(Reference) Illustrator Akira “Akiman” Yasuda, (Capcom) [toco toco]

(Reference) Game creator special: Daisuke ishiwatari (Guilty Gear) [toco toco]

(Reference) Game creator special: SUDA51 - [toco toco]

How a Private Video Game Collection Turned Into a Museum - [Motherboard]

"There’s a treasure trove of video game history deep in the heart of Texas.

Packed into an unassuming building, nestled between a community theater and an art gallery, I spent a quiet afternoon watching families explore the past. A father and his two young children fiddled with Rubik's Cubes while Wang Chung blasted over a sound system, telling us about their dance hall days.

A ten year old boy sat on a bed made up with Pac Man sheets and blasted away atDuck Hunt on a small TV. Playboy magazines peekedout from under the bed, leering up at a Super Punch Out trash can and a Pole Position poster.

This is Frisco’s National Video Game Museum and the bedroom, mocked up to look like the typical gamer’s bedroom from 1987, is one of many exhibits..."

Continued on Motherboard

Redeeming Big Red Button After Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric - [Polygon]

"After the release of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Bob Rafei, co-founder of development studio Big Red Button, got letters from fans telling him that he ruined their childhood.

During his long career, Rafei has worked on numerous critically acclaimed games. He had his hands on the Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and Uncharted series — all smash hits. But since breaking away from those, his career has gone down a bumpier road, with his independent studio having trouble getting its early projects to see the light of day, and the aforementionedRise of Lyric receiving ridicule from critics and fans.

But Rafei hasn’t lost faith in his studio, and right now he says he’s looking at a potentially great comeback story. Polygon recently spoke to Rafei about his career in the game industry and how his team is moving on from Rise of Lyric..."

Continued on Polygon

(Will probably transpose at a later date - definitely worth reading though)

The Secret Developers Of The Industry - [Polygon]

"In July 2015, developer Comcept launched a Kickstarter campaign for its game Red Ash. It didn’t go well.

Despite raising over $500,000 in pledges, the campaign missed its target and critics pummeled its approach — pointing to Comcept launching the campaign before seeing through a previous one, announcing a console port without identifying which console and continuing the campaign after finding external funding.

For production studio Hyde, which had teamed with Comcept to develop the game, the campaign presented a new problem.

Hyde has been around since 2002, has worked on over 200 games and has had a hand in some of Japan’s biggest franchises, including Final Fantasy, Persona and Yakuza. It just can’t talk about most of them. The team often works in secret, doing its job but not appearing in the credits or mentioning the work publicly. Speaking with Polygon, Hyde President Kenichi Yanagihara estimates that he will never be able to talk about 70 percent of what the company does. And that worked fine until Hyde asked the public for money..."

Continued on Polygon