Games publishers usually have a notorious reputation for being money grubbing beasts who want to wring every last drop of creativity from talented game makers as quickly as possible until the talent loses faith in the games industry and quits, making room for new talent. Rinse and repeat.And then there's Devolver Digital.Devolver is a games publisher that has specialised in publishing quirky indie games - like Disc Room, Carrion, Fall Guys and Inscryption - and helping everyone have a pretty great experience through the process. And building its own weird, wonderful persona along the way.I wanted to understand how Devolver has pulled it off, so late last year I caught up with Robbie Paterson, Marketing Manager of Devolver Digital. I've been particularly fasciated by Devolver's infamous, bizarre - and utterly compelling - series of E3 video press conferences that really seemed to take Devolver to a new level of anti-marketing craziness that has also had some Black Mirror style moments where...Honestly, I adore how Devolver has managed to stay super weird while it seems to have grown in stature in the industry. If anything it's only gotten weirder. If you don't know them, it's hard to describe it all just by talking about it. You need to hear some of this insanity for yourself to even scratch the surface.I caught up with Robbie well ahead of the company's IPO in November, when the company listed on the AIM in London at a valuation of over a billion Aussie dollars. So, with that billion dollars in mind, let's dive into my chat with Devolver Digital Marketing Manager, Robbie Paterson. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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Inside the weird world of Devolver Digital

We speak to the two creative developers behind the Fortnite ANZ project – Simon Bell from Alliance Studios and R-leeo Maoate from Zen Creative – and get their thoughts on how Fortnite's creative tools are evolving to give them increasingly exciting capacity to make huge virtual experiences. From the fun of building this new ANZ experience to how far things could go in the future, it's a fun chat with two creative talents who are excited by just how far these tools can go in the years ahead. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is Fortnite a beachhead for the metaverse?

We last spoke to Media Molecule Studio Director Siobhan Reddy just before the pandemic rocked the world. For a studio so focused on highly creative games, from Little Big Planet to Tearaway and their amazing current focus, Dreams, how has the crisis impacted on their own creativity? And what does it mean to make cool experiences that also give users the chance to create? It's always a treat to chat with this Australian industry leader killing it on the world stage, so settle in and enjoy. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dreamshaping for everyone: Media Molecule's Siobhan Reddy

Pentanet has grown rapidly in just four years, though it's still only available in Perth. But in our chat with Founder Stephen Cornish we learn why perfecting one of the world's most advanced wireless mesh network technologies in one city is the best way to prepare it for wider deployment in future. We also talk about the origins on Pentanet, his love for League of Legends, the potential of an Australian esports hub in Perth to get better connections to Asian servers, and what GeForce Now cloud services mean for the future of every digital experience we have.Cornish is building local but thinking global. Fascinating insights abound. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Stephen Cornish, Pentanet Founder, on the future of networks

We talk to Far Cry 6 Narrative Director Navid Khavari about putting a story with heart into a game best known for its flambuoyant and chaotic open world environments. With a great line up of actors and an effort to dig a little deeper on building a believable story, Khavari talks about his team's effort to make Yara a place you could feel something for. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Putting some heart into Far Cry 6

Back in March, Meason Camille became the first Australian drafted into the NBA 2K League. Maybe some of you misheard me and were thinking "hang on, there's a bunch of Aussies in the NBA" we're talking about the esport, NBA 2K. It might be digital but Meason, or Mace, or Milo, had to be drafted by a real NBA team to get his shot at going pro. He worked hard, he missed out more than once, but in the fourth season of the pro league he got the call he was dreaming of – the Detroit Pistons wanted him on their team. So now, with a full season under his belt and hoping to get home... eventually... we're having a chat with our Aussie 2K star to hear all about the journey. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Australia's first digital NBA pro, Meason Camille

Feeling a little sad because the Tokyo Olympics finished last week? I am too. With so much of life in lockdown right now we had a great timezone match up here in Australia to enjoy the event, and while there was no one in the stands it was great to see it happen in the midst of such a tough time for the world.In good news, you won't have to wait much longer for your next hit of Olympics action because the Beijing 2022 Winter Games is actually just months away – it kicks off February 4.And this week on Byteside we're talking to one of the Irish athletes preparing for those winter games in one of the craziest sports ever conceived. Brendan Doyle is an Irish skeleton racer – that's the one where they throw themselves face first down the high-speed ice track.I'm speaking to Brendan because it turns out that virtual reality headsets are actually a fantastic way to practice and visualise tracks when you're not on the actual track. So in this chat we talk about his choice of sport, his arrival at using VR gear to help up his game, and how having a headset for training offers other benefits to his routine.You can go find him yourself online too, he's @facedoyle on Twitter and slidingirish.com is his home on the web. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

