Host Scott C. Jones talks to Nick Harrison – an actor, stuntman, and fight coordinator in Hollywood – who says that the Star Wars movies got him through his difficult childhood.
The original trilogy of films helped Harrison find his way through a gauntlet of nightmarish experiences – – experiences that otherwise may have destroyed Nick had Star Wars not been there when he needed it most.
Harrison released an autobiographical book last year (titled Safe Space) that catalogues his pre-adolescent experiences along with his undying devotion to The Force, the Light Side, and R2D2. [**Warning: This episode features frank conversation about sexual abuse. Discretion is advised.]
Marissa Roberto is a TV host, sports maniac, and certifiable eSports goddess. Some people say that she’s the Canadian equivalent of Cher. Hailing from the flyblown prairies of Saskatoon, Marissa established herself as Victor Lucas’s number one co-hosting choice on television’s EP Daily.
Now, back in good old Toronto, Marissa currently barnstorms Tik Tok (@mrob29) and “roolz” Instagram (a.k.a. “Insta”) (also as @mrob29) on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. Due to the pandemic, which, unfortunately, is still wreaking havoc, Marissa currently hosts and produces her own sports-centric TV show for TSN – – not in a fancy-pants TV studio, but from her own home in Toronto, where she lives with her husband, puppy, and the ghosts of a million farts.
Kristen Salvatore was an esteemed games journalist for a handful of years – – she was, in fact, EIC of PC Gamer, as some of you know. But before the journalism boat sank, Kristen transitioned to the business side of the world. Indeed, everything Kristen does seems wise, confident, and terribly considered. But the reality for her? It’s a bit more complicated than that, as you’ll learn in this week’s revealing HTFG episode.
Currently, Kristen is the Senior VP of Marketing at Cloud9 eSports in LA. She’s working from home these days, like many of us, and trying to co-parent with her partner in a Brady Bunch-type household.
Does the strong, seemingly mythical Kristen Salvatore have challenges? You bet she does. In this honest, forthright, and terribly candid HTFG convo, Kristen reveals that even fancy execs like herself still put their tailored, Gabardine slacks on one leg at a time like the rest of us do.
Ken is a salty, experienced game developer. He’s worked on a host of AAA games in his career. Raised and educated in Canada, Ken impulsively relocates to the UK in his 20’s, and manages to land a series of plum gaming gigs.
Early in his career, Ken meets a strong but complicated woman. They fall in love and have a son together. But the relationship is strained for a variety of reasons.
And Ken, desperate to support his reeling family, takes a job in a remote part of Scotland. During a contentious time, Ken and his young son find solace in 2003’s The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Ken and Kieran (who is now grown, obviously), proving that the apple never falls far from the tree.
One of Ken’s AAA games from early in his UK developer career (title: APB).
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (2003) screenshots:
Farrah takes aim — and saves the Prince’s skin once again.“Now, please shut your pie-eater and follow me.”“I thought we agreed – – no shirts.”Pro Tip: Not having a shirt on makes it 4 percent easier to balance on the game’s tiny platforms.
When I lived in Vancouver, my guest today and I once made plans to meet for coffee on Robson Street. Our shoot ran long that day at EP. Running behind, I raced across downtown, trying to get to my meeting. I was 10 minutes late. I was prepared to apologize profusely, to make it up to Dr. Zentner. But when I got there, Dr. Zentner was already gone.
Dr. Z. (Ali to me) does not suffer fools. Never has. Never will. I was angry with Dr. Z. for ditching. Sometimes people get stuck at work, I told myself. But I also respected the fact that she ditched. It was her choice, and it was a strong one. Our friendship has been difficult, to say the least. But there is, as you will hear in our conversation today, great love and respect between us.
Dr. Zentner is married to a veteran game developer at Relic Entertainment (Jason Brackman). She is one of the most successful, confident people I have ever met. Yet she’s also fallable and real and vulnerable, too. There’s never been anyone in my life like her. So, buckle up — today’s interview is funny, intelligent, and embarrassingly honest. Follow Dr. Z. on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alizentner and Twitter https://twitter.com/alizentner
Sarah Dietrich is Scott’s guest on HTFG. Sarah D. and her husband, Dave, were guests on S1: E5 of Heavily Pixelated, where they shared a painfully honest and super sad story. In fact, before you listen to today’s episode, you might want to listen to Sarah’s first appearance for context. You should bring some Kleenex with you. https://scottcjones.com/blog/?page_id=3473
How do S. & D. work from home, and tend to their two kids, and play video games all in the same day? Sarah offers parenting PRO TIPS for people like herself and Dave who are in the same (often poop-filled) boat.
