Mitch Gitelman: Building MechCommander, Shadowrun, Battletech - And Why Kindness Wins

Game-making maestro Mitch Gitelman sits down with Jordan and Jonathan to spill the wild origin story of how “a kid who didn’t know what a pixel was” bluffed his way into Sony - and then built classics like MechCommander, Shadowrun Returns, and BattleTech. From goat-pasture negotiations and Microsoft war stories to why “improvise, adapt, overcome” (and a lot of kindness) still beat crunch and corporate ego, this episode all about creative hustle and staying human in AAA chaos.

Check out SLICE - Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo, is a one-day games industry conference that Mitch is helping out with:
https://seattleslice.org/

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Our guest this week is Kevin Hanna - who started as a scrappy game developer before making an unlikely leap into directing documentaries, including the acclaimed film about Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. He joins Jordan and Jonathan to share candid insights about the creative hustle, turning lunch-table dreams into award-winning reality, and why true creativity means making your own luck, even when the odds are against you.

Watch Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters on Amazon Prime:
https://amzn.to/4dfzPho

Check out Ink On Paper (Kevin's film studio) on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@inkonpaperstudios

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In this episode, storied game designer Chris Taylor (Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander) joins Jordan Weisman and Jonathan Grant for a candid conversation about fearless creativity, costly mistakes, and why groundbreaking games often mean never waiting for permission. From pioneering real-time strategy to surviving the brutal highs and lows of independent studio life, Chris shares his boldest bets - and what it truly takes to deliver on ambitious game-design dreams.

Check out Chris' web‑based RTS project Kanoogi:
https://www.kanoogi.com/

00:00 Jordan Weisman and Jonathan Grant welcome Chris Taylor
03:10 Chris Taylor's Early Career and Hardball
08:09 Transitioning to Boxing Games
12:18 Taking the Leap: Leaving EA for Total Annihilation
15:08 The Rise of Total Annihilation: A New Genre
21:00 Balancing Complexity: The Challenge of Game Mechanics
29:00 The Role of Trust in Creative Teams
34:37 Subtraction in Design: Knowing What to Remove
40:25 Creative Freedom and Game Development
43:52 From Cave Dog to Gas Powered Games
55:13 Work-Life Balance in Game Development
01:00:18 The Pain of Innovation
01:04:34 Lessons from Mistakes and Expectations Management
01:13:50 The Burden of Expectations & Navigating Failure
01:19:01 The Evolution of Game Development
01:24:11 The Changing Landscape of the Gaming Industry

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