Episode Details

Jay Epperson is a concept artist who is probably most famous for his concept art on Donkey Kong Country Returns and especially on Tropical Freeze.

#nintendo #donkeykong #donkeykongcountry

Thanks to the Patreon Producers for making this happen Stipe, Borkey, Magic8

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:35 - How Jay Went From Being An Illustrator To Becoming A Concept Artist At Retro

04:50 - Interview Process At Retro/Getting Artists To Draw In Interviews

07:22 - Coming In As A Concept Artist Towards The End Of DKC Returns

10:20 - Retro’s Environmental Artists Were Smart

11:13 - Jay’s Art Is In The DK Theme Park

13:15 - Working With Designers

16:10 - Doing Concept Art On Tropical Freeze

18:42 - Choosing Vikings Over Aliens For The Concept

19:57 - Tikis Vs Snowmads/Reusing Assets

21:20 - Why The Ice World Is The Last Level

22:00 - Sales On Wii U/Coming Up With The Different World Themes

25:06 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Juicy Jungle World

29:27 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Water World

31:11 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Mangroves World/Cut Concepts

32:38 - CONCEPT ART REEL - Savannah World

33:18 - Showing Portfolios To Potential Employers Without Breaking NDAs

33:50 - There Arent Limitations On The DK IP

34:35 - Referencing Rare’s Work

35:33 - Nintendo Japan Were Hands Off On Concept Art

36:22 - Working On Mario Kart 7/Jay Isn’t Included In The Credits

38:30 - Jay’s Outlook “My Next Piece Will Be My Best Piece”

40:25 - Japan & Retro Testing Mario Kart 7

41:06 - Jay Reviews DK Bananza

25:29 - Jay Thinks DK Bananza Is A One Off

47:00 - Jay Doesnt Like K Rool’s Character Design

50:39 - DK’s New Look

52:22 - Why Jay Left Retro Studios

53:20 - Retro Studios Is One Of The Best Studios To Work For

54:00 - Retro Studios Art Team/Metroid Prime 4

55:35 - Nintendo Are Art Forward Not Technology Forward

56:35 - Will Retro Work On Donkey Kong Again?

57:35 - Will Retro Work On Metroid Prime 5/Would Jay Work On DK Again If Retro Asked

59:40 - Closing Comments