SPONSOR: Today’s episode of Heavily Pixelated is brought to you by Coast To Coast Coffee, North America’s #1 coffee roaster. https://www.coasttocoastcoffee.ca
Yes, this is DAVE, Sarah’s husband, standing next to the tombstone that Sarah left for him on their island in Animal Crossing. (Just look at the WHAAAAA? look on Dave’s face.) (It’s official: You’ve been pranked again, Dave!) (Sick burn, right?)
Sarah D. has been “buying” all of K.K. Slider’s albums in Animal Crossing, hoping the large-headed hound will eventually perform a live show in her village. No autographs, please!
Alex is an IT professional in Toronto, Ontario. He spends his days helping coworkers and consumers solve complex technical problems (and bailing out daft noobs like Scott). Indeed, part of living in modern society requires us to talk to people, like Alex, on a fairly routine basis. In 2016, Alex suffered a devastating loss. Kind/gentle Alex, during his grief and misery, somehow wound up playing one of the most over-the-top video games ever created: DOOM. Can a notoriously violent video game help someone to grieve? That’s the question we explore in this episode of Heavily Pixelated. Resources: Feeling low? Go to this website to find help: https://www.crisisservicescanada.ca/en/ Or call 1-833-456-4566, 24/7. People are waiting to talk to you. Alex’s charity-of-choice is Eva’s Print Shop: https://www.evas.ca/what-we-do/print-shop/ Eva’s Print Shop is a terrific organization which supports homeless youth. Donate to Eva’s Print Shop here: DONATE Need proof that Alex finished Doom 2016 on Ultraviolence? Here you go:
Meet Eve Crevoshay. Eve is the Executive Director of a terrific organization called TakeThis.org. TakeThis.org aims to decrease the stigma and increase the support for mental health in the video game realms. Their motto: “It’s OK to not be OK.” I am a big fan of the work that Eve and her organization are doing in the world — particularly during a trying time like the one we are living in right now. On today’s episode, we travel via the Magical Internet into Eve’s home office on the West Coast and hear about her own personal self-care practices. TakeThis: https://www.takethis.org/ Eve’s husband, David Edery, makes games: https://spryfox.com/ The International Game Summit on Mental Health: https://tigs.ca/ Follow Eve on Twitter: http://twitter.com/evecrevoshay Eve’s family: IGDA’s Game Development Crisis Conference: https://igda.org/resources/covid-19-resources/
Meet Harold Goldberg. HG is one of the coolest cats on the planet. Harold’s an esteemed critic, talented scribe, a renaissance man, and a life-long New Yorker. He resides on the Lower Eastside of Manhattan with his partner, Helen, and a cat named Lazlow. You can find Harold’s byline in the Washington Post, the New York Times, and many other publications. His book, All Your Base Are Belong To Us, is available on Amazon. Check it out at this link. Follow Harold’s playful scribblings on Twitter: https://twitter.com/haroldgoldberg There, you can see things like his infamous “Rocket Man potato” (WTF) as well as candid moments of his cat, Lazlow. Harold is also the founder of the NY Videogame Critics Circle. https://nygamecritics.com/ Here is a photo of Harold (at the podium) in the NY Game Critics Circle: Seventeen artists in NYC share their perspectives from indoors. Note: Harold lives closest to this one:
The great Steve Tilley joins me for a revealing exploration of his own personal self-care habits in the “How To Feel Great” series. Steve, as many of you know, is a superb writer and editor who is a trusted, veteran voice of reason for the Toronto Sun. Steve also served as 50 percent of “Team Toronto” (*with Raju Mudhar) on Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run for a number of years. Heavily Pix reached Steve in his apartment on an idle Saturday afternoon after an intense session of high-speed laundry-folding. BIZARRE-O FACT: Steve lives underneath a convent of nuns for some unknown reason. (He really does.) If you have a question for a future episode of HTFG, record it on your phone, then email it to heavilypix@gmail.com. Rim World trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tDrxOASUog Follow Steve on Twitter: https://twitter.com/stevetilley Q: Is Sea of Thieves the best pandemic game out there? https://www.seaofthieves.com/ Here’s a candid photo of the custom-built cabinet that houses all of Steve’s vintage gaming equipment: Steve calls this shot “smoldering intensity”:
The incomparable Ashley (Episode 3) returns to the Heavily Pixelated studios for a heavy duty conversation with host Scott C. Jones about her personal methods of self-care. Ashley is, as always, incredibly forthright about the ways that she’s still vulnerable — and she opens up about the practices that reliably keep her on the healthiest […]
