Mid October last year saw the dawn of a brand spanking new editor for the Official Nintendo Magazine Australia. This man has wrote for other major magazine titles such as the Official PlayStation and X-Box360 magazines. His first magazine hit shelves November 25th, 2009. I hope you people were lucky enough to score one for yourself.
His name is Mark Serrels and I was lucky enough to score an online interview with him, via email, earlier this week.
This was the result of that interview, enjoy!
James Brattan(Speedyg): Congratulations Mark on your recent promotion. How does it feel to be taking over as Editor for the ONM Australia?
Mark Serrels (Editor - Official Nintendo Magazine Australia): Thanks duduvski! It feels good man! I’ve always loved Nintendo, so it feels good to try and represent people who feel the same way, and create something that Nintendo fans can hopefully respond to.
James: Could you briefly describe a casual day in the office?
Mark Serrels: I walk into the office clutching an Up and Go – used to be a can of Pepsi Max, but I’m trying to stay off the fizzy drinks). I talk to precisely no-one, because chances of me forming a coherent sentence before 10 am is close to absolute zero . I turn on my computer and wait for it to load as suck up the last dregs of my Up and Go.
I stare at my computer screen for an hour. At this point I’m probably on Facebook, pretending to do work (a word document is just a command+tab away kids), but inbetween that I’m probably responding to various publishers, PR people, etc and planning/writing/discussing the magazine.
The sad fact is that I play a lot less games during my work day than you’d expect. Whenever I tell someone what I do the stock standard response is “oh, you play video games all day”! But the fact is if you play a DS during your lunch break, then you probably play more games at work than I do! Most of my time is spent writing, planning, editing, and emailing. Every now and then I’ll spend a chunk of time playing games in the office, but I mostly just play any games I’m reviewing at home.
James: Is there any particular reason why you chose to follow journalism within the gaming industry?
Mark Serrels: Probably because I love to write and I like to think I’m pretty good at it! I love playing games, and I love it when a game really surprises me or affects me – writing about those moments is my favourite part of the job and it’s the main reason why I do what I do.
Being honest I don’t really think of myself as a journalist. There have been some pieces I’ve written that I’m proud of, and could possibly fall into the ‘journalism’ category, but I think what I do is a little different. I could go into the ins and outs of my boring opinion on the matter, but I’ll spare you guys!
Long story (kinda) short – I love games and I love writing. This job combines the two.
James: Are there any changes you wish to make to the magazine? Do you feel you have to update the current layout of the magazine to impress the reader, or are you fine the way it is?
Mark Serrels: I’ve already made a heap of changes to the mag (I think) and most of these decisions were based around a couple of ideas I had for the direction of the mag.
My main objective was to make the mag a little more ‘gamey’. The Wii has a huge casual audience, but I’m not really convinced that this audience is interested in buying a monthly Nintendo magazine – they might be interested in one-off user guides, but not a magazine that is released every month.
For that reason I decided to try and make the magazine more of a voice for core Nintendo fans – the guys that bought Little King’s Story, the guys that are currently chomping at the proverbial bit for any scrap of news on Zelda Wii.
I’ve also tried to push a bit of retro focus into the magazine as well. I really want this magazine to cater to Nintendo fans, and I think people forget that core Nintendo fans love the heritage of Nintendo and the history of their favourite consoles or franchises.
Traditionally Nintendo magazines have always been pitched at a younger audience and, while I think that makes sense to an extent, I don’t think it’s necessarily the right course of action. I think there are a lot of people my age, in their 20s and 30s, that grew up with Nintendo and have real fond memories of playing A Link to the Past, or Mario 64 as kids. Exploring that side of things, I think, wallowing in that shared nostalgia should be a big part of any Nintendo magazine I think! It’s also the kind of content you can’t find online, the kind of content that makes magazine a more interesting unique, and sometimes collectible, proposition.
