Y’all already know how much I love playing The Last Of Us! I beat the game at least 20 times and had to get the safe codes tatted on my hands so I never have to look em up again lmao!! Those digits are in the handwriting of the dude who created that game and today’s guest on the pod, Neil Druckmann!!!
I've literally been playing video games since the original Nintendo, the last of us is undoubtedly, the greatest story in a game ever. Even on the 6th play through. Thank you Neil for this game and series.An absolute masterpiece 👏
"It's hard being an introvert. You keep playing a conversation in your head and you want it to be perfect, so you just hold off on that conversation until I can make the perfect version and then I just never do it". I feel that.
Absolutely love Neil, though he’s told these stories a million times I have all the time in the world for the guy that made my favourite games. Thank you for giving him time to speak.
I'm about to be 16, and I have switched many career ideas. To wanting to be a police officer, engineer, or psychologist. Until I did an assignment on researching an artist; that artist was neil druckmann. Through Neil, I realized my passion. I love writing and creating a world that people can relate to and feel connected to the characters and story. Ive been doing it ever since I learned how to read and write.Through research, it made me see another skill of mine directing. Throughout all of school, I've always been put into leadership positions even when I didn't want to be. my teachers always pushed me to be the leader of the group project while I reluctantly agreed. I was good at it. It was stressful because no one ever did their work, but I got it done and did it correctly. I'm really determined to be a writer and director for a video game company, and honestly, I wish I could be there now, but I know I need to work hard to get there and I'll do whatever it takes to get there. Thanks for reading ❤
One day you are going to be interviewed just like this one because you made a difference and this sounds crazy and it should be so keep on doing and it will happen
Cool interview but allow your guest to talk more bro. We don’t get to see a lot of interviews with Neil Druckmann and I feel like you spent a good portion of this show being the one talking instead of allowing him to talk. I would have loved to hear more about his experiences with TLOU2, especially his ordeal with the hate and also if that negative response now hinders some of his creative direction out of fear that he may once again relive that terrible experience. I adore TLOU2 and it would have been great to hear more about it. Next time, less yappin bro and keep your guest on the mic
Love the review and comparison of the show. That is spot on. I had to rewatch the show binge style to fully enjoy it. I loved the first time watching but once rewatching 3-4 episodes at a time was much better. Also Neil makes a great point on what you watch first, also similar vibes to if you read the book first your imagination has more to explore versus watching the created movie is more limited.
Great episode! Hope there's a "PART 2" of this because we wanted to know more of what happened when Neil started pitching TLOU! Just the history is so great to know!
Man it would be a dream come true if I could be on this podcast one day. I grew up in MoCo the same time that Logic did. I'm surprised we never met each other back then tbh. We are actually the same age as well lol. Anyways, you're my hometown hero bro! It makes me so happy to see you thriving and living your best life.
Came here to say I totally agree with Neil that whichever you see first is often what you like better. I watched the show first and fell in love with the world and characters. So incredible, seeing the struggles and the good and bad in the characters actually changed some life perspectives for me. We loved it so much that my husband and I started playing the game after watching the show. Definitely love them both but if I had to pick I’d pick the show. It just has a special place for me. I wish I could watch it for the first time again, it made me feel all the feels. We are stoked for season 2.
I respect Neil Druckmann and his incredible work on tlou. I was curious to hear more about his insights and challenges, but you did a great job with this episode.
Hey can the editors please edit time stamps in when Neil is actually speaking?? This is insane I'm almost to the end of the video and Neil hasn't said anything other than how he grew up and that's it, barely talked about how he made the games because the whole freaking time logic is explaining to him how much time he has on his hands and that he doesn't want nothing from him but in the same breath will tell him in detail about all the scripts that he's writing and how much he loves being involved in the industry NEIL IS IN or he'll just talk about his own music career, God damn it I clicked on this to hear the freaking man speak, what are wasted opportunity
@@NickZheleznov94 yeah I wanted to do that but I couldn't find the parts where Neil was speaking so I had to restart from the beginning and just force myself to listen but oh my God I was getting agitated so bad but Neil doesn't do many interviews so I had to sit through this one
Funny he said uncharted 2 was the most fun for him and I felt it when I played the Uncharted Trilogy. You can tell their was alot more love put into it the designers outdid themselves for sure.
Just a testament to how amazing TLOU as a GAME is, my fiancé and I watched the show and we binged it in 2 days, she loved it. I told her it was z game, she saw they remastered part 1 bought it for me as a surprise just to watch me play it and loved the game even more. It’s easily next to GTA Gears & Halo one of my favorites games of all time
Neil's question about whether people who watched the show first will prefer it to the game. I just don't see how that's possible. To me the game is on another planet of quality storytelling. I really liked the show... but its not even close. I can nit pick the show to death for this and that. (Not enough infected) but when it comes down to it, I prefer the characters in the game over the show.
