Good Deal Games - Classic Videogame Games INTERVIEW

INTERVIEW
Jason W. Cody

The Editor-in-Chief of Syzygy Magazine speaks about the new
classic gaming publication, and what we can expect in the future!

MT> Syzygy is an alignment of three celestial objects, as the sun, the earth, and either the moon or a planet. This, of course, has nothing to do with videogames. For our readers which may be unaware, what is the significance of the word as related to videogames?
JWC> It's the original name of Gottlieb...what do you mean? Hehe. Well, like the magazine Rolling Stone (not to mention the band) named itself after the origin of modern rock n' roll (Muddy Waters), I decided we would do the same with video games, as Syzygy was the original name of Atari, of course.

MT> Why would you name your magazine such an unpronounceable name?
JWC> Because I'm quite the stubborn idealist, and once the name got stuck in my head as the title of the mag, I couldn't think of a better one. I didn't want to have the old "Game" "Gamer" "Gaming" in the title, because then it's just too easy to get lost in the crowd of similarly titled rags. When I tried to do variations on those, nothing sounded original enough. So, marketing wise, it is a lame title, but ...well, people call me on the phone and when they attempt to say it, the most common mispronunciation is "Sigagy." Then once I correct them, it seems to become a sort of neat fact to know and proudly showcase. Because then they start saying "Syzygy," left and right. For example, where normally they would just have said "When is the next issue?" They say, "When is the next issue of SYZYGY?!" In other words, like, "Hell yeah, I can pronounce it now, you punk!" Haha. One thing I meant to do witht he first issue, and simply forgot, was to borrow a page from the rock band "Lynyrd Skynyrd" and their marketing strategy, with their similarly unpronouncable-looking name, and put the pronunciation on the cover of the magazine (like they did on the cover of their first album in the 70's). I'll do it on the second issue, most likely.

MT> Syzygy Magazine seemed to come out of nowhere -- although from the quality of writing and information within the magazine, that is not obviously the case. What is your history, including and leading up to publishing Syzygy Magazine?
JWC> Personally, I am totally unqualified to be doing this (shhhh!), but I just simply love video games. I had the website "Superzapper.com" for a couple years (actually still have it, although I rarely update it anymore!). I do have a B.S. from the University of Florida, and I have taken computer programming classes and journalism classes, but nothing that would qualify me to put together a comprehensive video game publication. And it shows in the first issue with some of the editing. I suck as an editor, I think. (Although alot of it was due to being rushed, trying to have it out before CGE! I got the first, partial shipment of the magazine the day before I flew to Las Vegas for CGE to give them away! whew!). Eventually I want to find someone that can do the editing better than me (translation: almost anybody with more than 3 brain cells), because I don't like proof-reading and copy-editing. But I do love putting together all the content in an interesting way. I do love writing. And I do love doing the interviews. I like really trying to ask interesting questions....well, asking questions that get interesting answers is a better way to put it. (And I love committing grammatical heresy by starting sentences with "And"! Yay!).

MT> Please tell us about your partners Jon Jamshid & Kevin Phillips.
JWC> Well, don't the captions I wrote under their pics on the website say it all? Hehe. Jon and Kevin are both good friends who I met through the hobby of collecting classic video arcade games. Jon lives near me, so we met at the local auctions...well, actually, we met when he found an Atari Black Widow vector game that I desperately wanted at the time, and he bought it and held it for me, for the same price he paid for it (without even knowing me!). So we then started hanging out and raiding warehouses all over the place. Actually, the idea to put out a magazine was his, originally. Although, as soon as the magazine began to take shape, his record company started taking off, so he wasn't able to be as involved as he had hoped. But he will be a part of every issue, in one way or another. Kevin lives in TN, so I originally met him through the internet (He had a website back in 1995 with a picture of his Tempest tattoo on the title page. Um...let's just say I was impressed). I'd noticed from his website, and simply from emailing back and forth, that he was a very good writer. And I was proven right, as I got alot of emails about his "In Search Of...." story in the first issue. Several people liked that story the best. He will have an article in every issue. Also, Scott Jacobi (author of the E3 feature in the first issue) will have an article in each issue. He is actually right smack in the middle of the current consumer video game market as a creator/ programmer, although I shouldn't say exactly where. So alot of his coverage will be about the newer systems, the industry and its development.

MT> Tim Skelly, Eugene Jarvis, Frank Brunner -- That's a pretty impressive list of interviewees for a new publication. Who can we look forward to hearing from in the future?
***For those unaware:
Tim Skelly (Reactor, Rip-Off, Star Castle, Armor Attack) and
Eugene Jarvis (Defender, Robotron, Cruis'n USA) are game designers / programmers.
Frank Brunner (Dr. Strange) is comic artist, which also designed videogame cabinet art. ***
JWC>Tim I have known for a long time, his Warrior game being one of my all-time favorites. And it took me a long time to finally track down Brunner, through comic book collecting friends who knew this guy and that guy. But they are both super guys, as are Owen Rubin and Doug Engel, also interviewed in the first issue. As far as the future goes, Jarvis and Ed Rotberg will be in issue number two. Larry DeMar, Jarvis' creative partner at Vid Kidz, will be in a future issue. Rick Bryant, a comic book artist for DC comics (did game sideart for Star Castle, Armor Attack and I don't even know what all) will hopefully be in a future issue. Many others (members of Namco and 3D0 and other Atari people) will be interviewed, but I can't look too too far in the future and give away the surprises! ;) Oh, and I hope to get Frank to do the cover for the next issue as well.

