In this episode of Irrational Interviews, we sit down with Amy Hennig, Naughty Dog’s Creative Director and writer. Amy is best known for her work on the groundbreaking Uncharted series, for which she’s won two Writers Guild of America awards.

The topic is, of course, storytelling. How does a writer create a complex narrative for a big budget video game? How does one drive the creative process of a large, intricate game development team? In this episode of Irrational Interviews, listen in while Ken Levine — Irrational Games’ own Creative Director and writer – has a reflective conversation with Amy about the unique challenges they both face in their individual, yet strikingly similar roles.

The focus of the conversation is the writer’s process. “It’s not the way films are made,” says Amy.  “I’ve described this to friends of mine who are screenwriters, and they just think we’re insane.”

The two also dig into their personal process — the act of faith involved in embarking on the journey of writing for a game. As Ken says, “Part of that act of faith is the faith that you have to put in yourself.”

The broad-ranging conversation also turns to the challenge of managing complicated production realities while maintaining the flexibility to take creative risks. As Amy explains, “We just sort of loosely plan what we’re doing, because that’s the best you can do with something that’s as iterative and experimental as what we do. We adapt, and we trust each other’s experience – to know that we’re going to make the wisest, most pragmatic decisions we can, while still trying to keep the quality of the product and stay inspired.”

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for a more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney, Elena Siegman, and Julian Murdoch
• Editing by Ant Bear Audio
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

At Irrational, it’s likely no surprise that we play a lot of games. In this podcast, Level Designer Shawn Elliott talks to folks in the studio about which games in 2011 inspired them, gave them new professional insight, or maybe just introduced them to new ways to grief their friends. Listen as we wax philosophical about how Dead Island’s reward loop hypnotized us, how Naughty Dog inspires us with their voice over recording process, and how Modern Warfare 3’s weapon mechanics satisfied and delighted us. You’ll also hear how the complex decisions we had to make in Deus Ex fascinated us as gamers and game designers, and the lessons we learned about ourselves as people while playing Skyrim.

• Part 1: Dead Island – Shawn Robertson, Nate Wells
• Part 2: The Use of Voice Over in Games in 2011 – Jim Bonney, Jeff Seamster
• Part 3: Deus Ex – Forrest Dowling, Alexx Kay, Ken Strickland
• Part 4: Modern Warfare 3 – Ray Holbrook, Dan Scholten
• Part 5: Skyrim – Ken Levine, Sarah Rosa

Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below!

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• Podcast produced by James Bonney and Elena Siegman.
• Editing by Ant Bear Audio.

Podcast music provided by:

• George Glass
• The Monolaters
• Taxpayer
• Elena Siegman

During the Irrational Games Voice Actor panel at PAX Prime 2011, there were a lot of great questions from those in attendance, questions we sadly couldn’t answer due to a lack of time. Fortunately, we heard many of them from the Irrational Games community, so we decided to pay tribute to our fans in this latest installment of Irrational Interviews by going straight to the source for the answers.

In this episode, Creative Director Ken Levine is joined by BioShock Infinite voice actors Troy Baker (Booker DeWitt) and Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth), as they tackle questions taken directly from our audience. Things kick off with Ken, Troy and Courtnee discussing the process of voice acting, how they approach their characters in BioShock Infinite, the emotions involved in a memorable performance, and even the collaborative process between the actors and director.

The podcast closes out as our trio explores how their characters evolve over the project, and how they identify with them as they become more familiar with the roles. Each person has a different perspective on how they learn about the characters, but the actors are able to shape the Booker and Elizabeth relationship as they build the connection between each other.

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for a more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney, Eduardo Vasconcellos, and Julian Murdoch
• Editing by Ant Bear Audio
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

One of the largest facets of the video game industry lies with the various game conventions that all developers must attend in order to show off their wares. Throughout the history of Irrational, the minds behind the games would often travel to the various gaming shows throughout the year, giving them unique experiences, including past events where some team members attended as part of the press. Not only did the team get to meet some of their heroes from the industry, but they also gained invaluable lessons when examining the wins, the failures, and the gaps between making and promoting a game.

