Special interview with "We Talk Games' " Kyle Von Kubik

Before we get to the meat of this weeks interview id like to take this time to thank Kyle for agreeing to be a part of this interview, Kyle is currently the co host of the We Talk Games Podcast which can be found on iTunes in the podcast section and also a very active member of the we talk games community which you can check out for yourselves over at wetalkgames . Whilst there have a look around you can sign in with any of your current social media site username and passwords for ease of use 


Ross - As a long time listener of we talk games i have to say i like the new format , how did you become involved in the new direction of the show ?


Kyle - In March of 2009, I was contacted by Wiggly about joining his reboot of "We Talk Games" for reasons he could answer better than I. During the first couple of months of "Volume 2," Wiggly and I were talking almost daily about how to take the show in a new direction. A lot of our discussion revolved around a new format. We bounced a lot of ideas back and forth the weeks before and during the first three months of "Volume 2." We agreed that while we wanted to be on the same level as our contemporaries, we also wanted to be different from them. We agreed the "news" and "numbers" segments were pointless, because they were boring, dated the back-catalog and could be heard in a thousand other places; so they were dropped. We wanted listeners of "We Talk Games" to enjoy something that broke from the norm. You can listen to a handful of "top-tier" video game pod casts each week and essentially find the same discussions about the same games. That's why I feel our retro-game discussion, special guest interviews, "man-on-the-street" approach with correspondents and Stinky & T.T. characters are extremely important to the show's direction. It was my idea to have interviews with special guests from within the video-game industry and it's culture; which is why my largest responsibility for the show is to finding them each month. I also handle the manufacturing of our show's "Pro-Gear" merchandise.

Ross - What is it like to be able to see the community of we talk games grow now that you have the social media style site ?

Kyle - From the beginning of my involvement with "We Talk Games," I wanted our show to have a rocking website on par with our contemporaries. It understandably took some time, but the result -in my opinion- outshines our contemporaries and continues to evolve. Wiggly and Kyle DeFranco deserve all the praise and credit for their work. Being able to connect, communicate and share with the "We Talk Games" community and watch it grow is extremely rewarding.

Ross - What moves are you and Wiggly looking to make to take the show to the next level ?

Kyle - Unfortunately there are a lot of things going on right now that I cannot discuss, but some thing should start to be revealed soon. Bringing "We Talk Games" to the "next level" is something I'm constantly thinking about. Undeniably, growing our audience has been the biggest struggle and frustration for us, especially because it isn't the fault of our product. New listeners and our special guests within the industry have largely had nothing but positive things to say about our show. Former special guests like Trip Hawkins, Alex Neuse, and -more recently- Team Meat have said that our interviews have been the best they've ever had. We were commended and promoted by Taito of Japan. So what's the problem? I believe the problem is "We Talk Games" is lost in a flooded market. There are a million other video-game podcasts out there and most of them suck. People are loyal to two or three shows, because they know what to expect each week. That's how I feel as a listener of other podcasts. Anytime I deviate out from my set roster of shows and tried something new, I'm usually disappointed. We have to get our brand out there and get people listening, so they can discover the quality product we're delivering. Wiggly, John and I can are always promoting the brand in different ways, but the efforts from our core community shouldn't be over looked. Listener like yourself and many others -I don't want to name names in fear that I'll forget someone- have been very instrumental in promoting the show. We're all very thankful for that. 

Ross - How many subscribers do you have to the podcast and in which ways are you trying to attract new listeners ? 

Kyle - I honestly don't know the hard numbers for our subscriptions, but whatever they are, I want to double them within a year. There's no one thing that will accomplish that goal, so we've been delivering weekly content, running contests, getting interactive and hitting the payment; rewarding our current listeners all the while. Good old "word-of-mouth" works too. I urge our listeners, if you like what you hear, tell as many people as you can.

Ross - Do you listen back to the shows yourself ? 

Kyle - I listen to every episode "We Talk Games" at least twice. The first time through is because I'm truly a fan our of product. However, each time after that is for personal improvements and quality-insurance. Thus the "addendum." I take my role in show very seriously and I'm always looking to improve.

Ross - Which are some of the best games that people may never have heard of on any of this generation of consoles ?

Kyle - This is difficult because a couple of my picks have been discussed on the show already, which is why "We Talk Games" is great. "Chromehounds" for the Xbox 360, "Little King's Story" on the Wii and "Retro Game Challenge" for the DS. I think you can get those titles on the cheap and they should bring a lot of enjoyment.

Ross - What areas of the gaming genre market do you feel is over saturated at the moment , by this i mean do you feel there are to many FPS , RPG Etc ?

Kyle - There's definitely an over-saturation of first-person and third person shooters, however even within those genres one can find a new fun experience. For example, "Transformers: War of Cybertron." Japanese role-playing games (J-RPGs) on the other have been over-saturating the market since the Playstation (PSX) and haven't brought anything new or interesting to the table since 1997. That's one genre that I've grown tired of.

Ross - And on the flip side of that what genres do you feel don't receive enough love from developers ?

Kyle - I'd like to see more good point-and-click adventures like those currently coming out of "Telltale Games" and arcade-style games of the same quality of "Pacman CE" and "Geometry Wars." Thankfully the current DLC marketplace scene makes this request economically viable.

Ross - What is your favorite genre of games ?

Kyle - I really like Western RPG's like "Fallout 3" & "Dragon Age: Origins."  I really dig the customization, exploration and narratives found in titles like those. Although my personal schedule has limited the amount of time I can invest in games like those.

Ross - Of the current gen consoles which is your machine of choice ?

Kyle - My Playstation 3 gets the most burn of all my consoles, mostly for playing PSN games and Blu-Rays

Ross - In your opinion which are the best and worst games that have been made into movies ? 

Kyle - Everyone cites the "Super Mario Bros." films as one of the worst, but "Street Fighter" was even worse. Dennis Hopper as "King Koopa" was a lot better than Jean Claude Van Damme as "Guile." Why is "Sagat" is 5'0" and 120lbs.? Both films are hilarious for all the wrong reasons. I remember "Mortal Kombat" being fun when I was 12 years old, but I have no desire to see if that film holds up today.

Ross - and finally can you settle a age old debate over who is better mario or sonic ? 

Kyle - One only has to look at the anthology of games from their respective franchises to see the clear winner. How many bad "Mario" games have you played? How many bad Sonic games were you too afraid to play? There's your answer.


Once again thank you Kyle i hope everyone enjoyed this interview if so let me know in the comments section so i can push on with more of them .


Cheers