25-year industry entrepreneur and designer Doc Mack of Galloping Ghost Productions talks about his game production company and working on his arcade fighting game, “Dark Presence”. How the company has mushroomed into creating the biggest arcade in the world (731 games and counting!), a reproductions company, gym and martial arts studio, automotive repair shop, and a pinball arcade. Learn about his desire to work in video games growing up and a chance encounter with a game industry legend spurred him to start the company, plus how the Galloping Ghost arcade opened in 2010 after frustration while researching the arcade market.

Hear about what he wishes he’d known when he started, along with how they’ve helped open 29 arcades. Learn how 80,000 people a year go through the arcade and how their passion for arcade records lead them to purchase the scoring house, Aurcade. Learn how he’s able to get rare games that were never commercially released, some current arcade and indie companies, and the resurgence of pinball. 

Learn thoughts on the current state of arcades and how open play has changed things. Hear about outdated laws he had to overcome and ignorant perceptions proven wrong about violence and video games from examples like the Mortal Kombat “Kombat Kon” 25th anniversary event. Hear how arcades can help people with anxiety or struggling with personal challenges, plus bond as families.  

Hear about the challenges for opening an arcade the right way, how location isn’t critical, along with the satisfaction of sharing player excitement for classic games with the original designers. Learn thoughts on mobile and VR games going into arcades, why arcades died off, and what game caused a couple to hitchhike from Oregon. Hear about his passion for shining a spotlight on industry people giving them credit like movies and other forms of media and how to get in touch with him, hosted by John ‘JP’ Podlasek. (See gamedevadvice.com for all the details.)

Resources:
*Galloping Ghost Productions website
*Galloping Ghost Arcade website
*Galloping Ghost Arcade Facebook
*Galloping Ghost Arcade Twitter
*Dark Presence website
*Aurcade website
*King of Kong Wikipedia
*The Spectre Files: Deathstalker YouTube
*Beavis & Butt-head Polygon
*Raw Thrills website
*Killer Queen website
*Stern Pinball website
*Kombat Kon YouTube
*The Grid YouTube
*Toru Iwatani Wikipedia
*Level Ex website - we’re hiring
*Game Dev Advice Twitter
*Game Dev Advice email
*Game Dev Advice website
*Game Dev Advice Hotline (224) 484-7733
*And thanks to Charles Dike Production podcast editing 
*Don't forget to subscribe and go to www.gamedevadvice.com for full show notes with links

The World’s Biggest Arcade and More with Doc Mack of Galloping Ghost

28-year video game and toy industry veteran Chris Nicolella talks about moving from the U.S. to living in Bangkok as an expat that included some initial challenges. How he started in the video game industry working at NEC’s TurboGrafx-16, then transitioning to NuFX which was later acquired by Electronic Arts turning into EA Chicago. Hear the challenges of game industry crunching and what it was like in the early 2000s, along with breaking into making iPhone apps on the side.  

Learn how he transitioned into video game publishing to get his first job at Electronic Gaming Monthly which was like a frat house, then transitioning to the more professionally run GamePro magazine. Hear why he left the publishing business, worked briefly in Florida, plus how we worked together on projects back for Turbo Technologies Inc. and the TurboGrafx-16 consoles. 

Hear what he wished he’d done earlier in his career and how it might be useful advice for you. How Nintendo was very protective of their games out for reviews and a story about Lebron James and NBA Street Vol. 2. Learn about working on best-selling toys like Giga Pet and the late ‘90s cultural phenomenon that sold 40 million units, Furby. Hear about working on toys for Star Wars: Episode I, II, and III, that included flying out on Hasbro’s jet to Skywalker Ranch and the Halo movie that never came out but had content repurposed for another movie. 

Learn how in 2006 Marvel launched their own movie studio to create Iron Man film in 2008, which was controversial in some ways. Hear about traveling throughout SE Asia, sobering thoughts on the Hong Kong crisis, advice for breaking into the toy or game development industry, and how to get in touch with him, hosted by John ‘JP’ Podlasek. (See gamedevadvice.com for show links and details.)

