Podcasts
Here is where it all began, the podcast is the core of what we do here at Pixel Sift, where we break down the news, and speak to creatives all over the world about why they create.
Episode 86: Live at Perth Games Festival 2017 - Exhibiting your very first game
We're back for another live episode at Perth Games Festival and this year we're speaking with some early career developers from our home state of Western Australia.
Episode 85: Travers Dunkinson (HEIST) + Domestic Violence In Games
Travers Dunkinson of Melbourne's Atomizer Games joins us this week to talk all about his stealth cat burglar game, HEIST.
Episode 84: Dylan J. Walker (Elden: Path of the Forgotten), lootboxes ruined Battlefront II
Dylan J. Walker, Creative Director and developer from ONERAT GAMES joins us this week.
Episode 83: Ed Orman (City of Brass) + neural networks, AI & gaming
Ed Orman from Uppercut Games joined us to discuss his latest game, City of Brass, a Rogue-lite FPS that pays tribute to the Arabian Knights tale of the same name.
Episode 82: Pixel Sift & Party Loaded live from PAX Australia
We hit the floor of PAXAUS 2017 to record a special collaborative episode with fellow Perth podcasters, Party Loaded!
Episode 81: Simon Boxer (Bounce House) & Loot Boxes and Crates: Games as a service
Simon Boxer of Twice Different joins us this week to talk about making his brand new mobile game, Bounce House, a colourful endless runner style side scroller.
Episode 80: Peter Curry (Mini Metro), Sony holding back on cross platform play & gaming skill elitism and toxicity
We sit down with Peter Curry, a Programmer & Designer from Dinosaur Polo Club, developers of Mini Metro. Mini Metro is a subway planning puzzle game, that puts the fun in fundamental transport logistics, with a great procedurally generated soundtrack and a fantastic minimalist design.
Episode 79: Michael Chu (Projection) & should reviewers be good at games?
Michael Chu of Sydney’s Shadowplay Studios joined us to discuss his upcoming game Projection, being selected for the PAX Australia Indie Showcase, and rebuilding from scratch.
Episode 78: Jak Gem & Matthew Sear (Collateral Damage) & indie dev steam pricing is too low
Collateral Damage is a multiplayer area brawler featuring a cast of unique characters and diverse fighting styles and Perth’s very own Matthew Sears and Jak Gem from Artisans Games joined us this week.
Episode 77: Interview with Christy Dena (Crafting Intangibles Event) & Remakes over risky new IPs?
Christy Dena a writer, designer and director at Universe Creation 101 joined us to talk about her online event “Crafting Intangibles“, a free online interactive writing event which you can watch online now.
Episode 76: Interview with Ian Gregory (Masquerada: Song & Shadows) & esports on Australian TV
Ian Gregory, Creative Director at Singaporean based Witching Hour Studios, speaks to us this week about his newest project Masquarada: Songs and Shadows.
Episode 75: Anthony Sweet & Paul Turbett (Battlestar Galactica Deadlock), Netflix for games, playing as not intended
Paul Turbett and Anthony Sweet from Black Lab Games who are based in Perth talked to us about their latest project Battlestar Galactica Deadlock and we asked what it is like to be responsible for the new game adaptation of one of the most beloved science fiction series ever and how to write a game in an established universe.
Episode 74: Joel Styles & Cheryl Vance (Yonder: The Cloudcatcher Chronicles), console marketing & demographics
Cheryl Vance & Joel Styles of Brisbane's Prideful Sloth join us to talk about Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles their peaceful exploration game.
Episode 73: Adric Polkinghorne (Think of the Children), completionism & the end of GTA V mods?
Adric Polkinghorne has to spend a lot of time thinking about how kids can get themselves into strife, and he joins us this week to talk about his new game Think of the Children!
Episode 72: Jay Armstrong & Julian Wilton (The Adventure Pals), Steam Direct and right to repair.
International team Massive Monster's Jay Armstrong & Julian Wilton jump on the line to talk about their game The Adventure Pals which has grown out of the flash games of Newgrounds.