• Part 1: The First Con – Ken Levine, Nate Wells
• Part 2: The Middle Years – Ken Levine, Nate Wells, Shawn Robertson, Chris Kline
• Part 3: Showing BioShock Infinite – Ken Levine, Nate Wells, Shawn Robertson, Chris Kline
• Part 4: The Other Side – Shawn Elliott, Joe Fielder, Chris Remo
• Part 5: Press Past – Shawn Elliott, Joe Fielder, Chris Remo
• Part 6: Covering Conventions – Shawn Elliott, Joe Fielder, Chris Remo

Be sure to let us know what you think in the forums, and in the comments section below!

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• Podcast produced by James Bonney and Shawn Elliott.
• Editing by Ant Bear Audio.

Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill (Theme music)
• Cathode Rays (Part 1 intro)
• The Monolaters (Part 2 intro)
• The Monolaters (Part 3 intro)
• Cathode Rays (Part 4 intro)
• Justin Schwenk (Part 5 intro)
• Signal Hill (Credits music)

Guillermo del Toro is known for films like Blade 2, Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy series, bringing a specific brand of horror to his works, but it’s his passion for the nerd culture and a love for games that has guided him to where he is today.

In this second part of our Guillermo del Toro interview, Creative Director Ken Levine chats with Guillermo about what’s necessary to tell a story in a brand new medium, and how he’s adapting to the gaming industry to ensure his upcoming projects live up to his standards. These two narrators also discuss how to tell stories in various mediums, and how flexibility and dedication are necessities to the creative process.

To close out the interview, Ken and Guillermo return to the concept of passion, and how hard work and persistence will lead to bigger and better things.“At the end of the day, it’s about love. You can love wherever you are and you can love whatever you’re doing,” says del Toro. “I don’t want to sound like Mr. Chirpy, but put your shoulder to it, and put your heart into it.”

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for a more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney & Julian Murdoch
• Editing by Ant Bear Audio
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

Guillermo del Toro is known for films like Blade 2, Pan’s Labyrinth and the Hellboy series, bringing a specific brand of horror to his works, but it’s his passion for the nerd culture and a love for games that has guided him to where he is today.

For this Halloween installment of Irrational Interviews, Creative Director Ken Levine had a chance to sit down with this master of horror to talk about how to tell a frightening story, and how to create a character that is a monster to better suit the narrative at hand. Levine and del Toro also chat about the concept of passion, passion for what they do, and how that kind of enthusiasm helps on each project they work on.

“Films are fantastic – they are one of the peaks of human narrative. But I’m sorry to break the news to the movie industry: So is a video game.” – Guillermo del Toro

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for a more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney & Chris Remo
• Editing by Ant Bear Audio
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

This episode of Irrational Interviews features two guests. That’s particularly noteworthy, because either one of them alone has a list of accomplishments a mile long.

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk co-founded BioWare, the RPG-oriented group that now consists of five locations within Electronic Arts. They started out as doctors (actual practicing medical doctors, mind you), and BioWare was once a developer of games as well as medical software.

As a fellow entrepreneur, Irrational creative director Ken Levine chats with the doctors about the challenges and perks of running a video game company–all three have seen their studios grow from small PC-exclusive teams to modern, triple-A, multiplatform dev studios. They also share the experience of starting out in fields not particularly related to games, Ken in screenwriting and Ray and Greg in medicine.

“We were having lunch one day after having made some medical education software,” recalls Ray, “then we realized what we’re really passionate about is video games. Why don’t we just make some video games? Take everything we own, and everything we make as doctors on weekends, to fund the company. …That was the extent of the conversation.”

It seems to have worked out.

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• Produced by James Bonney & Chris Remo
• Editing by Ant Bear Audio
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

If you’ve played Civilization II, Alpha Centauri, Rise of Nations, or Frontierville, you know the work of Brian Reynolds. Having spent 30 years (and counting) making games, Brian’s game design experience spans the most hardcore to the most casual. He co-founded Firaxis Games and Big Huge Games, and he’s now Chief Game Designer at social game giant Zynga.

Brian sat down with Irrational’s creative director Ken Levine for a chat that touches on the past, present, and potential future of games, on both the hardcore and casual sides of the spectrum. They discuss the ins and outs of entrepreneurship, the advantages of having Sid Meier around when you start a new company, and how a strategy game like Alpha Centauri and a shooter like BioShock may have more in common than you’d think.

