EDIT: This strangely had no traffic when I posted this earlier today. I thought people who frequented the escapist really liked Extra Creditz, or maybe they just weren't interested in reading the interview. In any case, I just am going to "bump" this only once mainly because I think a lot of the community members would appreciate reading it.
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I'm a marketing major at Fordham University, and in my media class we had to interview someone who has had more than 5 years of experience in the entertainment industry. On a whim I asked James Portnow (of Extra Creditz to those of you who don't know) and he said yes. The interview is about some pretty basic stuff, but it definitely had some information that surprised me about him, so I thought I'd share it with you escapies.
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I'm a marketing major at Fordham University, and in my media class we had to interview someone who has had more than 5 years of experience in the entertainment industry. On a whim I asked James Portnow (of Extra Creditz to those of you who don't know) and he said yes. The interview is about some pretty basic stuff, but it definitely had some information that surprised me about him, so I thought I'd share it with you escapies.
I'm the Fordham Student that asked if I could do an interview on Facebook. Anyways, sorry I waited a week. I asked right when I was assigned the paper, and wanted time to think over my questions. My paper isn't due till September 30, so you don't have to rush to get this back to me.
James Portnow
From your heartfelt message about game addiction in your hit web show Extra Creditz, I was able to deduce that you have been playing video games since you were a teen. What got you interested in the media and what was it that inspired you to work in video games for a living?
This is a long question. The earliest clear memory I have is of my mother taking me to the Nintendo of America exhibition when I was five years old. I was the only five year old at the Final Fantasy booth. It hadn't come out in the US yet, so I didn't know what to expect, and when I finally got to play it took me forty five minutes to beat Garland. I thought that was the whole game, that that was it...but then I crossed that first bridge, heard the music swell, and watched a whole world unfold before more. That lead pretty directly to today...
How did you get started in the games industry?
By almost becoming a lawyer... (that's a story for some other time)
According to LinkedIn, you got your bachelors degree in Classics at St. John's and your masters in Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University. Why did you specifically choose those majors? What classes did you find useful, and which classes did you find to be a bit of an afterthought? Did you ever find at least some of your education lacking in value?
You've read my LinkedIn? That means you've seen it far more recently than I (it got spammed out years ago by people I don't know asking to 'link' with me), but I trust it says those things
Both of the schools I went to offer only one major and offer no electives. The St. John's education I use every day. It was a training in perspective rather than simply a specific set of knowledge. My Master's I use less frequently. It helped prepare me for the rigors of the industry, but only Jesse Schell's course on design do I really find myself turning to often.
As far as any wasted education, no, it all served me well, even if I don't use as much of the entertainment technology degree today. The other parts of my life (kicking around the country in a rock band for example) also continuously inform my vocation, I don't think you can be a designer without reaching beyond just formal schooling.
As CEO of Rainmaker and Divide By Zero Games, a design columnist for Next-Gen as well as other online journals like Gamasutra, and of course Extra Creditz, you have a pretty full plate. What were some of the jobs you have had before you reached the position you are at, and of those jobs, which did you find the most beneficial and which did you find to be a nightmare?
I'm not sure what all I can discuss in this category. All I can say is that I've never slept much and so always needed something to fill the time
My main advice for people aspiring to work in this field is to not limit themselves to the tasks given. So many people stop at the work they are assigned rather than thinking more broadly about what could be done. This split in mindset is what separates those people who will eventually be the driving force in projects and those who will simply help build them.
What are the functions of your current jobs?
I gallivant.
I run a design firm, which means that I do a lot of less interesting things involving dollars and paperwork and I periodically fly out to companies to help kick their design teams into line.
One of the most obvious factors of growth is the ever evolving technology that developers have to play with. Since you gained interest in the games industry, how has technology changed in games and how has it effected the state of the industry? What changes have proved to be more useful, and what changes have had some unintended negative consequences?
