Show Notes
In this episode of The Fourth Curtain, Alex and Aaron sit down with Ed Fries, a pivotal figure in the gaming industry and former VP at Microsoft, where he helped launch the Xbox. Ed shares stories from his early days at Microsoft, including how he made the leap from working on Office products to heading up the game division. He dives into the creation of the original Xbox, the challenges the team faced, and the infamous "Valentine’s Day Massacre" meeting where Xbox's future hung in the balanc...
More from The Fourth Curtain
The great Brenda Romero is our guest. CEO and co-founder Romero Games, she’s made both commercial hits like Jagged Alliance, and true art games like Train. BAFTA winner and author of Sex in Video Games, she still has time to 100% Balatro. We talk monster spreadsheets and free play – this week! Support the show Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life! Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron Marroquin Find us at www.thefourthcurta...
Founder and CEO of Young Horses Phil Tibitoski joined us to explain how you can succeed without greenlights! Their student project Octodad went on to IGF fame and solid sales, followed by the charming Bug Snax. We talk knowing when to ship and the art of fumblecore - this week! TIMESTAMPS [0:08:27] Intro: Phillip Tibitoski / Phil Tibbs [0:10:29] The Secret to 15 Years: Self-Publishing, Weird Ideas & Happy Teams Alex asks Phil the core question: how do you sustain an indie studio for...
Our guest was chief creative officer at Blizzard and helped drive some of the biggest videogames ever, like StarCraft and World of Warcraft. Now CEO of Bonfire Studios, he's making a new title, Arkheron. We discuss smurfing, game seeds and cracking the art style - this week! TIMESTAMPS: [0:04:58] Intro: Rob Pardo [0:09:07] From Retail to Roller Hockey: How Rob Got Into Blizzard Rob traces his path from managing a Software Etc. store and game testing at Interplay to first meeting the Blizzard ...
If your hilarious party game is laced with snark you know the work of this week's guest, Jackbox CEO Mike Bilder. One of the legion of the Midway diaspora, he saw the transition from coin-op to console. We discuss drive vs crunch, streaming platforms, and the human touch - this week! TIMESTAMPS [0:04:38] Intro: Mike Bilder [0:06:25] From Learn Television to Jackbox: The Full Company History Mike explains Jackbox’s origin story; he traces it from Jellyvision to You Don't Know Jack to Jackbox G...
We have an insight-packed and hopeful discussion with Owen Mahoney, CEO of Maplestory's Nexon. This Choplifter fan went on to acquire JAMDAT and DICE for EA, then saw the future with Embark. We discuss forever games, where stories come from and the huge growth coming - this week! TIMESTAMPS [0:00:00] Intro: Owen Mahoney [0:10:22] Medium shifts favor beginners Owen explains why every major technology shift benefits newcomers. [0:19:33] An “unusual background” Owen describes his and Nexon’s “un...