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney & Chris Remo
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

Randy Pitchford surprised the world when he announced at PAX 2010 that the near-mythical Duke Nukem Forever would actually come out in 2011, courtesy of his studio Gearbox Software. The independent company developed the Half-Life expansions Opposing Force and Blue Shift as well as the successful World War II series Brothers in Arms, and it struck gold in 2009 with Borderlands, a visually distinctive FPS-RPG blending Diablo’s addictive lootfest with the action of a shooter.

Over Gearbox’s decade of operation, Pitchford has become known as an enthusiastic and outspoken representative of his studio–and of the industry. He joins Ken Levine and Shawn Elliott on this episode of Irrational Interviews to discuss how things have changed for game developers and what they want out of the next generation of game consoles. And since both Ken and Randy, now studio heads, started their careers in the trenches, they reminisce on how much more infuriating dev tools once were.

“Kismet is amazing compared to some of the things we had back in the day,” said Randy, referring to Unreal Engine 3’s scripting tool. “It’s funny when all the newbies bitch about it–it’s like, dude, you don’t even know. Shut the hell up, you have no idea what we struggled with!”

“I try to describe to people what it was like working in the Dark Engine on System Shock 2,” Ken agreed, “but you know what you sound like though? You sound like a fucking grandpa.”

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney, Shawn Elliott, & Chris Remo; editing by Tim Franklin (Ant Bear Audio)
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

Does Irrational Games have a mission? Can there possibly be any methods to its well-documented madness? We’re ringing in the new year with an attempt to answer those questions, viewed through the lens of an employee who joined Irrational just four months ago. Discussions with studio members of all stripes–ranging from other relative newcomers all the way to co-founder Ken Levine–reveal that nothing is certain in the world of game development. And that’s just fine.

• Part 1: The Co-Founder – Ken Levine
• Part 2: Immigrants – Don Norbury, Jeff Seamster, Josh Davis, Murray Kraft
• Part 3: Gatekeepers – Bill Gardner, Shawn Robertson, Robert Tzong, Chris Kline
• Part 4: Natives – Alexx Kay, Nate Wells, Scott Sinclair, Shawn Robertson

Going forward, Irrational podcasts will continue to release once a month, but our plan is to alternate Irrational Behavior with Irrational Interviews. If you already subscribe to the individual podcast RSS feeds, please replace them with this new combined feed that incorporates both Behavior and Interviews.

Direct Download Episode 8

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Podcast music provided by:

• George Glass (Theme music)
• Spirit Kid (Part 1 intro)
• Permafav (Part 2 intro)
• Patrick Balthrop (Part 3 intro)
• Walking Sleep (Part 4 intro)
• The Monolators (Ending music)

Over the last several years, film director Zack Snyder has built a reputation on the back of successfully adapting and remaking fan-favorite works like the comic books 300 and Watchmen, and the zombie film Dawn of the Dead. His next film, Sucker Punch, is based on an original screenplay but draws from many of those same nerd-culture inspirations.

For this episode of Irrational Interviews, Zack joined Irrational creative director Ken Levine as well as Chris Remo for a discussion of how mainstream treatment of niche entertainment has evolved in recent years–but how Hollywood still lags behind when it comes to worthwhile adaptation of video games. Snyder and Levine also discuss the finer points of translating Frank Miller’s comic book panels to the screen, and interpreting Ayn Rand’s philosophical manifestos in a video game; the processes are more similar than you’d think.

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney & Chris Remo; editing by Tim Franklin (Ant Bear Audio)
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

Not many game developers can be considered celebrities, but Cliff Bleszinski fits the bill. One of the industry’s best-known names, he travels in star-studded circles and serves as a de facto representative for games among a wider audience. Meanwhile, he holds down a day job as design director at Epic Games, where he’s in the middle of development on Gears of War 3.

Cliff joins Irrational’s own creative director Ken Levine as well as Chris Remo to discuss that unique role as well as how the mainstream perceives game makers. And along with that consideration of game industry celebrity, there is talk of the realities of how games are made: the collaborative team-based development process.

