Kato Answers Your Questions!

Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their questions. Frankly, I was surprised nobody bothered to ask me, "Why are you so bad at your job?" etc. Kidding aside, I hope I covered the bases for you guys, and although I didn't get to all of the questions, I think you'll find plenty to chew on.

How did you get your job/how do I get a job in the industry? – Numerous readers
I personally got my foot in the door at Game Informer way back in 1999 because I knew someone who knew former editor Jay Fitzloff. GI happened to be looking for an online editor, and I somehow impressed Andy enough to get the job.

Honestly – I'd never read GI until I was actually driving to my interview... At the time I was working in a record store (Let it Be Records in downtown Minneapolis), and when Andy made me the offer, I was torn between the two jobs. I think I made the right choice in the end, especially since the record store doesn't even exist anymore.

As for video game journalism itself, my one piece of advice is: Start writing. Write a blog, pick up jobs for your local newspaper, whatever. Even if it's not about video games, the best way to start off is to practice writing as much as you can and get your name out there. There are lots of video game outlets these days, and going to them as a writer with published/public work is just as important as being passionate about video games.

As of late, I have noticed that the readability of Game Informer Magazine has taken a beating in the quest for fancier page layouts and design. Do you have any plans for the future to make sure that, while making a pretty page you are also putting together a readable format? – Carson
The balance between creativity in a layout and readability is something we're always trying to be conscious of. When we proof the magazine, we check how readable something is, and we've made changes to the layouts to make them easier to read in the past. Our production staff does a great job of combining their ideas with the articles' content, and, of course, we're always considering how readable something is.

What's the biggest disaster that has taken place at GI since you've been working there (beside the Lord of the Rings game deal going bad)? – Birch
I would say that's it, actually. The Lord of the Rings: White Council cover story on EA was big for a number of reasons. It was the cover, we were literally right about to walk out the door for our Christmas vacation, and we were totally blindsided by it. I had finished the feature not an hour before we got the call from EA that they were scrapping the game. Combine everyone's loss of getting to read about the game with the fact that the entire project was gone, and it was just a bad situation.

Honestly, there was so little time to process the news and start working on the replacement (we pushed up our Games of the Year feature planned for the subsequent issue), that I never felt angry or sorry for myself. If anything, I felt bad for the team on White Council. I had just spent an entire day with them down at EA, and they were so into what they were doing that I couldn't begin to imagine what they were feeling at that moment. After the movie-based LOTR games, this was going to be an RPG, Oblivion-style title, and I could tell that the team was stoked to be working on something that was outside of the traditional EA box at the time.

It's not unusual to get fewer screens or less information than we were expecting for a feature – and that's just something you have to work around – but you never expect an outright cancellation. The situation with The White Council was by far the craziest I've encountered.

About how long does a reviewer play the game for before they write their review? About how many days before a game releases to the general public does Game Informer receive a copy of the game? – Gilbert
Finishing a game is always the goal, but for some situations, that's not possible. I can't play 30 years of Madden's Franchise mode. In that case, I play the game for as long as humanly possible to make sure I'm familiar with the ins and outs of the game, take extensive notes, and even send in-depth questions to developers to make just to clarify my understanding of a feature. For instance, If I'm playing a shooter and can't find a control to lean out from cover, I'll ask the developer if that control is in the game just to make sure I didn't miss it.

When we get review copies of games all depends on each title. Sometimes they come a month before hand, other times it’s weeks.

Kato, as a long-time reader I know some of the other editors have moved on to the development side of things. Have you ever had any aspirations to make your own game? – Nick
I haven't, actually. Not only do I not know how to code, but I simply like where I'm at. While I have a deep respect and admiration for the teams that put their hearts into the games we play, I wouldn't want to get on that grind. I also think that – while knowing about the development process is helpful for my job – it's a little bit like, 'I don't want to know how they make the meat,' if you know what I mean.