Episode 71: David Clark (Ori and the Blind Forest), Bad Guy Valve? & You’re playing it wrong
David Clark programmed the indie darling Ori and the Blind Forest right here in Western Australia while working as an international team spread throughout the globe.
Episode 70: Interview with Dr Jennifer Hazel: Checkpoint, games & mental health
Games and how they relate to mental health has always been a hot topic and this week we speak to Dr Jennifer Hazel about how her organisation Checkpoint aims to help promote positive outcomes.
Episode 69: Sean Gabriel & Travis Avery (DESYNC), customisation vs story & frustum culling frustration
Jump into this synthwave shooter designed for score attack and emulates competive online shooters for a singleplayer environment.
Episode 68: Nick Smith (Forts), G2A 💔 Gearbox & Persona 5 Streaming and Intellectual Property
Build higher and stronger in Forts by Brisbane's EarthWork Games, a vertical real time strategy game.
Episode 67: Andrew Freeth (Brief Battles), exclusivity effect & games that endure
Pull on your comfy underdacks and join us for a fun chat with Andrew Freeth of Adelaide's Juicy Cupcake.
Episode 66: “Why do you create?” – Live at Oz Comic Con 2017
In our second live episode from Oz Comic Con Perth we ask some local developers why they create games, and what drives them to finish them.
Episode 65: Ash Ringrose (Death Squared), Rumblemonkey P2P Gambling & the power of INFLUENCE
Ash Ringrose of Sydney's SMG Studio talks all about making his cooperative puzzle game Death Squared.
Episode 64: Daniel Sun (Armed With Wings: Rearmed), Nintendo Switch DOA or dynamite & dangers of marathon gaming
Armed With Wings; Rearmed is a black and white fast paced platformer that draws from and builds on the legacy of games that were featured on legendary game site Newgrounds.
Episode 63: Justine Colla (A Township Tale), US travel ban & games and Steam Direct
Join us as we speak to Justine Colla of Alta as she tells us all about their new multiplayer VR sandbox game A Township Tale.
Episode 62: Yosha Noesjirwan (Inflatality), the end of Good Game & sequels that change direction
Wacky wobbly noodlemen deathmatches in Inflatality by Hojo Studios and Deepforged Studios
Episode 61: Jack Knobel (Kieru), the last console generation & online platforms to success
Move through light and shade in ninja deathmatch game Kieru, Jack Knobel joins us this week to share how he and Pinefire Studios made it.
Episode 60: Alberto Santiago (Goat Punks), Twitch IRL + the end of region locking
Bounce your way to the top of the tower with Alberto Santiago developer of Goat Punks a hilarious local multiplayer game where you battle to see who is king of the mountain.
Episode 59: Sam Izzo (Resynth), licence liquidation & the value of “Game of the Year”
Step sequence puzzler Resynth is our feature and developer and musician Sam Izzo joins us this week to talk all about it.
Episode 58: Ellen Jurik (Siegecraft Commander), contractor pay disputes & loot box odds
Ellen Jurik of Sydney's Blowfish Studios joins us this week to talk about producing games and their new title Siegecraft Commander an innovative console real time strategy game.
Episode 57: John Kane (Mallow Drops), social media fandom & the last days of the game over
Rotate the world in John Kane's Mallow Drops a sokoban style puzzle, and he joins us this week to tell us all about them.
Episode 56: James Cook (Crazy Coasters: Rainbow Road), Starcraft 2 and AI development & game localisation
Guide cute critters to their death on the worst carnival ride of their lives in Crazy Coasters: Rainbow Road, and developer James Cook joins us this week.
Episode 55: Jack Condon (Kept), streamer sponsor transparency & trade sanction shutdowns
Enter the immersive narrative world of Kept with lead developer Jack Condon from Sydney's S1T2.
Episode 54: Tom Booker & Lincoln Flintoft (Barking Irons), Facebook’s Gameroom & “Australia Tax”
Quick draw swipe shooter Barking Irons is a pixelly western adventure perfect for playing on the go, and Tom & Lincoln from Sleepyhead Studios join us this week to talk about how it came together.
