The following transcript was created using artificial intelligence. There will be some grammatical errors below. 

00:00:04:28 – 00:00:19:11

Richard Carthon: Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of Crypto Current, your host, Richard Carthon, and today I have a special guest all the way out in Detroit working on some really cool games in the Blockchain space. We have John Wolff with Electronic Games. How are you doing today? 

00:00:19:23 – 00:00:25:01

John Wolff: What’s up, Richard? I’m doing pretty good. Thank you so much for having me on here. Very excited to talk. 

00:00:25:03 – 00:00:34:00

Richard Carthon: Well, very excited to learn more about Urban Electronic games and the amazing things that you’re also doing with Tontachi.ot, but before we do that, first, want to learn more about you. Can you give us some background on yourself? 

00:00:34:20 – 00:01:26:03

John Wolff: Yeah. So, name is John Wolf, a Detroit native, but I’m recently back in Detroit because I recently spent about four, four and a half years in Japan, which was quite an interesting experience. I’ve always been a game developer since I was 16. I have this studio called Urban Electronic Games, which you mentioned, and video games that’s taking me throughout my life, throughout the world. And so, I was making games in college and then I was working afterwards and then I decided to move to Japan to actually learn Japanese and also work in the video game industry, which introduced me to Blockchain and then Blockchain games. So, that’s a huge quick overview of who I am. But pretty much what comes to me, just video games and Japanese stuff.

00:01:26:24 – 00:01:47:03

Richard Carthon: Which is pretty remarkable, man. The fact that you had an interest, one to be able to travel than two, to go learn a whole nother language, but then to keep working on what you’re passionate about, which is games which then brought you into the Crypto, Blockchain ecosystem. So like, was it working out in Japan where you first learned about Blockchain and how it relates to the whole ecosystem? 

00:01:47:18 – 00:02:17:00

John Wolff: Yeah, yeah, it was. Again, I see the world through games, so, I had heard of Bitcoin like maybe around 2013 or 14, but, you know, wasn’t really aware exactly of it and then later on, in about 2016, 17, I found myself in Japan working at a video game startup and they actually created the first ever Blockchain game in Japan. So, I was working on that team, which is a really cool thing to kind of say. 

00:02:17:09 – 00:02:18:01

Richard Carthon: Yeah.

00:02:18:03 – 00:02:58:24

John Wolff: And, but, you know, we weren’t doing that initially. We were making games for like, really cute games because Japan has this whole Kawaii culture, which means cute, and they have games that are, you know, usually reflect that. So, you might know Hello Kitty and that character exists within a realm of characters under the brand of Sanrio and so, we had the IP rights to make other games under the Sanrio umbrella. So, we were making these really cute games and I was like, Okay, this is interesting because I just wanted to kind of work in the Japanese video game industry. I’m not particularly interested in these really cute games, not me personally, but I’m here for, you know, I’m just here for it. 

00:02:59:02 – 00:03:24:01

John Wolff: And then one day the CEO was like, Hey, we’re going to just switch gears and start making Blockchain games. And I was like, what is Blockchain? What is all this stuff? And then, I began to really learn about it, about, you know, wallets and then then various block teams that are out there and then how to, you know, exactly utilize Blockchain within a game to make, you know, these things that are called NFTs, which back then, we didn’t even really call them NFTs, we just called them ERC-721 tokens.

00:03:24:03 – 00:03:24:29

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:03:25:01 – 00:03:33:01

John Wolff: And that’s how it kind of all just came to be really quick and it’s been a ride and it’s still very interesting now. 

00:03:34:00 – 00:03:45:24

Richard Carthon: And what’s interesting about it, like you said, you decided to continue to work kind of in that space and now you’re getting to within Urban Electronic Games, you know, tell us a little bit about that and the latest project that you’re working on. 

00:03:46:06 – 00:04:00:18

John Wolff: Yeah, sure. So, UNIgames had always been making mobile games. I released my first video game actually in Japan, so it was localized in both English and Japanese. That was really hard to do, but that’s something else, a personal mission that I wanted to have. 

00:04:02:02 – 00:04:02:17

Richard Carthon: Congrats.

