January 19, 2012August 23, 2012

PlayStation Blogcast Episode 008: Want to be a Game Producer?

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If you’ve ever dreamed of a career in video game development, you’ve got to listen to this week’s episode of PlayStation Blogcast! Our special guest host is SCEA Senior Producer Kyle Shubel, who has worked on litany of high-profile PlayStation titles, including Killzone 3, Heavenly Sword, and LittleBigPlanet. In today’s episode, Kyle explains what a “game producer” actually does, walks us through his day-to-day role on the PS Vita action-RPG Warrior’s Lair, and shares his tips for breaking into game design. Good stuff!

Afterwards, Kyle sticks around for another monster segment as we discuss some of our most-anticipated games of 2012, from Starhawk to Sorcery to Hitman: Absolution to PS Vita’s launch lineup and more. Be sure to leave your top picks for 2012 in the comments below!

You’ll also hear a new batch of user questions, a new PSN Gem of the Week, and of course, the first details on next week’s PSN software lineup. So listen up!

How’s our driving? We want your feedback, comments, questions, and suggestions, so leave ‘em in the comments below!

The Cast

Sid Shuman – PlayStation Sr. Social Media Specialist

Jeff Rubenstein – PlayStation Sr. Social Media Manager

Nick Suttner – PlayStation Sr. Product Evaluator

Kyle Shubel – PlayStation Sr. Producer

Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. Special thanks to Astro Gaming headsets for providing audio gear.

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

Comments are closed.

41 Comments

8 Author Replies

Omegian-Ultima
January 19, 2012 at 4:48 pm PST

First again MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Omegian-Ultima
January 19, 2012 at 4:49 pm PST

Love the podcast, will you ever release them in flac quality?
- Sid Shuman
  January 19, 2012 at 5:18 pm PST
  
  That’s so crystal clear that I think you could hear the rustling of Nick Suttner’s beard! (Just kidding, he shaved it off). What would make you want to hear the show at FLAC quality?
Logan22
January 19, 2012 at 4:59 pm PST

After driving from Tampa to Miami to try the Vita, that’s all I’ve been able to think about for 2012: Vita and its launch line up. Reality Fighters was surprisingly one of the best and really shows off the augmented reality tech really well. A casual fighter that meets futuristic game design concepts. Now MK of course will be a Must with its new Challenge tower, along with the killer new Resident Evil 6 that was just announced with one of the best trailers in a long time!

NEVER STOP PLAYING (I’m waiting for the eventual funny commercial for Vita’s new slogan)
- Sid Shuman
  January 19, 2012 at 5:19 pm PST
  
  Nice to meet you! I was up in NYC and Boston meeting other people like you, and Reality Fighters was definitely a big hit. Uncharted seems to be the one that people are freaking out over the most, though.
Logan22
January 19, 2012 at 5:00 pm PST

And it was great to meet Rey! And of course all the other Vita-Maniacs in Miami :)
Omegian-Ultima
January 19, 2012 at 5:23 pm PST

HAHAHAHA, dont forget the creeks in the chairs too, I want flac quality because every music and sound file I have is lossless quailty, Id figured it would be easy for you guys, just use one of them high end sony sound recorders.
- Nick Suttner
  January 20, 2012 at 10:15 am PST
  
  I could definitely create a FLAC if there were enough demand, but I don’t think you’d want to hear all the paper rustling, spittle flying, and eye rolling. :-)
  
  If you want the theme song and music breaks in FLAC however, that could probably be arranged.
camiwaits_us
January 19, 2012 at 5:31 pm PST

I knew there was something i was expecting today. PS BLogcast! Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!
- Nick Suttner
  January 20, 2012 at 10:16 am PST
  
  Blogcast AND Parks & Recreation, Thursdays are the best!
thebgj
January 19, 2012 at 10:05 pm PST

Does anyone know the software lineup for next week? I dont want to listen just to hear that.
Guv_Bubbs
January 19, 2012 at 11:12 pm PST

Random question…
Do you guys talk about Tomba this week? I sent in an email about it a few weeks ago
- Sid Shuman
  January 20, 2012 at 12:46 am PST
  
