S3E025 – Great Foundational Beliefs

Don’t call it a comeback, we’ve been here for years! Dave is back again with Kahlief Adams of the Spawn on Me podcast to discuss gaming and journalism as well as visibility in and outside of the BIPOC community.

0:55 – Kahlief Adams introduces himself and Spawn on Me
4:05 – Doing a solo show
6:10 – The Spawn on Me mission statement
15:30 – How Spawn on Me changed with the focus on BIPOC visibility
20:15 – The versatility of the format
26:40 – GamerGate
30:30 – Things that have finally changed after George Floyd
43:30 – White people catching up
47:25 – Social Media
54:00 – Allyship in these hectic times

S3E024 – Get Funded, #BlackLivesMatter

Part 2 of Dave’s Interview with Mike Mika of Other Ocean.

Normally I write something funny and lighthearted here but honestly I can’t this week. Keep marching against systemic racism and police brutality. Together, we can make a better world.

Say Their Names

2:00 – Moving to mobile game development and NGMoco
11:35 – First project at Other Ocean and Culture Clash
19:25 – Wearing a lot of hats
23:05 – Other Ocean’s Long Term Goal
27:00 – Dealing with contract gigs vs “real” projects
36:25 – Building an environment people want to work at
44:20 – Delegating duties and recognizing responsibility as a leader

S3E023 – Go Freeze Bananas

What is up everyone? Dave and Darryl are back to talk about space, projects, and answer your questions once more.

This has nothing to do with the episode.

1:00 – Dave and Darryl talk rocket science
3:00 – Quarantine Beards
6:00 – Dave’s Wine Rack Update™
13:20 – Dave’s Next Project™
19:00 – Dave Will Not Go to Woot Dot Com
21:00 – Dave’s On Air
27:50 – Darryl’s Turnip Tracker
31:10 – Dave’s Streaming Setup
40:50 – Quarantine Watching
43:50 – Quarantine Driving
50:40 – ASK THE WIZ
51:10 – Do you think the current quarantine situation is going to result in a huge influx of indie game masterpieces next year because everyone has been stuck at home and thirsty for any kind of work to take their minds of things?
52:30 – The time I’ve had in quarantine has given me a-lot of perspective on my career decisions. I wen’t from web developer to web-app developer… (It’s been along process to switch an associates 2 times) However I’ve been playing Jackbox with friends a-lot lately, and it’s given me the perception that common-day board games like Monopoly could be easily adapted to something like… do you see web based controller games continuing to take a foothold in the party game industry?
55:50 – Although I’m a web programmer, for those who aspire to break into the gaming industry or some other sort of programming. If you were hiring would you choose the person with a fleshed out github portfolio? or the person with a degree?
56:55 – If you had to do it all over again and forced to choose a different career, what would it be? Why?
58:05 – If humans had ultimate abilities, what would be your ability?
59:40 – Is Florida where you thought you would end up putting roots? If you had to choose, would it be Chicago again or someplace new?
1:01:00 – Berserker Greaves or Sorcerer Shoes?
1:01:25 – What’s the most Florida Man thing you’ve ever witnessed while living here? Also what the most Florida Man thing you’ve ever done yourself?
1:04:55 – What game do you wish you could play for the first time again?
1:07:05 – I just got access to EA Origin’s Game Vault library and I’m having trouble deciding which Need for Speed game to jump into. In chronological order I’ve installed Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Need for Speed: Rivals, Need for Speed: 2015, Need for Speed: Payback. Historically I’ve played games chronologically for narrative-based games but I don’t think this applies to the Need for Speed franchise. I’m tempted to just play the newest one, but I’ve noticed that the older games are better reviewed than the newer ones. What would you do in my situation?

S3E022 – Great Fandom, Bungie!

This week, Dave talks with Phil Tibitoski of Young Horses. Stay tuned for a lengthy discussion of infant video gaming, early computer interests, and a lengthy digression about producers of popular PC games from the nineties.

