Games, games and more
games are given in-depth coverage in “Monster Gaming”
“Men are from Tekken,
women are from Everquest.” That’s how Monster Gaming author Ben Sawyer
describes male and female gamers. GZ investigates…
Halloween
may be a ways away, but that didn’t stop the GZ staff from putting on their
annual Video Game Character Costume Party. Lots of us dressed up as creepy
monsters from our favorite games. I wrapped a large, rubbery flower around my
head, telling the Sony fans that I was a Cloud-eating plant from Final Fantasy
VII. (I told the Nintendo fans that I was going as a Pikmin. Oddly, no one
could tell the difference.)
We had a contest to
determine the scariest costume. Unfortunately, I didn’t win – while all of
the women at the party were horrified by my flowery aesthetics and perfume
smell (hey, the guy at Sears told me it would give off a mist that would
paralyze Squall and Tidus. Now how am I supposed to stop them from saving the
world?) – the scariest costume award went to the guy who went as Andy Dick.
We all know that nothing is more terrifying than the thought of Andy Dick,
and, well, after seeing someone try to imitate him, we’re just thankful it’s
over.
Being in the monstrous mood
that we are, we decided it was time to interview Ben Sawyer, author of the new
book Monster Gaming. Monster Gaming covers a wide range of gaming topics,
including game tournaments, hardware tweaking, the import game scene, video
game collectibles and more.
Introduce your book to our readers.
What’s it all about? What are the main points covered?
Ben Sawyer:
Well the book is really the first book that’s a how-to guide for gamers as
opposed to just a game. Today, gaming is so expansive, and so deep that it
just seemed like there was room for a good book that sort of explained all
this important stuff to everyone, newbie to experienced gamer. So I put
together an outline and showed it to Paraglyph Press, a new book publisher I’m
doing a lot of work for and they thought it was a neat concept. So I did it.
The main points covered are
in the TOC, but in general it covers a lot of stuff that is of concern to
hardcore gamers and anyone who loves games. This includes how to build a
modded PC, how to use MAME, how to get the best deals on games, where to buy
import games, how to play import games, how to be really good at a wide range
of games, the competitive gaming scene, and much more.
Sounds cool. You said you’re doing a lot
of work for Paraglyph. Can you divulge any details on your next project?
BS:
Yes. I’m doing a few things for them. I’m producing a few new books which I
can’t talk about right now but one of them will be of interest to gamers and
the others will be of interest to game developers. My next personal pieces of
writing are an e-book on competitive gaming which will be an extension to
Monster Gaming and a totally new book on Game Development.
What do you think is the most important
aspect of a book? Anyone who is interested in games would be interested in
Monster Gaming, but what is it that you’ve done to keep the reader intrigued
from start to finish?
BS:
Well, I think it’s just the enthusiasm for the topic itself. I don’t think
you can read Monster Gaming and not find it as a fun read from the standpoint
of loving games. It comes through that I’ve been playing them for so long,
and that gaming is a serious part of my life. That’s probably what keeps
readers interested the most. Knowledge of the subject is one thing, but love
for a subject isn’t something you can fake.
Very true. How long have
you been playing games? What year did you begin, and what was your first
console and your first game?
BS:
My first console was Pong. My mom bought it for me when I was five. I used
to play people for quarters when they visited. I kept a piggy bank right next
to the TV and when I beat them I would run and put the quarter away in the
bank before they could realized they’d been taken by a shark. So I’ve been
playing games 27 years.
I’ve owned an Intellivision,
Nintendo, GameCube, GBA, Xbox, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Atari Lynx,
Atari 800, Amiga, and more PCs than I know.
Who is this book geared towards – older
or younger gamers? Who will get the most out of it?
BS:
In terms of gamers it’s geared toward everyone but certainly the more you know
about games the less you’ll get out of it from a knowledge standpoint. But
hopefully it doesn’t mean it’s not fun, and not useful or valuable to even
more experienced gamers. That being said I hope it will be a good gift book
for that special gamer out there. I think it will really be cool for younger
gamers who sort of don’t realize all there is to know but I wouldn’t want it
to be categorized that way at all. The average hardcore gamer is over 25
years old and I’m not exactly 17.
