Here's our wrap-up of our fantastic talk with David Jaffe, creative lead on God of War and the Twisted Metal series!

In this episode we finish up our talk on the new Twisted Metal, we hear about Mr. Jaffe's future plans, and we hear how he feels about other games aping his style. If you're a fan of David's, you don't want to miss this episode!

(Please note that this was filmed in 2011.)

Thanks for watching, and we'll see you soon with more interviews. Stay tuned!

-B

We're back this week with more David Jaffe!

In this episode, Mr. Jaffe shares with us his thoughts on God of War 4, the troubles of tumultuous development (including two cancelled games, Darkons and Heartland), the failures of Calling All Cars, and the reasons why he left God of War.

Finally, we wrap up with thoughts on the process of creating the brand-new Twisted Metal.

See you next week for the final part of the interview where we talk more of the new Twisted Metal and we hear Mr. Jaffe's thoughts on the challenges and merits of evolutionary game design.

Welcome to the first part our final interview for Season One!

We're thrilled to share with you our talk with David Jaffe, director and creative lead for such classics as Twisted Metal and God of War. Join us as we discuss David's humble beginnings in Sony's testing department, his work on the original Twisted Metal games (I & II), and the prevalence of gaming sequels.

See you next episode as we discuss David's work on the new Twisted Metal, his failed projects that never saw the light of day, and why he left God of War.

Enjoy!

-B

We're back with the fifth and final piece of our talk with Jonathan Blow!

In this episode we discuss the world of games publishing.  We also lament gaming's "me too" tropes and cast our eyes on videogaming's potential horizons.

We hope you enjoyed this talk as much as we did.  Thanks for watching.

Hey!  Don't forget to check back on Monday for the first part of our David Jaffe interview!  He has more than a few things to get off his chest...

Best!

-B

Welcome back again!  Here's Part Four of our fantastic discussion with Jonathan Blow, creator of Braid. 

In this piece, you'll hear more about Braid's shifting story, we discuss fulfilling out own artistic expectations, and we get into his new game, The Witness!

Part Five will be live this coming Friday!  See you then!

-B

One broken computer and 6,000 failed renders later, we're finally back with the next part of our Jonathan Blow interview!

We're excited to have you back.

In this episode, Mr. Blow and I discuss some of the finer points of game trickery, what exactly "fun" is, and just what a game designer is giving to their audience.

Parts Four and Five are just around the corner, so sit tight.  We're talking within one week - yeah - so stick around!

-B

We are BACK with more Blow this week!

In this episode, Jonathan and I discuss the "gamification" of all things, including those nefarious Achievements. Also: development that presupposes challenging design.

Next week: more about design trickery, as well as Braid's tricky narrative.

Excelsior!

Welcome back to State of Play with Brandon Bales!

Here's the first part of our interview with Jonathan Blow, creator of the amazing indie hit BRAID and the upcoming THE WITNESS!

In this episode, we dive into Mr. Blow's history in the industry and into the genesis of BRAID, one of the breakout hits of the new Download Renaissance.

Make sure to come back next week as we broach the big question: "Why do we play?"

Hey-hey!

Here's the third and final piece of our interview with Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany!

In this episode, we wrap up our three-parter with talk of tgc's beautiful new game, Journey, their uniquely "flat" business structure, and their relationship with their (so far) exclusive partner, Sony.

Thank you so much for tuning in; we are so thrilled to be bringing you this show.

Keep checking back for new blog posts - they should tide you over until January when we take a peek into the mind of Jonathan Blow, creator of the critically-acclaimed independent puzzler, Braid!

Best!

-B

Hey all!

We're back this week with the second part of our interview with Kellee Santiago of thatgamecompany! Within, discover more about tgc's "Big Idea" and lots and lots about their last hit game, Flower.

Check back next week for the interview's conclusion, where we discuss their upcoming game, Journey.

Best!

-B

Welcome to our first episode!

Here's Kellee Santiago, the President of thatgamecompany, creators of Flow, Flower, and the upcoming Journey (all on the Playstation Network). In this first part of our debut episode, we discuss tgc's unique beginnings and their first game, Cloud. We also discuss tgc's design sensibilities and how they come up with their truly innovative games.

Enjoy, and check back next week for Part Two of our interview.

-B