00:04:02:19 – 00:04:37:10

John Wolff: But then I, thank you. But then I was really kind of curious, you know, what should I be doing with my studio now? I’m simultaneously working for this Japanese company and there’s a lot of cultural differences when it comes to, you know, an American company and a Japanese company. I won’t get too deep into it, but, you know, this is always interesting that I think cultural values are reflected actually in video games as well. So, Americans tend to like games that are more simulators or war simulators. You know, some of the, I don’t want to say we tend to, but some of the most popular titles tend to be, you know, like Call of Duty, as opposed to over in Japan, it’s Final Fantasy, so. 

00:04:37:12 – 00:04:37:27

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:04:37:29 – 00:05:16:01

John Wolff: And there’s culture values because of that, but I can break that down later. So, I digress. But I was really interested in seeing how my video game career would go from here and as from a business standpoint, I knew Japanese and I asked this company because I was going to move back, you know, would you allow me? And this is in Japanese, it came out more like, most honorable sir, would you please humbly allow me to bestow upon me the most gracious usage of your IP of this game that we have humbly created together so that I may honorably, yeah. And it’s, you know. 

00:05:16:03 – 00:05:16:18

Richard Cathon: Oh wow.

00:05:16:20 – 00:05:48:13

John Wolff: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, that I may be able to continue to build on it because there were some things that I want to do that they didn’t necessarily think was the right thing to do, but I was like, No, no, we really have an opportunity here to make an augmented reality game because our assets are already in 3D. Most Blockchain games, you know, right now are primarily 2D. You might know X Infinity, you might know CryptoKitties. A lot of them are still 2D and PC based experiences, but we have 3D assets and I was thinking that, you know, augmented reality might be something that we should try. And actually now augmented reality is all that’s being talked about, right? 

00:05:49:08 – 00:05:49:28

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:05:50:00 – 00:06:14:18

John Wolff: Snapchat with the snap lenses, the spectacles and Facebook’s making their announcements and everything. So, I had this inkling that this would be something that would, you know, come to become a future trend. And I managed to be able to come back to the United States with, you know, this relationship in tow and have been developing an augmented reality version, extension of the game that I helped make when I was over in Japan.

00:06:14:20 – 00:06:41:09

Richard Carthon: It’s pretty remarkable. And the fact that you were able to get on the ground level like augmented reality, be able to also then tie in Blockchain, you know, you’re kind of at the forefront of this new age of gaming and how it’s all being built. How do you see this, you know, as you build this out and as it’s starting to be used, you know, what were some of the complexities that you kind of have to overcome for your everyday gamer or user to be able to pick this up and immediately start using? 

00:06:41:18 – 00:06:53:22

John Wolff: That’s a great question. There’s quite a few things. First, we talk about general onboarding, right? A lot of people still don’t understand Blockchain or Cryptocurrency, let alone Cryptocurrency, they don’t even understand the underlying technology of Blockchain. 

00:06:54:06 – 00:06:54:24

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:06:54:26 – 00:07:40:25

John Wolff: So, people think that mostly it’s like, Okay, I’m investing in something, but what am I investing in, what is this being used for? So, that is something that we have to make our game seamless. So, it’s like you don’t actually know almost that you are playing something that is Blockchain related. You’re actually just enjoying this experience until it comes to the point where you have actually earned something that can potentially make you money and then you bring in the Blockchain element. So, onboarding individuals onto a game experience that is simultaneously just a regular fun video game, but also a Blockchain based game has been one of the hardest things to do from a UX standpoint, from a coding standpoint, just to make people feel comfortable or for them to not even know, but just to have that seamless experience. 

00:07:41:09 – 00:08:13:21

John Wolff: Wallet management’s really hard because we’re doing mobile games and there’s not a lot of Blockchain mobile games. So, when you do find something that you have earned that can be represented as an ERC 20 or ERC-721 token, you know, how is that being secured? Phone security isn’t the best, so, you know, do we have this back in the server that’s going to get you over into a wall that you have later? So, those technological hurdles are still there and they still haven’t really been overcome. And then also being able to import NFTs. 

