My Interview At Imagine Publishing - Part 2

Sitting beneath the murderous drill of a metal clad monster isn’t the ideal way to wait for an interview. The image is somehow a little too apt for comfort.

I’m waiting in Imagine Publishing’s reception area, sitting on a huge black leather sofa flanked by life sized models of Bioshock’s Big Daddy and Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft. The wall to my left is covered with every one of Imagine’s most recent publications. I’m reminded of the magazine aisle in WH Smith. Staff Writers pass by, giving me the occasional cursory glance, checking out the potential new boy. Silent images from a Final Fantasy game are looping on the large plasma screen to my right. I pick up a magazine from the coffee table in front of me - Retro Gamer - and read the in-depth retrospective on the original SNES Mario Kart. There’s an interesting point about power sliding that I don’t quite finish. Ryan Butt, the Editor of Powerstation, and Jennifer Cobb, HR Manager, have come to take me to the interview room.

I suddenly feel over-dressed. Everyone I pass in the corridor has a distinctly bohemian air about them, dressed as they all are in t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops. I’m wearing full-on interview attire: shiny black shoes, trousers, shirt, tie and jumper. I mention this to Jennifer. She says it's fine.

Interview room. Ryan begins the questioning. Why do I want to become a Games Journalist? Because I love playing games, talking about games, reading about games and writing about games. Am I obsessed with games? Yes. But in a good way. What’s my favourite game? Ocarina of Time. And the worst? Golden Balls. Ryan raises an eyebrow. I’m not surprised he’s not heard of it. No self respecting gamer would go near such a wretched puddle of anal slurry. Why is Golden Balls so bad? Non existent production values, horrific character models, a one-button-only nightmare, the fact that it still costs £30. First console I owned? The Acorn Electron. A smile of recognition from Ryan. He had one too, back in the day. Who do I keep a close eye on in the Industry? Shigeru Miyamoto. He’s a trend setter, not a trend follower. What magazines do I read? All of them.

After a few more questions, I’m given 30 minutes in which to complete the written test. I have to pick any game of my choosing and write about what I’d include in a walkthrough and why. For example:

1) A guide to all the weapons.
Because it’ll help the reader kill all the baddies quicker.

2) A list of all the treasure locations.
Because completists crave a 100% game record.

Ryan And Jennifer leave the room. I choose Resident Evil 5 and begin to scribble. I’m suddenly acutely aware that it’s been a while since I’ve used an actual pen and paper. I’m distracted by this line of thought and lament the death of letter writing. Not a good idea when you’ve only got 30 minutes to knock out a walkthrough.

My 30 minutes is up. I hand my paper – covered in ugly black corrections and plenty of crossed out words – back to the Ryan.

Interview over.

I’m told I’ll be called back on Friday. Fingers crossed.