Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk

Emily Balistrieri and I had the rare opportunity to interview the founders of BioWare, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, the minds behind Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Mass Effect about BioWare’s upcoming titles, as well as experience the almost tangible passion and curiosity that they have for making games, discussing the future of narrative and even their opinions on characters that break the fourth wall such as Psycho Manits.  It’s a unique look into the thought process of two visionaries, so if you’re into BioWare or ever want to create a game yourself, please read and enjoy.

Read more…

Which beard has what it takes to win the cup?

I had the privilege of participating in a conference call yesterday where the producers of NHL 2K9 fielded questions submitted by the gaming media. The whole thing has been recorded for your listening pleasure, with the exception of about 20 seconds in the middle where the call dropped out, most likely due to all this hurricane action we’ve been getting. Read more…

I don’t think it showed, but I was completely flustered when I conducted this interview. That’s not an excuse, that’s testament to how absolutely blown away I was when Andrew and I finished our thirty minutes with the game. I’m just glad that every question wasn’t, “Hey, remember when that was awesome, like 30 minutes ago, and… tell me about that awesome.”

Click the jump for Pete Hines’ take on Fallout 3’s Achievements, violence, and why Fallout was better than Fallout 2. Read more…

To find out what’s going on with NetDevil’s upcoming MMO Jumpgate Evolution, we had a quick Q and A with the game’s producer, Hermann Peterscheck. To read the full interview and see a couple of exclusive new screenshots, read on.
Read more…

Ripten is lucky enough to be joined by Anthony Putson, a freelance video game composer who is part of a company with over 30 years of experience in producing game audio, amalgamating into one of the largest portfolios in gaming history. Their output includes Driver 1 and 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, the Duel Masters trilogy, Micro Machines, Xaolin Showdown, Clive Barker’s Jericho and many more.

We discuss every part of creating video game music, from how a freelance composer makes his way in the industry, to how you can get your work noticed. Join us after the link. Read more…

And so we come to the final entry in our three part interview with Naughty Dog’s Lead Character Artist, Richard Diamant. It’s been a interesting journey of exchanges, from the advantages of Blu-ray, all the way to the meticulous creation of Uncharted’s characters.

The final part of our interview explores Uncharted’s animation system, filmic inspirations, the possibility of new melee capabilities in the next project, along with Naughty Dog’s current relationship with Insomniac. Read more…

The second part of our interview with Richard Diamant, Naughty Dog’s Lead Character Artist, is upon us. In this part Richard talks about Uncharted’s art style, lighting, water, the advantages of Blu-ray, and the possibility of swimming underwater or crouching in the next game. Read more…

We are very lucky at Ripten to be joined by Naughty Dog’s Lead Character Artist, Richard Diamant, for an exclusive interview about his work on Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Richard also divulges on the game’s art style, animation, and technical details never revealed before. After his views on improvements for Naughty Dog’s next game, we wander onto the advantages of Blu-ray and their relationship with Insomniac. Enjoy this preview of our three part interview. Read more…

Gaming retail, as we know it, is a wretched thing — advertising overload, cluttered shelves, bitter employees, and mucus-encrusted kiosks that we wouldn’t touch even if they worked properly. Andrew Urbanek aims to shift the paradigm with a more mature kind of establishment called Games On. Read on for more information on this daring project and a lengthy chat with Urbanek, himself. Read more…