Pixel Pizza – Details, episodes & analysis

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