Advertise on podcast: High Resolution: inside the video games industry

Rogue Legacy walked so Hades could run. Now, nearly 10 years after the original, Rogue Legacy 2 is another shining example of the highly replayable roguelike genre. Cellar Door Games co-founder and designer Teddy Lee joins High Resolution to detail the tricky path to capturing success a second time. From finding popularity with Rogue Legacy, the commercial struggles of the studio's follow-up in Full Metal Furies, to the surprisingly emotional Early Access journey of Rogue Legacy 2, Lee explains it all. Also, there's a little discussion about the studio's early Flash games, including Don't Shit Your Pants, a game we've all played IRL at some point in our lives. To keep up to date with High Resolution, follow the podcast and subscribe to Byteside’s twice-weekly newsletter examining all things tech, digital culture, and video games: https://newsletter.byteside.com/ Articles referenced: https://www.destructoid.com/why-is-rogue-legacys-follow-up-considered-a-pretty-massive-failure/https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/rogue-legacy-2-early-access-takeaways/ Follow Byteside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/byteside Follow Chris Button on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BibbyBhoy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Mighty Kingdom recently launched Conan Chop Chop, a chaotic rogue-lite that transforms the typically adult-focused Conan the Barbarian franchise into a more family-friendly cartoon outing. Hear from Kim "Kimbo" Forrest, studio creative director, and Jeff Wong, producer, as they discuss the sometimes challenging development of a game announced on April Fool's Day some years ago. It turns out that game development can be about the friends you make along the way! To keep up to date with High Resolution, follow the podcast and subscribe to Byteside's twice-weekly newsletter examining all things tech, digital culture, and video games. Follow Byteside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/byteside Follow Chris Button on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BibbyBhoy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Made by Studio Drydock, a remote team founded by former EA developers, Wylde Flowers is a cosy life and farming sim with a witchy twist. It launched via Apple Arcade earlier this year and has since become one of the top games on the subscription service ahead of its upcoming PC and Nintendo Switch release. In Wylde Flowers, you play as Tara, who moves to a charming rural island to help out her grandma and the family farm. However, she discovers not everything is as it seems... Amanda Schofield, Studio Drydock co-founder and creative director on Wylde Flowers, joins High Resolution to discuss her time working on The Sims franchise, the challenges of founding a remote studio, and what goes into making diverse characters. To keep up to date with High Resolution, follow the podcast and subscribe to Byteside's twice-weekly newsletter examining all things tech, digital culture, and video games. Follow Byteside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/byteside Follow Chris Button on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BibbyBhoy See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chris Button takes the reins from Seamus Byrne to prepare for a fresh new look at how videogames are made and the industry's wider cultural impact. Get ready for new episodes of High Resolution soon featuring guests from across the videogame industry, locally and abroad! In the meantime, subscribe to Byteside's twice-weekly newsletter examining all things tech, digital culture, and video games. Follow Byteside on Twitter: https://twitter.com/byteside Follow Chris Button on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BibbyBhoy Follow Seamus Byrne on Twitter: https://twitter.com/seamus See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We're wrapping up the show to consolidate the Byteside podcast network into our core show, Byteside! Search 'Byteside' in your podcast app or hit the relevant link below to add it to your app of choice: Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/itunes/1482077503 Overcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/overcast-podcast-player/id888422857 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1482077503 Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5hY2FzdC5jb20vcHVibGljL3Nob3dzLzA0NzA5ZTVkLWU0ZTQtNDk0Ny1hYmNmLTYyZDM3MmIyZTFiNg Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/43tUBmO4DknkGbd4Hw9dlb RSS: https://rss.acast.com/byteside And get loads more written content at byteside.com. Thanks so much for tuning into the show – we've got a lot more in store, but all distilled into the one true podcast feed... Byteside. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

From the early announcements to the unknowns, Seamus and Kosta explore the E3 virtual experience and what's getting us excited for games in the year ahead. Playstation, Xbox, Indies, and more, we look at where the hype is justified and where it's... all hype. Will Xbox and Bethesda joining up this year be good or bad? Will Devolver be as crazy as ever? And does the Ratchet & Clank release set a new high bar for what we need to see to make something feel truly 'next gen'? Check out all the AusGamers coverage here: https://www.ausgamers.com Find Kosta on the tweets here: https://twitter.com/toadovsky See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Seamus talks to two of the lead developers on Diablo Immortal – Scott Shicoff, Principal Game Designer, and Kris Zierhut, Senior System Designer – about building an intricate, hardcore PVP system into the game. We explore how the Cycle of Strife works, how the game is being treated like an MMO, the style of play you can expect across PVE and PVP, and how they're going to approach class balance and other critical aspects for this experience. And, ultimately, just how much it means if you become the Immortal Leader. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Seamus talks to Jordi de Paco on the release of 'Essays on Empathy' and what it means to release a compilation of ten short-form narrative game experiences. A fun chat that digs deep into our need for shorter games and why sometimes a development team needs to take a big reset to remember why they love making games. You can find Essays on Empathy at Steam right here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1586880/Essays_on_Empathy/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

You'll be hard pressed to find someone on the planet today who doesn't know about Minecraft. It's one of those games that has evolved to become much more than just a game but also a tool for creativity and for education, and today I'm speaking with James Delaney, Managing Director of Blockworks, one of the world's leading design groups for creating amazing environments and architectural designs using Minecraft. Blockworks recently worked with NRMA to create a map called Climate Warriors, which is available for download through Minecraft Marketplace for free. It was designed to teach kids aged 7-12 about sustainability and the impacts of natural disasters on Australian rural and regional areas. I speak with James about his own journey with Minecraft, how Blockworks has developed its expertise, and the importance of working on projects like Climate Warriors and how it elevates Minecraft as a medium. Blockworks is a true world leader in this space so it's a pleasure to talk to James about his company and its place in the evolution of Minecraft and using these kinds of platforms for engaging styles of education like this. I start by asking James to remember that very first time he opened up Minecraft.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Seamus is joined by Jeremy "Junglist" Ray and Steve Farrelly from AusGamers to discuss this week's ABC Four Corners episode on manipulative techniques used in videogames, especially around predatory monetisation practices. We discuss our thoughts on the episode, what it got right, what it got wrong, where the nuance lies, and what we wish we saw more of in debates over the real issues that are attached to our beloved videogaming hobby. We're also joined via Twitter Spaces by Woody Wu from META High School Esports for some added comments and discussion. It's not lost on us that this episode is longer than the episode of Four Corners, too... See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Interactive Games and Entertainment Alliance, IGEA, released a survey of the Australian games industry that captured the state of the community in 2020. Hundreds of millions of dollars sounds good, but it's a tiny fraction of a percent of the global industry revenue. So how does the industry grow? What support does it need? What's working now? We discuss all this and more with Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA, and we even get into the difficulties of the politics and how the industry struggles with generational change and not being 'political' enough to get the attention it deserves. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We sat down (through the magic of our screens) with Dean Ayala and Chadd Nervig, two of the critical members of the Hearthstone design team, to talk about all the new things coming to the game in coming weeks. Catching up just after the BlizzConline announcements we talk about what to expect from the new Core Set, what it means for the future of the game, and then we talk Forged in the Barrens and what that new set brings to the mix in such a year of big changes. And we find out how the pronunciation of Hearthstone seems to have taken on an almost regal quality. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.