Game Hugs

Chris Wright is a 17 year veteran of the games industry and the founder and Managing Director of three companies: indie games label, Fellow Traveller, games marketing agency, Double Jump Communications, and indie games investment vehicle The Treasure Hunters Fanclub. After a decade working in the AAA games industry including senior marketing roles at THQ, Chris found himself out of a job in 2011 when THQ closed their Australian studios Bluetongue and THQ Studio Aus. Rather than get another job, Chris decided to go indie and set out to build his own publisher from scratch. Honestly, how hard could it be, right? Join Chris, and our host Jason Imms as they take a trip down memory lane and chat through the inception and growth of Surprise Attack and its sub-brands, what running an indie publishing label looks like, and the challenges and pressures of running your own business in the games industry.

Louis Roots is the proprietor, owner, and curator of Bar SK, the first gallery space dedicated to interactive art in Australia. Louis has previously curated and run events in South Africa, England, the USA, and all around Australia. His interest lies in the social aspect of videogames, and he is known for quickly creating bespoke controllers that add tactility and accessiblity to the games he exhibits. Join Louie and our host Jason Imms for a... strange, irreverent, yet fascinating episode of Game Hugs Live, recorded in front of an audience at Game Connect Asia Pacific 2018 (there definitely weren't beers there don't call the cops).

Wadjet Eye Games founder Dave Gilbert has been interested in adventure games since 1986, when his mother made the mistake of buying him a copy of Infocom’s Wishbringer. Fifteen years later, he discovered the Adventure Game Studio engine and began making his own ever since. Dave joins our host Jason Imms this week to discuss how he moved from a career in the garmet industry to running one of the most prolific adventure game studios and publishers in the world.

Robert Yang is an assistant arts professor at NYU Game Center, and makes "surprisingly popular 3D video games about gay culture and sexuality." Known best for his work on The Tearoom, Rinse and Repeat, and Cobra Club, Yang believes that it's important for game creators to include sexuality in their games, despite the fact that it's not always easy to do so. Join Yang and our host Jason Imms as they discuss his games' persistent bans from the Twitch streaming platform, why he makes the types of games he makes, and what it means to create games that feature sexuality for more than simple titillation.

Our guest this week is Shang Lun Lee (李尚倫), one of the directors of PlayReactive, a "play-making" collective based in Melbourne, producing video games, interactive theatre, and installation pieces. Shang Lun is also a former director of the long-running Freeplay independent games festival, and most importantly to this episode, an incredible thinker. Join our host Jason Imms as he chats with Shang Lun about privilege, why we make games, how the structures we put in place to support our work can also hurt us, and what it means to make games outside of the industry.

Liam Routt leads the Games and Digital Media team at Victorian Government screen agency Film Victoria, and is the very special guest joining us on Game Hugs this week! Film Victoria has played a big part in the re-establishment of the Australian games industry since its crash began back in 2011. Liam started his career in games as a developer, and now fosters the careers of others through his work at the country's most prolific government funding agency. During the episode, Liam and our host Jason Imms discuss Liam's serpentine career through the games industry, the role Film Victoria has played and continues to play, and how games communities from other parts of the country might work to influence their local funding bodies to follow in Film Victoria's footsteps.

On this week's show, Australian freelance games journalist Meghann O'Neil joins our host Jason Imms to discuss her decade of writing for PC PowerPlay Magazine, her belief that all games deserve a chance to be covered, and the challenges of going back to pitching now that the magazine has dropped to quarterly publishing. Meghann is the intersection of all things indie games, just ask one of the hundred or so designers she met at PAX AU last year. As well as ten years of freelancing for PC Powerplay and (more recently) PC Gamer, she runs a videogame ensemble and composes game music in dynamic structures. Also, if you call the HintTron 3000 in Thimbleweed Park, you’ll be delivered incremental hints, based on Meghann’s guide.

Vee Pendergrast is a co-founder of Stirfire Studios, but has something of a different perspective on launching and running games studios in Australia.   Her background is in business management and finance, meaning she has chosen the games industry not just because making games was her passion, but because she saw it as a highly capable industry.   Vee co-founded Stirfire Studios in 2010 while working in tech business development.  Vee has been instrumental in raising seed capital allowing the business to make AGDA-finalist placing game Symphony of the Machine and attempt to IPO, initially in 2017 and opening another offer in 2018.    Join Vee and our host Jason Imms to learn about the wild frontiers of taking indie games studios public, and much more!

Hello and welcome to... Dog Hugs? Joining us this week is Angharad "Rad" Yeo, one of the hosts of ABC Me's Spawn Point. Spawn Point is a (hugely popular in its own right) kids' spin-off of the hugely popular video games coverage show Good Game, which celebrated its tenth and final year of airtime in 2017. Rad is one of three hosts of the show, and joins our host Jason Imms to chat about life as an ABC TV presenter, her musical aspirations, and her utterly gorgeous dog Boatmeal.

