On this week's episode, freelance video game mercenary, YouTube personality, wrestler in training, and returning guest, Simon Miller, joins host Josiah Renaudin to discuss the European freelance scene. The duo covers the current state of VideoGamer, the process of going from full-time back to freelance work, why crowdfunding isn't always the answer, how to find success on YouTube, and why going to the gym can really change your life.

Episode 91: Simon Miller on Crowd Funding Mistakes, Traditional Games Media, and the Freelance Life

On this week’s episode, Giant Bomb co-founder and former GameSpot mainstay, Jeff Gerstmann, joins host Josiah Renaudin to talk about the past, present, and future of the games industry. The two discuss Giant Bomb’s focus on video over written content, what the company would look like if it started in the age of Patreon, the possible storylines to come out of next week’s E3 conference, how console half-steps like Pro and Scorpio have changed the industry, what Microsoft needs to do to succeed moving forward, and what you can expect from Giant Bomb for the rest of the year.

Episode 95: Giant Bomb’s Jeff Gerstmann on E3, the State of the Industry, and Scorpio vs. PS4 Pro

On this week's episode, the creative director of Dragon Age, Mike Laidlaw, joins host Josiah Renaudin to discuss how the team at BioWare creates such massive open worlds. Mike explains the different roles he's played at BioWare, the struggles of even starting a five-year AAA project, what a linear Dragon Age (similar to Uncharted) would look like, how he deals with Dragon Age reviews, and the possibility of a Jade Empire 2.

Episode 98: Mike Laidlaw on How Dragon Age is Made and the Probability of Jade Empire 2

On this week's episode, Andrea Rene, a co-host for Kinda Funny Games Daily, the COO of What’s Good Games, and a prolific host/presenter, joins host Josiah Renaudin to discuss personality-based games coverage and the future of media. Andrea details how What's Good Games came together, the struggles of crowdfunding, still getting starstruck by developers, why it's OK for people at major sites to parlay their popularity into new opportunities, and her future goals as a host.

Episode 124: Andrea Rene on What's Good Games, Kinda Funny, and the State of Games Media

On this week's episode, the former video producer at Eurogamer and VideoGamer, the host and creator of Here’s a Thing, and now his own boss at People Make Games, Chris Bratt, joins host Josiah Renaudin to discuss long-form games media. Chris details the value of People Make Games, what it's like to launch a big Patreon, how major websites handle news, how much you can change your own concept after people pledge money to it, and crazy stories surrounding game dev.

Episode 151: Chris Bratt on People Make Games and What's Missing from Games Media

On this week's episode, a game writer at Wooga, former scriptwriter at Guerrilla Games, former writer for Ubisoft on Assassin’s Creed, former narrative designer at Ludia, and an advocate for aspiring professionals in the industry, Jana Sloan van Geest, joins host Josiah Renaudin to discuss writing stories for games. Jana explains what it's like crafting narratives for AAA titles, how to get into games writing, why each team is an entirely different experience, the differences between main and side quests, and which characters still stick with her. Also, Josiah provides an update on his job situation.

Episode 174: Life Update and Jana Sloan van Geest on Writing for Assassin's Creed and Horizon

On this week's episode, host Josiah Renaudin breaks down his crazy last few months with the help of freelancer and The 1099 MVP, Joseph Knoop. Josiah explains his new job at Electronic Arts, all the different meetings he's been taking, and the future of the podcast.

Episode 182: Josiah Joins EA and Details the Future of the Podcast

On this week's episode, Joseph Knoop officially takes over the reins of the 1099. Joe is joined by AbleGamers COO and Game Awards' Global Gaming Citizen Steven Spohn, who works to improve accessibility for gamers with disabilities. The two chat about Steven's work leading such an important cause, the issues that gamers with disabilities and AbleGamers face, and how he cultivates hope and strength in a world that hasn't always shown him either.

1099 music (episode 184 onward) provided by Zach Buckley. Find his work at www.zwbuckley.com.

Episode 184: Steven Spohn on the AbleGamers charity, accessibility in gaming, and finding strength

The guys behind JT Music are celebrating 10 years of making video game rap music, and they join Joe to talk all about it. The crew touches on how YouTube has changed the video game fan culture landscape, how they run a businesses like JT Music day-to-day, and what games have influenced them in their endeavors. You can find JT Music on Twitter @JTMusicTeam and Joe @JosephKnoop.

Music provided by ZW Buckley, who you can find at zwbuckley.com

Episode 185: JT Music reflect on 10 years of making video game raps

Content Warning: Discussion of serious illness, including cancer and alcoholism.

You know, there are plenty of writers and media folks out there that I idolize. But one of the guys I look up to most is a guy named Blake Hester, a writer most seen on Polygon, but also a former intern at Game Informer, just like me. I’ve always been captivated by his features writing, where he’s explored the history of Red Dead, Crash Bandicoot, Sonic the Hedgehog, and interviewing Geoff friggin’ Keighley for six months about the Game Awards. Jesus. But I really admire him as a person with a lot of strength and, well, chill, and even more so after this conversation. About 32 weeks ago, Blake announced that he had cancer. His treatment happened, I happened to hang out with him for an afternoon in San Francisco in October 2018, and then a few months after that he checked himself into rehab for his alcoholism, where halfway through he was informed that on top of all that, his cancer had come back. On this week’s episode, we discuss his journey through treatment, recognizing his illness, and how he’s kept pushing forward with his work despite the weight of it all, and if you know anything about Blake Hester, let me assure you it’s a VERY Blake kind of discussion, haha. I think a lot of people, whether they’ve worked in art or technology or any mix of the two know what it’s like to precariously balance your health, your happiness, and your career, especially if life throws you a curveball...or three. Like any episode of The 1099, it’s my hope that you get something meaningful out of this, but this episode maybe more than any other I’ve recorded so far. If you struggle with illness and its effects on your life or career in any way, please know that you’re not alone, and that there are resources that can help you, some of which I’ve linked to in the show description on Soundcloud. Of course, if discussion of these sensitive topics might cause you emotional or mental distress, exercise caution. You fans of The 1099 are slowly becoming more and more like family to me, and the last thing we need is for you to be in a worse place. So yeah, as always, thank you for listening, and thank you for all the kind words you folks have sent the past few weeks. It’s kept me going too.

Alcoholics Anonymous: https://www.aa.org/
Cancer.Gov: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types
Rehabilitation: https://www.rehabs.com/
Healthcare.Gov: https://www.healthcare.gov/

Follow Blake on Twitter @metallicaisrad
Follow Joe on Twitter @JosephKnoop
Support our resident musician at ZWBuckley.com

Episode 195: The one where we talk about cancer and alcoholism with Blake Hester

Toss A Coin To Your Witcher Remix [Prod. by Kyle Reclaim]

The 1099 is an interview-based podcast that highlights the best writers, YouTubers, developers, publishers, and people in video games and beyond. Founded by Josiah Renaudin and hosted by Joseph Knoop, the duo brings on guests from all over the industry to talk about what they do, current trends, and methods for breaking into games.

Big thanks to Simon Viklund for writing the original theme music (you can check out his work at www.simonviklund.com) and Zach Buckley for the remix(find his work at www.zwbuckley.com). Also, thanks to the talented Aaron Sanfillippo for the logo design. Find him at www.ajscreative.com.

Episode 98: Mike Laidlaw on How Dragon Age is Made and the Probability of Jade Empire 2

The 1099

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