145km/h VR: Brendan Doyle's skeleton racing edge

If you've been watching the Olympics at the moment you may well be feeling inspired to get fit or get into a sport, but the pandemic is also still out there so gyms aren't as attractive as they have been and team sports also pose their challenges right now. In that sense it seems like a great time for home cycling – a sport you can experience on a bike in your own home. But if you want to make it compelling, you need some kind of smart tech or video game idea to guide and motivate you.You can see where I'm going with this, can't you. Yes, Zwift has carved out a patch in this space as a video game experience that is all about cycling and doesn't take the fitness class approach to exercise in the home.Today I catch up with Wes Sulzberger, the Country Manager for Zwift in Australia and New Zealand, to find out a lot more about the thinking behind Zwift and the video game / exercise hybrid sim experience it offers. Wes actually joined the company from a background in professional cycling, so we talk about his own journey of discovering and accepting that indoor cycling can feel rewarding.We spoke ahead of the Olympics, while the Tour de France was still in full swing, and shortly after Zwift had run a series of Olympic Virtual Series events in the build up to the Tokyo Games.I ask a lot of questions to try to tease out as clear an understanding as possible about what Zwift really is and how the experience works. I'm sure the proof is in the pudding, but hopefully this helps paint the picture of how Zwift balances the entertainment of a video game with a true riding simulation for those eager to focus on the fitness experience. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Is it a game? Is it fitness? Yes, it's Zwift!

The most obvious part of the work from home era has been the need to stare at webcams while wearing headsets to hear and be heard as clearly as possible. These are the tools we've either put up with in their most basic form directly through our built-in laptop parts or we've hunted for upgrades – and often found stores sold out of anything at all.Today I'm talking to Andy Hurt, Managing Director of Poly ANZ, about his company's perspective on this shift in our needs. Poly has over half a century of pedigree in business-grade AV conferencing tools – it made the communications headsets worn by the Apollo 11 crew when it landed on the moon. When office life was the norm you probably used their equipment in a conference room or as a headset if you take lots of calls each day.Poly has had a lot of change in its own business over recent years, not just as the pandemic has seen it increase its availability of hardware designed for work from home users. The company used to be known as Plantronics, and in 2018 acquired Polycom before changing its name in 2019.I'll stop there, because I kick off the conversation with Andy by asking for his version of how Poly has evolved in recent years. Let's jump in there and let him explain the rest. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Poly ANZ MD Andy Hurt on shifting AV from the office to the home

Steve Cottam is the CEO of Antstream Arcade, and I caught up with Steve for Byteside to talk about the origins of his plan to launch an independent game streaming service and all the ways they're adding features to make playing classic games through the Antstream platform feel that little bit extra.Check out Antstream Arcade via https://www.antstream.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Putting retro games on a streaming service? Meet Antstream Arcade CEO Steve Cottam

If you're hearing this, you're in the right place. We're consolidating our wider shows about games and technology into the One True Byteside podcast, so we'll have lots more interview shows appearing here going forward alongside our episodes with journalist friends discussing the news and weirdness of any given week.If you need to find us in a specific app, or want to share Byteside details with a friend, here's all the details.Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/itunes/1482077503Overcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/overcast-podcast-player/id888422857Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1482077503Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5hY2FzdC5jb20vcHVibGljL3Nob3dzLzA0NzA5ZTVkLWU0ZTQtNDk0Ny1hYmNmLTYyZDM3MmIyZTFiNgSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/43tUBmO4DknkGbd4Hw9dlbRSS: https://rss.acast.com/bytesideAnd get loads more written content at byteside.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome – back, again, or for the first time

Seamus has Nic Healey back as a guest host this week to discuss the Gravitas Glory esports beer, Nic's desperation in still trying to get his hands on a PlayStation 5, and our thoughts on whether we're really enjoying the Loki series on Disney+ or just in love with its aesthetic.Plus we count down some of the shows we're really excited about coming soon, including the Alien series being led by Noah Hawley, Good Omens Season 2, Succession Season 3, and Ted Lasso S2.As mentioned in this episode, we're consolidating the Byteside podcasts into this main show going forward, so if you're subscribed to Byteside then there's nothing else you need to do! If you've been following the rest of our shows but not Byteside then it's a great time to subscribe for all our regular interviews with great minds across games and technology. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Do esports need beer? Are we actually enjoying Loki?

The Byteside podcast is back, and it's got a familiar ring to it. We catch up on the first half of 2021 and what we've been watching and playing, then we look at some of the most interesting updates out of WWDC and wonder whether Fastly outage was a big deal or a small one.   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It's about time

This week we explore the state of imaging technologies across a wide range of areas, from Adobe's new Super Resolution technology to deepfakes. The tech is amazing and clever but are the creepy parts doing OK at not being too creepy? Plus a look at recent announcements for virtual and augmented reality interfaces, including Facebook's new wristband technology and the PlayStation VR 2.0 controllers. All this and a tangent or three along the way. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Enhance and augment

This week it's a WandaVision deep dive, with spoilers galore now that the series has wrapped. The first Marvel series at Disney+ became the most watched show ever on streaming (so far), so how do we feel about it all now it's done? What does it say about the future of Marvel TV? And is it more 'comic book' in style than the movies can be?We went live on Twitter Spaces while recording to get Byteside listener input, which brought in some extra perspectives from some superfans too. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The WandaVision post-mortem: with live caller input!

Seamus Byrne and Nic Healey bring you a weekly (-ish) talkshow covering tech, games and pop culture. It's not a news show, it's a show about what's new, what's old, and whatever else is leaping out to grab Shay and Nic's attention right now. Send us your input via @byteside on Twitter!

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