MT> How do you decide which consoles or classic computers get the most coverage? Is there a particular system which will receive the most focus within Syzygy Magazine?
JWC> Several factors. Obviously first and foremost are the games and systems I enjoy. I'm a pop culture kinda of guy, though, so it works out, I think. Then, whichever current systems or issues there is a buzz about. It turns out that tons of people are commenting on the Soldier of Fortune article (which I wrote many months ago) because of Lieberman's recent nomination as VP candidate, which I didn't forsee. And since I was so subtle in my opinion, everyone likes it, no matter which side of the issue they are on. The people that love gore (boy, that isn't the last time you'll see that pun!) in video games say, "Love your sarcastic approach and how you showed them how they take video games too seriously!" And on the other side, (Actual quote from a reader) "You demonstrated just how violent those games really are as you get farther into the game. There is no place fo these games in an idustry which is marketed towards children. Thank you for trying to wake everyone up to this fact!" So, you see what a slick, clever bastard I am! Haha. Wait a sec. What was your original question? Ok, a particular system with the most focus?....no. We aren't going to set out to intenionally give one system more or less print coverage. That will be dictated by the happeneings in the industry and in the classic collecting world as well. I want to cover about them all. The new systems...Even the Indreema, for God's sake! And all the orphaned systems, as well. I got alot of criticism over the NUON write-up. I put that system in there because it is out, and nobody is talking about it in the mainstream mags/media (and I do mean NObody!). So what happens? I catch hell from some readers who think NUON sucks and that I wasted space which I could have used to expand the PS2 or Dreamcast sections. And then I also get a sort of cold shoulder from NUON. The price for being honest and objective, I suppose. So picking which systems to do write-ups on, and how you approach them, is a sticky situation. Basically, it's all about finding out what people want to read about and trying to give it to them.

MT> What are your favorite consoles & games? Any games that you despise?
JWC> Favorite classic consoles....the 2600. I like the Intellevision and all the other classic consoles, but pretty much equally mildly; the 2600 was my system for years as a kid. As far as the newer consoles...that was all explained in the "Console Wars" article in the first issue. The best video game buy right now is obviously the Dreamcast (8-15-00) but that may change in November. I like most of the newer mainstream games that everyone else does (Quake, Warcraft, Crazy Taxi, Tony Hawk, etc.), so I won't relist them all...but some of my favorite video games of all time are the original classic videos: Robotron:2084, Warrior, Looping, Tempest, Star Wars, Major Havoc, Reactor, Missile Command, Joust and Tron. And I love alot of the old console games of course, notably Yar's Revenge (2600), Pitfall2 (2600 and Apple //), Frog Bog (Intellevision), Warlords (2600), ESB (2600), Adventure, etc, etc. And I totally love Apple // games, Conan, Sea Dragon, and the Ultima series among the best! Oh yeah, and I love real-time strategies and really can't wait for Warcraft III! Hmm..which do I despise? Well, you'll see some Dreamcast games reviewed in the next issue which I despise, including the import of Jet Set Radio, which everyone seems to love and I don't know why! Dragon's Lair has always annoyed me, for no real reason. I find all these new Japanese dance along games extremely dorky. Dance, Dance My Bum and all that. Also, I really hate Final Fantasy and those straight through, follow-the-story RPGs. I'm not sure why, in this age of Zelda64, we need these graphically supped up versions of the old "Walk twelve paces north" text games of the 80's? I mean, it's a Choose Your Own Adventure book, remember those? I know they have a large, dedicated following, but persoanlly I felt totally ripped off paying 55$ for Final Fantasy VII, and taking it home to find out it was only marginally interactive. In FF, in so many cases, there may only be one way to go, right? Ok, so you go that way. Now there are enemies there. Now you fight them ...by pressing a button until it decides you have waited long enough between strikes so that you may attack? Then you stand there, unable to move or defend yourself, and wait to be struck! WHAT? L-A-M-E! I grew up with the action, shoot-em-ups of Asteroids, Robotron and all of those. I have to be a part of the game, and I must blow something up. I can't just sit there and admire the background T-mapping, or absence of pop-up, and say "Wow, this game is impressive. Look at the detail!" Screw detail. Give me a FUN game, then worry about adding scenery later! If I want to just sit back and be told a story, then I'll go watch a movie. If I want interactive entertainment, then good God let me interact! (Well, I may have gone a little overboard, but I think I answered your question! Haha. ;)

MT> Syzygy is a quarterly magazine, so what will be the theme of the upcoming winter Issue?
JWC> Well, the theme of the first issue was obviously "Vector games." There won't be such a clear theme with this next one. There will be two interviews with the All-star classic designers who I mentioned. There will be editorials on two very touchy subjects which I am proud to say I am not afraid to touch (hey, don't hurt your arm patting yourself on the back there, JW!) : Leiberman and all his nonsense, as well as the current rage of Dreamcast bootlegging and the upcoming PS2 mods, and how it can and has historically affected the industry. There will be an article contrasting the way Americans and Japanese approach licensing and creation of video games, comic book licensed video games most notably. Many current games will be reviewed. And just lots more neat stuff! We will have an ISSN# for the next issue, so we'll be fully legit and corporate and what-not. (Hey, what are you laughing at? ;) Baby steps, baby steps. Hope everyone checks it out when it's released soon! Thanks!

Good Deal Games wishes Jason and Syzygy Magazine good fortune
and the support of the gaming community.

Have questions? E-mail Jason
Visit the Syzygy Webpage