune tracks to go along with it!

LINKS:

📇 Niharika's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/niharika-jain-2806b8156/

📀 EchoLane: https://echoln.bandcamp.com/ 

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

In the podcast crossover of the century, Jake Innes of the Gaming Cult Podcast (which recently ended its ten-year run) joins Pixel Pizza for a postmortem on the long-running show, a dive into its various influences, and of course a healthy dose of worldwide opinions on obscure and up-to-date gaming. Since Jake is also an accomplished DJ in the footwork scene, we play some of his most recent tracks! You love it, my boy.

LINKS:

☁️ Jake's SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/djinnes

📻 House Nation & OST Live: https://rnb.org.au/

💿 Cult Trax Records: https://culttrax.com/

🎮 Gaming Cult Podcast (RIP 2012-2022): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/gaming-cult-podcast/id498397940

📸 Jake's Instagram: @Dj_innes

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📷 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Pixel meets Pixel when I talk with Lex Oberwetter, writer of the cult indie game Pixel Puzzle Makeout League! We dive deep into Lex's writing process, their approach to character dialogue, and current games we've been enjoying with great writing. Supplying the tunes this time around is Polish chip musician Kono Neko! 

LINKS:

🐦 Lex's Twitter: @LexGetDangerous

🧩 Pixel Puzzle Makeout League: https://picross.love/

🐱 Kono Neko: https://kononeko.bandcamp.com/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Joining us this week on Pixel Pizza is community manager and marketing expert Catherine Litvaitis! Catherine has helped build and foster communities for prominent indie games like Bear and Breakfast, In Stars and Time, and The Tartarus Key. She tells us all about writing social media in-character, what makes a great digital storefront description, and her work on the YouTube cult classic Shrek Retold! All that plus more, and music from Overkissed.

LINKS:

🐦 Catherine's Twitter: @LitvacArt

🐊 Floridale Man: @TheFloridaleMan

💿 OverKissed: https://audiobambino.bandcamp.com/album/cut04-xx

Here we are at Episode X! I'm joined by my oldest and closest friend, the one and only Alyssa Menes, to discuss her work composing and sound designing for games ranging from indies to AAA, as well as her current venture as conductor of the New Jersey Gamer Symphony Orchestra! This week also marks the 10th anniversary of our shared favorite game, Kid Icarus: Uprising, so of course we sing its praises and play tracks from Alyssa's stellar cover album Meet the Light! 

LINKS:

🐦 Alyssa's Twitter: @ACMenes

💿 Meet the Light: https://acmenes.bandcamp.com/releases

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Guten Tag! We continue the Pixel Pizza World Tour with a stop in Germany to chat with Marcus Horn, better known as Siactro. His budget 3D platformers Toree 3D, Toree 2, and MacBat 64 have made a big splash on the Switch eShop. We talk about the evolution of the indie scene, communicating your vision in marketing, and finding your niche audience. Plus an EXCLUSIVE special announcement! With chiptunes from StrayBoom! 

LINKS:

🐦 Marcus's Twitter: @Siactro
📺 Marcus's YouTube: https://youtube.com/c/Siactro

🎵 StrayBoom: https://strayboom.bandcamp.com/

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

Pixel Pizza goes international this week as we talk with French composer and sound designer Charles Bardin! We talk about analyzing game music, taking risks in the creative process, and his newly-released game, A Musical Story! With musical breaks from another talented French artist, Throno Crigger!

LINKS:

🧀 Glee-Cheese Studio: https://www.glee-cheese.com/

🎸 A Musical Story: @A_Musical_Story

🎮 Steam Demo: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1546100/A_Musical_Story/

💿 Throno Crigger: https://thronocrigger.bandcamp.com/

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @Pixelpizzapod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @Pixelpizzapod

Today I'm joined by Peter Lazarski, longtime indie dev and lover of all things that go bump in the night! We chat about his career in both the indie space and at a larger game company, his development streams on Twitch, and how Dungeons and Dragons has influenced the way he makes games. Featuring some fitting tunes from Witch Café! 

LINKS:

🎃 Peter's Website: www.imaginarymonsters.com

🖥 Peter's Twitch: www.twitch.tv/imaginarymonsters

👾 Peter's Discord: www.discord.gg/imaginarymonsters

📀 Witch Café: https://witchpop.bandcamp.com/

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @Pixelpizzapod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @Pixelpizzapod

New week, new guest! This time we're chatting with talented voice actor Alana Marie Cheuvront, who's appeared in hit games like Observer: System Redux and Trials of Mana. As a fellow voice actor it was a real treat to talk with her about getting into character and giving honest performances. Enjoy the discussion and the music courtesy of KELChip! 

LINKS:

🎙 Alana's Website: http://www.alanamariecheuvront.com/

📷 Alana's Instagram: @MissAlanaMarie

📀 KELChip: https://kelchip.bandcamp.com/

🐦 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

This week we have not one, but TWO guests joining us to talk about their games! Denny McCorry and Lesther Reynoso run the indie gaming outfit Possum House Games, where they make pixelated projects of all kinds, from shepherd sim Heavy is the Crown to the upcoming shooter TankPig. It was especially cool hearing both an artistic and technical perspective! Plus great music from another upstate NY native, HangOnGetReady!

