Kojima, Sakurai, Other Video Game Masters Share Their Secrets to Success

pcmag.com:

The video game industry is needlessly secretive. For a time, there was no way to know who was responsible for your favorite games. Things are more transparent now. Players realize that entire teams of talented developers create games, not just a single superstar or a faceless corporation. However, gaining any real insight into how the game development creative process works remains frustratingly tough. 

Fortunately, the democratizing power of the internet has made it easier than ever for creators to share their thoughts straight to fans. For example, you can use your eReader to buy books written by Cliffy B (Gears of War), John Romero (Doom), or Derek Yu (Spelunky). Podcasts and YouTube shows are even more direct, offering lengthy conversations hosted by gaming luminaries…and David Jaffe. 

If you want to hear veteran game developers share behind-the-scenes stories on how they’ve honed their craft over the years, check out these shows and podcasts. Continue your game design journey by learning how to code and picking up top game development software.

Mark Brown’s Game Maker’s Toolkit(Opens in a new window) series on YouTube has loads of great advice for aspiring game developers. Using old and new games as examples, Brown examines topics like how to balance economies, how to combine genres, and how to design Metroidvania maps. Brown even documents his first steps into game design. If you want to hear from the pros, though, the channel features in-depth dev interviews and game jam devlogs, too. 

Katsuhiro Harada is famous for designing the Tekken fighting games and for making sure fans know not to ask him for anything. Harada’s Bar(Opens in a new window) is his YouTube series where he casually chats with other major players