video game – FULL CONTACT NERD

Overwatch League – “Young Guns” (Hachette Books, 2020) – Austin Moorhead interview

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2WtYIRg

Austin Moorhead is a financial reporter and a gamer. He decided it would be really fun to embed himself into the Overwatch League and write a book about it so he did. We discussed the book and what it was like to be so close to the first season of this gaming league.

0:42 – Austin talks about how he got into writing about the Overwatch League.

2:56 – Austin compares video game leagues to amateur gaming.

6:51 – Austin talks about league players and the economics of their participation in the league.

7:57 – Austin talks about how Overwatch was creating a new type of video-gaming league.

8:37 – Austin talks about how the league planned to keep interest in Overwatch high.

13:42 – Austin talks about Robert Kraft’s involvement in esports and the Overwatch League.

14:54 – Austin talks about ad revenues in esports.

17:05 – Austin talks about how the Asian market compares to the US especially South Korea.

19:16 – Austin talks about the global nature of the Overwatch League.

20:37 – Austin talks about esports being shown live in stages and online.

22:57 – Austin talks about how the book discusses the financial picture of the league and then he talks about the investors, the coaches, and the players.

24:00 – Austin talks about player incomes and benefits.

26:22 – Austin talks about what it takes for a player to get picked up for these leagues.

29:18 – Austin talks about team chemistry.

31:48 – Austin talks about the book being about the first season of Overwatch League.

33:00 – Austin talks about coaching and training.

34:23 – Austin talks about the number of women in the league and attempts by the league to increase the number.

37:07 – Austin talks about having spoken to investors and how much he enjoyed that as well as interviews with the coaches and players.

40:24 – Austin talks about the personalities of the players.

42:04 – Austin talks about players who go on tilt.

43:25 – Austin talks about team leadership.

44:19 – Austin talks about how players convinced their parents to be allowed to join the leagues.

45:35 – Austin talks about getting access to players and people.

47:10 – Austin talks about hair, make up and so on for the camera.

48:39 – Austin talks about the fan experiences.

51:29 – Austin talk about cheating, hacking, and technical problems and sports betting.

56:58 – Austin can be found on twitter @fb29.

Links of interest

https://amzn.to/2WtYIRg

https://www.hachettebooks.com/titles/austin-moorhead/young-guns/9780316421393/

https://twitter.com/FB29/

For more “Full Contact Nerd” please follow me at crisalvarez.com, on Facebook at CrisAlvarezFCN, on youtube at Cris Alvarez on twitter @CrisAlvarezFCN, on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi, and on Apple / Stitcher / Spotify for the podcast

Guests: Austin Moorhead

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: video game, Plimpton, paper Lions, Overwatch, Video gaming, leagues, patriots, bob kraft, gamer, esports, e-sports, Blizzard, soccer, Counter-Strike, Blizzcon, fortnite, valorent, riot games, South Korea, China, gamebot, Sinatra, tilt, London Spitfire, Shock, scrim, Halo, Call of Duty, Starcraft, Magic, NRG, San Francisco, shot caller, Nate Nanzer, Olympics, football

Check the book out here https://amzn.to/2WtYIRg

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sci-fi film producer Royce Essig interview – Far Point 2018 – youtube

Royce Essig has been pursuing a 25 year dream to produce a sci-fi drama. He and his team are close to completion and have used virtual reality technology to finish the product. I interviewed him at Far Point 2018.

1:07 – Royce Essig and his team are doing an independent sci-fi series called Dark Operations Terminus. It’s been a 25-year dream and ten years ago they released their first DVD. It’s a three part sci-fi drama.

2:32 – They hope to release it next fall. It has a virtual reality element to it. One is the Oculus Rift where you get into the world. They have also applied the Microsoft Hollow Lens technology. It projects a hologram you can see and record and import into the game.

4:49 – The game is done in memoriam to some developers who they’ve lost. One of the people who helped with Terminus was a Major who passed away in Iraq.

5:52 – He uses Magic Vegas to edit. Everyone on the team is self-taught. He uses music to inspire his work. Muppets music and tv for example. He also loves to edit.

7:37 – They all started doing this twenty-five years ago when they were all in a sci-fi club and wanted to do a fan film. The realized they needed a good camera guy, good equipment and so on. Now they can do it professionally.

10:03 – Royce likes The Greatest Showman because it breaks the typical mold of American television actors and actresses. Star Trek inspired the film they’re working on now. He also liked Space Battleship Yamato, Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica. The people into this nerdy stuff are the best people around. He loves John Williams and James Horner. Horner used his Battle Beyond the Stars music for Star Trek II.

13:07 – He wanted to be a pilot when he was young.

13:27 – They’re on Facebook/Dark Operations and post updates from the set.

Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Battleship_Yamato

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080421/

https://www.facebook.com/DarkOperations/

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Royce Essig

Host: Cris Alvarez

Fantasy game development project manager Rachael R interview – Super Magfest 2018 – youtube

Rachael has been working with her friend on four games and I spoke to her at Magfest about their latest game, Akari.

1:40 – Rachael talks about the anime based game Akari. She has to go into the underworld to save her sister.

2:24 – She’s worked on three other games. They use timelines and storyboards to figure out when the game is ready.

3:13 – She’s inspired by the people playing the game. She uses gant charts to help develop the games. She’s taken engineering and independent research courses to become skilled at this work.

6:15 – There aren’t many women in computer engineering and game development. But Rachael hasn’t had any challenges though. She’s found that being vocal overcomes challenges.

9:04 – Her first big success has been doing well in college.

10:24 – She thinks games and education support each other. Games are also stress relief.

10:59 – She used to watch Doctor Who, Star Trek and everything with her dad.

Links

https://www.jepgames.com/

For more “Creating Sci-Fi and Fantasy – An Inside Look” please follow me on Facebook at crisalvarezwlc, on youtube at Cris Alvarez and on Instagram @crisalvarezscifi

Guests: Rachael R.

Host: Cris Alvarez