00:08:13:27 – 00:08:14:12

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:08:14:14 – 00:08:28:24

John Wolff: So, again, our game is able to bring in any NFTs, specifically we have treated ours, but we’re able to bring in any entity that you might have. I’m not sure exactly Richard which NFT you have, like do you have a certain art or like, game character?

00:08:29:12 – 00:08:36:21

Richard Carthon: Yeah. I mean, there’s certain things I’ve gotten off of like SuperRare and I’ve actually got a Crypto kitty and some other random stuff like that. 

00:08:36:25 – 00:08:45:15

John Wolff: Right. So, we are actually able to look into your wallet if you, you know, give us a signed permission and grab that Crypto kitty and then bring it into the game. 

00:08:45:18 – 00:08:46:03

Richard Carthon: Wow.

00:08:46:05 – 00:09:14:00

John Wolff: Now, Crypto kitties are 2D, so, we can’t really do anything. I mean, we can just have it out there, but it’s not really that much fun. But also building that out was a technological hurdle that I still feel like hasn’t really been done and that’s why we’re really on the forefront here of being able to bring in 3D NFTs, not just 2D, but 3D NFTs into an augmented reality environment, while simultaneously having that be a game that is fun for you, so, you are like, Oh, Okay, like I’m playing a game, but I don’t even know this is Blockchain stuff. 

00:09:14:28 – 00:09:22:14

Richard Carthon: Which is pretty remarkable and incredible. And I guess the next question I kind of have for you is like, what are you building it on top of? 

00:09:22:16 – 00:09:33:24

John Wolff: Yeah. Some of those things are trade secrets. No, they’re not. Well, there is a lot of secret sauce, but, you know, when you make video games, you use a video game engine. So, we use Unity. Maybe you’ve heard of that. Other people use Unreal. 

00:09:33:27 – 00:09:34:12

Richard Carthon: Yeah.

00:09:34:14 – 00:10:00:24

John Wolff: And so, when we make our video games, we just utilize that. And when it comes to augmented reality, there’s a lot of tools out there. One of them is called AR Foundation, which is really great, it combines AR Kitten and ARCore of course, so, you’re able to then have it for Android and iPhone. But the really cool thing that I can say as of late is that we’ve actually been able to be a early beta user of the Niantic, which is Pokemon Go.

00:10:00:26 – 00:10:01:11

Richard Carthon: Wow.

00:10:01:13 – 00:10:39:23

John Wolff: Of their augmented reality, SDK. And so, it’s called Lightship and we were participating in a game jam, so, game jams are usually 24 hours to make a video game. This one was a week and we had a week to just completely from scratch learn how this augmented reality SDK worked and then apply it to our game. And we were hungry and we were able to do this and we have some really cool features that work now. So, not only can you take this, you know, adorable, cute little pig from your wallet and bring it to augmented reality, but then if you have one and I have one and we’re with each other, then we can actually race in augmented reality. 

00:10:40:02 – 00:11:03:12

John Wolff: So, we can actually plot out a track and then it’ll go around and, you know, you’ll be able to see based upon how much you took care of yours, maybe yours will beat mine. Maybe I’m feeding, I’m petting my more, so, it has a higher level and it beats yours, but we can actually do that now. And it’s just ridiculous to be able to say that we can do that and simultaneously they are all in NFTs. And this is all something that’s only happened in like, in the last like week.

00:11:03:14 – 00:11:09:26

Richard Carthon: Man, that’s really cool. And the fact that you’re able to put all of these different layers of gaming on top of each other is awesome. 

00:11:10:00 – 00:11:10:15

John Wolff: Yeah.

00:11:10:17 – 00:11:18:28

Richard Carthon: But before I kind of dive into more of those questions, first we’ve got to spend more time on Tontachi.io . Can you explain what is it, how the game works and everything else like that? 

00:11:19:04 – 00:11:48:23

John Wolff: Sure. So, yes, good to take a step back. So, Tontachi.io is Japanese and I gave it this title. Ton actually means pig in Japanese. Tachi is a pluralizer, which either can mean other friends or just like, again, pluralizer, so, the game actually translates to pigs or pig friends. The reason why I chose that is because the game that I helped develop over in Japan was called Crypt-Oink. So, Crypto pigs. 

