Kool Stuff • 27th April 2022

Fighting Machine: The Making of Pit-Fighter's Digitized Graphics

Chief Atari digitizer Rob Rowe and I talked about what it was like working at Atari from the 1980s through the early 2000s, stories from Pit-Fighter's development, and what he thought of Mortal Kombat.

Game Developer • 13th April 2022

Dr. Carly Kocurek on Masculinity in Games

Dr. Carly Kocurek and I discussed the pervasive view of games as being made by and for men, the practices of documenting video game history, how her interest in research brought her to video games, and much more in this wide-ranging interview.

11th April 2022

Rob Holmes on the End of Acclaim's Relationship with Midway

Acclaim co-founder Rob Holmes reveals what caused the difficult split between Midway/Williams and Acclaim.

Game Developer • 11th April 2022

Crushed: Inside Capcom's Marketing Feud with Acclaim and Mortal Kombat

Former Capcom USA senior VP Joe Morici talks Capcom's friendly feud with Acclaim, the cultural differences between Capcom USA and Capcom Co., Ltd., in Japan, and Street Fighter versus Mortal Kombat.

Substack • 10th February 2022

Kool Stuff [2]: Bad Science - Hacking Mortal Kombat for Sega Genesis

I talked to the four developers of the Mortal Kombat Arcade Edition ROM hack to learn how the project started, what their contributions entailed, what tools they used, and what gave them the most trouble along the way.

Substack • 4th February 2022

Kool Stuff [1]: Chasing Scores with Outworld

I talked to Mortal Kombat world record-holder Outworld about how he manipulates Mortal Kombat's AI, his strategies for the game's toughest match-ups, why he plays on player two's control panel, and more.

Shacknews • 9th November 2020

Last One at the Table: Phil Spencer on Inheriting Xbox One and Launching Xbox Series X

The 'Xboss' of Xbox reflects on his early years at Microsoft, the circumstances that led to him volunteering to lead Microsoft's Xbox division, launching a console during a pandemic, and more.

13th August 2020

ImMortal Mystique: Mortal Kombat's John Tobias on the Creation and Evolution of a Franchise

While interviewing MK co-creator John Tobias for Arcade Perfect, my 2019 book about arcade-to-home-system conversions, we talked about the genesis of MK, concepts for characters, the emphasis on lore over storytelling, and more.

Shacknews • 20th June 2020

Arcade1Up's David McIntosh on Ms. Pac-Man and surviving a pandemic

Arcade1Up's marketing director talks securing the Ms. Pac-Man license, physical plungers on pinball tables, and more.

Shacknews • 12th May 2020

Iron Will: Grim Dawn designer Arthur Bruno on the ups and downs of remote development

As someone who's been running a remote office for years, Arthur Bruno talked to me about Crate Entertainment's origin story, how Grim Dawn rose from the ashes of Titan Quest, and why the pandemic hasn't disrupted his routine much.

Shacknews • 8th April 2020

Last Escape: Streamer 'CarcinogenSDA' talks strategy for Resident Evil 3's remake

One of the world's most popular Resident Evil runners reveals how he dissected Capcom's remake of Resident Evil 3, how he compares Nemesis with RE 2's Mr. X, and more.

Shacknews • 3rd April 2020

Moving Forward: Composer Aubrey Hodges on Doom 64's haunting soundtrack

Doom 64's composer reveals how the game's soundtrack was a happy accident, Taco Bell's influence on his work, and more.

Shacknews • 19th March 2020

Voices in the Blood: Scott Patterson and the Terrifying Soundscape of Doom 64

Doom 64's audio engineer talks his interest in sound design, and the particulars of building dread in the former N64 exclusive title.

Shacknews • 18th March 2020

Apollo 11 Situations: John Romero on Porting Doom and Wolfenstein 3D

After Doom's release in December 1993, John Romero turned his attention to scouting for opportunities to collaborate on external projects related to id's games, namely strategy guides and ports.

Shacknews • 16th March 2020

Insanely Fast: Bethesda's Pete Hines talks Doom Eternal

When you think Bethesda, two names likely come to mind: Todd Howard, the studio's director and executive producer; and Pete Hines, global senior vice president. In fact, you may think of Hines first. Besides juggling countless other plates, he serves as the public face of the ZeniMax-owned studio and others under its umbrella, including id Software.

Shacknews • 23rd December 2019

After the Fact: John Staats on Storytelling in World of WarCraft

WoW's first level designer and I talk the dev team's early days, the as-yet-unknown medical condition that forced him to retire from making games, and his book on how Blizzard made one of the most important games ever.

Shacknews • 14th July 2017

Mega Maker's Creator on Building Your Own Mega Man Levels

Mega Maker director WreckingPrograms talks how the game got started and whether he's afraid of Capcom dropping a DMCA hammer on his efforts.

Shacknews • 20th June 2017

E3 2017: God of War's Cory Barlog on How Creative Conflict Shaped Kratos' New Adventure

God of War’s director opens up on why he left Sony, what brought him back, and how he and Kratos grew up along the way.

Shacknews • 14th June 2017

E3 2017: Telltale Games Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 Gameplay Interview With Job Stauffer

Season 2 of Minecraft Story Mode will begin with the release of Episode 1 on July 11. Job Stauffer, PR manager for developer Telltale, came by the Shacknews E3 booth to talk about how Season 1 and 2 mesh together, and how Season 2 will carry on the story for the band of adventurers.

Shacknews • 14th June 2017

E3 2017: Total War: Warhammer 2 Interview With Al Bickham

Creative Assembly's development communications manager stopped by to talk about the sequel, the characters and the massive campaign.