With Demon's Souls nearing release, it's all things Atlus! We welcome Atlus USA's Manager of PR Aram Jabbari to the show. Localization strategies, digital distribution, aggregate sites, and much more are covered, and we take our best shot at getting you some Persona scoop! The back half of the show brings some of the most in-depth Demon's Souls discussion around. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, and Tim "Tim Spaeth" Spaeth.
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Topic and Game References:
- Atlus
- Shin Megami Tensei series
- Trauma Center series
- King's Field series
- Cubivore
- Demon's Souls Review
Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.
Cleveland native Tim Spaeth grew up in a happy household – a household with a father whose major client happened to be an Atari games distributor. This led directly to Tim's first nickname: "The kid who got Atari games before anyone else." Indeed, he knew Pac-Man and E.T. were colossal bombs weeks before the rest of the world, and the resulting celebrity brought him great pleasure.
Through the years every aspect of Tim's life has been touched by gaming. He mastered typing thanks to Space Quest, honed his poker skills on The Sierra Network, and learned to hate after a particularly traumatic game of Tecmo Super Bowl.
Today, Tim lives in Chicago with his three kids and strives to find that perfect balance between family, career, and Warcraft. He enjoys broadcasting, martial arts, rock and roll, growing and shaving his beard, singing show tunes to the homeless, and losing at Mario Kart to his lovely, talented, and amazing girlfriend.
In late 2008, Tim became the producer and host of the GameCritics.com Podcast, and he's thrilled to be bringing GameCritics' unique editorial voice to a brand new medium.
Through the years every aspect of Tim's life has been touched by gaming. He mastered typing thanks to Space Quest, honed his poker skills on The Sierra Network, and learned to hate after a particularly traumatic game of Tecmo Super Bowl.
Today, Tim lives in Chicago with his three kids and strives to find that perfect balance between family, career, and Warcraft. He enjoys broadcasting, martial arts, rock and roll, growing and shaving his beard, singing show tunes to the homeless, and losing at Mario Kart to his lovely, talented, and amazing girlfriend.
In late 2008, Tim became the producer and host of the GameCritics.com Podcast, and he's thrilled to be bringing GameCritics' unique editorial voice to a brand new medium.
Latest posts by Tim Spaeth (see all)
- GameCritics.com Radio 2018 GOTY Celebration - January 12, 2019
- GameCritics.com Radio 2017 Holiday Awards Spectacular - January 13, 2018
- GameCritics.com Radio Episode 5: The Switch and Zelda - April 7, 2017
You can read the transcript here.
I just wanted to thank you guys for this podcast, it was heartening to hear someone from Atlus USA – PR or not – get a chance to speak about their games. They deserve credit for bringing unique games to a market dominated by shooters and sports sims, and was a bit more candid than most public relations reps I’ve heard in the past. I am a very long way from a JRPG aficionado, but Persona 3 and Persona 4 held an intangible charm and polish that seemed to have warranted more recognition than they got. While Aram’s job is… Read more »
Reactions to this interview have been interesting. No question, I had strong reservations about bringing a PR rep on. The title carries with it some baggage; would we hear only rehearsed, canned PR speak? Would we only get one side of the story, etc. And Aram was totally up front during our pre-interview that there were certain questions he couldn’t answer. That comes with the territory. Believe me, we had no expectation of breaking news on Persona 5. Though we tried. 🙂 I think Aram did a really good job with some tough questions, and probably crossed the traditional “PR”… Read more »
Hi Guys, I got to chat with Chi a bit yesterday about the podcast. While I enjoyed what the regulars brought to the table, I didn’t enjoy your guest as much. When you bring developers on the show, they bring a very interesting and personal perspective to the discussion of games. Perhaps it is the nature of PR, but I never felt like I heard a real strong opinions (besides the “my game is great” examples). Too many of the comments were couched in “Let me give you an example” and then it lead to a discussion of an unnamed… Read more »
sorry, that’s just my overt cynicism. i think us cluey gamers are kind of conditioned that way given the nature of most gaming media coverage.
Well, we’re not trying to shill and Atlus is not doing us any favors. It’d be pretty cool if they WERE, but they’re not. Sadly. The simple reason I’ve been pumping Demon’s Souls so hard is that it’s just a mindblowingly good game that is in very real danger of being completely overlooked this holiday season. With all the bigger games hitting in Q4 with milions of dollars of advertising behind them, it’s a sad fact that a niche, hardcore effort like DS has no chance at retail unless sites and critics like us get behind it and get the… Read more »
I’m surprised you guys actually asked the Coded Soul question. Appreciative, but surprised.
And I’m also surprised he gave a real answer. I mean, he did it in PR language, but it still answered the question.
Anyway I don’t care about Coded Soul anymore. My fresh, delicious, deluxe edition copy of Demon’s Souls awaits!
i’m all for this website, but the pimpage of demon souls has kind of got a bit ridiculous. in a “atlus will do us favours” kind of way…