Yo Logic, thanks for this interview. I’m in the same exact boat as you. Neil’s/ND’s games have impacted my life greatly. I feel like how you described what it did for you is identical to me. It’s almost uncanny. I’m born in 1990 as well, Jan 30. 8 days after you. I was also 19 when I played Uncharted 2 and holy shit that thing blew me away. There was nothing like it before. I think we were at the prime age to experience that game too. 19, you have a decade of gaming experience prior to it, so when UC2 came out you were old enough to appreciate how crazy that game was. I learned so much from this interview. Some inspirational shit in here for me as an artist as well. Looking forward to Naughty dogs next game. Hopefully a reveal this summer. I know he probably told you what it was off camera. Lucky bastard
@@batucenk3997 I have been following his work since high school am 31 years old now. I did my College project on him and Naughty Dog. Either you don’t know nothing about him or you’re just an idiot that judge people by word of mouth. No one is perfect and Neil is certainly not perfect he even say so himself
I love you logic but you interrupt the man too much, specially when he gets so excited and gets so close on his highs on what he’s talking about. I’m sure you can find a better time in the end of the conversation to jump in. Just some constructive criticism. Much love. Edit: other than that I loved this. It was the best. The university part was very new and inspiring.
Are u joking?? I wanted to hear more from logic, he barely spoke?? Neil was like me me me me oh and more me. Logic literally had to interrupt otherwise the whole damn podcast would have been Neil talking. This guy is too self absorbed when Logic is so interested in what he has to say. Neil is giving bad energy
@@User99887x100% opposite. I was drawn in and engaged when Neil was talking about his history with school and getting into the industry only to have Logic interrupt and take time to share examples of how he can relate. That is certainly a normal thing to do and welcomed in this setting, but by the end I felt like we were about 50% at best into Neil's story and really wanted to hear more about how his career took off and really the making of The Last of Us at all.. never even got details on that. Logic is new to this so I hope he is getting some of these stories and what not out of his system now because often times podcast hosts will retread the same stories and anecdotes that are new to the people they're talking to but very much old news for the listeners.
Dang I was really hoping to listen to a podcast and get more insight into Neil Druckman but I got a 90 minute podcast of Logic going through a mid life crisis
If this is a professional thesis, you'll wanna do enough research until you uncover names like Robert Cogburn. Spoilers: If your thesis involves, in any way, that Neil Druckmann is a smart or good person, get ready to be shocked! Cogburn's the tip of the iceberg!
@@crazyinsane500 I have indeed noticed some inconsistencies in Druckmann's account of things.. For example, he once said that Bruce Straley helped with a lot of the story of Part 1; in the remake for PS5 and the HBO show, however, they didn't credit Straley. The subreddit The Last of us2 has a lot of opinions against Druckmann, but it's sometimes difficult to discern which ones are true and which are just spurred by discontent and hatred. Would you care to elaborate on your opinion of Druckmann?
@@nike77155 My opinion on Druckmann is formed largely by those who actually have had to deal with him. There's a lot of surface-level stuff that shows he's genuinely a bad person, but once you start talking with ex-employees (who are VERY candid, it's just that literally nobody has reached out to them due to vested interests not to do so) you'll find he's worse than the surface-level stuff you can find. Like you point out how Druckmann stopped crediting Straley after Straley's departure? Well it was pretty infamous that he stole credit for Uncharted, which was uniquely Amy Hennig's work, when it came time to promote the Uncharted movie. His whole life is basically that, to which he earned the title "The Hitchhiker." He would always just steal credit from others.
@@crazyinsane500 Thank you for your input. To me, even just the surface evidence suggest that while they handle things okay externally(as far as the public can see), both Hennig and Straley’s departure soon after Druckmann’s rise suggest that there could be some bad blood between them. My study focuses on the adaptation process of the game to the show. I have no doubt Druckmann is a very talented writer and knows how to tell emotive stories, but it indeed seems that execution-wise, he has some flaws. The thing that confuses me is that these interviews and most official information say that he wrote the first game; that he came up with the idea of a police officer with a little girl and the Ico game inspired the change in control in the latter part of the game. But it’s just unclear how much creative input he got from Straley. Some even seem to suggest that the story was more of Straley’s idea than Druckmann’s, who wanted to a revenge plot with the first game with Tess as the villain, before they decided to scrap it. So yeah, it’s unfortunate that there are such inconsistencies with the creators behind such a great story. And Druckmann’s personality flaws, while not necessarily detrimental to the work itself, it does seem to undercut his credibility.
@@nike77155 Oh, well, to clarify that confusion that's mostly historical revisionism. Think on it, do you remember *ever* hearing about Druckmann before Amy Hennig was ousted? Of course not. And this follows true in interviews for the game. He wasn't *the* writer, he was "part of the team." In the artbook you can find evidence of this, because if he was the writer why did all his ideas keep getting rejected? Coincidentally, why in TLOU2, which it is uncontested that he did write, almost all his rejected ideas made their way into it? See, he isn't a talented writer, that's a common misconception because people try to cope with how he's ruining the company, thinking he at least got where he was because he was talented. He's not. He's not the author of The Last of Us, he's the author of A Second Chance at Sarah, a story you and nobody else has heard of. You can't even pirate it, and I don't think you can purchase it legitimately because it performed so poorly, but it is a real look at the issues that were always and continue to be there. Hbomberguy's video on Tommy Tallarico actually touches on (in a general sense) the reasons why Druckmann's credited, but not "the team." It's a common issue in the game industry where people go uncredited, even to this day. Back in the day it was women being totally erased from the history of Street Fighter's development. Today it's everyone else who typed out iconic lines like "He ain't even hurt." Druckmann is the Tommy Tallarico of videogame writing.