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney & Chris Remo, with editing by Tim Franklin (Ant Bear Audio)
• Music courtesy of The Happy Hollows

Creative people have no shortage of media through which to express their ideas, and they often move from one to another before they find the one that most speaks to them. Kieron Gillen had a long and successful career as a game journalist, including founding the popular PC game blog Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Now, he has largely put journalism behind him and has signed an agreement to write comic books exclusively for Marvel, following his respected work on Marvel’s Thor and the Image-published Phonogram.

In the third episode of Irrational Interviews, Gillen joins Irrational’s Ken Levine and Chris Remo to talk about how creative works can convey the fears, preoccupations, and passions of their makers. They discuss the similarities (and differences) between comics and games, and how it becomes more difficult for creators to perceive their works in the same way consumers see them. Also, learn what horse-faced hammer-wielding space aliens have to do with musings on humanity and divinity.

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney, Chris Remo, and Alan Bise
• Music provided by The Happy Hollows

“The city is an equal lead character to whoever your leads are,” says noted comics writer Brian Michael Bendis, author of successful independent series Powers as well as numerous Marvel lines including Ultimate Spider-Man. That philosophy makes Bendis the perfect interview subject for Ken Levine, whose contributions to BioShock’s city of Rapture helped make the game’s setting its most defining element.

Both creators made their biggest impact on fiction after exploring other forms. Bendis cut his teeth on crime fiction, while Levine began his writing career as a screenwriter. Those experiences helped them develop their ideas about writing, as well as an appreciation for what makes their chosen forms unique.

In the second episode of Irrational Interviews–recorded prior to the announcement of BioShock Infinite–Levine, Bendis, and Shawn Elliott discuss lessons learned in writing, the challenges of character permanence in games and comics, and much more.

Share your thoughts about this podcast in the comments below, or head over to the forums for more in-depth discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney, Shawn Elliott and Alan Bise
• Music provided by The Happy Hollows
• Spider-Woman Motion Comic clips courtesy of Marvel Comics

In this episode of Irrational Behavior we let you look behind the scenes of the creation at the BioShock Infinite trailer.  Some of the people responsible for directing and creating the trailer discuss the constant evolution of the material as well as the hurdles that had to be overcome along the way in order to get to what you see released.

WARNING: This episode of Irrational Behavior is filled with spoilers.  Watch the trailer at http://www.BioshockInfinite.com before listening to the podcast.

• Part 1: The Creative Vita-Chamber
• Part 2: Infinite’s Horizon
• Part 3: Listen Up!
• Part 4: Days in the Dark

This completes the first season of Irrational Behavior.  The show will be going on a break but stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for the latest news and content on BioShock Infinite as well as the return of Irrational Interviews starting September 1st.  Continue to discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior and BioShock Infinite in our forums.

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Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Taxpayer
• Cathode Rays

What are we working on and what does it mean to us here at Irrational Games, that is what we discuss in this special episode of Irrational Behavior.  We asked you the fans to call us up and leave your best guess on what we are working on.  After sorting through hundreds of voicemails we put together some of the best.  Perhaps yours was used.  We also talked to the staff what they think of the pending announcement.  What does it mean to them professional and personally.

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content and come back later this month for a full episode of Irrational Behavior.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

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Podcast music provided by:

• Justin Schwenk
• Tim Davies Big Band
• Geoff Graves

For the pilot episode we are happy to have Todd Howard, Executive Producer and Game Director from Bethesda Softworks.  Howard has been at Bethesda since 1994, with countless classics under his belt including The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and most recently Fallout 3. Howard is well known for his sense of humor and his drive to make great games.

Head over to the forums for the usual lively discussion.

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• Produced by James Bonney, Shawn Elliott and Alan Bise
• Music Provided by The Happy Hallows

Do game makers game differently?  In this episode of Irrational Behavior we ask the team if they are able to turn off their critical filters and play the part of consumer.  From the untold developer chatter during lobby sessions in the latest multiplayer games to conquering  great single player experiences, how do we play and what do we think.  We also ask the team on games that influenced them in their roles and impacted the games they helped create.