We’re dropping a bold, brand new segment into the show, folks. It’s called “How To Feel Great,” a.k.a. HTFG. In HTFG segments, Scott talks to gamers about their best practices for finding balance in their lives. For the inaugural episode, Scott speaks to the happiest man on the planet – the legendary Victor Lucas – […]
Ah, the open roads of the old midwest. No bluer sky in the world than the sky in Ohio, I tell you. This week, a young big rig driver and gamer named Aaron tells Scott his story while he’s putting the pedal to the metal on Route 90, just outside of Toledo. That’s right: Scott […]
Elise is a woman from Montreal, Quebec. She grew up with a series of surreal health issues including celiac, chronic fatigue syndrome, and more recently, Crohn’s disease. Despite her illnesses, and despite being home schooled (because of her chronic illnesses), Elise did not give up/give in. Elise found her voice. She discovered an inner strength […]
Marianne is a voice actor, producer, and writer based in Los Angeles, California. When Marianne was in her early 20’s, she and a friend traveled to Europe to see a bit of the world. But something awful happened on the trip—something that Marianne has been trying to find a way to live with ever since. […]
Kira is a poet who lives in the Midwest. But she comes from a hard background. Kira’s father was a drug dealer. Her mom was an addict. Kira is the youngest of six. Not surprisingly, she grew up feeling unwanted, feeling like she shouldn’t exist. But a Kingdom Hearts game taught her an important lesson […]
Steve is a gamer from Toronto who was born with an eye condition called nystagmus. As a result, his vision is severely compromised. Steve is legally blind. Despite his condition, Steve still plays games. And, surprisingly, he does this publicly on his Youtube channel, Blind Gamer. On this episode of Heavily Pixelated, Steve revisits a […]
Jason is a nerd from the U.K. who, thanks to his mother, grew up with a gigantic computer in his bedroom. Then Jason met a girl named Paola. The two fell in love and got married. Then Paola contracted a rare, life-threatening illness that would change both of their lives forever. Though they were housebound […]
It’s a tale as old as time, people: A sweet kid from the heartland (Matt) moves to Los Angeles and – POOOOF! – magically transforms into a glam rocker. One day the glam rocker goes to the dentist to have his teeth cleaned. But what Matt doesn’t know is that his life will never be […]
A brother telephones his older sister in 2018 and asks her to help him install Red Dead Redemption 2 on his PS4. But the sister — Christine — is distracted that night and tells her brother that she’ll phone him the next day, promise. But what Christine doesn’t know is that this phone call is […]
Simon and Abi are a father & daughter from the UK, now living in New York City. During a particularly trying moment in Abi’s teen years, Star Wars Battlefront 2 (along with ample amounts of familial love) emerges as an unexpected source of camaraderie and comfort. CAUTION: If you’re particularly sensitive to the subjects of […]
In the final episode of Season 1 host Scott C. Jones asks his macho, insecure father about the incident that happened 40+ years ago and what he did (and, unfortunately, didn’t do) on Scott’s behalf. Also: Scott revisits the woods—his Ground Zero—for a final reconciliation. (Part 3/3) Part 1 and Part 2 can be found […]
Scott returns to rural Upstate New York and sits down with his mother, to ask her a series of questions he’s needed to ask for four decades. (Part 2/3) Part 1 and Part 3 can be found here and here.
Scott heads back to his childhood home in Upstate New York and unravels a personal story he’s needed to tell for decades. (Part 1/3) Part 2 and Part 3 can be found here and here.
Scott has a conversation with a woman who explains how BioWare’s Mass Effect series gave her the courage to make one of the biggest decisions of her life.
Kyle tells Scott about overcoming “gamer shame”, his cancer diagnosis and how the games Fallout 3 and Rocket League helped him deal with the life-changing events that unfolded.
For the Season One opener of Heavily Pixelated Scott speaks with a man about his journey through divorce and how games like Destiny, Bloodborne and the Souls series helped him keep his head above water.
Heavily Pixelated – Season One Trailer
Jul 07, 2018
Season one of Heavily Pixelated airs tomorrow, Sunday July 8th. Catch episodes at this link here or at your favorite podcast portal. Here’s the Season One trailer for your listening pleasure.
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