10 Game Journalism Industry Questions - Mikey Foley

10 Questions from Cav - Sunday, 06 June 2010 @ 12:09pm

The latest issue - in all it's awesomeness

1.What is your job role where you work and can you explain what it entails?

Well, before I go on stage I try to relax by listening to Rick Astley’s greatest hits or I look for inspiration in old Steven Segal movies. Then when it’s time to do my stuff I get into my suit and… oh, hang on. You want to know about the day job? The one where I’m the Editor of The Official Nintendo Magazine? Right, each day begins with catching up on emails and browsing the internet to see what happened across the globe while we were sleeping. Then the bulk of the day is spent planning the issue. There’s a lot less playing games than you might think for an Editor. Instead it’s a lot of talking to people in the industry, trying to get the scoop on exclusive new games, checking to see which games we’ll be able to get in time for the current issue, telling people what I need them to write about, planning trips for us to visit developers and see games at an early stage, coming up with ideas for cool features, writing stuff, and eating burgers to give me the energy to get through the day.

2.What other media have you been directly involved with previously?

I started out in the games industry working on the magazines. Then I decided to sample life on the other side of the fence and work for the companies who actually make the games, eventually leading me to the home of videogames - Japan. Having seen it from both sides, now with a far more balanced opinion on the difficulties of making and publishing games coupled with the expectations of gamers who spend a hell of a lot of money on games, I went back to my writing roots. And here I am now.

3.How did you get your start in the industry?

I wasn’t doing something I loved. Even though it was well paid I knew there was much better things out there for me to do. So I decided to pursue a career involving one of my passions – gaming. I put my faith in my writing skills and impressed one of the top mag editors to give me a start. And I’ve been in the games industry ever since.

4.What has been the most positive experience of working in the games industry so far?

The people. The games industry is still very young and the people involved in this industry are a reflection of this. There’s so much enthusiasm, talent and genuine friendliness here that part of me doesn’t want games to become as mainstream as the movies. That’s when money will become the overriding desire and decent people will be replaced with cynical, hard nosed, ruthless businessmen. For now, it’s a great place to work because the majority of the people are genuine, talented and well worth getting to know.

5. What has been the most negative experience of working in the games industry so far?

Getting to see behind the scenes of something you love can only spoil the magic and illusion. And it’s been no different with games. It’s like seeing an amazing magic trick and then being told how the trickery is achieved. Business is business but at the same time it’s nice having the innocence of not knowing how all the boring stuff works and just revelling in the end product.

6. What advice can you give to other people looking to get into a position such as yours?

Don’t try to get a job in this industry if all you can do is play games. Being good at games is way down the list of skills you’ll need to make a successful career in games. It’s the big mistake that so many people make. If you want to be a game’s journalist first and foremost you must have fantastic writing skills. To be honest, you should love writing more than you love games. That’s the main part of the job. Anyone can learn to master a joypad but being able to inform and entertain people with words is a much rarer talent.

7. How do you see Print Media as a market when compared to the Online world?

I see the two co-existing happily alongside each other because both can offer things that the other one can’t. Without print deadlines to adhere to online sites will always be far more up to date, whilst magazines will always offer a more pleasant reading experience thanks to greater freedom in design and the ability to read it anywhere. Right now there seems to be a battle between the two as both still find their feet in the age of the internet and discover where their real strengths lie. In the future I see the two offering vastly diverse reading experiences as each one learns to play to its strengths.

8. Got any good stories you want to share?

I always worry that it’s a bit self indulgent to talk about industry stories when readers have no experience of the inner workings of our world. So I’ll make a more general observation. Every time I meet a games industry celebrity there’s never any acting like a prima donna, never any entourage of hangers on controlling everything they say and everything I can ask, never any big headed arrogance, never any boring answers where they say absolutely nothing of any worth. Instead they are always good to talk to, always willing to share an opinion and always come across as decent people who you wouldn’t mind having a few beers with. Long may it last. Saying that, the odd rock and roll style, TV through the window, hard partying legend would be great fun and help to give games some added street cred.

9. What are your favourite games and why?

Of the current generation Super Mario Galaxy always takes my breath away by cramming in so many incredible ideas - just one of which most other games would kill for. From the past I’ve always loved Doom for the fun it gave me when first discovering the joys of playing on a network with my friends, for the influence it has had on so much of gaming since and for ageing remarkably well. It’s still playable today if you check it out on Live. And then right on the other end of the spectrum is Ico, which to this day is still the most wonderfully relaxing gaming experience I’ve ever had. Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye, Tomb Raider, Half Life, Wizball, Pro Evolution Soccer (last gen), Day of the Tentacle, Slitherlink, Link to the Past, Flashback, Pilotwings 64,…I could go on for days. All of them and more have taken up huge chunks of my life and I wouldn’t change those hundreds of hours of fun for anything.

10. If you could meet any gaming character in real life, who would it be and why?

Right now I would love to meet cougar man from Red Dead Redemption. He’s easily the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen in a game and I want to see him with my own eyes rather than on Youtube.

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