  We didn’t; we can’t really speak to specific PS One games being in the works — it’s not a topic we’re privy too. When we know, you’ll know.
Kchow23
January 19, 2012 at 11:24 pm PST

Awesome episode and it was interesting to hear from Kyle Shubel, though for me I would’ve liked some in-depth questions since I will soon be looking for jobs in the games industry and I have more knowledge about it than the average person. Again I would’ve liked to have known about the guest so I can fire some of my industry questions :)
- Sid Shuman
  January 20, 2012 at 12:45 am PST
  
  You’ll continue to see that career-type angle popping up on the show, with folks explaining how they broke into gaming with origin stories.
Kchow23
January 19, 2012 at 11:26 pm PST

P.S About time Jeff! Hopefully there may be some Game of Thrones (best show ever) discussion? Oh and anyway that Canadians could get their hands on the PS Vita shirts!?
Emerald_Swords
January 19, 2012 at 11:58 pm PST

If i buy a game through the playstation store that requires an online pass like Homefront, would i still need to purchase the online pass or will i receive a code once i buy it?
- Sid Shuman
  January 20, 2012 at 12:47 am PST
  
  Believe it would come with your game.
Logan22
January 20, 2012 at 12:51 am PST

Obviously Uncharted is the default #1 game on everyone’s Vita list Sid lol. That was expected for a while, but Reality Fighters definitely took me by surprise. For Uncharted, it felt like one of the shorter demos, and the gyro sensing aiming with the sniper rifle was REALLY precise and intuitive. I think because two hands are holding the Vita (versus one hand holding the Move in shooting games) things like that are able to be very stable and precise, almost like a mouse, a next-gen motion mouse lol. I still wanted though to try out normal machine gun handling (which weren’t in the demo) to see just how truly good the micro analog sticks are for third person shooting/strafing, compared to PS3. My only criticism would be that the sticks didn’t seem to have much of in-between movement between the middle starting point and any of the edges. It felt more like a 360 stick in which you just flick the stick in whatever direction rather than soothing it over or pressing against it softly like you would for a stealth game. A Unit 13 demo I suppose would be a good test to see how the sticks are for delicate stealth movements.
lisatsunami
January 20, 2012 at 2:34 am PST

Is that photo of Kyle taken @ a Laker game? If so, he’s cool by me.

Hey, Kyle, I would have been mad if you didn’t mention Interplay’s Star Trek game. I think I still have my copy somewhere.

Sid & Jeff, thanks for another great episode.
The 2012 games I’m looking forward to are Mass Effect 3, Kingdom of Amalur, Sorcery & still holding out hope for Last Guardian. And Journey.

Jeff?: not only am I still playing Skyrim like you, but I went to Wizarding World of Harry Potter last month. I took my PS3 so I could keep playing Skyrim but couldn’t get any video so the tip of the week was too late for me, phooey, but I’ll remember for next time.
Disktrasa
January 20, 2012 at 3:13 am PST

Hey blogcast, love the podcast!

I have a simple question for you, when will Sweden and the rest of Europe get to know anything about our 3g vita deals? It’s soon less then a month for the launch and we don’t know anything.

Thanks in advance.

Disktrasa.
- Sid Shuman
  January 20, 2012 at 10:51 am PST
  
  Good question! We work in the US so we’re not privy to regional offers for things like 3G plans — I suspect you’ll hear much more about your regional 3G deals soon. You might want to keep an eye on blog.eu.playstation.com for further details.
Gnordy
January 20, 2012 at 5:19 am PST

Wanted to give a shout out to the team working the Vita Hill opening in Chicago on Tuesday. Everyone was very friendly and the event was great. I was one of the late arrivals that had to wait in the snow for awhile. If I am not mistaken, that was Jeff out in the snow with us walking down the line and letting people that were waiting try out his Vita. Nice move, very cool.
- Sid Shuman
  January 20, 2012 at 10:47 am PST
  
  That was Jeff! And thanks for coming out — we’re always humbled by the loyalty of PlayStation fans. If there was anything you could change about the PS Vita social club, what would it be?
Mister-Nep
January 20, 2012 at 6:47 am PST

Got a question. When season 3 of The Tester comes out would it be possible to get the member that lost that week, and have them on the show? Maybe just for a segment to get their views on the show or something to that effect? I’m sure there’s a worthwhile angle that can be approached for having them on the show for a few minutes.

