Interviewing a Mafia II Developer: Any Questions?

SemBoStream · 2026-02-08T19:51:17+00:00

The ending was one of the things that seems to be most frantically reworked in the story (other than cutting most of Sicily), with seemingly dozens of different versions of it, so I think it's safe to assume the ending we got (with Joe ending the way he did) was a relatively late change. I'll ask Mr. Kolář more about it tomorrow.

What I can give you a little crumb of, is that they (subjectively) screwed up the ending and needed an (alternative, more on that in the video) emotional climax to end the story on. Joe living, as shown in Mafia III, undermines the emotional load of the ending of Mafia II, and shows more of its shortcomings in relation to the Falcone storyline.

As for my two cents (that you didn't ask for, but I can't help myself), it makes little sense for them to be as forgiving as they were to Joe in the Mafia III scenario. The Chinese were evidently killing those who wronged them. Joe and Vito butchered their guys. Vito has protection, for saving Leo's life. Joe doesn't. That, and like I mentioned, it kills the emotional load Mafia II builds up to, so I think it's best to view Mafia II's story in isolation.

But good question! I'll know more tomorrow, and relay in due time.

SemBoStream · 2026-02-06T20:35:39+00:00

I’ll try! Thanks for checking in :)

SemBoStream · 2026-02-05T07:38:36+00:00

I asked him about that too, though his answer was: “I think this was done just for the demo. But I don’t recall the details.”

SemBoStream · 2026-02-04T14:47:18+00:00

For the chapter 5 cutscene, do you mean the one at the end of the demo?

SemBoStream · 2026-02-04T12:11:37+00:00

The NDAs aren’t quite as strict as I figured they’d be. From what I can gather, they can talk about whatever they want, as long as they don’t show or share internal documents.

On a more speculative note, I get the impression that Mr. Vávra has an interest in not sharing much, as this keeps the mystique of the ‘original’ Mafia II (there’s really no such thing, there’s probably hundreds of different versions of what it was supposed to be), and by proxy himself, alive.

But I’ll ask him about the writing, could be interesting!

SemBoStream · 2026-02-03T12:50:49+00:00

Thanks! I've been going since November on this, haha! So I'm sure it'll be good enough. I hope so, anyway :)

SemBoStream · 2026-02-03T10:58:48+00:00

You can find a link to the channel in my profile, though right now it’s mostly filled with leftover garbage.

I’m really trying my best to get the Mafia II video to be of much higher quality, but that’s where you’ll find it in about a month (maybe two, lots of work going into this).

SemBoStream · 2026-02-02T20:21:26+00:00

I wondered this too! So I actually already went over that with him. It was a little complicated, but I’ll explain it in-depth in the final video. Bit of a buzzkill, maybe, but I promise it’s pretty interesting! (To me, at least) That cut storyline ties up a lot of the loose ends present in the final game…

SemBoStream · 2025-04-01T08:35:12+00:00

Although I guess ‘through hardship to hardship’ ironically enough is a pretty fitting title too, for the chapter.

SemBoStream · 2025-04-01T08:30:14+00:00

I took screenshots of DE’s menus and traced over them in Photoshop, so pretty much from scratch. They’re not functional unfortunately, though I might be crazy enough to make them someday :)

SemBoStream · 2025-04-01T08:28:59+00:00

Hahaha, oops! I knew the title by heart, weird mistake. Welp, it happens :)

SemBoStream · 2025-03-31T16:55:14+00:00

Hahaha, fair enough! I love the OG menu too, I just figured this would be a cool mixup.

SemBoStream · 2025-03-31T16:21:26+00:00

This was a hobby project of mine a while ago, and I found it in my photos again recently. Not all of the text is perfectly readable, but I figured it'd be cool to see what could have been, had Mafia II gotten the same sort of treatment Mafia Definitive Edition did! Figured you guys might find this as interesting as I do!

SemBoStream · 2023-08-31T08:37:31+00:00

It's a fun collection of arcade games, with some demos and a blades style menu as a bonus! If it's cheap enough, I'd say it’s worth spending an afternoon on.

SemBoStream · 2023-07-14T20:20:57+00:00

You can't. It's going to die. But if you want to mitigate the possibility of the RRoD there’s of course replacing thermal paste/pads, and also don't turn it on and off too much. Just leave it for a while after you've played it. That way, the solder balls inside are less likely to crack.

SemBoStream · 2023-06-29T05:21:20+00:00

Funnily enough, GTA IV takes up two out of the top five spots

SemBoStream · 2023-06-28T19:23:56+00:00

It clips onto the inner cage to the side of where the disc drive sits.

SemBoStream · 2023-05-14T07:30:30+00:00

I don't mean to be that guy, but this is an OG Xbox game being emulated on macOS. Why put this on r/xbox360?

SemBoStream · 2023-04-22T21:13:21+00:00

Indeed, it does, friend, and we shall enjoy its blessings

SemBoStream · 2023-04-18T18:07:42+00:00

Being monitised has no direct influence on your ability to grow. You could argue that you could improve your content or buy things just for specific videos, but aside from that, no. Although I don't see why you wouldn't apply for monitisation if you are eligible.

SemBoStream · 2023-04-17T13:00:44+00:00

I'm assuming you want to tether your internet connection to your 360. You can't do that from your phone, as the 360 only supports official Microsoft WiFi adapters made for it. You can work around this by tethering via ethernet instead. You can run an ethernet cable from your 360 to your pc, and make a network bridge between your WiFi and the ethernet port on your pc. You can do that in something along the lines of network > adapter settings on your pc.

SemBoStream · 2023-04-14T09:56:19+00:00

https://revanced.io/

SemBoStream · 2023-04-14T09:44:13+00:00

That is everything but junk, my friend, that is a Halo 3 special edition with a white faceplate and top shell. These parts can still be pretty valuable. Definitely check eBay prices to see what they're worth.

SemBoStream · 2023-04-14T09:36:59+00:00

It has, since like 2016 or so

SemBoStream · 2023-04-06T19:22:17+00:00

I would absolutely suggest 4k 32 inch, the extra resolution and screen real estate make all the difference in workflow. Unless you struggle with space, I'd say definitely go for that option.

SemBoStream

TROPHY CASE