Episode 53: Gustav Seymore (Goblins of Elderstone), SAG-AFTRA Strike & Nintendo Switch announcement
Build your own village of goblins and use them to take over the world in Goblins of Elderstone and Gustav Seymore of Lost Goblin joins us this week to tell us all about it.
Episode 52: Ken Johnson (Starlost), game currency laundering & mysterious treasure hunts
Blast your way through space with Western Australian made shooter Starlost, and developer Ken Johnson joins us in the studio live!
Episode 51: Tom Cox (Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire), DDOS attackers charged & high profile eSports investments
Remnants of a fallen empire, a new adversary in a beautiful painterly world. Tom Cox of Canberra's Whalehammer Games joins us this week to talk all about their recently release game.
Episode 50.5: Q&A Extended Edition
We couldn't answer all your questions and answers at Perth Games Festival, so here are some of our favourites.
Episode 50: LIVE from Perth Games Festival 2016! Games with friends, releasing your indie game & Pixel Sift Q&A
We're live at Perth Games Festival 2016 with special guests Liam Hunt, Anthony Sweet and Mark Mennell.
Episode 49: Mike De Piazzi (Final Days), Oculus Rift Boycott & Predatory in-app purchases
Mike De Piazzi joins us to talk all about his multiplayer top-down shooter Final Days!
Episode 48: Cam Rogers & Sam Izzo (No Mario's Sky), games from outside the west & review lawsuits
What happens when you make a jam game that mashes two existing titles together, Super Mario and No Man's Sky, and the long arm of the law comes down on you?
Episode 47: Caroline Thant (Wanda - A Beautiful Apocalypse), realism and simulation & flipping the F2P switch
Two robots find each other in a ruin world in WANDA a story about friendship by Caroline Thant and Kodots Games, our guest this week.
Episode 46: Jessie Yeoh (Nostalgia Box Video Game Museum), casualisation of games & early access expectations
You might have a big collection of games but nothing like what Jessie Yeoh has acumulated, which prompted her to open the Nostalgia Box Perth's first Video Game Museum.
Episode 45: Henry Sham (OzHadou Fighting Games Community), games in education & League of Legends pay disputes
Button masher or frame perfect warrior, fighting games are a big deal to Henry Sham from OzHadou, the biggest fighting game community in Australia.
Episode 43: Steve Heller (Surprise Attack Games), console hardware updates & Indie vs AAA price expectations
Steve Heller of "Indie games label" Surprise Attack Games joins us to talk about what it takes to get an indie game off the ground.
Episode 42: Bob Hayden (Vectonic), retro console resurrection & eSports olympiad
Jump inside the synthwave with Bob Hayden developer of multiplayer hover game Vectonic.
Episode 41: Jane Cocks (Checkpoint.org.au), politics in games & the money of eSports.
Games can be used to promote a healthy headspace, and to understand the experiences of those with mental illness and Jane Cocks of CheckPoint joins us this week to talk all about it.
Episode 40: Darcy Smith (Armello), the digital divide: classism in games & being “a good sport”
Streaming is a big part of what League of Geeks does and we're joined by Darcy Smith, Community Manager, this week to how it all works.
Episode 39: Ari Gibson, William Pellen & Dave Kazi (Hollow Knight), game cultural appreciation & Pokémon GOes global
Part Dark Souls part Metroidvania, Hollow Knight by Adelaide's Team Cherry is all style.
Episode 38: John Kane (Killing Time at Lightspeed), spaces of play & Counter-Strike conflicts of interest
Time dilation and social media, join us as we speak to developer John Kane about his interactive narrative game about blasting across the galaxy and the world you live behind.
Episode 37: Senator Scott Ludlam (Australian Greens), Non-Violent Solutions & Twitch “Bits”
This week we spoke to Senator Scott Ludlam about the Greens policies in games development funding, non-violent solutions in games, and funding Twitch Streamers.
Episode 36: Ian Lewis & Adam Zulkifly (Party Golf), grey market resellers & avoiding games spoilers
More random modes than you can poke a stick at, Adam and Ian of Giant Margarita join us this week to talk all about making Party Golf!
