Out of Play Area

John R. Diaz
Out of Play Area

A bi-weekly video game development podcast by John R. Diaz, a veteran game designer who goes 1:1 in candid conversations with the developers behind today‘s hit games where we discuss their journey and learnings in this wild industry with no punches pulled. John is a kid born to emigrants from the Dominican Republic in New York City, raised with lots of love, off of food stamps & welfare, where English was not his native language, who got lucky enough to find his passion in developing video games. It took him years in college before figuring out that video game development was something he could learn and do. It wasn‘t until 2007 when he got his lucky 1 in a million chance to get his foot in the door, which required him to move away from all of his family into a city that he knew no one in, Austin Texas to work on his first game Blacksite Area 51 with Midway Games. Since then he‘s gone on to work on some of the biggest games of our time including Grand Theft Auto V and both Red Dead Redemptions. However that road was long, exhausting, and expensive, and it didn‘t have to be. That‘s why he‘s making this show. The video game industry needs more people from all walks of life, beliefs, countries, cultures, languages, shapes, sizes, and origins to make the next big game the world wants to play. If John could do it so can you. This show is all about sharing the experiences of his network, the developers behind the games you love and play, including Game Designers, Animators, Artists, Producers, Engineers, Testers, Directors, Writers, and everything in between, sharing their stories and advice, to answer all those questions you have about how video games are made, and how do you even become a game developer. If you are making video games or want to make them this show is for you, the current & future video game developers where we discuss our art and motivations out of the lines, out of the play area. This is to help put you on to get the opportunity to make the video games you want to play, by hearing how they are made and how the people got here. http://outofplayarea.com Connect with us on Twitter @OutOfPlayArea & the host John R. Diaz. @ElKingpin

  1. Leon Kuperman | CTO @ Cast.AI | Ep 36

    07/04/2022

    Leon Kuperman | CTO @ Cast.AI | Ep 36

    Episode 36 features Leon Kuperman, who gets his gamedev cred from text based Zork style adventures, and is a Co-founder and CTO at CAST AI. Formerly Vice President of Security Products OCI at Oracle, Leon’s professional experience spans across tech companies such as IBM, Truition, and HostedPCI. He founded and served as the CTO of Zenedge, an enterprise security company protecting large enterprises with a cloud WAF. Leon has 20+ years of experience in product management, software design, and development, all the way through to production deployment. He is an authority on cloud computing, web application security and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), e-commerce, and web application architecture. And that's where we talk about his journey through development, his views on building a resilient team and product, and more.  Chapters: (00:00) John’s Intro (3:20) Who is Leon Kuperman?  (14:45) Computer Scientists (22:14) Cloud Computing (34:57) Cloud Instance Pricing (43:01) Cast.AI (50:57) Finding the Right Fit (01:04:35) Company Culture (01:15:45) Final Round (01:23:38) John’s Outro Links: Claim this Exclusive Offer from Cast.AI: https://cast.ai/outofplayarea/  Leon’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itexecutivecto/ Follow Cast. AI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cast_ai Connect with the host: http://elkingpin.com  Come On The Show: https://outofplayarea.com  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/out-of-play-area/id1550421307  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Da0qLAOBi6rV6ccSzx1gX?si=043f4ec5a6034bf0 Follow @outofplayarea & @elkingpin on Twitter Check out Descript using my affiliate url: http://descript.com?lmref=john@outofplayarea.com