00:11:49:12 – 00:11:49:27

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:11:49:29 – 00:12:16:28

John Wolff: And again, for them, this, I guess the company really loved wordplay, so, in Japanese that’s Crypton. Again. Ton is pig, so, it’s all Crypto pigs. So, this spiritual sequel is taking that and then having it as pigs and pig friends. Also, you might know of Tamagotchi and that breaks down to Tomago, which is an egg. And that gachi, that tachi, which again is the pluralizer or friends, so, it’s an egg friend. 

00:12:17:03 – 00:12:33:11

John Wolff: So, you have egg friends back then, now we have pig friends. So, that’s kind of how the game works or the title works. Crypton itself was a breeding based game, so, you have all these adorable over, there’s so many combinations, I keep on saying like six billion, but there’s really a lot more than that.

00:12:33:13 – 00:12:33:28

Richard Carthon: Wow.

00:12:34:00 – 00:13:02:09

John Wolff: Where you can breed them together. So, you have a red one, a blue one and it creates a purple one. But there’s other combinations where, again, I love this one because they have afros. So, like, we have one set of like afros and nose rings with a jetpack on its back and another one that has like floral leases and another one that has like hearts on it’s like body as its body print, its body pattern. And they’re different sizes, different colors and there’s so many combinations. They all have certain attributes within them. 

00:13:03:13 – 00:13:32:27

John Wolff: And again, we don’t, like, we’ve developed that, so, it’s digital DNA. You breed them together, you find the one that works for you and it’s really cute. And even go on Open Sea and just search Crypt-Oink, Crypto-Oink and you’ll be able see the full collection. Also, we have the full, not full collection, but the collection of those that have been bred by users that are selling them. And if you go on to the website, Tontachi.io, T-O-N-T-A-C-H-I.io, you can see it on our website as well. And you’ll see all of these crazy combinations. 

00:13:33:01 – 00:14:05:04

John Wolff: So, the game is pretty much just a pet simulator where you’re taking care of these creatures, you’re feeding them, you’re breeding them and you’re able to race them. And what we’re doing is we’re doing exactly the exact same thing within this mobile application where you’re able to feed them, pet them, exercise with them, so, you are also losing some weight or, you know, exercising and then also racing them in the real world, which is crazy. So, that’s the long and short of both the original Crypto game that I did in Japan and the current state of Tontachi right now. 

00:14:06:12 – 00:14:48:06

Richard Carthon: Man, so, there’s so many cool elements that you just kind of blend it there, that, you know, you have the elements of like a Crypto Kitty where the sense of like you can go and have a ton of different types of these pigs that you’d be able to get. Then you have, like, it reminds me, kind of like the Neopets kind of deal where basically you can, like, interact with them and like, the more time you spend with them, the more active they are. And the fact that you can then go and race them, like you said, and because it’s augmented reality, you could like, do stuff with them. Really cool. So, it sounds like you’re blending a lot of different elements that gives it kind of like a wholesome vibe. And again, it’s all being built on Blockchain, which I think is the coolest part of all of this. 

00:14:48:12 – 00:15:31:20

John Wolff: A lot of the early games that came out in the Blockchain space, again, because, I actually was in charge of not only development, but international partnerships and relations at this Japanese company because no one there spoke English except for me and one other person. But it was really cool because, again, the Blockchain space was really new then. This was like 2017 and let alone Blockchain games. So, we actually have collaborations with these games. So, Crypto Kitties, I know the founder there, Benny and a lot of other individuals. Kathy I think, yeah. And we did a collaboration, so, we actually have one of our pigs with the Crypto kitty on its back. And yeah.

00:15:31:22 – 00:15:32:09

Richard Carthon: That’s awesome.