I'm wondering what it's like to work at a place like Game Informer. Does the building feel like a big-kid playground, like the offices for Valve and Epic Games (game toys posed everywhere, posters on the walls, cardboard standups, etc)? – Mike
Luckily for us, the atmosphere and the building itself are very laid back. Everyone's got toys and stuff on their desk, and as long as your workspace isn't so messy that rats and cockroaches come calling, you can just be yourself. The building itself is cool because it's in the warehouse district of downtown Minneapolis, and the office has exposed wooden beams from the original construction. It's no cube farm.

We all have nice HD TVs at our desks, access to all the systems, and a big conference room (with an even bigger TV) for when developers drop by to show us the latest games. There are some old arcade cabinets in the lobby, but honestly, we don't fire them up that often.

Are there ever times where an editor wishes he or she would have been chosen to review a particular game because he or she found the review that made it into the magazine to be whack? – Mike L.
In general, there are definitely times when editors disagree with other editors' reviews/scores. But, unless there’s some factual contradiction or the score simply seems totally off base, we trust our reviewers to articulate and sometimes defend their opinions on their own. Although Bertz and I might review most of the sports games in the office, there are no hard assignments to what games editors review, so really anyone who's qualified to review an individual game can do so.

I finally played Call of Duty: Black Ops, and in my opinion it didn't deserve the extremely high score it got. So, my questions is simple: Do you guys ever review games and give them high scores because of the name of the game, how much money it could potentially make, or how one part of the game is great but the other is crappy? Also, do you think you ever give games scores that are too high or regret the score you gave them? – Melvin
No. A game gets the score it deserves.

As for regretting a score, I can say that for me personally, that has happened. For example, FIFA 10 (8.5) probably should have been higher, and maybe something like Gun (8.75) should have been lower. That being said, that's all in hindsight. You can only go with what you think at the time you're writing the review. Nobody is omnipotent. Plus, older games sometimes don't come off as well when you look back on them simply because gameplay, graphics, etc. has moved forward.

Have there been any games that you had to review where your immediate reaction to the assignment was along the lines of "Ugh" or "NOOOOOO!!!"? – RockyRacoon
Yes. I once was the regular reviewer on the Dynasty Warriors franchise... Actually, it's funnier to see Matt Helgeson's reaction to some of the games he gets. Better yet are the reviews he writes for some of those games. A bad game combined with a writer with a razor-sharp wit is an amusing combination.

I really liked the videos you did regarding Gran Turismo 5, and you're quite good at explaining what's going on. Why is it that you don't participate more in shows GI does like Super/Replay or the Game Informer Show? – pwfan
I'm glad you liked that segment; it was actually kind of fun putting it together. As for Replay, etc., there's no specific reason why I haven't done those. Dan and the guys do a great job with them.
Tell you what, I'll make sure I do at least one this year. Be careful what you wish for...

I have been a gamer since I was very young. I enjoy listening to podcasts and reading magazines about gaming news and culture. Sometimes, though, I am just not in a gaming mood or I just get burnt out and stop enjoying them for, usually, a short period of time. I am convinced that there are times when you journalists really don't feel like playing games and your journalism becomes a job. How do you, or would you, prevent that from affecting a review or your job? – Jordan
Oddly enough, you know what cures a long, stressful day at the office? Going home and playing an awesome game and just letting everything else disappear. Beyond that, we all have outside interests and lives that make us all well rounded. That helps.

Although I've been doing this over 10 years, it's not hard to review stuff  every day when we all simply love games.

When I see a game that gets a score of 7, I think it's not worth playing as much as a game that has a score of 8 or higher. Then, the next week my friend gets a game with a score of 7 and it turns out to be a great game. Does this happen to you? – Derek
In general, 7 (or even an 8) can sound like a bad score when there are so many great games out there, but depending on the game, it can be a good thing. Sure a 7 game might not be the greatest ever, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have redeeming features.

Although my job is to give my opinion on games, my rule is always that if you like a game, don't let me or what I score a title stop you from enjoying it. We can all have our own opinions, even if they're different.

Read on after the jump for the Brotherhood of Steel, the Prince of Persia, and a giraffe!

