dolo: What is your job title at Activision?

Hellchick: I have two: I'm a fan site evangelist, and I'm also an online marketing manager.

dolo: What were some of your biggest challenges of working at GSN? (explain)

Hellchick: It's actually tough to think of my time at GameSpy as having had any real "challenges" in the negative sense; it was nearly two years of pure fun. Perhaps the biggest challenge was getting close to some of the developers and developing a good working relationship with them. Being a gaming network, we often carried the stigma as not being as worthy of consideration as the print magazines, but I think that perception has changed quite a bit. It took me some time, though, to get to know the developers behind the games I covered and develop a good working relationship. It was definitely worth it, though.

dolo: Tell us how you nailed that job at Activision!

Hellchick: Well, unfortunately the way I ended up at Activision probably won't help most people as what happened for me was very specific. During my time at GameSpy, I'd developed a very good relationship with id Software. Todd Hollenshead and I had gotten to talking, and he told me that there was a position at Activision that would work out very well for id and that they'd like to put me forward as the one for the job. After speaking with people at Activision and id, I had to make the tough decision to leave GameSpy and try something new. I miss GameSpy and all my friends there (fortunately, they're just down the road so I see them every so often), but I actually still work with them quite a bit in this job, and I get the added bonus of working closely with one of my favorite developers, id Software, and on titles like Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Soldier of Fortune 2.

As for getting a job at a company like Activision, the path is a well-worn one: get a job in the QA (Quality Assurance) department. In fact, someone at id Software worked his way there by starting out in Activision's QA department. Never discount the value of being a tester! By starting there, you get an excellent feel for the game development process. You can then move up to being a lead tester, and then possibly work on the production side of things and become a producer. After that, you'll have a nice resume that includes many facets of the game development process.

dolo: Working at Activision, you must know all kinds of stuff about future gaming projects. What is the most interesting facet of having all kinds of foreknowledge handed to you?

Hellchick: The fact that no one else does. (Not really; that was mean.) The most interesting is that it allows me to see the development of games from the very beginning. The game development process was something that always fascinated me at GameSpy; now I get to see it from the inside. That's just cool.

dolo: What is your favorite mod and why? ... favorite level? ... favorite game?

Hellchick: Wow, I have so many favorite mods...I haven't had time to play any new ones lately, though. My current favorites would have to be Urban Terror for Q3A, and Front Line Force for Half-Life. I like Urban Terror because it reminds me a little of Action Quake 2, a mod I was hooked on to ridiculous proportions, and I like Front Line Force because when you're playing on a LAN with your friends and you're trying desperately to capture that last point before the timer runs out, it's a rush.

dolo: One of my first really fun gaming experiences occured some years ago on an Intellivision. Do you have access to one of those antiques and if so, what's your favorite game or success story from that era? :)

Hellchick: I don't have access now to one, but I had all those consoles as a kid! Remember Colecovision? How about the Atari 400? The Atari 800? The ODYSSEY?! My favorite game from that era...man, I had SO many. I guess I'd have to go with the original text version of Zork. Oh, and Miner 2049er. And maybe that Journey game. (Actually, I just threw that last one in there because, hey, they made a game based on Journey.)

dolo: Have you met Tony Hawk?

Hellchick: I haven't, but I'd LOVE to meet him. I'm hooked on the Tony Hawk games. They were (and probably still are) a staple around GameSpy. They were a nice, quick diversion when you wanted to stretch your legs for a few minutes, and definitely fun. I think it's a testament to the game design that I like the game -- I'm not a skater at all, but I love the THPS series. I'm considering getting a Playstation 2 just for THPS3.

dolo: Soldier of Fortune was a great game and I enjoyed it immensely, but I played it way before 9/11 so I'm not sure what impact a game like that would have on me today. Do you see more market worth to games that portray American soldiers kicking terrorist ass now that we are at war?

Hellchick: That's a tough question to answer. On the one hand, you want to be careful as a developer and a publisher to avoid being seen as capitalizing on a national tragedy. On the other, you know that the moment a game like that comes out, there'll be skins and levels within practically hours that let you kill bin Laden on his home turf.

I'm not privvy to all the development details on SoF2, but I would GUESS that it's not going to change due to the 9/11 attacks.

dolo: What can you tell us about Doom 3 without getting Id Software mad at you?

Hellchick: I can tell you with moderate certaintly that there are absolutely no depictions of Rosanne Barr in the game. I think. Wait, don't quote me on that. Oh crap, is that Todd Hollenshead on the phone...?

dolo: On the perception of gaming networks vs. print. This raises an interesting issue. Is there a chance that print and television might turn to the internet as a more permanent structure for distribution?

Hellchick: If that happens, I don't think it'll be for quite a while. Television and print are structured, and the Internet is not. What structure there is (companies with networks) exists in a sea of STUFF that resembles a library where all the books are scattered on the floor. But there are more factors than just structure that come into it, and one of those is how to monetize the Internet. People are still figuring that out.