00:15:32:11 – 00:16:09:06

John Wolff: And so, we did that with the collaboration with them. So, the only way that it would work is that that if you had a Crypto kitty then you’d be able to purchase a specific Crypton that has a gene in it that might, if you breed it right. And you’ll be able to get the specific one. Then we did with Axie as well, so, one of the original axis, Puff, you can see that on the back of one of our Crypton because we all had these games back then. And the term is interoperability, which, you know, allows, you know, it pretty much was the original term before we started using metaverse. And now that’s a hot term. 

00:16:09:08 – 00:16:34:21

John Wolff: But interoperability is where you know, you’re able to bring in other games because all you have to do is just read, you know, an individual’s wallet and then find the information within there and then do something with it. So, we all have kind of very similar game makeups where we have breeding going on, but then we’re all taking it in different ways right now. X Infinity has their land and I mean, they’re doing great. It’s amazing how well they’re doing. And Crypto Kitties has spun off really to NBA Top Shot, that’s Dapper Labs. 

00:16:34:29 – 00:16:35:18

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:16:35:20 – 00:16:51:15

John Wolff: And again, working at this Japanese company like, we had like, a great advantage here, but they saw things a little bit differently, and that’s why I was like, Okay, allow me to then go off and do this one thing, which I think will be good. And that’s why I’m going to an augmented reality track with a mobile game. 

00:16:52:05 – 00:16:56:00

Richard Carthon: Yeah. And I mean, I think it’s going to be a good play personally.

00:16:56:02 – 00:16:56:17

John Wolff: I hope so.

00:16:56:19 – 00:17:33:28

Richard Carthon: Because I think augmented reality is such the future, as well as even virtual reality and even how the two can blend and combine. So, you know, I’m excited to see how this game continues to develop. I’m going to spend some time with it myself. But there’s a couple of things I want to go back and kind of revisit that I think are really interesting. It’s not everyday you get to meet someone who is fluent in Japanese and English, spent time there for four years and was one of two employees that could actually speak English. You said that there’s a lot of cultural differences, can you just kind of speak to kind of some of those while you were, you know, there and lived it? 

00:17:34:04 – 00:18:17:17

John Wolff: Yeah. So, this is again, it goes back to this being my favorite. This is like my favorite thing to say, I almost feel it’s played out, but it was real for me that again, kokumin shugi, this is a Japanese word means individualism, and it means that, you know, it’s an individual who, you know, is solo delo, okay? Then you have shuudan shugi, which is collectivism, where it’s all about the group over the individual. And that’s why I brought the video game example earlier, is that games like Call of Duty are more of Okay, yes, I do have a team, but it’s a first person shooter and my objective is to be able to clear out everyone, so, I’m the last man standing and I get to my objective. That is popular here, but over in Japan, you have suudan shugi games like Final Fantasy. Dragon Quest. 

00:18:18:20 – 00:18:53:06

John Wolff: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Monster Hunter, where it’s us together against a common enemy. You know what we’re trying to solve, almost an existential issue here in this fantasy world. And I saw that reflected in video games, but also the culture does that. So, you know, wages are relatively flat in Japan, getting a raise is not something that is really gun for. Everyone kind of has a very similar wage unless you are kind of like, in the next echelon and you’re an older person who’s been at the company for forever. 

00:18:54:23 – 00:19:14:14

John Wolff: And I found that clashing with not really wages, but as an individual, it was like, Okay, you know, I’m gunning for that producer position or I want that, you know, I want that specific raise. And, you know, I want to be recognized when that wasn’t something that was really, you know, a sentiment there. You know?

00:19:14:16 – 00:19:15:01

Richard Carthon: Yeah.

00:19:15:03 – 00:19:54:20

John Wolff: Like it’s not like it is here when we’re like, Check me out, check out what I can do, it’s like, No, look at what we can do together, which is a beautiful thing. But also when it comes to other aspects of the fact of like, well, if you give a new idea, you know, individuals can have a new idea that actually gets shot down because it has to be something that everyone else feels is the right move. And so, a lot of my job was to go, you know, talk to individuals and find out, to keep my ear close to the ground and get a beat on what was going on the Blockchain sector and sphere. And I would come back and tell them, like, Hey, this is what we should be doing and they’re like, Oh John, like, we don’t think so. I’m like, But like, listen to me, you know? 