Episode 35: Jacob Janerka (Paradigm), E3 2016 wrap up & video game film adaptations
Open Inventory. Use Link on Website. "You can found an interview with Jacob Janerka, developer of Paradigm, weird and fantastic point and click adventure game". Play podcast.
Episode 34: Leigh & Elissa Harris (Objects in Space), dropping the banhammer & predatory publishers
Siblings Leigh & Elissa Harris join us this week to talk all about their space submarine simulator Objects In Space, which can be extended by a physical cockpit.
Episode 33: Lisa Evans (Teaching Science through games), Beta Burnout, cuts to Arts funding
Can be games be used to help people learn about scientific concepts? Lisa Evans is a PhD candidate at Murdoch University and is researching just that in "World of Choices"
Episode 32: Mike Cann (Mr Nibbles Forever), Kerbal Space developer pay claims & games you can’t “win”
Roll on with Perth based Mike Cann, developer of cute runner Mr Nibbes Forever.
Episode 31: Jeremy Eade & Kim-Saskia Risser-Eade (Thwart GEO), the business & consequences of social media, the Australian Senate gaming inquiry
Making games from the red heart of Western Australia, Jez and Kim from Outback Pixels left their day jobs to make games full time.
Episode 30: Wade K. Savage (Skourge Legacy), rumours + fact checking, and CSGO community challenges
Toys, nostalgia and retro games, that's the goal with Skourge Legacy by director Wade K. Savage. Wade rose to fame with fan film Fallout: Lanius
Episode 29: Colton Onderwater (Super Salmon Migration), Dev work vs life & publisher vertical integration
Colton Onderwater joins us this week to share his brand new game Super Salmon Migration an endless swimmer for iOS and Android
Episode 28: Jason Imms (TasGDS), nostalgia in demand & the future of games journalism
Jason Imms, journalist and founder of the Tasmanian Game Development Society joins us to talk all about the tassie game dev scene.
Episode 27: Megan Summers (Damsel), mods: copyright + creativity & “no-grind” games
Jump into a saturday morning cartoon with Damsel by Queensland's Screwtape Studios and Megan Summers joins us this week to talk all about it.
Episode 26: Live at Oz-Comic Con 2016: Linear vs Non-linear story telling, Fan feedback + controversy, communicating in games
Listen to our first live episode live at Perth's OzComicCon 2016!
Episode 25: Dan Clayton (Blockpocalypse), game emulation and piracy + DRM.
Jump ever higher in this platformer at the end of the world in Blockpocalypse by Dime Studios! Dan Clayton joins us this week to talk all about his local multiplayer party game.
Episode 24: Matt Comi (Space Age), Cross-platform multiplayer & ownership of digital goods
Matt Comi works with a team spread throughout the world at Big Bucket software and joins us this week to talk about his newest game Space Age, a retro inspired point and click
Episode 23: Oscar Brittain (World’s Fastest Pizza), the UWP backlash & Launch hiccups
Oscar Brittain Fremantle native, joins us to talk about his brand new game World's Fast Pizza chockablock with western australia references.
Episode 22: Robert Bruce & Chris Parkin (The future of VR), spiritual successors, and cash for reviews 💵➡️🎮👍
What does the future hold for virtual reality? Two developers making projects for VR join us this week, Robert Bruce of Immersia VR and Chris Parkin of Offpeak Games look into their virtual crystal balls.
Episode 21: Louis Roots, Sof Mather & Kate Raynes-Goldie (LEVEL ONE Co-Working space), re-release double standards & learning to play games
Game development in Western Australia has a brand new home with the opening of LEVEL ONE a collaboration with SK Games and FTI.
Episode 20: Fabian Malabello (The Otherworld Agency) & “good” bad games
Music can make or break a game and Fabian Malabello joins us this week to talk all about his work with The Otherworld Agency.
Episode 19: Nick McDonnell (Screencheat), Obsessive game collectors & game “award baiting”
Nick McDonnell of Melbourne's Samurai Punk joins us this week to talk all about his game Screencheat, where split-screen cheating is the name of the game.
