At the risk of turning you away from this story immediately, I feel that I must warn you that — as far as Miyamoto stories go — this one is pretty unspectacular. But, what would a blog about my experiences in the games industry be without mentioning the time that I met my hero? Please do read on; I promise to keep it short. (more…)

Nintendo’s pre-E3 press conferences have always been the highlight of the entire show for me. Partly because of the big reveals of new games, and partly because the crowd of Nintendo’s nuttiest, most die-hardiest fans turn every event into a kind of Mario Woodstock. Nintendo fans often take a lot of flack on message boards for their unabashed enthusiasm, but in my book, there’s nothing at all wrong with something bringing a person so much joy that they simply have to shout “OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!” Hence, the unveiling of Twilight Princess is one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of.

Here, refresh your memory (man, I never get tired of this clip)…

Ooh, goosebumps!

What you can’t see in that video is just how big and full the room was. And the crowd noise was ten times louder in person! (more…)

Tomonobu Itagaki is one of my favorite people in the games industry. Most hardcore gamers are probably familiar with the Team Ninja leader’s larger-than-life public persona — the badass rock star image, the outlandish interview quotes, the relentless attacks on his competitor’s games — but that’s not the Itagaki that I’ve gotten to know over several meetings. (I like that other guy too, though — what a funny and entertaining showman!)

In person, I’ve found Itagaki to be very approachable and easy going. Here are some of my favorite Itagaki memories… (more…)