State of Play: Jonathan Blow - REMASTERED Full Interview

Here's the remastered interview we did with Jonathan Blow in 2011!
The content of the interview is the same. Mr. Blow talks all about his life in the industry, his game BRAID, and many thoughts and feelings about video games.
What's new is the remastered audio. We've fixed the stereo mix-up, and we've also removed some of Brandon (the host's) interjections.
We hope you enjoy!

[@Bartleby1892]

Right, Right, Right, Sure, Yeah, Right, Sure, Right, Right, Rightrightright, Aww, Sure, Right, Rightrightright, Right, Sure, Ehmhm, Right, Yeah, Right, Right.

[@Emrox]

only man to say "right" more than jon in conversation

[@HeartBrokenBiker]

Dude can't just let him speak! Too much acknowledgments for every 2 words spoken. :/

[@Vouk73]

Mhm... yeah... good... right.... mhm...

[@hkoxnw]

His thing about trickery in game design is on point. Tricking someone into learning something about themselves, tricking someone into having an unforgettable experience etc is not the same as tricking someone into giving you all their money.

[@SammyShades]

I like how Jonathan when the interviewer introduced him was just like "hey" so cool ! :P

[@SB-hs4yn]

They need to continue this series, i really enjoy all the interviews.

[@PhilShary]

Mr Blow created much more than just a good indie game. He created a MATURE indie game. And by mature I mean that it's a game made by a real grown-up, not a manchild - and this interview was also a pleasure to watch

[@jglasshalfpool4640]

Really enjoy these interviews but have to agree with other people's dislike of the "yeah, sure, good, okay." Let the man talk!

[@VijayRudraraju0]

Thanks so much for making this! I've watched it like 5 times.

[@Blobmanne]

Thank you so much for remastering this, the last 20-30 mins was worth it alone. Love listening to Jon Blow talk.

[@Inshaine]

That's great Blow gave credit where it's due. It's too common for the"one man" indie games to be falsely credited.

[@LivingintheVan]

I've watched 5 interviews on your channel with different developers. They are all amazing. What I particularly like is that you give total control to a developer and he or she can talk as long as they want how they want. You don't cut it to show things your way. Unlike how it happens in documentaries, where they try to make things overly dramatic. Great job! You definitely deserve more views.

[@KallistoOfCallisto]

Whoa! I just saw you (State of Play Show host) in a UPS commercial while listening to this. Cool.

[@3333218]

This is simply the best interviewer ever! And I'm sad he never made any more interview videos. Where is he?

[@indeimaus]

Amazing man, watched the full hour and 11 minutes, love your interviews.

[@skategarbage]

Jon Blow is a pretty enlightened individual with regards to some stuff. That was a really good interview... Thanks for starting this show. Indy game dev rambling is turning out to be really interesting!

[@toureiro]

really excellent interview. Thanks

[@MyHumanLife]

Just finished the video, this was really interesting to watch. Lots of good discussion, great job!

[@StateofPlayShow]

Thanks much!

[@JoshForeman]

Wonderful interview. Keep them coming!

[@SilverAngelMF]

Your interviews are so good! You deserve mutch more reproductions and subscribers! Greetings from Uruguay!

[@emlee2]

I am really enjoying your interviews, really looking forward to more. Most interviews in games dev are from an angle where a new game is on the table to sell and spread the word for, but your interviews are more about the individual, their experiences and their philosophies, and I find that so much more interesting. Great work, keep it up!

[@fofarrell]

My /goodness/! This is /such/ a good interview! Thank you so much just for doing interviews that appreciate the person and connects on some level! Gosh!

[@ezzbbj8]

Thanks for this! The original one was a bit of a chore to listen to, so this is definitely a welcome change

[@finlay_sm]

I love these videos so happy this channel exists. I just listen to this while I make games!

[@StateofPlayShow]

Hey thanks! I'm glad we've had people enjoy what we've done, so it's important for me to listen to the comments, too. Thanks for watching!

[@ChainsOfFateGame]

These are awesome, going to marathon watch these while I make my second game =D.

[@a_void]

These interviews are very enlightening to listen to while making a game.

[@JEWGENI1]

again nice episode. Jonathan Blow is amzing

[@Feynaro]

I like that Jonathan talks about his false starts and discouragement before "getting it right".

[@StateofPlayShow]

Thank you so much! That's what we like about doing them, too. Thanks for watching.

