I met the people behind www.8bitrocket.com, Steve and Jeff Fulton, back when I did the list of video game career resources. They were nice enough to volunteer for an interview, so of course I was glad to take them up on it!
1) So first tell me about the both of you – what you do, how you got into gaming?
Steve: Oh wow, there are many blog entries about that on our web site. Too many probably. Most of them are in the Atari Nerd Chronicles section here:
http://www.8bitrocket.com/category/atari-nerd/atari-nerd-chronicles/. The short answer is I played Combat! Atari 2600 in a Fedmart TV section in 1977 or 1978, and I never turned back. I was a child of Atari and there is no way to change it now.
Jeff: Like Steve says, there is a long history. We had a cheap knock-off pong unit in the early 70's, then Atari machines up until the Sega Master System. The only major Atari machine we didn't have was the 5200, but we had an Atari 8-bit which was roughly equivalent. The bulk of my favorite games were on the Atari ST – Phantasie I,II, and II along with Oids, Megaroids, Kick off 2 and Kick Off Player Manager. I have a 360, Wii, PS2, iPod Touch, DS, and all kinds of plug and play devices now. I used to game on the PC. The last good one I played was Half Life II. Now I have a Mac and don't game on it much. I love retro arcade games on the consoles though.
2) How did 8 bit rocket come about? What were your goals – and how did they change, if at all?
Steve: We have had sites like it since about 1996. At first it was going to be about retro games. We came-up with the name "RetroHello.com". The idea was to make the ending "o" disappear so the name would be "RetroHell". We had that one for a while, but at the end of 2006 we felt the need to take of the Flash work we had been doing at our regular jobs and share it with the world. That led to making demo games and tutorials, and it just kept spinning up and up. Now we have one book published, The Essential Guide To Flash Games, and we are working on another. If anything has chnaged it is that we have refined our topics and focused more than in the past.
Jeff: We had blogs before the term was invented, but no visitors. Let's see I started something called YDMA in 1998. It stood for YOUR DEMO MY ASS where I reviewed and tore apart bad game demos. That only lasted a month or so, but it's the thought that counts. Then I had a blog that covered only the Leicester City Foxes of the English Premier League. That ended when Kasey Keller moved on to a new club. There were various other little things I did alone until Steve and I set up Management Sucks, Retro Hello, and Flash Music Archives. No one came to those either so we combined it all into 8bitrocket.
3) How has the site been received?
Steve: At first it was a very hard sell, and it still is sometimes. We do pretty well, and have a nice set of return visitors (about 1000 unique people a day), but it's still a labor of love. We have never accepted any ads beyond Google Ads. People appreciate it because the information is free, but there is no way to monetize beyond that. That is why we wrote a book, because people will still buy those. (sometimes)
Jeff: At first no one came. Then we started to write AS3 tutorials and things blossomed. The Midcore Gamer thing helped a lot. The Book and my attempt over a 3 week period to review every Mochi game released (a marathon in terror…like all of the Saw movies combined into one long salt in the wound) seemed to get us a pretty solid 1000-1500 returning visitors and more when something special breaks loose…like our Apple v. Adobe stuff.
4) It seems that the internet gives people a chance to make resources – but I also find many that have died off or been forgotten. How do you keep it going?
Steve: Sheer determination and love, and maybe a bit of ego too. I have been into computers since I was 9 years old (1979). I have owned one since 1983. In 1984 I started visiting BBS' with 300 baud modem… and never looked back. Web sites are just an extension from that time…in my mind anyway. Since I've been doing this for so long, I can't imagine *not* doing it.
Jeff: We try to keep up the tutorials as much as possible. I now write them when I solve a problem that I could not find an answer for else where..hence we come up a lot as the first Google on some topics.
5) What are your impressions of trends in gaming right now?
Steve: Hmm. I'm not a huge fan of "touch" games on the iPhone or iPad because I think the interface breaks for most of the games I would like otherwise. Exceptions would be any games by PopCap, which are brilliant on any platform. I love my Xbox360, but I hardly buy disk-based games. I download everything from the store. My newest favorite is Risk Factions. I initially loved the Wii, but i think it's kind of a disaster now. Nintendo showed Wii Party at E3, but it has no Wii motion Plus support! I mean, come-on, freaking Carnival Games 2 has Wii-motion Plus support, but not a first party (no pun intended) Wii game? WTF? Kinect looks cool though. A soccer game where you actually kick the ball would rule. I do think we might have a few "too many" games now, but then i'm part of that problem, so I can't complain too much.
Jeff: Gaming has never been better and never been worse. I love the fact that free tools are available for almost anyone who wants to make a game…I also hate the fact that free tools are available for almost anyone who wants to make a game. I think the choice in what to play for free or nearly free is awesome for every game player…I also think the choice in what to play for free is shitty for many game developers. An indie game developer has a chance today though and that's what counts. Look at New Star Games. They make some of the best indie games around, and sell them for a decent amount. Those are the guys we should all be supporting. You can't spend a year making a game and sell it for $5000 license fee for $1.00 per copy. You'll go broke and never make another game. We need to support the $9.99 – $19.99 indies to ensure quality indie games continue to be developed.
6) What would you advise people who want careers in gaming to do education wise? Career-wise?
Steve: Hmm. There are so many opportunities right now for indies, that I would go that route. Learn your discipline well (programming, graphics, design) by practicing. There is no better training for making games than making games. We discuss a theory we created called the "The Second Game Theory" in our book. It's the idea that, you need to finish your first game to and make a second one. You won't learn much until you try to iterate and learn from your own work. Also, don't be afraid to quit if something is just not working. It's rare that someone gets it the first time. I've thrown away many more game ideas than I have ever finished, simply because they did not pan out and were not fun.
Jeff: Do what you love. I know it sounds lame, but it is the only way you will not die of boredom and hate your job. If you want to makes games, then learn the art and science. Physics, Math(s), 3d art, etc. Also, make games. Just make them. Make Asteroids, make Zelda, make a crappy 2.5 shooter…just do it. You will learn more by making a shitty game a
nd looking up how to do it when you are stuck then you will by reading and old copy of GamePro. Even copying a tutorial can help you learn though as long as you use each experience as a learning tool. The point is that you have to do it. Nights, weekends, whenever you have time. read about it, play with the code, make games. If you hate it, then you can go do something else. At least you tried.
7) Anything else for our audience?
Steve: If you have the desire in your soul to make games, you must do it! You won't be happy until you try it…even if you don't succeed.
Jeff: Buy our book =) just kidding (well not if you want a good book on making games in AS3). Really though, I have been playing games, making games, writing about playing games, and writing about making games for over 30 years. It's what I love and if it is what you love too, then do it. Drop the job you hate and join up with us.
Thanks Steve and Jeff! And be sure to visit 8-bit rocket!