Episode
#201 - Jay Epperson Interview On Retro Studios, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Mario Kart 7, Concept Art.....
- Podcast
- Kiwi Talkz
- Published
- Feb 28, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3691
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://rss.com/podcasts/kiwi-talkz/2562872
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Summary
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 - W…