• Part 1: Team Deathmatch
• Part 2: Appetite for Deconstruction

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

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Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Patrick Balthrop
• Rich Vreeland
• Razors in the Night

Additional Production provided by:

• Tim Franklin

Sharks, spiders, the dark, and chemistry exams.  These are just a couple of the things that we are scared of.  In this episode of Irrational Behavior we look at the things we are scared of and how it affects the way we make games.  Guest Andrew Weaver of Indiana University explains why we enjoy fun and the staff shed light on the challenges of making a game scary.

• Part 1: What Are We Afraid Of
• Part 2: Why Fear is Fun
• Part 3: The Art of Fear
• Part 4: The Feel of Fear
• Part 5: The Sound of Fear

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

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Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Walking Sleep
• Geoff Graves
• The Happy Hollows

What do the dorky things that we do say about ourselves? More importantly, do they give game developers an edge? This month’s episode of Irrational Behavior explores some of our secret pastimes: dollhouse construction, action figure hoarding, cosplay, and live-action role-playing included.

• Part 1: Guys and Dolls
• Part 2: Tired of Sleep
• Part 3: Off Kilter
• Part 4: Cosplay Confession
• Part 5: WE LOVE LARPING
• Part 6: Roasted

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

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Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Frederik Kaupang
• Geoff Graves
• Filippo Beck Peccoz
• Rich Vreeland/DisasterPeace
• Justin Schwenk

Telemarketer Ken Levine. Playboy illustrator Scott Sinclair.  This month’s episode of Irrational Behavior explores what we did before we began developing videogames.  This months episode highlights include the commiserations of former game store clerks, an artist who accidentally concealed a Satanic message in a Christian comic for children, and a confession from the man who claims to have created the deer in Golden Tee Golf.

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this month’s podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

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Podcast music provided by:

• Signal Hill
• Josh Rathbun
• Patrick Balthrop
• Justin Schwenk
• Fillipo Beck Peccoz
• Giancarlo Feltrin

Irrational was once a tiny team that made games on miniscule budgets. Today we’re much, much bigger and the budget’s grown along with the ambition of the group’s games. This month’s episode of Irrational Behavior explores what these changes have meant for the studio’s culture and the individuals who’ve been on board as the industry itself has had to adopt the professional practices of big business. Episode highlights include an insider take on the making of Thief, designers Dorian Hart and Alexx Kay waxing nostalgic on the days when they were allowed to do voice over work for Freedom Force, as well as the story of a mysterious onanist who secretly used artist Shawn Robertson’s office for forbidden self-pleasures.

Stay tuned to IrrationalGames.com for more content related to this months podcast.

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

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Podcast music provided by:

• Josh Rathbun
• Matt Grimm
• Geoff Graves
• Rich Vreeland/DisasterPeace
• Signal Hill

In any game development studio, you’ll find a bunch of inspired and imaginative people who have a lot to get off their chests. To save on counseling fees, we decided to sublimate these repressed feelings about their gaming lives by sticking a microphone in their faces and creating a series of podcasts that offer an insight into what makes us – and our games – tick.

Each podcast will explore a particular theme in what we hope is an entertaining and insightful way, and this theme will also evolve throughout the month on the Irrational Games website itself. Visit regularly and you’ll find content on the site that helps illustrate what we’re trying to describe in the podcast, or expands and explores the theme further.

Please contribute to the discussions about the podcasts in the forums and if you have a great idea for a future theme then let us know! We might even send you something to say thanks. But don’t hold us to it.

So to kick off, we chose a brutal theme – “ideas that died”. We explore what happens when creativity runs into technical restrictions, a lack of clear consensus, and – at times – its own convolution. You’ll glimpse abandoned BioShock tidbits, as well as an as yet unrevealed game from four years ago when Irrational Games backed away from a zombie invasion. And much, much more.

Oh, and you’ll understand why ‘dog in a wheelchair’ is the answer to just about any question…

Irrational Behavior podcasts act as tables of contents for stories that appear here on IrrationalGames.com each month. January’s content continues to explore dead ideas with the following features:

Discuss this episode of Irrational Behavior over in the forum.

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Podcast theme song, “Luna Park”, provided by Signal Hill from the album, “More After We’re Gone”.