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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 31</font></b></font></p>
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              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
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        <p align="center"><font size="+3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8">Mike 
          Wilson and the Glory of G.O.D.<br>
          </font><font size="+3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"> 
          </font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Jason &quot;<a href="mailto:jason@loonygames.com">loonyboi</a>&quot; 
          Bergman</font></b></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT">&nbsp;</p>
        <p><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Let's talk about the other 
          licensed properties for a moment...how did you get the Kiss: Psycho 
          Circus license? Was it from Todd McFarlane, or Kiss themselves?</font></b></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">KISS owns that property. 
          An agent I know calls me one day, says that Gene Simmons wants to meet 
          w/me and wants to do high-end quality video games based on KISS. The 

          Psycho Circus comics, which were produced by McFarlane, made it obvious 
          that KISS:Psycho Circus was indeed a great property both in coolness 
          and sales potential. (The KISS following is huge... McFarlane's comics 
          and action figures are the best selling of any new series in both categories). 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Was Third Law Interactive 
          intended to make the game from day one, or did you acquire the license 
          and then find someone to make the game?</b></font></p>
        <p> </p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Nope... the license came 
          up and I was talking to several outside, talented groups about it. The 
          Third Law guys came to me basically asking advice, as they had all been 
          planning to leave, as a group, for some time. They are obviously an 
          incredible ensemble of talent, and were ready to start immediately, 
          and believed strongly in the license. Done. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Why use the LithTech engine, 
          when you have such a close involvement with Epic Games?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Third Law looked at all the 
          available 3D technologies very hard. Epic was here to demonstrate <b>Unreal</b> 
          the night that Third Law left Ion (Epic didn't know who they were demo-ing 
          for until they got here). Epic's engine and id's are both incredible 
          technologies with their own unique strengths and weaknesses, as is Monolith’s. 
          I think the decision came down to the fact that LithTech works on such 
          a wide range of computers, and that Third Law's mission is to create 
          a game that will both please the high-end Blue’s News crowd but that 
          will also run on the not-so-hardcore gamers systems. Again, KISS has 
          a huge following, and not all of them bought a new computer and new 
          3D card this year. I think it was a smart business decision for them, 
          and very mature of them to be able to walk away from the more high-end, 
          high-profile, high-cost technologies to do the right thing for them 
          on this project. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Your recent deal with 
          Take Two Interactive raised a few eyebrows (and prompted several darker 
          biblical references) what brought this about?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Any criticisms/fears of Take-Two 
          are based on Take-Two two years ago, which was a COMPLETELY different 
          company. They were a poor-ass publisher with no money and no products. 
          Tough combination. They made some bad decisions and paid the price for 
          it. Heck, when we met Take Two, they didn't have much more going on 
          than we did, and we didn't even have an office. ;) But, the fact is 
          that they believed in the concept of The Gathering and that our two 
          companies goals and strengths fit together like puzzle pieces. They 
          spent all of 1998 building up an incredibly strong European and console 
          distribution infrastructure, which was exactly what we needed to partner 
          with, so that we could continue to focus on high-end PC content and 
          North American publishing. They went from a 19 million dollar company 
          in 4th quarter ‘97 to a 200 million dollar company in 4th quarter ‘98. 
          Lots of very smart acquisitions. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Anyhow, we went into the 
          relationship very cautiously, even reluctantly, and now know that it's 
          the smartest thing we could have done, business wise. We've been able 
          to keep the vision of The Gathering 100% pure and establish a worldwide 
          publishing partnership capable of launching major titles as well as 
          anyone in the business in the space of about one year. (We didn't have 
          offices or any money until E3 of last year).</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What is Rockstar Games, 
          and what is G.O.D's involvement in it?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Rockstar Games is concrete 
          evidence of Take Two's support of our philosophy of fewer, better, games 
          and working with the best developers. They are the label (within Take 
          Two) that will handle the ports and original console versions of Gathering's 
          titles. They are also going head-on into the effort of making console 
          games less 'geeky' in the public perception. They will be doing lots 
          of very new, very exciting things in that sector that will shake things 
          up, and we're proud to be associated with them.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What's your take on the, 
          "Wal-mart phenomenon"? Can we expect a Deer Hunter style game from G.O.D. 
          in the coming years?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Not unless id wants to do 
          it. ;) Seriously, if a top-tier developer wanted to make a quality, 
          kick ass game that happened to appeal to the masses, why not? All our 
          developers are independents and therefore understand commercial realities. 
