Technology
Mike Wikan is a Game Designer who has worked on Duke Nukem, Donkey Kong and DOOM. He is most well known for being Lead Designer on the Metroid Prime Trilogy during his tenure at Retro Studios. He is now Creative Director at Booz Allen Hamilton WEBSITE - https://www.boozallen.com #metroid #metroidprime #gamedesign TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Intro 01:27 - How Metroid Prime Was Developed/Techniques That Were Used 07:06 - Working With Nintendo/Language Difficulties/Translators 08:11 - How Nintendo Operates 09:09 - Shigeru Miyamoto Story From Donkey Kong Country Returns 11:12 - Tanabe Was The Reason For Spider Ball & Boost Ball Guardians Difficulty 12:17 - Fixing Things In Metroid Prime Trilogy 13:14 - Nintendo Analysed Every Bit Of Text In Metroid Prime Trilogy 14:03 - Who Was Responsible For The Lore/Luminoth Language 15:56 - Sketching Background /How Mike Learned Coding, 3D Models, Design etc. 19:45 - Growing Up In The Military/Taking Military Experiences Into Metroid Prime Development 22:16 - Mike Had To Do Non Detailed Sketches Before Handing Them To Artists 24:10 - How Quadraxis Boss Was Designed/Gameplay Ramping/Game Engine Camera System 30:28 - MP2 and MP3 Didn’t Have Crunch 31:09 - The True Story Behind Metroid Prime 2’s Initial Development 32:20 - Metroid Prime 1 Crunch/Management Of Retro Studios Changed After Metroid Prime 1 34:00 - How Booz Allen Hamilton Gaming Development Works/Avoiding Crunch For Creatives 36:35 - How To Manage Creative Staff Properly 39:05 - How To Prepare For Curve Balls In Game Design/The Pillars Of Game Design 40:52 - Meta Ridley Boss Fight In MP3 Inspired By Lord Of The Rings/Original Meta Ridley Design Fight In MP1 42:26 - Mike Wikan Loves Lord Of The Rings 43:15 - Mike Is Very Introverted/How He Breaks Through It 46:35 - Being A Lifetime Learner 47:18 - The Problem With AAA Game Studios & Lack Of Leadership 49:01 - Breakdown Of Gaming Studios Profits From Game Sales 51:28 - How Nintendo Operates In Terms Of Managing Staff 52:03 - Eastern Game Design Vs Western Game Design 52:53 - Gameplay Trumps Graphics/Story Never Sells A Game 54:22 - AAA Games Designs Flaws/How Mike Guides Game Designers 57:10 - How Management Works Once You Have More Than 45 Staff 57:47 - No Excuse For Western Developers Not Adapting To Eastern Game Methodology 58:58 - Mike’s Managing Style At Boon Allen Hamilton 1:02:35 - What Games Mike Wikan Plays/Bullet Echo 1:05:31 - Mike Will Play Metroid Dread & Prime 4 1:06:40 - Where To Keep Up With What Mike Wikan Is Working On 1:07:44 - What Was Being Fine-tuned With Metroid Primes Audio/Clark Wen 1:09:45 - Mike Is Extremely Thankful To All The Metroid Prime Fans To This Day