Happy three-day weekend! Or, to those of you who donāt live in America, happy Monday!
Given that itās an Official Kotaku Holiday, we thought this might be a good time to revisit some old stories. So weāve gone through the archives and dug up some some of our best pieces for your holiday reading pleasure.
Todayās theme: the people behind the games we play.
For starters, check out Evanās brief piece about the best thing ex-Epic designer Cliff Bleszinski ever did, and the story of how Total Annihilation creator Chris Taylor helped save Mikeās face.
https://lastchance.cc/the-best-thing-cliff-bleszinski-ever-did-5948812%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Weāve also got in-depth looks at some of the people behind companies like the small publisher Xseed, the RPG makers over at Obsidian, and the House of Persona, Atlus USA
https://lastchance.cc/the-game-savers-how-a-tiny-company-gives-neglected-jap-5971695%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Straight out of Japan, look behind some of the surprising ways 8-4 has altered games while localizing them for U.S. shores. And donāt miss the story of designer Dylan Cuthbert and how he trained with Shigeru Miyamoto and other big names at Nintendo.
Hereās a fun look at what itās like for a Canadian developer to work with Nintendo on a game like Luigiās Mansion 2 For a broader perspective, check out Kirkās in-depth report from this yearās Game Developersā Conference
https://lastchance.cc/creating-a-video-game-with-nintendo-sounds-stressful-a-5990793%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
And what about the dark side of game development? Reading angry employees bash game companies is always good for some entertainment.
Finally, donāt miss Fine Art, our regular look at the stellar work of video game artists across the world.