          Still, you won't see a six-month, $150k project that amounts to a couple 
          of brown pixels popping out at you coming from us just to take advantage 
          of the fact that Bubba doesn't know better. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We are focused, and that 
          focus is on the hardcore, high end gamer of all genres. Our goal is 
          for each game we release to be the best game in that particular genre, 
          or at least to be right up there. <b>Railroad Tycoon II</b> was as good 
          as any non-violent, sim-type strategy game gets, and we're very proud 
          of it. Even <b>Jazz Jackrabbit 2</b>, even though it will never sell 
          AAA numbers, was widely acclaimed and called the best game of its type 
          ever made. We love that. <b>FLY!</b> will continue this tradition by 
          kicking every flight simulator's ass this spring. If Microsoft's simulator 
          still sells more because there are a million idiots out there that feel 
          better about buying something because it says Microsoft, so be it. The 
          real simmers will know that <b>FLY!</b> is the best ever made, and that 
          audience is the one we want. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>How committed are you 
          to developing for console games? Would you like to see this become a 
          larger part of your publishing slate, or will PC games always be G.O.D.'s 
          main focus?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">PC Games will continue to 
          be our focus for the next year or two, but through our unique relationship 
          with Rockstar, we still have the ability to help manage the development 
          and marketing of great console titles from great developers like Edge 
          of Reality. It was no accident that one of our six founding developers 
          was from the console world.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Is there a genre you have 
          yet to find a game for? Looking at your current list of games in development, 
          you've got an RPG, a strategy game, a few action games, etc. Is there 
          a particular kind of game you're looking for right now? (A sports title, 
          perhaps?)</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">We look for quality games 
          from quality developers, period. We don't have a 'slate' with slots 
          we are trying to fill. We don't have quarters, and we have very little 
          overhead. We are free from many of the pressures that other publishers 
          put on themselves because they think they are in the packaged goods 
          industry rather than the entertainment industry.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>What does G.O.D. look 
          for in a new publishing partner? You've shown a willingness to take 
          a chance with new startups (Human Head and Third Law being two recent 
          ones) making you the idea publisher for many would-be developers.</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Third Law is an exception 
          in that they are using licensed technology and that I have personal 
          knowledge of their skills. Human Head is working in conjunction with 
          Epic (and I also am quite familiar with their skills from when they 
          were working at Raven on id collaborations) similar to how Remedy is 
          working with 3DRealms on <b>Max Payne</b>. Generally, we'll feel a lot 
          more comfortable with an 'unproven' group if we can pair them up with 
          an experienced, successful developer who understands that magic that 
          has to happen in the last 1/3 of a product's cycle to put it over the 
          top. We look for teams with the proven ability to deliver, basically.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>G.O.D. relies on the basis 
          of small developers making games independently. As the industry grows, 
          and games get more complicated, and more expensive to make, do you see 
          this continuing to be a viable option? Are we far off from seeing hundred 
          member development teams being the norm?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think so. Most large development 
          operations don't work out so well, with a few notable exceptions. The 
          best games in the business are made by relatively small independent 
          teams either on their own or working autonomously inside a larger organization. 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">PopTop was three guys when 
          we signed them, and were at a bloated six guys when they completed <b>Railroad 
          Tycoon II</b>. </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Finally, do you have any 
          advice for would-be developers?</b></font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Don't try to do it on your 
          own the first time out... work with someone experienced and successful 
          until you fully understand the very rare combination of skills that 
          are required to complete a great game. Also, don't take the easy road 
          and remain ignorant about 'boring things' like the business you're in. 
          The fat, laughing guys in suits will make you pay for your ignorance. 
          </font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Thanks Mike! Check out 
          G.O.D. over at <a href="http://www.godgames.com">http://www.godgames.com</a>!</b></font></p>
        <h3>&nbsp; </h3>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>- 
          Jason &quot;loonyboi&quot; Bergman is the editor in chief here at <b>loonygames</b>. 
          He's a G.O.D. fearing man.</i></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT">&nbsp;</p>
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      <p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
        Illustration &copy; 1999 Michael Krahulik. This interview is &copy; 1999 
        Jason Bergman &amp; Mike Wilson. All other content is &copy; 1999 <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi 
        productions</a>. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, so 
        don't try it...or we'll damn you. </font></i></p>
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