This is fine

1:45 – Phil introduces himself and Young Horses
3:20 – Phil’s early years
6:30 – Getting into computers
10:25 – “When did you decide you wanted to program?”
14:35 – “Did you ever get into the hacking scene?”
17:40 – Getting into DePaul
26:20 – The Bungie Digression
31:15 – Leading up to Octodad
47:00 – Octodad Dev Stories
49:40 – Founding Young Horses

S3E021 – Generating Fake Bytes

Stop. Collaborate. Listen. Dave’s back with a brand new session! This week we’ve got Mike Mika in the digital studio to talk about game development, preservation, and highly unorthodox programming techniques.

This is real programming

2:00 – Mike introduces himself and the studios Other Ocean and Digital Eclipse

3:10 – Early Years

6:05 – “This is what they use to make video games”

16:40 – “When did you know you wanted to make games for a living?”

19:20 – The C64 Hacking Scene

26:15 – Mike’s First CES

34:50 – Getting out of the Jaguar hole

41:00 – Video Game History Foundation

49:35 – The Game Boy Business

S3E018 – Gently Fixing Braces

What’s up people? Dave and the Wiz are back again this week to discuss shop mishaps, casual game optimization, and answer your questions in a BRAND NEW SEGMENT!

Debate for the Ages

1:40 – “Another 2020 Moment”

4:00 – Wizner’s Turnip Market Tracker

13:40 – The Team GFB Radio Woodworking Safety Minute

21:50 – Dave’s TFT Simulator

31:25 – !!!NEW SEGMENT!!! Ask The Wiz!

32:10 – Q1) Who do you quarantine with?

36:10 – Q2) What’s the Board Game Situation?

39:45 – Q3) How do you separate work and home life now?

45:00 – Q4) Oatmeal Chocolate Chip or Regular Chocolate Chip?

45:55 – Q5) What are you excited to do once lockdown is over?

49:00 – Q6) How can passionate fans give helpful feedback?

54:15 – Email: Colton talks about breaking into the industry

S3E017 – Gracious Football Boys

This week, Team GFB is excited to present to you the thrilling conclusion of Mike Bilder’s origin story.  Tune in as Dave and Mike talk about navigating the pitfalls of a post-NFL-license sports division at Midway and terrifying shoe-devouring CFOs!

“I mean we’d take a cortisone shot, but not on the field!”

2:30 “The No-Fun League” – The NFL and the leadup to Blitz: The League
14:20 “We need more scumbags” – Dave Lang joins the ragtag Blitz team
23:20 “Any Given Sunday: The Video Game” – Developing the story mode of Blitz: The League
29:10 “Smash cut to October of 2005” – Blitz: The League is released
38:10 “It’s clear Midway is going down the toilet” – Departing the company
41:40 “I wanted to stay in Chicago” – Mike joins Jellyvision
47:15 “We reached out to our good friends at Iron Galaxy” – Collaboration on You Don’t Know Jack
51:40 “This is not sustainable” – Self-Publishing, Facebook, and Mobile
56:30 “Fire TV only had one remote” – The idea of phone-as-controller leading to the Party Pack

S3E016 – Grecian Familial Beginnings

Greetings from the Team GFB Bunker, where everything is fine and nothing is wrong at all in the world. This week, Dave talks to Mike Bilder of Jackbox Games.

2:00 Mike Bilder introduces himself and Jackbox Games

5:40 Mike and Dave talk about retro games and gaming with kids

11:05 Mike’s time at Purdue (College Years), his change from EE to CS

15:00 First job at Motorola, getting into Midway

19:00 Getting into Midway, Sports Station Cabinet

22:05 interviewing for Midway

25:05 Mike Bilder says you should always make a demo if you want to get into games (all caps with a clap in each space)

28:00 Tangent about Motorola internal competition that happens during 2 weeks notice (and that’s where he met his wife)

31:25 First day at Midway

35:25 “And that’s when all of coin op was shuttered”

41:10 The Money Matches Era

46:15 Crunching on Blitz 2002

50:00 Transitioning to leadership