At the very least it can help promote season 3 a bit.
MarkakaJin
January 20, 2012 at 6:53 am PST

This blogcast is actually getting pretty cool.
- Nick Suttner
  January 20, 2012 at 10:18 am PST
  
  Thanks! Anything you’d like to see changed or improved upon?
stlthriot
January 20, 2012 at 7:10 am PST

Do you think we would ever get some app where we could connect to our PS3 remotely with our PC or any web browser? :)
Nates4Christ
January 20, 2012 at 7:20 am PST

I think I am the only one here excited about Gundam Seed Battle for the vita. I sure am glad the vita is region free!!!
Crash15
January 20, 2012 at 7:49 am PST

I can’t believe you didn’t announce last weeks winner of the theme song. I said Folklore and I can’t believe you said that you won’t announce it. :( I feel back stabbed as a Playstation gamer for 15 years. Might as well not even listen to it again if that’s the case. But, my understanding might be cause of the Maintenance. I missed Rey twice :( but, glad that Jeff is back.!! I just spent $20 last week man I knew I should have waited for the PSP pack bundles. Well I am getting TM:Head On/ MS:Arctic Edge Also Golf/Tennis but, Might be getting Hot Shots for PS Vita at launch. I wanted to ask a question about Vita apps. The PSP has some great apps like Skype Internet Radio and RSS Feed. Will any of these that I mention be on the device cause I listen the Internet Radio and I stream both Blogcast and Beyond thru my PSP. It feels weird that PS3 never got that feature hopefully it’s not absent on Vita.
- Nick Suttner
  January 20, 2012 at 10:23 am PST
  
  Make sure to e-mail your guesses to blogcast@playstation.sony.com. We don’t count the guesses in the comments since that spoils it for everyone!
  
  The reason that we didn’t read a winner was because we taped this episode pretty early and I wanted to give people time to get their guesses in. If you know this week’s theme definitely e-mail us a guess!
Nates4Christ
January 20, 2012 at 8:03 am PST

Just as a little critique. I was listening to the podcast during work and Rey I had to rewind 3 times to figure out what the gem of the week was. You only mentioned the title of the game once and really fast. So my suggestion is maybe mention the name as you are talking about it. Kind of like how at church the pastor mentions the Bible Verse he is reading from multiple times.
- Nick Suttner
  January 20, 2012 at 10:24 am PST
  
  Usually I’m the marble mouth, but that one was Jeff. His pick was ‘Under Siege’, and I second his recommendation!
Maitre
January 20, 2012 at 8:14 am PST

PS VITA lauches in 3 / 4 weeks

Checklist for you guys :

– Any plan for UMD repurchased on the PSN kind of deal like it was hinted for japon.

– Get those missing psp titles on the PSN (still looking for Metal Gear Acid 1 and 2, Dungeon Maker 1, etc.)

– Double/triple PS+ cloud save space … there’s almost no more space and i only have 1/2 save for each of ps3 titles and i’m guessing i can also cloud save with my vita.

– I’d on how the Vita interects with the ps3, details i’ll probably still be going with physical copies of my Vita game but i don’t 4G will be enough for all my psp titles so can i stream those psp titles from my ps3 hardrive

– Plz start thinking about how ps4 will interface with the Vita and while your at it … backwards compatibilities for ps4 with ps3 ps2 and ps1 titles.
Nates4Christ
January 20, 2012 at 9:22 am PST

wait it wasn’t rey he wasn’t there which ever guy who did the gem segment. Also Thanks for talking about Sound Shapes! it made me check out youtube and see it and it looks really cool.
Reluctant-Hero
January 20, 2012 at 10:53 am PST

Can you guys (Jeff, Nick, and/or Sid) share any details about AT&T’s vauge mention of a free Vita game to purchasers of the PS Vita 3G model who activate an AT&T data plan? If this is indeed true in the US, what games are eligible? Will they be PSN download codes or physical copies?

Alss, Jeff, I asked on twitter if there would be an AT&T app (or any method) for the Vita that would allow users to monitor the data they were using during each billing period. Were you able to find if this will possible?

