Skywalker Ranch, Making Toys, Crunch Culture, Hong Kong Concerns, EA, Being an Expat in Bangkok with Chris Nicolella

28-year video game and toy industry veteran Chris Nicolella talks about moving from the U.S. to living in Bangkok as an expat that included some initial challenges. How he started in the video game industry working at NEC’s TurboGrafx-16, then transitioning to NuFX, which was later acquired by Electronic Arts turning into EA Chicago. Hear the challenges of game industry crunching and what it was like in the early 2000s, along with breaking into making iPhone apps on the side.

Learn how he transitioned into video game publishing to get his first job at Electronic Gaming Monthly that was like a frat house, then transitioning to the more professionally run GamePro magazine. Hear why he left the publishing business, worked briefly in Florida, plus how we worked together on projects back for Turbo Technologies Inc. and the TurboGrafx-16 consoles.

Hear what he wished he’d done earlier in his career and how it might be useful advice for you. How Nintendo was very protective of their games out for reviews and a story about Lebron James and NBA Street Vol. 2. Learn about working on best-selling toys like Giga Pet and the late ‘90s cultural phenomenon that sold 40 million units, Furby. Hear about working on toys for Star Wars: Episode I, II, and III, that included flying out on Hasbro’s jet to Skywalker Ranch and the Halo movie that never came out but had content repurposed for another movie.

Learn how in 2006 Marvel launched their own movie studio to create Iron Man film in 2008, which was controversial in some ways. Hear about traveling throughout SE Asia, sobering thoughts on the Hong Kong crisis, advice for breaking into the toy or game development industry, and how to get in touch with him, hosted by John ‘JP’ Podlasek. (See gamedevadvice.com for show links and details.)

Resources:

*@Ultimatetoy Twitter

*chris@set-to-stun.com email

*chris-nicolella: Skype

*Chris Nicolella LinkedIn

*TurboGrafx-16 Wikipedia

*NuFX Wikipedia

*Electronic Gaming Monthly Wikipedia

*GamePro Wikipedia

*n-Space Wikipedia

*Turbo Technologies Inc. Giant Bomb

*Donkey Kong Country Wikipedia

*NBA Street Vol 2 Wikipedia

*Giga Pet Wikipedia

*The History of Furby, the Electronic Pet That Took the Late ‘90s by Storm Bustle

*Furby a Threat to National Security? CNN

*Why the Halo Movie Failed to Launch WIRED

*Iron Man (2008 film) Wikipedia

*A Troubled Actor’s Rude Awakening L.A. Times

*Giga Pets Amazon

*Hong Kong’s Troubles Are Just Beginning Forbes 

*Expat Guide to Living in Bangkok, Thailand Expatolife

*Level Ex website - we’re hiring for all kind of roles!

*Game Dev Advice Twitter

*Game Dev Advice email

*Game Dev Advice website

*Game Dev Advice Hotline: (224) 484-7733

*And thanks to Charles Dike Production podcast editing 

*Don't forget to subscribe and go to www.gamedevadvice.com for full show notes with links

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