Will Smith is the CEO of FOO VR (they make cartoons in real-time using virtual reality), the host of The FOO Show (a VR talk show), co-host of the Still Untitled: The Adam Savage Project podcast, and a former editor of Tested.com. Will was also the first editor to ever hire our host Jason Imms as a freelance writer! Join the pair to hear them discuss why in the world they took a chance on our intrepid host, as well as Will's long and storied career in tech and games journalism, and the rise and fall of Whiskey Media.

This week brings to a close our episodes recorded during Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) 2017, with none other than the departing organiser of the event, Liam Esler. Liam is a bizdev, narrative, and production specialist about to dive into the terrifying world of entrepreneurship. He was formerly the Event Manager for GCAP, and co-founder of GX Australia. Join our host Jason Imms as he and Liam discuss what GCAP has become and where it came from, and how it was both shaped by, and itself shapes the Australian games industry and community.

This week, our host Jason Imms is joined (in a Melbourne French for breakfast) by digital copywriter, freelance journalist and professional writer, Patrick Stafford. Patrick is currently a digital copywriter for MYOB, as well as providing his services on contract under his own brand Stafford Content, and working as a freelance journalist for The Atlantic, Polygon, Eurogamer, Kotaku, and more. Join Jason and Patrick for insights into the life of a freelance journalist, Patrick's thoughts on a journalist's role in the modern games industry, and what it takes to turn an interesting lead into a widely read long-form feature.

Matt Trobbiani is an indie game designer and developer, and head at Team Fractal Alligator. Matt created Hacknet, a critically received and popular game released in 2015, which saw players taking on the role of a hacker, penetrating systems, avoiding detection, and madly typing realistic commands in to a virtual console interface. Join Matt and our host Jason Imms as they took some time for an interview during the otherwise hectic Game Connect Asia Pacific conference, and hear Matt's thoughts on burnout, the pressures of success, and what it takes to get noticed in a saturated marketplace.

Rami Ismail is the business and development half of Vlambeer, the indie studio responsible for hits like LUFTRAUSERS, Ridiculous Fishing, Nuclear Throne, and more. He's also well known for supporting the growth of independent game development by travelling the world, speaking at events, and working with and promoting communities in underrepresented regions. Rami sat with our host Jason Imms during Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) to discuss his history at Vlambeer and combative relationship with his business partner Jan Willem Nijman, having a powerful voice within an industry, and the "industry built on ruins" we have in modern day Australia.

Adam ‘Pez’ Perry is the host of the Twitch-broadcast You Game Bro? podcast, and founder of the Australasian Gaming Podcast Network. Pez's broadcasting work has led to him securing brand ambassador roles with Lenovo and Intel in Australia and New Zealand, and allowed him to land major sponsorships to support the ongoing creation of the You Game Bro? podcast. Join Pez and your host Jason Imms as they discuss the benefits and challenges of one-on-one interview-based podcasts, passion-driven media work, and life on the ground as a community manager for Final Fantasy XIV in ANZ.

David Gaider is a game designer, writer, and narrative designer, with a long and storied history at RPG powerhouse Bioware. Today, David is the creative director at Beamdog, helping to bring enhanced editions of some of the games he worked on back in his Bioware days to modern hardware and audiences. David recently sat with our host Jason Imms at the Game Connect Asia Pacific conference in Melbourne to talk about his work on Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, and Knights of the Old Republic, being a reluctant spokesperson for gay representation in games, and what it's actually like to write for a living.

We have a very special episode for you this week, friends: The inaugural Game Hugs Live, recorded on-stage at PAX Australia 2017! Joining our host Jason Imms on the stage was Square Enix Montreal creative director Teddy Dief(pronounced “deef,” despite Jason’s horrendous mispronunciations), discussing life as an indie, Glitch City LA, the anxieties of success, and moving away from a lifelong goal of working at Naughty Dog to take a risk on the Kickstarter-funded Hyper Light Drifter.

This week we welcome Tim Colwill, editor in chief of the hilariously satirical Point & Clickbait to the guest chair. Join him and our host Jason Imms for a trip down memory lane as the pair relive the shuttering of beloved Australian games outlet games.on.net, discuss the dodgy closure of Interzone Games, and come to understand the strange parallels between poking fun at the games industry, and working for the Australian Meat Industry Employees Union.

In this week's episode, host Jason Imms spoke with excellent GameSpot host and video producer, Jess McDonell about joining one of the biggest games journalism outlets in the world, what to do with your hands on camera, and what it means to work for a truly global outlet.

Wyld is a Twitch streamer, Minecraft modpack creator, and internet personality who has made a huge career change through entertaining his audience and creating content live on the internet. Join Wyld and our host Jason Imms as they discuss how a life can change through getting into livestreaming, the challenges and joys of playing games on the internet for a living, and the ethical side of publisher relations and junkets.