Thanks! Love the podcast, keep up the excellent work!
Kchow23
January 20, 2012 at 11:16 am PST

I love the origin story and the tips on breaking into the industry, but I would be far more interested on someone that is a game designer, QA or level designer than I would a marketing person since I am not going for a marketing job. However, I do understand if the guests come last minute or if you would like to keep them secret until the episode is out.
- Sid Shuman
  January 20, 2012 at 1:25 pm PST
  
  Actually, Kyle is a game developer — he’s a producer, so he’s working more towards the organizational side and keeping things on track. But getting game designers in here is a priority too. Fret not!
Gnordy
January 20, 2012 at 11:41 am PST

Sid – I can’t think of much that I would change. A lot of people walking by the line were curious what was going on inside. Maybe a poster in the window would help people understand what was inside. Inside I think it was a little hard to find out which games were where, but that was partially due to the very large crowd.
Crash15
January 20, 2012 at 2:17 pm PST

Thanks for replying Nick. Well I don’t know this weeks but, I’ll try again next week. Playstation Vita countdown in 31 days and counting.! I am soo excited.!! ( I was looking at my address book and I can’t believe I still have the original Playstation Underground email. playstation-underground@playstation.sony.com) It does not work so don’t try it.
Kchow23
January 20, 2012 at 3:57 pm PST

Wasn’t knocking Kyle! (Producers play an important part) Just that it would be great to know ahead of of time who comes on, so we could ask questions that relate more to their position. Also that was a great tip that I think not many PS3 owners are aware of, but overall I think you guys are finding your groove. I hope that the PS Vita coverage starts kicking up a couple notches since I would like to know what the case that comes with the First Edition looks like and if it has storage for game cards.
Kchow23
January 20, 2012 at 4:22 pm PST

P.S How do we set up some MK matches between PS Blogcast listeners and you guys?
Kifcatcher
January 20, 2012 at 5:53 pm PST

Would love to see some good Playstation one classics that arent for kids. Something like Bushido Blade, Twisted Metal 3, I recall Dragon Ball GT Final Bout being a great fighting game would be an excellent edition to that Japanese Imports. and Hey throw in Twisted Metal Black for the ps2 remakes that library is empty.
Logan22
January 20, 2012 at 8:55 pm PST

Sid I would love to take you on at Mortal Kombat! I’m pretty semi-pro at that game too and have an extensive experience with it. I would love to take on anyone from PlayStation really who loves competitive MK.
cloud_jonin_1
January 21, 2012 at 9:59 am PST

I think this fits in with the podcast topic, but what are your guys’ thoughts and oppinions about the “The Tester” series on psn? I personally loved the last two seasons and would love a chance to get on myself one season. Do you have any info as to how Cyrus or Gaymer’s career has turned out in game testing/developement?
jawara
January 21, 2012 at 1:47 pm PST

Hey guys… Loved the blogcast. Im getting vita first edition day 1 plus a 32 gb memory card, Uncharted golden abyss, Gravity rush and ultimate marvel vs. capcom 3. Im so excited! Also got MK add me guys.
Scli
January 24, 2012 at 8:09 am PST

Hey Guys, awesome blogcast. I really love the opening music and songs you guys use. The logo design is epic. Anyway you can hook me up with the music? I don’t mind having it as ringtone, it’ll be awesome! Thanks!
A_N_T_H_
January 24, 2012 at 1:47 pm PST

Q: Is there PSVITA skins other than black and white available to gamers?
RydogV
January 25, 2012 at 3:14 pm PST

This was my first listen ;) You hooked me with the interview with Kyle but the whole program was really great and I definately plan to tune in regularly. As a Die Hard PS3 fan it is nice to get some great insights on upcoming games. I am an admin for a PS3 Clan so I will spread the word!!

I was suprised no one mentioned Dust 514 as an upcoming title to get excited about. Me and many of my online friends are anxious for it even though we are not EVE Online players. It would be great to hear about it on the show down the road as it seems to be a game that could have a huge impact on the future of console gaming…and of course it is a PS3 exclusive.

Anyway, thanks for turning me on to Under Siege and Hitman: Absolution and look forward to the next show!