The mega interview journey, part 2: N'Gai
Um.
I realize that it's Friday. He's a busy man, he happened to be in his office, and he has about an hour left before his work week, if it has any semblance of normal standards, is over. In short, I get lucky, and I also don't have my questions because I assumed that I'd have the weekend to write them. Guess not.
I called him in what seemed an instant later--the last time I felt like this was when I called up a girl to go on a date, a feeling I thought would never resurface in my lifetime. Who the hell do I think I am? I could talk to some of these other people, sure, but an editor at Newsweek? As my very first interview that I'm doing in video games land? When I just have one commentless little first article on a column at GameSetWatch?
"Hi," I say. My first question is incredibly stupid, yet I don't realize how laughably bad it is until weeks later; I'm still embarrassed every time I remember. "So uh, how do you pronounce your name?"
"Guy," I hear again.
Shit. Well, I'd better get on with it--I can find out how to pronounce it from someone else. I can do that thing where I never use his name in the conversation, and he'll never know. He's an extremely polite fellow; in what little time I had for imagination I thought that he would sound like a New Yorker, with all the speed that implies that every word being said is worth money; and your money, too, so let's get this thing the hell over with.
But that's not what he sounds like--he sounds like he could be from the Midwest, or maybe California (he went to Stanford, I learn); I don't know where he's from, but he sounds very relaxed, and this relaxes me, despite what happens next.
“What is Level Up for, exactly? Why do you write?”
He was gentle with me. “Well, I’m curious to know what you think it’s for.” He sounded almost like a preacher who was trying to convert me--I'm not really sure where he's going with this. My interview skills are already being tested; I have to learn to talk with this Gai, not just interview him. Thankfully, I'm good at talking and bullshitting, or at least think I am, so I answer with some semblance of confidence.
“Uh…I would guess it’s a blog to discuss games and the game industry from different perspectives,” I gulped. Something like that--non-committal and without possibly conflicting with whatever he would surprise me with. Yeah, that'll work.
Oh! I get it. He's a journalist, after the old sort. He mentions one of the few things I already know--he has been writing since 1995. Level Up is an extension, a piece of his vast and superior multifaceted career (my words, not his). I remember something Leigh Alexander said to him on her own blog: that she views his position as the ideal place for her to end up, but that she doesn't begrudge him--he's earned it.
I take it in that direction, asking about coverage in the mainstream press. I treat him like a regular journalist and he gives me some juicy tidbits about journalism as a whole.
"Printed publications are shrinking and in the middle of layoffs, so the first area to go is the entertainment and arts section. And in there is video games. How high a priority are they going to place them? It's harder to convince editors that games merit coverage."
Awesome, and simple, and something I could have figured it if I'd thought about--game coverage struggles in the mainstream publications because (duh) mainstream publications as a whole are struggling. "We should be thankful we've got what we have," I think.I still press the issue: why are games not desirable to be covered? What problems are there with game writing? He had said the traditional models are broken, after all.
Continuing with the issue of general difficulties in the publishing industry: "Less space contributes to reductivism; much space is used to compare games to other media. But it doesn't reveal enough. What we also usually see is a game's plot summary, what things the player can do, and how similar it is to other games."
There are exceptions; he dishes to me about some other publications and pieces and tells me what he likes and dislikes about them, and he talks to me about the state of the industry; as a professional he tells me it's all technically on the record; I know that he'd probably rather not see a quote about him talking about some other publication the next day, so I simply convey I'm interested in it but not for the sake of my article. This makes the interview extend to about 35 minutes.
Toward the end, and knowing he will be best qualified to answer, I introduce a new topic: "Do you think this is generational? Like, it's simply because most editors are baby boomers?"
Again, he gives me an opinion that is the most realistic and perhaps most depressing and encouraging at the same time. He says something different from what most of the other people I interview say.
"Sure, my editors are mainly boomers, so they have a harder time understanding. But it's my job to write well." He adds, "I have editors who indulge me--they did on GTA IV and MGS 4." I pause, distracted by the uninteresting fact that these games use different symbols for four.
Oh, right. But "no"?! Games aren't generally more accepted, played, talked and thought about by people between the ages of 10 and 40 compared to people between the ages of 40 and 70? Why? Why? "I agree. There's a lot of bad writing about games out there, but still, don't you think that some good writing about games is rejected due to simple differences?"
"Time won't fix it," he warns me. "There are editors you could call 'young fogeys' who don't know games. If they don't know, they don't know. It's my job as a writer to make it interesting."
I think on this. For the Xth time, he enunciates slowly and pauses so I can write. He gets that I'm not using a recorder, even if I probably should. He's a professional, he understands the older style of journalism I'm trying to do that he used to. Young fogeys? I'd have to agree, especially if that young fogey is a woman. I remind myself to ask the only woman I'm interviewing and indeed, the only other one who at this point has confirmed that she will interview, about what she thinks about the other divide. And I think for the Zth time: this guy is a professional, and definitely knows what he's talking about.
I gush as I thank him. He reminds me (okay, now he's definitely giving advice on how to write this) not to let his opinion color the whole thing as I write it, but it's too late. I've already had some conceptions shattered and I can't help but take a new approach when I talk to Kieron Gillen 5 days later. Any questions about games journalism are questions about journalism as a whole.
The original email I sent to N'Gai, with my wide eyes beaming, reflects one thing only: how I felt at the time I started this piece. By the time I was done, this was not the approach I'd taken when interviewing everyone else, even though I sent similar emails to everyone else.
"I write one of the columns at GameSetWatch. I'd like to do a piece on "intellectual" gaming websites and I'm contacting some of the people who make them. I was wondering if we could chat. If you are exceedingly busy, I'd be happy to just send a few questions along and get a few pat answers. If you're willing to talk, I'm open to Ventrilo, phone, Aim/Xfire, Gmail chat, email, etc.
Example question: what you would even call Brainy Gamer, SVGL, Level Up, and similar blogs? Do they merit a classification?
Let me know if/when/how you are available. It's not an extended interview--I'm going to talk to as many as I can and get some material from a variety of places, so it won't be putting you or Level Up on the spot. The format is casual/newsy with quotes from different figures and places.
Thank you,
Michael Walbridge"
5 Comments:
You did amazingly well given your lack of time to prepare for it; probably better than I would have done prepared :)
I'm quite excited to see the rest of these.
That was a really interesting read :)
I can imagine N'gai being quite intimidating to talk to. Not because of the way he talks or anything, just because he is a very smart man with a lot more experience than your average game reviewer/blogger/whateva. He seems really nice though.
Look forward to reading what the others had to say :)
Keep it up!
Thanks, both. And yeah, he was definitely one of the more intimidating ones. I was most anxious with him, but that's partly because he was the first and because of the circumstances.
Nice job. And ditto Glenn--very interesting. It's so cool that you did these interviews.
I think he'd be sort of abashed to hear you were so intimidated!
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