00:19:54:22 – 00:19:55:07

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:19:55:09 – 00:20:31:18

John Wolff: Like, I’m not a foreigner here, I’m on your side. But this is an individual voice and it was very hard for them to adapt that. And then, it was also hard for me to also be like, Alright, let me calm down and let me, you know, kind of get the whole group together and not be so gung ho, you know? So, those things are reflected in the work scene, they’re reflected in life itself. You know, it’s a very orderly culture, they have the saying that the nail that sticks out gets hammered, but that homo gennadi makes for very solid infrastructure. 

00:20:31:20 – 00:21:09:19

John Wolff: I mean, you know, everything runs on the dot there. Trains are never late, the streets are always clean, and that’s because of this communal sense. So, it was very beautiful to be able to see that, but also had the juxtaposition of where do I fit in on this in terms of my career and just my own personal makeup. So, that was a culture shock and a really quick breakdown of how Japanese culture can be. I have so many stories I can talk more about. I was a radio DJ for a year, which is random, but, you know, that was a cool experience. But that’s kind of one aspect of Japanese culture that was really interesting to experience. 

00:21:10:07 – 00:21:30:12

Richard Carthon: No, that’s really cool. And, you know, I definitely appreciate that sentiment. One of my goals in life actually is to visit Japan and just go out there. I’ve always been fascinated, I mean, just by things like you just said, and to be able to live it for years and see that. I appreciate that insight and I’m sure a lot of people who heard it will appreciate it as well. 

00:21:31:08 – 00:21:45:10

Richard Carthon: Something kind of going back to the direction of gaming really quickly, where do you see the future of gaming as a whole? And then, of course, gaming like on the Blockchain. Like, where do you see us going in let’s call it the next two to five years? 

00:21:45:12 – 00:22:52:26

John Wolff: Also, good question, because I’m inherently a game designer and I feel like the game communities would almost label me as a black sheep now, because I’m adopting Blockchain. A lot of the game community still does not like Blockchain and does not like NFTs. There’s still the whole issue of the fact that when you’re minting an NFT or when you’re mining a token, that it takes a lot of energy and there’s a lot of misconceptions about that because, you know, there are some Blockchains that are worse than others. There are ways to mint NFTs, which are completely ecological, but that understanding is missed in the gaming community, and it’s hard for them to see the economic benefit for a game developer, the monetary benefit for a game developer to adapt Blockchain. So, there’s a lot of friction going on right now within this more independent game scene and bigger companies. 

00:22:54:29 – 00:23:35:21

John Wolff: And so, I do think you’re going to see the adoption happen relatively quickly. Maybe, yeah, I’ll say give it two years when the technology makes it easier to onboard users that things are more seamless. But, you know, it’s kind of hard to be able to tell exactly who’s going to turn that corner. I know Ubisoft has helped out actually in the past. I think they are interested in it. A lot of game companies are coming around because they’re like, Oh, let’s mint NFTs even though simultaneously people are like, Oh, we don’t like NFTs. But the user base, it’s going to take some time I think. 

00:23:39:17 – 00:23:40:04

Richard Carthon: Yeah.

00:23:40:06 – 00:24:14:02

John Wolff: Everyone wants money, and that’s turned a lot of heads for people who are interested in this play to earn model. So, it’s this play to earn model, the ability for you to be able to make games while, I mean, sorry, to make money while playing games, that is intriguing to people. And I do think that that at least in the West, because it doesn’t really matter over in the East, will help drive adoption. But not everyone, you know, really cares about that. Some people love it for the love of the game and they’re going to be harder to change.

00:24:14:04 – 00:24:14:19

Richard Carthon: Yeah.

00:24:14:21 – 00:24:27:27

John Wolff: So, you’re going to have a lot of casual people who are going to be attracted to it, but the more core audience is actually going to be the ones who I think would be more reluctant because they are more diehard, like, no, this is bad and this is what I’ve seen thus far. 

