Branching Narratives With Jeff Green

For the final episode of Season 1 of Branching Narratives, Jeff welcomes Brenda Romero, a pioneering developer in the games industry with a long resume that includes Jagged Alliance, a BAFTA award, and the upcoming Empire of Sin. Jeff talks to Brenda about all these accomplishments, how she got her start in the games industry in the 1980s, and much more as the first season of the pod comes to a close.

USgamer's Kat Bailey turns the tables and interviews Jeff Green this week, so it's his turn to share how he got his first job in the games industry in 1996, days spent rolling into the office at 10:30am to play '90s PC games, GFW Radio memories, and what it means to get older in the games industry. This week the spotlight is on the Black Dragon, so don't miss out.

This week's guest is Cloud Chamber Studio Head Kelley Gilmore, who spent nearly 20 years at Firaxis before moving on to run the studio tasked with rebooting BioShock. She talks about the enormous responsibility of rebooting a beloved franchise; how the studio is handling challenges like motion capture amid COVID-19; the importance of hiring for diversity, and the one thing you don't know about Sid Meier. 

Gary Whitta—screenwriter (Star Wars: Rogue One, The Book of Eli), comic book writer, and novelist—talks about what it's like to go from being a video game magazine editor to being the guy who wrote a Star Wars movie. He also discusses the trials and tribulations of being a Hollywood writer, the joy and craziness of hosting the wildly popular Animal Talking show, and what it was like to write about video games before the Internet.  

Jeff is joined by Kahlief Adams, host of the Spawn on Me podcast, to discuss the long fight to get more Black voices in the games industry; what it's like to be on the other side of a negative game review; Kahlief discovering games with the help of his grandmother, and his fight to get notice for podcasts about people of color in games.  Hosted by USgamer: http://usgamer.net

In this week's episode of Branching Narratives, we're joined by Bethesda's Pete Hines, who talks about his early days at Bethesda "bullshitting ad copy" with Todd Howard [10:00]; how Morrowind helped keep the company in business [20:00]; the Fallout license acquisition [29:00], and the lessons of Fallout 76 [42:00].  Hosted by USgamer: http://usgamer.net

In the second episode the newly-renamed Branching Narratives, Jeff welcomes Samantha Kalman, the indie developer, musician, and technologist behind the unique rhythm game Sentris. She talks about why she never thought she'd make it as a game developer; meeting her heroes; her journey as a transgender woman, and the influences of Loom and Rock Band. Plus, a frank discussion about Black Lives Matter, and her next game! Hosted by USgamer: http://usgamer.net 

For our first episode, we're joined by Austin Walker, host of the popular podcasts Friends at the Table and Waypoint Radio and formerly of Giant Bomb. He's here to talk about his journey from academia to the games industry, the rise of D&D, editorial battles with sales and PR, and much more in this extended conversation with host Jeff Green. Hosted by USgamer: https://www.usgamer.net/

We're launching a brand new podcast at USgamer! In this special preview of Branching Narratives, Jeff and Kat sit down to talk about Jeff's journey through the industry; why they're launching a conversational podcast, and how it's all going to work. Stay tuned for the first full episode on June 10!