Logan Mulhill
Mrs. Tranel
Eng IV/2
3 April 2015
Interview with Mr. Jeff Lind
On Sunday March 29, I interviewed Mr. Jeff Lind of Gazillion Entertainment. Jeff Lind is a video game producer who lives in San Francisco, California. Currently, he is employed at Gazillion Entertainment, as the Studio Director for Marvel Heroes Online. Mr. Lind became interested in video games in the 80’s as a teenager. He really didn’t have an interest in the gaming industry, until he began to develop his skills on the technical side. In college, Mr. Lind was a chemistry major. He loves chemistry and loved learning about it as it was the hardest major in his school and loved the feeling that he could tackle it. But he didn’t really have the passion for it, so he took a CS course his senior year and that’s when he says he caught the programming bug. By the end of one semester he knew he wanted to do programming He began to use those skills and became more interested and was drawn back into that kind of stuff. Creating games to him was far more interesting than writing financial software for a bank and liked the idea of solving technical problems for entertainment and art. After earning his degree in chemistry he went to grad school for a few semesters and came to know a professor who referred him to one of his colleagues at another school. That second professor hired him out of the word of the first professor. He made $13 an hour, overpaid for his skill level, but eventually after some time he was a good value. Other than working with Gazillion, Mr. Lind also worked for sony entertainment from 1997-2000 on Jeopardy Online. Afterwards, he went to work for Electronic Arts (EA) for seven years working on many different games. eventually he was hired on by his boss as his first hire at Gazillion.
Mr. Linds says the gaming industry has changed in a few ways since he started in the industry. When he was just starting out, he says, the internet and online gaming were the new areas. At that time, no one knew how to do an online based game or how it was going to change things, so many failed online games were developed. He says the capabilities of computers has also changed the industry. Computers have improved a ton and the expectations of players’ have increased. This means that companies have to increase budgets, which raises the stakes for ever game published. Now, a major console game needs a team ranging from 2-300 people. This means that the game has to do well so the company can make a profit. For those going into the gaming industry he suggests they be a good programmer. Mr Lind says getting an undergraduate degree in Computer Science is the best way to do that. After that, he says being a good 3d artist is another way. Mr. Lind personally feels that one wanting to go into the business should have a good general liberal arts education. He also thinks that one should play a lot of different kinds of games, even ones they dislike just to see how they work.
During the interview I was surprised at how different the capabilities of game producers has increased from the earlier games. I didn’t know that the budgets of games had increased so much since games like Pong or Mario. I also didn’t know that the amount of people needed had increased, making a games success more important so the people could get paid. What I learned in while interviewing Mr. Lind was that he prefers to hire people with a background or some knowledge in Liberal Arts and find that most companies should have people with that background. I think this is because those with a history with Liberal Arts know the history of art and videogames. In all honesty I wish I had asked the question, ‘What games have changed video games for the better and what games have changed it for the worst?’ The information that I got from Mr. Lind helped confirm some personal beliefs about the gaming industry, such as it is a fun and interesting business, as well as help me come up with some more questions about the industry, mainly How will the industry change in years to come and what capabilities will game developers be able to utilize?
In total, I feel that the interview was very valuable as it helped me figure out more for about the gaming industry. I would very much like to work for Mr. Lind in the future and even now while I’m doing my project. Even after interviewing Mr. Lind, I still feel very interested in the gaming industry.
Mrs. Tranel
Eng IV/2
3 April 2015
Interview with Mr. Jeff Lind
On Sunday March 29, I interviewed Mr. Jeff Lind of Gazillion Entertainment. Jeff Lind is a video game producer who lives in San Francisco, California. Currently, he is employed at Gazillion Entertainment, as the Studio Director for Marvel Heroes Online. Mr. Lind became interested in video games in the 80’s as a teenager. He really didn’t have an interest in the gaming industry, until he began to develop his skills on the technical side. In college, Mr. Lind was a chemistry major. He loves chemistry and loved learning about it as it was the hardest major in his school and loved the feeling that he could tackle it. But he didn’t really have the passion for it, so he took a CS course his senior year and that’s when he says he caught the programming bug. By the end of one semester he knew he wanted to do programming He began to use those skills and became more interested and was drawn back into that kind of stuff. Creating games to him was far more interesting than writing financial software for a bank and liked the idea of solving technical problems for entertainment and art. After earning his degree in chemistry he went to grad school for a few semesters and came to know a professor who referred him to one of his colleagues at another school. That second professor hired him out of the word of the first professor. He made $13 an hour, overpaid for his skill level, but eventually after some time he was a good value. Other than working with Gazillion, Mr. Lind also worked for sony entertainment from 1997-2000 on Jeopardy Online. Afterwards, he went to work for Electronic Arts (EA) for seven years working on many different games. eventually he was hired on by his boss as his first hire at Gazillion.
Mr. Linds says the gaming industry has changed in a few ways since he started in the industry. When he was just starting out, he says, the internet and online gaming were the new areas. At that time, no one knew how to do an online based game or how it was going to change things, so many failed online games were developed. He says the capabilities of computers has also changed the industry. Computers have improved a ton and the expectations of players’ have increased. This means that companies have to increase budgets, which raises the stakes for ever game published. Now, a major console game needs a team ranging from 2-300 people. This means that the game has to do well so the company can make a profit. For those going into the gaming industry he suggests they be a good programmer. Mr Lind says getting an undergraduate degree in Computer Science is the best way to do that. After that, he says being a good 3d artist is another way. Mr. Lind personally feels that one wanting to go into the business should have a good general liberal arts education. He also thinks that one should play a lot of different kinds of games, even ones they dislike just to see how they work.
During the interview I was surprised at how different the capabilities of game producers has increased from the earlier games. I didn’t know that the budgets of games had increased so much since games like Pong or Mario. I also didn’t know that the amount of people needed had increased, making a games success more important so the people could get paid. What I learned in while interviewing Mr. Lind was that he prefers to hire people with a background or some knowledge in Liberal Arts and find that most companies should have people with that background. I think this is because those with a history with Liberal Arts know the history of art and videogames. In all honesty I wish I had asked the question, ‘What games have changed video games for the better and what games have changed it for the worst?’ The information that I got from Mr. Lind helped confirm some personal beliefs about the gaming industry, such as it is a fun and interesting business, as well as help me come up with some more questions about the industry, mainly How will the industry change in years to come and what capabilities will game developers be able to utilize?
In total, I feel that the interview was very valuable as it helped me figure out more for about the gaming industry. I would very much like to work for Mr. Lind in the future and even now while I’m doing my project. Even after interviewing Mr. Lind, I still feel very interested in the gaming industry.