    1h 29m
  2. Shawn Alexander Allen | Founder @ NuChallenger | Ep 35

    06/21/2022

    Shawn Alexander Allen | Founder @ NuChallenger | Ep 35

    Episode 35 of Out of Play Area the game developer's podcast, we sit down with the creator of Treachery in Beatdown City and discuss founding his company NuChallenger, alongside his time working in the Game Devs of Color Expo, as well as his journey from NYC and the games industry. Chapters: (00:00) Who is Shawn Alexander Allen? (11:14) Sneakerhead Transformation  (23:49) Hip-Hop (29:57) NuChallenger Full Time (37:29) Running Your Own Studio (43:29) Treachery in Beatdown City (58:52) Inspirations and Origins (01:09:58) Combat Mechanics (01:28:36) Game Devs of Color Expo (01:48:33) Game Dev Origin (02:00:38) John’s Outro   Links: Shawn’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnalexanderallen/ Shawn’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShawnDoubleA GDC Vault - Independent Games Summit: Indie SoapBox - https://gdcvault.com/play/1027343/Independent-Games-Summit-Indie GDC Vault - Knights, Fist Fights, Lasers & Catacombs: Subversive Diversity to Improve Our Games - https://gdcvault.com/play/1023756/Knights-Fist-Fights-Lasers-Catacombs (Beyond Basic Represenation) Treachery in Beatdown City: A Postmortem #GDoCExpo 2021 - https://youtu.be/4YKA_swJm5A Game Devs of Color Expo's Shawn Alexander Allen on COVID-19, Allyship & Future Plans - https://youtu.be/MKRl1TeOlQA Go Straight: The Ultimate Guide to Side-Scrolling Beat-’Em-Ups - https://www.bitmapbooks.com/products/go-straight-the-ultimate-guide-to-side-scrolling-beat-em-ups Connect with the host: http://elkingpin.com  Come On The Show: https://outofplayarea.com  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/out-of-play-area/id1550421307  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Da0qLAOBi6rV6ccSzx1gX?si=043f4ec5a6034bf0 Follow @outofplayarea & @elkingpin on Twitter Check out Descript using my affiliate url: http://descript.com?lmref=john@outofplayarea.com

    2h 5m
  3. Henry Golding | Principal Software Engineering Lead @ Xbox Game Studios | Ep 34

    06/07/2022

    Henry Golding | Principal Software Engineering Lead @ Xbox Game Studios | Ep 34

    Henry Golding is a Principal Software Engineering Lead at Xbox Game Studios currently spreading the significance of Test Driven Development and Automated Testing in Game Development. He's a native of the UK who has programmed for Sea of Thieves, Minecraft, Disney Universe, and Dead Space: Extraction for the Wii.  We talk about his latest endeavors as well as discuss his journey into the games industry. Chapters: (00:00) Who is Henry Golding? (11:21) Software Architecture In Games  (25:13) Development Team Dynamics (37:30) Academics & University (51:02) Deadspace Extraction (01:05:44) Rare & Work Visas (01:19:01) Breaking in at Microsoft (01:27:19) Final Round (01:37:43) John’s Outro Links: Henry’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hgolding/ Henry’s MobyGames:https://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,451834/ The Games Automated Testing Resource Hub : https://trello.com/b/nGE5yqZk/game-automated-testing-resource-hub Henry’s GDC Talk -  Lessons Learned in Adapting the 'Sea of Thieves' Automated Testing Methodology to 'Minecraft' https://gdcvault.com/play/1027345/Lessons-Learned-in-Adapting-the  Connect with the host: http://elkingpin.com  Come On The Show: https://outofplayarea.com  Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/out-of-play-area/id1550421307  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Da0qLAOBi6rV6ccSzx1gX?si=043f4ec5a6034bf0 Follow @outofplayarea & @elkingpin on Twitter Check out Descript using my affiliate link: http://descript.com?lmref=john@outofplayarea.com

    1h 43m

Trailer

4.6
out of 5
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About

A bi-weekly video game development podcast by John R. Diaz, a veteran game designer who goes 1:1 in candid conversations with the developers behind today‘s hit games where we discuss their journey and learnings in this wild industry with no punches pulled. John is a kid born to emigrants from the Dominican Republic in New York City, raised with lots of love, off of food stamps & welfare, where English was not his native language, who got lucky enough to find his passion in developing video games. It took him years in college before figuring out that video game development was something he could learn and do. It wasn‘t until 2007 when he got his lucky 1 in a million chance to get his foot in the door, which required him to move away from all of his family into a city that he knew no one in, Austin Texas to work on his first game Blacksite Area 51 with Midway Games. Since then he‘s gone on to work on some of the biggest games of our time including Grand Theft Auto V and both Red Dead Redemptions. However that road was long, exhausting, and expensive, and it didn‘t have to be. That‘s why he‘s making this show. The video game industry needs more people from all walks of life, beliefs, countries, cultures, languages, shapes, sizes, and origins to make the next big game the world wants to play. If John could do it so can you. This show is all about sharing the experiences of his network, the developers behind the games you love and play, including Game Designers, Animators, Artists, Producers, Engineers, Testers, Directors, Writers, and everything in between, sharing their stories and advice, to answer all those questions you have about how video games are made, and how do you even become a game developer. If you are making video games or want to make them this show is for you, the current & future video game developers where we discuss our art and motivations out of the lines, out of the play area. This is to help put you on to get the opportunity to make the video games you want to play, by hearing how they are made and how the people got here. http://outofplayarea.com Connect with us on Twitter @OutOfPlayArea & the host John R. Diaz. @ElKingpin

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