More Reviews of Gamers at Work

September 13, 2012 · 7:07 PM

Seven months have passed since my book, Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play, was published in February. However, reviews continue to trickle out. Here are five more.

You can purchase Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and many other booksellers around the world.

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Don't Tell Them What You Want To Hear

August 7, 2012 · 11:30 AM

In this review-interview hybrid, VentureBeat calls Gamers at Work "historical," "surprisingly personal," and "inspiring." I also had a chance to speak briefly about my interview strategy, sacrifice in entrepreneurship, and the forthcoming Online Gamers at Work.

Ramsay: There are several reasons why I ask straightforward questions in my interviews. First, business leaders appreciate brevity, candor, and directness. This was true before PowerPoint. Second, as the interviewer, I'm not the subject. I'm the director. I'm obligated to budget my time and respect the schedules of all involved. Finally, I follow this simple rule of investigation: When you're looking for answers, don't tell them what you want to hear.

Read more: Gamers at Work reveals the risks and emotional complications in entrepreneurship

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The Line Between Courage and Madness

July 20, 2012 · 7:00 PM

In this Examiner.com interview, I spoke with editor Alexander Hinkley about finding success in the video-game industry. Published on March 26, 2012. Reprinted with permission.

Morgan Ramsay is the author of Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play, a new book which features interviews with many entrepreneurs in the video-game industry. He recently sat down with Examiner to discuss the book and share his thoughts about what he feels it takes to be successful in the industry.

Hinkley: The book includes a lot of interviews with some big names in the video-game industry. How hard was it for you to score these interviews?

Ramsay: Not hard at all. Unlike Hollywood, which banks on apparent scarcity to build celebrity brands, most of the "big names" in the video-game industry are social and accessible. You can send an e-mail directly to Raph Koster from his website. George Clooney doesn't even have a website; you have to go through his agent. When Brad Pitt joined Google Plus, he made headlines. When is the last time any game developer made headlines because he or she registered an account with a social network?

Continue reading ›

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New Excerpt: The Rise of Naughty Dog

June 26, 2012 · 3:39 AM

GamesIndustry International has published a new excerpt from my book, Gamers at Work: Stories Behind the Games People Play. In this excerpt, newly hired THQ president Jason Rubin recounts his experiences as cofounder of Naughty Dog, publishing with Electronic Arts and Universal Interactive, and the events leading up to Sony's acquisition of the studio.

The Rise of Naughty Dog, Part 1:

We cold called the help line at Electronic Arts, which was at that time the largest game publisher in the world, and managed to get a producer on the other end of the phone. A few months later, we were working for EA on Keef the Thief, another graphic adventure for the same systems. Frankly, I still don't know how we pulled that off. It would be the equivalent today of a kid who has a half-million views on YouTube cold calling Warner Brothers and getting a movie deal.

You can also read part of my interview with Ensemble Studios cofounder Tony Goodman at Gamasutra.

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Adversity and Reimagining Lara Croft

June 8, 2012 · 7:00 AM

In this trailer for a reimagining of Tomb Raider, we see the protagonist Lara Croft bound, bloodied, bruised, and broken. Critics have focused on this trailer as an example of violence against women in media. But they forget that video games are a powerful storytelling medium.

We don't just see a woman made to suffer at the hands of men. We see her overcome. We see her strength, her courage, and her conviction. We see her endure through the dangers of man and environment. We see her face those dangers, too. And we see her fight back.

Unlike film though, where we merely watch the story unfold; in this video game, we help an ordinary woman to her feet. We help her take a stand. And we help her become an extraordinary survivor.

"To actually see what she goes through, to become hardened, to become this tomb raider that we know and love, or at least a new version of it... a big part of that journey is seeing some of the hits she's taken along the way and why she had to get that inner strength and the inner core to become the woman that we all know." —Darrell Gallagher, Crystal Dynamics

I applaud the developer's vision. Watch the trailer below.

Update: Rus McLaughlin at GamesBeat wrote a great article that also defends this reimagining. The article is called "Tomb Raider is not torture porn."

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