00:24:28:23 – 00:24:57:17

Richard Carthon: Yeah. No, that’s tremendous insight. Mass adoption to happen, I think in the Blockchain world, just like you said, the onboarding has to be a lot more seamless. There are some UI, UX hurdles to overcome. I think we’ve come a long way, even from 2017 for sure, like four years, big jump, but we still have some more jumps to do. But all the same, whenever we turn that corner, kind of like you said, like, I don’t see it disappearing. 

00:24:58:05 – 00:25:15:00

Richard Carthon: The the fact that there’s so much interoperability through Blockchain and like, I just think back to when I was a kid and like, there were certain games I played that I spent so much of my life and time on that if I could have taken those moments and either done one of two things and take it to another game or been able to sell it. 

00:25:15:02 – 00:25:15:20

John Wolff: Exactly. 

00:25:15:29 – 00:25:22:19

Richard Carthon: Oh, my gosh. And the fact that this generation is getting that opportunity, I think is just setting them up for all kinds of success. 

00:25:22:27 – 00:25:29:22

John Wolff: The next generation, you know more of the Gen Z are the ones who are going to benefit from it. I really feel like individuals like, are you millennial? 

00:25:29:26 – 00:25:30:11

Richard Carthon: Millennial. 

00:25:30:19 – 00:25:58:12

John Wolff: Yeah. For enthusiasts and early adopters are going to benefit from it, but I still think that, you know, we’re going to have a lot of Millennials are going to miss out on that beautiful aspect because of resistance to something that’s new, which is funny because we’re technological people. It’s going to be those who grow up in it that, you know, they’re going to have more of this, you know, ready player one type lifestyle that are really going to love it, you know?

00:25:58:14 – 00:25:58:29

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:25:59:01 – 00:26:32:27

John Wolff: So, we’re really building the materials and technology and the roadblocks are going to be enjoyed later on. And it’s going to be crazy that, you know, everyone talks about this metaverse coming. And with the rise of AR and VR, I do think that, you know, and Blockchain, you know, we are moving in that capacity, even though there’s so many people who are just against that. The tools are there to begin to make something so crazy and it’s going to speed up, you know, it’s going to speed up. But I really do think that AR, VR, and Blockchain are all going to be really tied together and making that happen.

00:26:33:21 – 00:26:58:03

Richard Carthon: Yeah. I 100 percent could see that as well. And I appreciate you being able to share all this information with us, but, you know, as we kind of wrap up, I have two fun questions I always like to go back to, the first one being with all the knowledge that you have right now, if you go back to yourself back in 17, when you’re first getting into the let’s call it Crypto, Blockchain space and you’re starting on this endeavor, what are some key lessons that you would tell yourself? 

00:26:59:27 – 00:27:02:14

John Wolff: I’d invest heavier. You know, everyone says that, right? 

00:27:02:24 – 00:27:03:09

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:27:03:11 – 00:27:43:18

John Wolff: Like, you’d invest more money in a specific token. And let’s see, from a development standpoint, what would I have done differently? I mean, saying that I’d be more bullish means the same thing. I feel like, I don’t know, I feel like I did pretty well, given the fact that there’s so much, you know, unknowing in this space. I guess I just wish I would have, you know, believed it even more than I did then.

00:27:44:02 – 00:27:44:17

Richard Carthon: Yeah

00:27:44:19 – 00:27:57:15

John Wolff: Because to me back then, it was more like, this is a job. I’m not necessarily an enthusiast of Blockchain, but it’s my job to go around and understand it, so I took to it. 

00:28:03:11 – 00:28:05:24

Richard Carthon: Yeah, so, it kind of just sounds like you would have just been like dive in.

00:28:05:26 – 00:28:06:11

John Wolff: Yeah.

00:28:06:13 – 00:28:08:24

Richard Carthon: Like, and lean to it more readily, embrace it. 

00:28:09:04 – 00:28:27:21

John Wolff: Yeah. And I think I did it enough, but I guess, you know, I guess, it would have been better if I did even more. I wish I had started developing the game that I was thinking about quicker, you know? I was kind of more like asking the company to do it rather than take it upon myself and I didn’t do it till about a year after that I had the idea and I just wish I would have gotten started on developing this even quicker. 

00:28:29:17 – 00:28:30:02

Richard Carthon: Yeah.