[@Dexterdevloper]

Great interview.

[@TheAnimator1808]

This was excellent, especially from 55:00 onwards. It all felt especially applicable to the games industry even now.

you interviews are awesome man! Are there any new one comming?

[@areddan]

Does anybody know the review he's talking about (The thumbs up/thumbs down by a relatively well known game writer)? I'd love to read it.

[@DL-ty4cu]

good interview. Lotsa great encouragment as an artist in the industry...trying...goddamnit....trying.

[@LucianLuminosul]

Awesome interview, and a great inspiration for me. Thanks for the video. :-) I even took notes and wrote a few quotes! Again, great inspiration for exploring more of what video games can be and express!

[@virtualgirlfriend4484]

mm... mm... yeah... mhm...

[@Sothasilenium]

Love when Red Dead is mentioned, one of my teachers was lead design on it. Feels good for some reason.

[@jamesbrowne5496]

I've never seen anyone on youtube take constructive criticism as well as you have, both in your comments and ultimately with the release of this video! Man, you just rolled with the punches and learned from your mistakes. And of all the videos you could have remastered, this was the one I wanted to see! You just got yerself a sub! Keep doing what you're doing!

[@dejayrezme8617]

Hehe around 49:00 he starts doubting if he'll make another hit. I think "The Witness" is already a hit.

[@Fabimr14]

+Dejay Rezme Yeah but this was 5 years ago. He had hardly even started The Witness at this point haha

[@dejayrezme8617]

Matt Fabius I wonder how long the idea was floating around in his head. But his other talk about "how to make deep games" or the one about how to stay creative during long projects kind of outlines that you have to rely on having good ideas while making the game. So it might not even matter than much what idea you start with, but how well you run with it.

[@PirateZ1]

Great job guy :) You got yourself a sub, thank you

[@deqdweoifjiow]

Please keep making these videos, these are the most insightful video about games on youtube, especially this one with JB. If you got any idea how can we help you guys to get more views, tell us.

[@Semikami]

Now I need to listen to this again - I just must. '_'

[@iamcreasy]

I came here hoping the remastered edition is going to mute the host from time to time.

[@alexyorkart]

Great interview! Thanks for posting this. On a random note, what is that excellent piece of music for the end credits?

[@ArthurTribuzi]

awesome... just awesome...

[@StateofPlayShow]

Thanks. We're much better about that in our more recent interviews. Cheers!

[@cristiancampos7807]

This video was so truthful and thought provoking that i am going to start a game right fucking now.

[@user-ol3pj3cu3l]

What a great developer Jonathan is!

[@TurnForeverYouAndMe]

The guy doing the interview is terrible... Interjecting to make weird barely on topic points and "mhmm"ing non-stop... comes off as REALLY unprofessional and REALLY annoying.

[@StateofPlayShow]

Eh-?.. Wow! Thanks so much for watching. We've so enjoyed doing them. All best to you!

[@droedel2008]

I really like what you're doing here. Jonathan Blow is always an interesting guy to listen to, even if you don't necessarily agree with his ideas.

[@NeilPopham]

Would you consider releasing these interviews as an audio podcast (downloadable MP3 via RSS)?

[@indeimaus]

Where are you doubleplus!

[@gabrielkwi]

Could you please release separated tracks from both microphones? I can edit the audio so it's more comprehensible when John is talking and some other sounds get in the way. It's kind of annoying to watch the video as it is now.

[@getyaboogieon]

Great vid, but a polite suggestion.. Please keep the pointless replies (yep, sure, ok, yep) to a minimum! It's distracting and not what people want to hear. Thanks for posting though..

[@StateofPlayShow]

Hey, thanks, man! --- As of right now... no, there are not. There will DEFINITELY be some more down the line, but we're on hiatus right now. We are in the process of reorganizing our actual lives - ha! Thanks for watching the show!

[@bluesjockey]

... right.... yeah... absolutely!

[@lubbiz]

LOL i can totally relate to that!!

[@LordJohnboyeee]

Does anyone know the interview he's referring to (the whole thumbs up/thumbs down review)? Just curious!

[@bazzboyy976]

The Interviewer really isn't that bad.

[@maxi_rv_raxor]

+bazz boyy He can be a little bit "Annoying" but he direct people to talk about what we want to hear even better xD

[@Oppurtunafish]

+bazz boyy he was just inexperienced, can't really blame him for that

[@dstarr3]

Yeah. He asked some good questions that enabled JB to launch off on some interesting tangents, which is really the best way to interview a person like him. But, yeah, the noises, not great.