Just part of Miller's toy army

Whatever happened to those stupid nicknames each Game Informer editor had associated with them? – Tommy
Tommy, I think you just answered your own question.

I know you're a big fan of the NHL games. My questions to you are: What do you want to see from the upcoming season of NHL games? Will we ever see another competitor in this field? EA has NHL on lock for right now, but I want someone to step up and make a solid NHL game for a change. I miss the heyday of having many options and now it’s (basically) just one. I still desperately want a sequel to NHL Rivals. What are the chances of that ever happening? – Chris
I don't see that coming in the near future simply because hockey is a niche sport as compared to football, etc. Now, if 10 years from now everyone loves hockey, then we'll definitely see more games. I just don't think the market can support a lot of hockey titles. 2K Sports and Visual Concepts are bringing the NHL 2K series back to the Xbox 360 and PS3 this year after 2K11 was exiled to the Wii only, so I'm very interested to see what progress, if any, they've made.

As for what I want from hockey games, I want better franchise mode logic, EA's Be a Pro mode to grow, and most of all – physicality from the gameplay. Hockey games so far haven't been able to replicate the gritty work that takes place in the corners and down in front of the net. Because of this, lots of grinders on NHL rosters just aren't useful or properly represented in the games. I'd also like to see the inclusion of NCAA teams, but I don't see it happening. That license is going to be expensive, and from what I gather the NCAA isn't easy to work with.

Why is there a giraffe in a tuxedo at the GI office? – delancey03
One thing I will say about that giraffe – it’s got more seniority than some of the editors in the office. The real question is: How come the Prince of Persia gets his own mail?

When giving a review score, you review the video game for what you see it as before the deadline of the mag. However, for some games, especially online games, things such as glitches may occur that would totally affect your review score of the game. So, would you consider adding a segment to either the mag or the website, where if you deem it necessary to change the score because of unforeseen errors in the game, you would just inform us of the score and why? – Troy
It's tough, because if I don't see a glitch while I'm playing, I can't write about it simply because I haven't experienced it. Games are being updated post-release, and that's frankly a grey area for us. With MMOs in particular we do try to address what happens to them as they evolve in our Massive section in the magazine.

What was your first game? – Bbrains
I remember playing a Magnavox Pong set way back when that my dad had stuffed back in his closet, but for me it was mainly arcades and the Atari 2600 (like Combat, Warlord, and Adventure). I also played a friend's Apple IIe. Hard Hat Mack, Lode Runner, and Karateka were favorites, and I was fortunate to grow up in a time when arcades, home consoles, and PC were all viable and vibrant options to experience.

Do you honestly think that your reviews have any effect upon the sales and reception of a game? For example: If a game gets a low score, will less people buy it even though it has a better score on some other review website/magazine? – Luke
I don't think so. You guys are all pretty knowledgeable and have your own opinions so one review isn't going to make or break a game.

Why do you refuse to watch Terminator 2? – Decabo
Decabo, I'm going to answer your question, but if Jeff Cork is reading this, then my response goes out to him as well: I have nothing against Terminator 2, I just have no interest in watching it. I liked the first one when it came out, but by the time the second one hit, I just didn't care. Same thing with Back to the Future. Saw the original a zillion times in the theater, but I'd simply moved on when the sequel was released. Maybe I'll see Terminator 2 one day, but it's not jumping to the top of the list just because Jeff Cork says so.

Is Dan really the "Meg" of Game Informer? – God of Irony
I know it's popular to crap on Dan, but I like him. He's got great taste in music, and he's a fun guy. I think him and me are generally different people, but that's what I like about him. Dan's his own man, and that's a good thing. Is Dan crazy? That's another question altogether. Here's one: Who's crazier, Dan or Ben Reeves? Some things have no answer.

Why did you ask us to email you instead of just asking to post questions in the comments section? – Numerous readers
Because I thought it would look embarrassing if only five people left comments...

A seven-foot tall Fallout 3 statue guarding our entryway