New to the podcast, fan of you logic, i might understand you're new to this i think, but maybe try to hold back your questions and remarks until after the speaker finishes. Idk just my opinion
My respect for people like Neil are so high because, I was somebody that wanted to get into the video game industry. I went to a small upstate New York community college for video game animation but I quickly realized that in order to get your foot in the door of the industry you can’t just wanna be an “animator”. You have to learn, rigging, UV layouts, modeling, texturing Literally …. every fucking aspect of the video game industry just to get the opportunity. it was kind of a disappointment. The best way I can relate this is this…. imagine you really like geometry, but in order to be a geometry major you were forced to learn trigonometry, algebra, impact theory, and every other mathematical field. It’s so much more complicated than people think it is when it comes to video games/ Digital media . Great episode!
Not really man, ya just have to go to a school that sets you up with the contacts or connects ya need to get your foot in the door. Its not always about what you know, but who you know. They had like 300 people working on TLOU. Just get really good at one thing, than show it off. Theres plenty of places to connect with the people you need to impress.
@@ParzTheDonthis is totally false, a majority of schools don't set you up with relevant connections, AAA only wants one thing from junior positions a master of all trades and happy to crunch, things are getting worse now obviously in the wake of all layoffs and downsizing
Your telling me, I pick one part of game development to master, I won't be able to get a job cause Idk how to do someone elses job? lol what dude no thats all propaganda to discourage people. Unless thats how you run your business. Let some other people eat. @@ayushsinghchauhan9558
Neil doesn't and has never done any of that. He got where he was by schmoozing the right higher-ups and sabotaging others so that they'd get kicked out to make way for him. He's a failed comic author, not a videogame designer. Hell, this isn't even a secret, in the industry he's known infamously as The Hitchhiker and people know to stay clear of Naughty Dog since he has a habit of blacklisting people over things as simple as not liking his writing.
Logically speaking, I feel it from you both as you’re talking. I’m on the same journey, and I am at that threshold now. What happens next? Don’t know, but I’m excited. All the hard work trying to find some recognition for the craft, unique, in trying to express that feeling. Sick interview. Maybe I can do the test, and watch the show before I play the game 😉🤣
A legend in the Gaming Industry. People really don't have a grasp on how taxing game development is and Naughty Dog is on another echelon altogether. I think at the very least, he'll do this New IP and Part 3. Beyond that, I wouldn't blame him at all for feeling run down at that point no matter how much he loves what he does.
@@avery.a5948 Fucking insane that you can just say that in an interview and then say you had to leave "for political reasons I won't get into to" ???? This guy is from a family of extremists and we just gloss over it because Uncharted 4 and that Last of Us are great lol. I just bought TLOUII on PS5 and was looking forward to playing it, now I'm deeply conflicted because it is certainly not BDS compliant.
Someone PLEASE tell Niel that Thier are many players like me who fully support his vision on his Game and recognize it as being one of the greatest stories ever told in video games history and is up their with FF7. Please continue to do remakes and remasters until you guys release the Last of Us on PlayStation 6. Continue to perfect and draw as much inspiration as you can and please charge us at least $40 bucks so that we can continue to financially support all that it's going to take to make this thing your masterpiece!!!! Don't release the remakes until a year after the PS5 Pro releases so that you can learn better the console capabilities and allow Sony to release more patches to make the system run smoother. Your game is to good to be a part of the initial releases with all the system bugs. Hopefully this versions will be 120fps full 4K. And no detail is to small to be improved on. Like I said those dead people in the bathtub should look extremely gross and terrifying and feel like you can smell them through the screen!!!
This is the greatest interview with Neil ever. Neil never looks that comfortable. Perhaps because he’s always a representative of Sony and the games media is looking for game information above all else.
Shout out to Logic, Neil and everyone at Naughty Dog man they really set a new standard of not just video games but story telling in general I have a hard time thinking of another video game experience that can rival what Naughty Dog did with The Last Of Us and oh my god did I love the TV show I can't wait for season two yall have no idea the joy I had when I heard Pedro Pascal was cast for Joel thanks for giving a Chilien/latino actor a shot at something as great as Joel Miller I also can't wait to see what Isabela Merced will do as Dina in the upcoming season!!!! Anyway here's to Logic and everyone at Naughty Dog for the creative inspiration!
@logic im sorry but you needa stop interrupting your guests to talk about your own work. half the pod im hearing about ur recent album releases or some lyrics ur writing. dude Neil is the guest let him talk