[@BrunoB78]

just came here finishing this interview after I started watching it years ago when it was still in multipart format, just wanted to say a big fuck off to everyone who complained about the "mmm" "yeah" "so" and so and so, WTF the guy was just trying and obviously he was new at this, cut him off some slack FFS!

[@mtnsaray]

I am hoping that "Braid is your first game" question was intentional.

[@wyattsailors]

Really negative comments. Great questions, great interview.

[@StargazingTwilan]

Anyone know what Jon was talking about at 13::10 ?

[@iPixelFace]

Yeah, right, absolutely, correct ... Mhm, making yeah = gr8 reporter

[@goforyourself]

"seven one syllable words" braid is a test of your....

[@3333218]

Waaaa.... So there's actually more people like me out there ?!!! =O

[@Panj0]

Great video, Jonathon Blows my mind (sorrry :p). Wish the host hadn't had quite so much coke before the interview tho.

[@hkoxnw]

+kcuf0 so much blow, you mean

[@Panj0]

maxxramman Touché, how did I miss that one xD

[@zimalimakima]

The look he gives Jonathan at 31:17 creeps me out :(

[@foxar9606]

The "Mhm, yeah, mhm, yeah, uhuh, mhm, yeah" is REALLY annoying.

[@Inshaine]

Sometimes I feel like he's not even following along.

[@foxar9606]

Like, it doesn't sounds like he's pretending to be listening. It sounds like he is mocking John by exaggeratign those "mhm" and give a clear signal that he's not listening.

[@root1315]

yeah.. mhm .. absolutelty .. mhmm.. right .. right exactly .. mhm .. huh.. hhuh.. yeah .. right right mhm .. sure ..

[@Sothasilenium]

Fuck you guys now I don't know if I can watch the series

[@kirillm6083]

RIGHT!!!1

[@TheDJA4E]

Obviously, John is way to smart/insightful for this guy..."right, right", "hmm", "hehehe", etc.

[@cgpilk]

He should play Papers Please.

[@goforyourself]

I just wanna know the full concept and meaning behind BRAID from Jon blow but Idk. its like he doesn't want to say it

[@TaraGraphic93]

Stop saying right.

[@nintendude794]

Right?

[@alvaroplol]

Hunter Short Yeah. Sure.

[@higgins007]

+TaraGraphika93 yup, makes the guy unwatchable.

[@RaterNerd1881]

+Paul Higgins Matter of opinion

[@higgins007]

Yaiy im on Yiay Really?! Holy shit!! I was under the impression that I was in possession of divine, objective, absolute truth. Thanks for pointing that out!

[@Qwazin]

Imagine if Jonathan Blow and Hideo Kojima had a baby and it created the most fucked up game ever made

[@StateofPlayShow]

Hahaaaaaa... Awesome.

[@Weapon0fCho1ce]

I love your interviews, but you need to learn when not to talk. 90% of the time you're really good at it, but there are times, especially in this interview, when you just refuse to stop saying, "right." I love that you're doing these though, keep it up!

[@fabianrunn]

hmm, yeah, right, great, GREAT, hmm, yeah. Blow has loads to talk about, but the guy talking to him seems not to be listening but to rather be spending all the time figuring out where he can add another useless "right, hmm, ok, wow"

[@multiz0rak]

is this interviewing guy paid by the word?

[@superkimsay]

Right, Sure, ok great, Right, mhm, Sure. The interviewer creeped me out within the very first minute.

[@boobsonglass]

"And we've also removed some of Brandon (the host's) interjections." you sure about that? yeah. mhm. surrrrrrrrrre. Watched other videos thank god he didnt do that in those, he actually did quite well and i really enjoyed them but this one holy shit i cant stand it! haha just a tit distracting.

[@wundersoy]

Jon seems very strange and almost controlling, I think the topic of how his game was perceived by the public hurts him.

[@xxmarka]

Please stop making these videos so that I can actually start getting to bed at a reasonable time instead of staying up watching them.

[@alexnoman1498]

You guys made this sound like The Worst Interview Ever. It was completely fine, calm down. And don't leave it on the table because of the comments, as I almost did.

[@ArthurTribuzi]

awesome... just awesome...