In episode 02, we sit down with Benjamin Johnson, or Mr. Benja as he’s known online, who is a designer and creative living in SoCal best known for being the lead designer on Rockstar Games Presents: Table Tennis and being a prominent open-world scripter for Red Dead Redemption.
Early on, he was introduced to the arts, but when he came across video games, he quickly decided to make game development his focus. Benja obtained degrees in Information Systems and Software Engineering from Florida A&M University and Michigan State University, respectively.
From there he went on to create and design video games for companies such as Sony Santa Monica, 3DO, WowWee, and, of course, Rockstar Games San Diego.
Afterward, he turned his focus away from the corporate and has since moved into creative ventures including podcasting, gallery curation, and a fine arts project called The 8Bit Cubist. And as he explains, “Life Imitates Game.”
----more----
Chapters:
- (0:00) Who is Mr. Benja?
- (01:01) Intro Theme
- (01:27) Are Games Art?
- (04:56) A Toast: JÄGERMEISTER & Peloton de la Muerte Mezcal
- (11:22) Falling in love with video games
- (17:29) Learning & Applying DirectX
- (23:10) Committed to Getting a Game Dev Job
- (28:27) Interviewing at the 3DO Company
- (41:21) Being a Gameplay Engineer at 3DO
- (55:49) Playing Grand Theft Auto 3
- (01:06:36) Can I be a Rockstar?
- (01:14:26) Lead Designer for Rockstar Presents Table Tennis
- (01:34:54) Red Dead Redemption Bounty Hunter
- (01:43:52) Game Design is Dead
- (01:50:47) Q&A - Suprise from Chris Bourassa
- (01:53:00) Mr. Benja Farewell
- (01:56:06) John's Recap
- (01:57:26) Next Episode Teaser: Mayling Tan
- (01:57:58) John's Outro
----more----
Additional Resources:
The 8Bit Cubist Mr Benja's ADD Experience Follow Benja on Twitter @mrbenja
Follow Benja on Instagram @mrbenja
Follow you host John R. Diaz on Twitter @elkingpin
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com