Episode 18: Global Game Jam Perth & game implosions and failures 🎮 ➕ 🐜
Can you make a game in 48 hours? We went down and spoke to the challengers at the Perth Global Game Jam 2016
Episode 17: Joshua Meadows (GX Australia), RTXAU recap and the cost of gaming
Joshua Meadows is bringing popular LGBTIQ convention GX to Australia and joins us to tell us all about their crowdfunding campaign.
Episode 16: Lisa Rye & Brendan Ragan (Freedom Fall), Gambling in eSports, Musicians making games
You've been locked in a tower by a princess and you've got to use your skills to drop through layers of traps in Stirfire's Freedom Fall.
Episode 15: Aranda Morrison & Mark Mennell (Square Heroes), Game Clones & Games and the Law
Float through arenas as cartoon cubes with guns in Square Heroes by Gnomic Studios. Aranda and Mark join us this week to talk all about making their game.
Episode 14: Chris Parkin (Valiant), Activision buys MLG, and our 2015 year in review
Jump into the saddle in VR in medieval dueling game Valiant by Offpeak Games!
Episode 13: Drew Morrow (Defect SDK), Companion apps & toys & movie tie-in games
Drew Morrow of Melbourne's Three Phase Interactive joins us this week to talk about his spaceship building game Defect SDK.
Episode 12: Drugs in Gaming, PSX recap, and reimaging game modes
What happens when people push it too far when gaming and use substances to keep going.
Episode 11: Trent Kusters (Armello): Kickstarting & building a digital boardgame & managing hype
How do you make a digital board game that wokrs on Console? Trent Kusters of League of Geeks joins us to talk all about Kickstarting the game and building to player expectations.
Episode 10: Kai Ashford-Hatherly (Bellus Mortem), Toxic Online players &Perth Games Festival
Kai Ashford-Hatherly joins us this week to talk about his new game Bellus Mortem as well, and we speak to Jon Hayward and Jess Watson of the Perth Games Festival in this double interview episode!
Episode 9: Ads in Games, Alternate Reality Games & Backwards compatibility
Ads exist in the real world, but why haven't they made much of an impression in games? We also talk about ARGs and backwards compatibility trends.
Episode 8: Dione & Keegan (1UP Gaming Marathon) "Crowd" Multiplayer & Gaming Urban Legends
Spending hours playing games with friends to raise money for charity, that's what Dione and Keegan of 1Up Gaming Marathon have been doing now for years, and they join us this week.
Episode 7: Paul Turbett (Starhammer: The Vanguard Prophecy) King purchased, 2015 PAXAUS GCAP recap
Paul Turbett of Perth's Black Lab Games joins us this week to talk all about his tactical space game Starhammer: The Vanguard Prophecy!
Episode 6: Seasonal Events, Self identity in games, and fan backlash
Is gaming the reason for the season for you? We talk all about seasonal events in Destiny and other games and when developers introduce microtransactions after promising not to.
Episode 5: Liam Hunt & Sam Zeid (Bramblelash), Episodic content & glitching out
Sam Zeid and Liam Hunt of Perth's ByteSprite Games are our first guests on the podcast and they've been working on spritely multplayer game Bramblelash!
Episode 4: Split-screen multiplayer, Remakes & Remasters, and storytelling in games
The days of the splitscreen multiplayer game might be numbered with Halo 5, a series that traditionally championed split-screen, dropping it from the game.
Episode 3: SAG-AFTRA Strike and eSport Unions, DLC subscriptions, & Twisted Pixel leaving Microsoft
We've got an update on the SAG-AFTRA voice actor strike and esports players creating unions, we talk about how DLC has changed over the years and Twisted Pixel leaving Microsoft.
Episode 2: Alpha & Beta Expectations, Should you pre-order, and #Performancematters
This week join us as we talk all about #performancematters the video game voice actors strike and how it'll impact upcoming games. We're also talking about player expectations when it comes to playable alphas and betas as well as whether or not you should pre-order.
Episode 1: Old School replays, Destiny Year Two, eSports, and Video game adaptations
It's the very first episode of Pixel Sift (cough High Score) and we try this whole video game podcast thing on for size!