00:28:30:04 – 00:28:36:23

John Wolff: So, yeah, just being more bullish on it in general, I think is is my only lesson that I would tell myself if it was 2017 again, yeah.

00:28:36:25 – 00:29:02:21

Richard Carthon: Yeah. I mean, the takeaway I’m going to take from that is basically if you have an idea and it makes sense and you think like, this could be something great, lean into it, don’t drag your feet. Like, if you really feel it, go for it and, you know, you’ll find a way to make it work out. And then one final question that I have for you is just, you know, as we wrap all this up, what is the final thought that you want to leave with all the listeners here today? 

00:29:03:02 – 00:29:31:16

John Wolff: Oh. You know, I’ve always said play video games because they’re awesome. You can find out a lot about yourself from playing video games. I mean, you know, virtual worlds, virtue based, ethics, you know, learning. Just, you’re brave in a video game, therefore, you can maybe be more brave in real life. You know, it reflects a lot, but now it’s gotten more real where, you know, this play to earn model is definitely here to stay. 

00:29:31:27 – 00:29:43:19

John Wolff: So, this is advice for individuals to find, try to search around there to find a Blockchain game. Tontachi, mine’s great. You know, check mine out.

00:29:43:21 – 00:29:44:06

Richard Carthon: Right.

00:29:44:08 – 00:29:59:08

John Wolff: But find ones you like because if you get in on it now, just like we’re talking about it, if you get in on it now, you’re going to find it’s going to be lucrative for you in the future. So, yeah. Just, you know, play video games, but not play video games because they can make you money. That would be my advice to people. 

00:30:00:20 – 00:30:01:05

Richard Carthon: For sure.

00:30:01:07 – 00:30:01:22

John Wolff: Yeah.

00:30:01:24 – 00:30:20:14

Richard Carthon: Well, I think great final thought. I personally am a gamer myself, love them, I think it’s a great getaway. And you know, for those who want to turn it into a lucrative career, you can in more ways than one, whether you’re playing the game or creating them. So, John, really appreciate your time today. What are ways that people can connect with you? And I believe you also have some potential speaking engagements coming up soon. 

00:30:20:23 – 00:30:47:21

John Wolff: Yeah. The speaking engagements, real quick, I mean, we’re going to be in New York at Playcrafting NYC. People might not know that, but it’s a game conference on August 7th to the 9th. We’ll be doing some interesting things with Niantic, kind of showcasing this multiplayer race that we got going on. And then, we actually will finally have our first NFT drop, as people are saying now, but it’s actually going to be an air drop. 

00:30:47:28 – 00:31:41:28

John Wolff: The cool thing about Tontachi is that the pigs are all a specific generation. So, we’re going to kind of block it so that if you want to bring in one of your creatures, one of your pigs into the game, you have to have the specific NFT. So, for a more simplistic purpose, like we could have red keys and so, if you have a red key, then you can bring in a Crypton that’s red into the game, blue for blue, green for green, etc, etc. That NFT drop will be happening in September once we finish all these features we’re doing with Niantic. And then, in November is the NFT NYC conference, which I’ll be talking about the history or rather the history, I guess, evolution of Blockchain games in Japan and kind of how I was wrapped up in it. Still, I’m wrapped up in it and how it’s turned into kind of what I have to offer now. 

00:31:42:00 – 00:32:22:18

John Wolff: So, a lot of cool things are coming up in, you know, basically Q3 and early Q4 for us. And if you want to follow along, I’m sure the information might be written down somewhere on the website, but Twitter is @Tontachi, T-O-N-T-A-C-H-I A-R. And the website is Tontachi.io, so, T-O-N-T-A-C-H-I.io. And if you want to follow along with us there, we’ll be happy to and we’ll continue to have some really cool stuff, you know, we’re kind of not unsung heroes, we’re really quiet right now. Our development team is small, but I have a lot of confidence in this game, so, please check us out now and get in early and follow along. 

00:32:23:14 – 00:32:29:03

Richard Carthon: Excellent. Well, John, thank you so much for sharing all that. And of course, everyone listening, Stay Crypto Current.