What kind of research was conducted for
this book? Who were your primary sources for information?
BS:
Well let’s put it this way, my girlfriend thought I was having an affair with
some woman named Google.
(Laughs)
Most of it though was from
stuff I knew, knew of, or had read in various magazines. I did some
interviews but not many. People who know me, know I have a semi-photographic
memory for gaming stuff. Basically once I spec’d out what I wanted in it I
just did a lot of plowing through Google and many, many magazines on gaming I
own.
Monster Gaming covers the topic of import
gaming and where to buy games that cannot be easily found in the United
States. Do you give advice/recommendations on online stores, local shops, or
is there some other place to buy import games that most people don’t know
about?
BS:
Yes I do. I cover a lot of the stores, mention a couple to avoid, and endorse
my friends store Tronix as one of the better ones. I cover also the ethics
behind the whole scene as well.
Another topic covered is "how to live the
hardcore gamer lifestyle." What exactly does that refer to? Aside from
sacrificing sleep and hygiene for entertainment, we don’t live any differently
than anyone else. Do we?
BS:
No – that’s marketing gobblygook from the publisher. It’s just meant to
signify that we see gaming as a lifestyle in that you can really build a life
around it to some extent. Such as going to LAN parties, buying game inspired
goods, etc. Sort of the same idea that fishing is a lifestyle for some
people, or golf, etc.
Does Monster Gaming give any
tips for installing and/or tweaking PC graphic cards?
BS:
Yep. It doesn’t go into every last detail but it does cover some utilities to
check out, mentions stuff like 3DMark for people who don’t know about
Benchmarking, and makes some basic sense of the battle of ATI vs. NVIDIA.
How did Angel Munoz come to do the
foreward for Monster Gaming? Have you guys worked together before?
BS:
Well I’ve know David Laprad and Brian Clair at Avault for a while. I’ve even
written a few times for them. When I got to the point to talk about
competitive gaming I had to admit this was an area I was a bit lacking on.
It’s just not something I’ve spent a lot of time doing due to time. So I
realized I needed some help and I asked Brian to see if Angel would spend some
time talking to me. So Brian wrote a note to Angel and Angel gave me a call.
We talked for a while. It was really interesting and I realized Angel had a
lot of cool stuff to say and so I asked him if he’d do the foreword.
If you read the book and
read the foreword, it makes a lot of sense. Because what Angel has done,
first with Avault, and now with the CPL represents what is going on with
gaming. That it’s becoming more than just the games, that it’s become an
entire community and area of it’s own. So Angel agreed and put together the
foreword which you can read on Paraglyph’s site, and I’m really happy with it.
Are you familiar with the upcoming game
console DISCover, which promises to play all PC games without installation, or
Phantom, which promises pre-loaded games and games on demand? If you’ve heard
of either or both, what are your thoughts?
BS:
DISCover I must admit to being ignorant of for the moment- I’ve been lacking
in my reading as I’ve been working on other projects and enjoying the summer.
Phantom I am familiar with. In general there are dynamics attached to the
console business that make it really hard for me to envision these projects
will work.
However, I do think that
there is big growth in the idea of games-on-demand, and in terms of the PC in
the living room. Maybe not huge, huge demand, but solid demand, and I think
that things like Alienware’s media PC and other devices like that may be more
interesting to gamers. The problem with the console market is that hardware
has to be subsidized in order to reach the price points mass markets form at.
Without controlling the supply end (i.e. the games for it) and earning a
royalty off each game the market doesn’t really work. This, coupled with the
fact it costs hundreds of millions to really get into the hardware side makes
me wonder how anyone can really make it happen. Anyone remember indrema or
Nuon?
As for Games on Demand, I
think that has a market and Yahoo! and others are doing some good business
there. Sega of course had a system via it’s Sega Cable channel that did the
same thing. And people I knew who had it said it wasn’t half-bad. It just
couldn’t really get going given the state of cable infrastructure.
That’s true, but those are mostly simple
games, like chess. And you’re right, Sega did it, too. That was pretty
cool. But I mean, can you ever imagine a time when we’ll hook up a console,
go online and download, say…Final Fantasy XXVIII (28)?