LINKS:

👾 Possum House Games: https://possumhousegames.com/

📀 HangOnGetReady: https://hangongetready.bandcamp.com/

📷 Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

🕊 Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

This week, I had a really great chat with Kathryn DeFeo, artist at WayForward! She's the first person so far on the show who I haven't known prior, but even so we had an awesome conversation about her journey in games, getting into the gaming scene in Rochester, the challenges of working on games for kids, and even how dreams impact her art design! And, of course, some sick musical interludes courtesy of Defense Mechanism!

LINKS:

🐦 Kathryn's Twitter: @juuhachi

🎮 Kathryn's Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/juu_piter

📖 The Book of Symbols (context explained in show!): https://bit.ly/3BbMdgZ

🎵 Defense Mechanism: https://defensemechanism.bandcamp.com/

📸 Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

🕊 Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

Special delivery! Episode lucky number 3 is here. This week we've got Owen Watson, Lead Artist at Jackbox Games, here to talk about his influences, what makes good game art, and how a series known for indoor parties has adapted to pandemic play. We've also got musical interludes from Popskyy!

LINKS:
🐦Owen's Twitter: @babypopdipstick

🕹Jackbox Games: https://www.jackboxgames.com/

🎵Popskyy: https://popskyy.bandcamp.com/

📸Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

🕊 Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

Here we are, back again for episode 2! This week on Pixel Pizza, I'm joined by an old grad school friend of mine, Naomi Burgess. We reminisce on our time creating interactive experiences at Carnegie Mellon, and discuss her time since developing VR educational tools in Switzerland with the University of Lucerne, as well as her current gig in Sacramento as a Gameplay Engineer for Exploding Kittens! Lots of fun talk here, combo-ed with fun music from Remute!

LINKS:

🐦 Naomi's Twitter: @Seawardeyes
🎮 Naomi's Itch.io: https://noms.itch.io/

📀 Remute: https://remute.bandcamp.com/ 

📷 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

🕊 Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

Welcome to the first episode of the Pixel Pizza Podcast: Boston's award-winning gaming radio show, re-baked and rebooted for the 2020's! Join me, Jared (aka DJ Jettset), as I talk every week with a different creator in the video game industry and play music from bangin' independent chiptune artists. This week we sit down with Chris Chung, developer at Firehose Games and meowstermind behind the hit indie game Catlateral Damage! Featuring tunes from MEMODEMO off the new album Metro Jammers 2!

LINKS:

🐦 Chris's Twitter: @Chrixeleon

🐱 Catlateral Damage Remeowstered: https://catlateraldamage.carrd.co/

📀 MEMODEMO: https://memodemo.bandcamp.com/album/metro-jammers-2

🕊 Pixel Pizza Twitter: @PixelPizzaPod

📸 Pixel Pizza Instagram: @PixelPizzaPod

This week on Pixel Pizza, rock out with narrative designer Idris Grey MacChruteir 🤘 Idris's career has spanned across multiple countries and major studios-- they've worked at Monolith on Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Guerilla on Horizon: Forbidden West, and are currently in Japan working with Unseen (Ikumi Nakamura's studio) on KEMURI!

Idris breaks down how they design for specific characters, make an open world feel alive, and write a meaningful cover letter. Chiptune music this week also comes to us from Japan via Maak!

LINKS:

🐦 Idris's Twitter: @SirensStrand

🎮 Unseen: @UnseenTokyo

💿 Maak: https://maakmusic.bandcamp.com/

✉️ Contact Us: pixelpizza at yahoo dot com

This episode originally aired on October 26, 2022.

Let's look back on a Pixel Pizza favorite in this chat with Trombone Champ developer Dan Vecchito. We talked about using the principles of improv comedy in games, going viral, and the best pizza in Brooklyn! For the full Trombone Champ experience, this episode's musical breaks were all in-game performances from YouTube creators. Find their links below and see you next week with a new show!

LINKS:

🐦Holy Wow Twitter: ⁠@HolyWowStudios⁠

🎮Trombone Champ: ⁠https://store.steampowered.com/app/1059990/Trombone_Champ/⁠

📀 Tim & Matt Play: ⁠https://youtu.be/bf021cCR7tQ⁠

💿 JawGBoi: ⁠https://youtu.be/1pYm-_C91wQ

Join us on this week's Pixel Pizza Podcast as we talk to Capybara Games President Eileen Hollinger! Eileen's had some incredible experiences in the industry, like working at ThatGameCompany and forming her own indie game publisher, Astra Fund. She tells us how she made the jump from educational content to working alongside the devs of Journey, Katamari Damacy, and the latest on her studio's newest game Battle Vision Network! Music from Hydragyrum Beholder!

LINKS:

🐦 Eileen's Twitter: @Eileen_Holli

🌐 Capy Games: @Capygames

🎮 Battle Vision Network: @BVN_Game

💿 Hydragyrum Beholder: https://hydragyrumbeholder.bandcamp.com/

✉️ Contact Us: pixelpizza at yahoo dot com

On this installment of the Pixel Pizza Podcast we speak with Unbound Creations CEO Jakub Kasztalski. Jakub and his team have made all sorts of games ranging from political thrillers like Headliner to chaotic cute games like Rain on Your Parade. We talk about using games as a teaching tool, what goes into porting to consoles, and the studio's next game, Just Crow Things. Music from Thefricolix!

LINKS:

🐦 Unbound Creations: @Unboundcreation

🐦‍⬛ Just Crow Things: https://unboundcreations.com/games/crowy/

💿 Thefricolix: https://thefricolix.bandcamp.com/

✉️ Contact Us: pixelpizza at yahoo dot com