Podcast Review: The AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook
The inner mechanics of game making provide an interesting listening experience
This afternoon, I listened to an episode of the AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook. It’s an interview-styled show featuring conversations between leading game designers, led by Ted Price of Insomniac games for the current slate. For anyone who is interested in video games or the design choices behind them, I highly recommend this podcast. In the paragraphs below, I’ll explain why.
The episode featured in this picture is a conversation between Price and Todd Howard, the director and executive producer of Bethesda Game Studios. Bethesda and Howard are best known for The Elder Scrolls, and Fallout, two massive, immersive role-playing experiences that have become staples of multiple console generations. Price and Howard go over some of the design features and challenges of these two games in this episode, ending with more general thoughts on family lives and games they play in their free time. Some of their anecdotes at the end are nothing short of fascinating, providing enough information for game outlets to cover this episode.
I’d like to shy away from more discussion of this episode (you should listen to it if you want more, which I would recommend), and briefly talk about why I found it so effective. Most simply, this podcast episode was fantastic listening because Price and Howard were comfortable with each other and talked about design choices in an interesting way. I have no experience with coding or actually making games, but I never felt at all like an outsider while listening to these two talk.
I view the process of making a video game much like I do watching a basketball game or listening to a piece of music. I have little athletic or musical ability, but I can still watch and evaluate these forms of sport or art and say what works and what doesn’t, to at least some extent. For example, I can tell you why LeBron James is so good (his immense athletic ability and understanding of basketball), or why the musical Hamilton works on so many levels (the wordplay and instrumentation are both top-tier). Likewise, I can explain why some games are better than others, or why The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a phenomenal experience (the world design and art style, for anyone curious).
After listening to Price and Howard, I have a greater understanding and appreciation for Bethesda’s two marquis franchises. Games that wear the Fallout or Elder Scrolls logo often only release once every two to three years (if that often), and are massive, sprawling experiences that can easily captivate players for hundreds of hours. The worlds are often buggy, and not always graphically, beautiful, but they’re always intriguing and interesting. They’re also gaining a new life on the Nintendo Switch, which ties in nicely with Bethesda’s full-hearted embrace of the system. Hearing Price discuss design priorities and the process of fine-tuning mechanics and levels helps add weight to the experience of playing through some of the biggest games in the industry.
To anyone who is interested, I highly recommend this podcast. I plan on listening to more of this series in the future. As a final observation, here are my thoughts on some of the other video game podcasts floating around the internet.