James: Every gamer had to start playing games somewhere, what I would love to know is where did you start playing games at?
Mark Serrels: My first games machine was a Spectrum 48k, which I don’t think came out in Australia. I got it as a gift when I was about 5 years old and I’ve been obsessed with games ever since. The first game I ever played (I think) was Horace goes Skiing, which was a bizarre Frogger clone with a skiing mini game.
Sh!t was bananas!
There’s loads of games that were pivotal to me really falling in love with games, and I could spend all day talking about them, but that was the first gaming experience I can remember.
James: Games are being released left, right and centre these days, are there any on your wish list?
Mark Serrels: Top of my list is undoubtedly the new Zelda game, which I hope to see at this year’s E3. I’m really keen to check out Metroid: Other M, but I have a real bad feeling about that one – I hope I’m proven wrong, but I’m just not digging the new direction so far.
Man, there’s so many, and it’s not just exclusive to Nintendo either: Mario Galaxy 2, Epic Mickey, Halo Reach, Sin and Punishment 2, God of War III, Skate 3, etc. I’m a big fan of small downloadable games, in particular I really love the PixelJunk games on PSN and I’ll play anything that those guys release. Oh, and anything by Rising Star Games! I’m really especially looking forward to The Last Guardian as well.
James: As you know, there are loads and loads of websites and magazines dedicated to what you are doing right now, giving the viewers and readers reviews, updates and all of the cold hard facts about the games we want, my question is do you think you are doing an adequate job keeping the magazine up to date full of everything we love to see?
Mark Serrels: I’d like to think so, but it’s really up to you guys to judge more than anything. I think websites are difficult to compete with in so many ways, and the important thing to do is focus on the strengths of print and provide readers with an experience they can’t find online.
This is something I’ve tried to do on every magazine I’ve ever worked on, create a vibe unique to the magazine and expand upon it, making it the best read it can possibly be.
There are things that magazines do better than online, and I’m trying to put more of this kind of stuff in the mag – extensive features, in-depth reviews, interviews, retros stuff, etc.
James: So far the interview has been all about what you do at work, this question is about your life outside the magazine. What do you yourself like to do?
Mark Serrels: Um, play games?
I’m into the normal stuff, movies, reading, gaming, etc. I’m a big fan of manga and anime – my favourites right now are Vagabond and Bakuman. I find myself watching way too much TV, and I’m stoked that the final season of Lost is just about to start.
I really enjoy sport, soccer mostly, but I’ve done a lot of long distance running and I still get out for a round of golf every now and then (although I truly, truly suck).
James: Do you have a personal favourite game you would like to share with us?
Mark Serrels: Choosing one is impossible. Absolutely impossible. So I’ll just give you a quick list off the top of my head:
• Street Fighter II
• Zelda: A Link to the Past
• The Secret of Monkey Island
• Halo
• Metroid Prime
• Mario Galaxy
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
• Yoshi’s Island
• Super Mario World
• Ocarina of Time
• Ico
• Flower
• Link’s Awakening
So, so many games, but those are some of my absolute favourites.
James: Before we finish the interview I would like to ask you if you have anything else to say to all the gamers out their or any advise you would like to give to the members interested in journalism?
Mark Serrels: It’s getting harder and harder to find proper paid gigs in games writing these days, but my advice is just to do as much work as you possibly can, and build up experience and folio pieces through the multitude of fan websites out there. You’ll have to write for free at first, but once you’ve built up a decent resume you can start trying to email editors for paid work.
Keep going, don’t worry about the ignored emails or the rejection, just keep on pushing, and keep on pushing yourself in terms of your own skills. You’ll get there eventually. Build up your contacts, keep your name in the mix, and do good work (on time). That would be the key basics I think!
We don’t have any freelance gigs going at the moment, but if you want any more advice or help, please feel free to email me at mark.serrels@futurenet.com and I’ll try and get back to you!
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05/02/2010
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