Resources:
*@Ultimatetoy Twitter
*chris@set-to-stun.com email
*chris-nicolella: Skype
*Chris Nicolella LinkedIn
*TurboGrafx-16 Wikipedia
*NuFX Wikipedia
*Electronic Gaming Monthly Wikipedia
*GamePro Wikipedia
*n-Space Wikipedia
*Turbo Technologies Inc. Giant Bomb
*Donkey Kong Country Wikipedia
*NBA Street Vol 2 Wikipedia
*Giga Pet Wikipedia
*The History of Furby, the Electronic Pet That Took the Late ‘90s by Storm Bustle
*Furby a Threat to National Security? CNN
*Why the Halo Movie Failed to Launch WIRED
*Iron Man (2008 film) Wikipedia
*A Troubled Actor’s Rude Awakening L.A. Times
*Giga Pets Amazon
*Hong Kong’s Troubles Are Just Beginning Forbes 
*Expat Guide to Living in Bangkok, Thailand Expatolife
*Level Ex website - we’re hiring for all kind of roles!
*Game Dev Advice Twitter
*Game Dev Advice email
*Game Dev Advice website
*Game Dev Advice Hotline: (224) 484-7733
*And thanks to Charles Dike Production podcast editing 
*Don't forget to subscribe and go to www.gamedevadvice.com for full show notes with links

10/20/2019

Skywalker Ranch, Making Toys, Crunch Culture, Hong Kong, EA, Expat in Bangkok with Chris Nicolella

Description: 
NBA Jam writer Reyan Ali talks about being born in the U.S., moving to Pakistan when he was young, and how the NES and Sega Mega Drive II video games influenced him. How the release of NBA Jam got him interested in the NBA, along with getting into Mortal Kombat and working on website in Pakistan. Learn how he wrote a FAQ for the team’s arcade classic The Grid without having actually having played the game by emailing the dev team member John Vogel.

Hear how he decided to write a book about NBA Jam after being a longtime freelance journalist writing and interviewing for Rolling Stone, Wired, Spin and other publications. Learn how his extensive pitch to Boss Fight Books helped him land the book deal before having talked to anyone who’d actually worked on the game. Hear about the interview process researching the book, including the CEO of Acclaim, Shaq, John Romero, Nolan Buschnell, musician George Clinton and many others. Learn how the book evolved from just NBA Jam into being a more detailed account of Midway Games, and the fall of arcade games from their peak.

Hear how the process created strong relationships with key developers, like Mark Turmell and others. Learn about the surreal process of tracking down and interviewing Shaq. Hear about how much money NBA Jam earned and later ended up being owned by Acclaim. Learn his dream about arcades and companies like Two Bit Circus working to bring them back. 

Hear what Reyan’s doing now, favorite current games, and plans for the future. Hear him ask me about the challenges at Midway Games during the transition from arcade games to console-only, the resurgence of Mortal Kombat, and thoughts on the company filing for bankruptcy. 

Resources:
*Buy NBA Jam (the book) in print and digital at Boss Fight Books
*Order NBA Jam (the book) on Amazon Kindle
*Follow NBA Jam (the book) on Twitter
*DJ Jazzy Jeff and George Clinton Recall Becoming NBA Jam Hidden Characters Polygon
*Sega Mega II (and Genesis) Wikipedia
*The Grid Wikipedia
*NBA Jam Wikipedia
*Two Bit Circus website
*RenderWare Wikipedia
*Insert Coin YouTube trailer
*Raw Thrills website
*Level Ex website - we’re hiring for all kinds of roles
*Game Dev Advice Twitter
*Game Dev Advice email
*Game Dev Advice website
*Game Dev Advice Hotline: (224) 484-7733
*And thanks to Charles Dike Production podcast editing 
*Don't forget to subscribe and go to www.gamedevadvice.com for full show notes with links

About My Guest 
Reyan Ali is a writer from Columbus, Ohio. His work has been published by Wired, Spin, The Atlantic, The A.V. Club, and alt-weekly papers across the country. Born in Dallas, he grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, where he devoured '90s NBA action almost exclusively through trading cards, Beckett Basketball magazine, and NBA Jam: Tournament Edition on the Sega Mega Drive II.

When Coin-Op was King, NBA Jam, the ‘90s, Pakistan, Sega, Shaq, and Book Publishing with Reyan Ali

30-year game industry veteran John "JP" Podlasek interviews game designers, programmers artists, animators, and CEOs about working in the field. Whether you're an experienced an aspiring game developer you'll find useful, thought provoking, and sometimes funny advice from others in our game dev industry. Plus maybe a rant or two.

GameDevAdvice

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