BS:
Yes but it’s going to be a while before that happens in a big way.
How far does the research span at your
company, Digitalmill? Do you study things like male and female game playing
demographics?
BS:
Research wise it’s me [and] a few unnamed assistants. We don’t study those
things per se. But we do watch for other studies and the growing amount of
academics studying games is doing stuff in that regard but for the moment I’m
not 100% familiar with what they’re finding.
The research I’ve heard
third-hand is that women are a more significant population within gaming than
people think. Women also tend to like more social style games (not to be
confused with socially concious) so they’re a bigger portion of online gaming
players then they are say fighting or racing games on console players. Women
are also bigger fans of casual games such as Bejewelled. They also tend to be
into the gambling and chance games as well but that’s a segment I don’t care
to follow. And finally women tend to drop out of gaming during their younger
years. They’re into it as kids, drop out as teenagers and maybe come back to
it later after high-school. Women tend to want games that are more about
social interactions with others. Men are more loners and into things where
they’re totally in control. As if we needed a game to tell us that. 🙂 Men
are from Tekken, women are from Everquest.
(Laughs) That’s a funny (and clever) way
of looking at it.
BS:
Thanks.
What is the purpose of your
company? What is your goal?
BS:
Well Digitalmill was formed to basically be a company of interests. We find
stuff we’re interested in and then pursue ideas around those interests we can
do to keep the doors open. So in essence we’re a general consulting firm. As
time has gone by and we’re finding areas we can be leaders in we’re narrowing
our focus. Gaming has always been a top interest and with the Serious Games
Initiative we’re working on I think in the next 3-5 years we’ll pretty much be
known mostly for game stuff and within that mostly for the Serious Games
Initiative
What is the "Serious Games
Initiative"?
BS:
http://www.seriousgames.org/. The initiative is a project we are working
on with the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars to find ways we
can apply games to serious issues, needs, and projects. Not that we don’t
think almost all games are serious. But with the name we’re also trying to
advocate games, and game developers are great ways to build a new generation
of learning applications, training simulators, and more. There is a lot going
on in this area. And we have done some significant work to help organize it
all. Over time we hope it will become a major segment within the games
industry which is a good thing because it is getting harder and harder for
developers to make money without some new markets for their skills. And it’s
high time the rest of the world realize that the skills that make Mario so
cool can make learning how to run a school interesting, or how to deal with
nation building, or a refugee camp. So that’s the idea and you can read more
about it on
http://www.seriousgames.org/.
I hear you’re working with the U.S.
Government to adapt addictive game technology and design ideas to public
policy planning and training. How is that going?
BS:
Well, Woodrow is a division of the U.S. Government. It’s sort of like the
government’s private think tank. The project there is going well and we hope
to announce a bunch of new things this fall as we gear it up. We’re currently
working on several game ideas and we’re working on a number of advocacy items,
and organizing initiatives. So far with the work we’ve done the project has
gotten a lot of attention and brought together a lot of people to talk about
and coordinate on the creation of more games.
One PC is a must, and in some cases,
having a second one is a necessity. You have four! What do you do with all
of them?
BS:
Funny. Yeah I have a bunch. I have one just for games and development
stuff. So it’s got a GeForce, 256 MB Ram, etc. Then I’ve got one at the
office, and a laptop. I just got a second so I could do some other gaming
stuff on it. Even experiment with head-to-head in the house with friends.
For my next PC I was thinking of building my own MINI-ITX system to screw
around with and I’ll probably build a new gaming PC later next year. I just
got a new GeForce that supports multiple monitors and I have to say that is
really, really cool. As soon as I can get a plasma or LCD screen for the
living room I’m putting a PC in there
Very cool. Thank you for your time Ben.
It was great interviewing you.
BS: No problem. I hope people like
the book, and recommend it if they do. It’s sort of a risky title so my
fingers are crossed. And if people want to email me ideas for updating it
down the line I look forward to getting them ([email protected]).
If anyone can email me a way I can stop working and spend more time playing
BF1942 without starving that would help.
To read Angel Munoz’s
foreward, visit:
http://www.paraglyphpress.com/foreword-monster-gaming.php
To purchase Monster
Gaming, visit: Amazon
here