The breakneck pace of technological advancement is both the bane of our industry and the principle driver of innovation. Every technological advance allows us to achieve things we'd only imagined before and thus drives a cascade of creativity, but by the same token in some ways we've become slaves to our technology, often being unwilling to do less than push our technology to its limits even if the experience we're crafting would be better served by something more low-tech.
Where do you see the state of the games industry in ten years?
In a place that has no resemblance to the vision of the industry a decade hence that I now hold in my head...
What are James Portnow's goals for the future?
To never be bored.
Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview. I look foreward to your new episodes on Penny Arcade TV.
James Portnow
From your heartfelt message about game addiction in your hit web show Extra Creditz, I was able to deduce that you have been playing video games since you were a teen. What got you interested in the media and what was it that inspired you to work in video games for a living?
This is a long question. The earliest clear memory I have is of my mother taking me to the Nintendo of America exhibition when I was five years old. I was the only five year old at the Final Fantasy booth. It hadn't come out in the US yet, so I didn't know what to expect, and when I finally got to play it took me forty five minutes to beat Garland. I thought that was the whole game, that that was it...but then I crossed that first bridge, heard the music swell, and watched a whole world unfold before more. That lead pretty directly to today...
How did you get started in the games industry?
By almost becoming a lawyer... (that's a story for some other time)
According to LinkedIn, you got your bachelors degree in Classics at St. John's and your masters in Entertainment Technology at Carnegie Mellon University. Why did you specifically choose those majors? What classes did you find useful, and which classes did you find to be a bit of an afterthought? Did you ever find at least some of your education lacking in value?
You've read my LinkedIn? That means you've seen it far more recently than I (it got spammed out years ago by people I don't know asking to 'link' with me), but I trust it says those things
Both of the schools I went to offer only one major and offer no electives. The St. John's education I use every day. It was a training in perspective rather than simply a specific set of knowledge. My Master's I use less frequently. It helped prepare me for the rigors of the industry, but only Jesse Schell's course on design do I really find myself turning to often.
As far as any wasted education, no, it all served me well, even if I don't use as much of the entertainment technology degree today. The other parts of my life (kicking around the country in a rock band for example) also continuously inform my vocation, I don't think you can be a designer without reaching beyond just formal schooling.
As CEO of Rainmaker and Divide By Zero Games, a design columnist for Next-Gen as well as other online journals like Gamasutra, and of course Extra Creditz, you have a pretty full plate. What were some of the jobs you have had before you reached the position you are at, and of those jobs, which did you find the most beneficial and which did you find to be a nightmare?
I'm not sure what all I can discuss in this category. All I can say is that I've never slept much and so always needed something to fill the time
My main advice for people aspiring to work in this field is to not limit themselves to the tasks given. So many people stop at the work they are assigned rather than thinking more broadly about what could be done. This split in mindset is what separates those people who will eventually be the driving force in projects and those who will simply help build them.
What are the functions of your current jobs?
I gallivant.
I run a design firm, which means that I do a lot of less interesting things involving dollars and paperwork and I periodically fly out to companies to help kick their design teams into line.
One of the most obvious factors of growth is the ever evolving technology that developers have to play with. Since you gained interest in the games industry, how has technology changed in games and how has it effected the state of the industry? What changes have proved to be more useful, and what changes have had some unintended negative consequences?
The breakneck pace of technological advancement is both the bane of our industry and the principle driver of innovation. Every technological advance allows us to achieve things we'd only imagined before and thus drives a cascade of creativity, but by the same token in some ways we've become slaves to our technology, often being unwilling to do less than push our technology to its limits even if the experience we're crafting would be better served by something more low-tech.
Where do you see the state of the games industry in ten years?
In a place that has no resemblance to the vision of the industry a decade hence that I now hold in my head...
What are James Portnow's goals for the future?
To never be bored.
Thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview. I look foreward to your new episodes on Penny Arcade TV.
