James Portnow will be calling in on Nov.19th at 12:00am (PST)
James Portnow is an active member of the indie games community, a lecturer on on game design and game culture, and writer of hit web series Extra Credits. The over 300-episode video series takes a deep dive look at games: how they are made, what they mean, and how we can make them better.
Have a question for James? Leave it in the comments below.
James! Video games, history, animation, sci-fi…what next?
Less seriously, would you prefer to fight one Dan-sized LeeLee or 100 LeeLee-sized Dans?
something i’ve always wondered: on Extra Credits, when Dan uses first person pronouns (ie, ‘I hope…’) is that Dan’s opinion, your opinion, or a mixture?
As someone who has been so ensconced in the video game world as it has grown up what are your hopes as the medium of video games continues to grow and change into the future in any area you wish to discuss, such as storytelling, art, teaching? Especially in light of video games being recognized as an artistic medium and being integrated into classrooms as a legitimate learning medium as well.
How does Desert Bus link to Walpole?
I absolutely love your “Games you might not have tried” videos, is there any chance they could become its own weekly series?
Also, who is your favorite Dan?
So how did you and Dan Prime end up running into each other? Video game consultant and a student animator running into each other in the depth of the internets to form Extra Credits,Extra History,Extra-SciFi, and the one off Extra Mythology, how does that happen?!
In Games You Might Not Have Tried: Cyberpunk, you were surprised and dismayed when students hadn’t played System Shock 2. Are there any other must-play games going into the game industry?
If I tried doing half the stuff you do, I’d probably keel over dead. How do you find time in the day to get everything done?
Thank you to the Extra Credits team (past, present and future). You all do good work.
While you may have covered it in a ‘Lies’ episode – what has been a favourite story that you dearly wanted to tell but you had to leave out of the Extra History main episodes?
Firstly: Extra Credits is great!
Secondly: Extra History is super great!
Thirdly: What are your thoughts on Loot Boxes and how they’re involved with both AAA titles that are likely using them to fund post-release development and F2P titles that may be acting with thin profit margins?
…see why I buttered it up with compliments?
2nd Question/Standard James Q&A question. What Tea?!
Why do certain genres die or at the very least, have taken long leaves of absence? Ex. RTS games in the style of starcraft and command and conquer, point and click adventure games like grim fandango and monkey island, and arena shooters like quake and unreal.
Does pineapple belong on pizza?
Dear Dr James,
Do you have a favourite VR game/experience you’ve tried so far?
From a game design/programming student: What are a couple of basic principles or core ideas that you wish budding developers would understand and cherish?
How do you choose which stories to share for Extra History?
While there are always clicks, information technology seems to both help groups get polarized, but also allow more interaction/visibility between groups who have formed hostile opinions of each other. Have you got any thoughts how gaming platforms can be a help instead of hurt here?
what is your favorite game for each of the “main” platforms? (PC, Nintendo, PS4, XBox)
Hey James! My brother is a game dev – what book on the industry would you recommend I buy him for the holidays?
Who is the best Cavni?
Hey James.
Can you give your opinion on what could be going wrong wit hthe development of Star Citizen, and do you think it will be worth the wait, or will it be like Duke Nukem Forever ?
James, how do you deal with or look at multiple channels similar to your covering the same topic at the same time. For instance Extra SciFi and OverlySarcastic releasing Frankenstein videos on the same day at the same time.
Who is best dan? is it Dan? Dan? Carrie? Dan? Leelee? Dan?
Towards the end of Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics he talks in passing how with art or really any kind of communication any thought undergoes a sort of telephone effect when going from one person to another. My question is what your thoughts are about this in relation to games and other pieces of media created by groups of people. Basically does the benefit of having multiple viewpoints outweigh the potential of a more pure artistic vision.
Sorry this got a bit long, thanks for all you dudes do!
I wrote a college thesis (of sorts) on videogame boss battles and found there had been very little research done on them. Why do you think that is, given that they’re such an important part of many games?
James (and Mia), what’s your thoughts on interactive experiences and games like Obduction, and the “You ARE the protagonist” feeling they engender, especially with it as a VR experience.
Hi James.
Science Fiction and Fantasy are often grouped together. Do you think grouping them strengthens them or dilutes them?
James; What do you think about simulation sickness and it being prevalent as games get more realistic? Should Developers offer options in their games to ease effects that aggravate simulation sickness?(screen blur, field of view depth, head bobbing etc)
WoW has effectively witnessed so far 3 major Eras, with Vanilla through WotLK functioning as the original vision, while Cataclysm and MoP formed a the major transition period, and currently with Warlords of Draenor and Legion we see a more “controlled experimentation” era where WoW evolves much more slowly but with a core set of design principles to maintain the experience quality.
One of my favorite academic works on video games is by Dan Pinchbeck (Of the Chinese room) in his paper on “Story as a function of gameplay in First Person Shooters”. I wonder have you read it and if so what are thought in regards of the paper and the work that the Chinese room puts out?
Dear James, any thoughts on how to use a game jam to help spread the word about a charity? Also what bribe is needed to rope you into the Desert Bus for Hope Game Jam?
This is a token question each time, but hopefully with a bit of a qualifier. “How do we get into game writing”, but specifically if we have a history of media writing, how do we make the jump to that industry specifically?
I feel like immersive theatre and gaming especially VR have slot to teach each other about physical interactions and exploring space, have you had a chance to explore any immersive content such as shows and escape rooms and what are your thoughts on them
I am a VR researcher, what do you think is the main hurdle for VR to overcome before widespread adoption?
Dear Dr. James,
What is your favourite Sega Master System Game?
James! I love your work with Extra Everything, it’s a real inspiration to write about what I love. On that topic, what do you think is the best way to get into writing (scripts, articles, anything)?
Has there been one big overriding lesson for you in growing EC to the size it is today?
What’s your opinion about Skinner boxes in general? It’s very hard to justify removing them all from a f2p game from a company’s perspective, thus I’d like to know what could be the best approach towards making them the less harmful the better.
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