Voicebot Podcast Episode 9 – Interview with Jo Jaquinta, Alexa Game Developer Extraordinaire
Jo Jaquinta has been a software developer for 20 years and over the past two has become one of the leading game developers for Amazon Alexa. In 2015 he published a simple knock-knock joke Alexa skill and that was soon eclipsed by the very complex Star Lanes first-person adventure trading game. Sub Wars, 21 Blackjack and Six Swords came later. In between, Jo wrote two books on Alexa development including one specifically about voice-controlled games.
Alexa Game Payouts and the Snow Cone Dilemma
In this week’s interview, Jo Jaquinta offers his insight on Alexa development, voice-first game design, how the Amazon Alexa skill reward payout system works and what he has learned along the way. He even talks about the Snow Cone Dilemma that his friend Travis Teague first characterized base on one of Jo’s early critiques. Voicebot readers will remember Travis as the and Alexa Slack community manager. Jo is often seen as an outspoken critic, but he says the elements are there for developers to monetize their skills and that the platforms have robust features to leverage. The challenge is the lack of options around skill promotion at any price.
Show Notes
- Find Jo Jaquinta on Twitter here: @jjaquinta
- You can also find Jo here: Alexa Slack Group
- You can learn about Jo’s consulting company: TsaTsaTzu
- We talk a lot about Jo’s 6 Swords game. Find it here: 6 Swords
- The Books: How to Program Amazon Echo, Developing Amazon Alexa Games
You can listen to the podcast interview above or at any of the locations below.
Voicebot Podcast Episode 2 – Independent Developer Nick Schwab from Get Invoked
Voicebot Podcast Episode 4 – Alexa Developer Quentin Delaoutre
Interview with Travis L. Teague – A Leader in the Alexa Developer Community
