PSN@Home Interviews Mark Rein VP of Epic Games on Unreal Tournament III

Well it was the most exciting 6 minutes of PSN@Home's life when we called up Mark Rein the VP of Epic Games and Interviewed him over a Live Podcast.

[subzero9]

Great Interview, lots of info that we needed to know has been listed.

[Blademask]

As a whole it is completely unprofessional. It is a complete conundrum, at one side you have companies like Gamepro/IGN/EGM/ and at the other side you have nothing but fanboys who run websites. Yet both are equally upheld as being the end all source for news/reviews.

I actually tried to sit and listen to the interview, but after hearing a child who is no more than 18 years old I am sure. Stumbling over his words, mispronouncing names, and just sounding completely bewildered that he is speaking to Mark Reign. Misreading his own questions, its just ridiculous.

So I just read the interview instead.

The game industry commands billions of dollars, yet we are still getting our information from these chumps. These are the people that command reviews/scores for people to hit or skip the purchase.

The Industry needs to work on its credibility.

[Arkham]

After reading your comments, I definitely had to listen to it. I'm doing that now, and I have to agree with you.

I wish they just used speech generator for the questions, and left the Rein audio answers.

Truly awful.

[MrTeenie]

You know what, I agree with you I did not do as good as the "professionals" Although for being 17 (you were pretty close with the age) and being able to get in contact with people within the Industry I feel it is better then you could have done.

EDIT: Also wanted to add I created the website and it is in the top 255,000 in the WORLD... out of MILLIONS of websites. So yes I agree I did crappy, but unless you can do better there was really no need at ALL to post your thoughts.

[Blademask]

You need to learn how to take criticism. Once you put your work out there for millions to see, in hope of getting advertising dollars. You have to be true to your customers, and your industry. People do not care about hurting your feelings, and will say whatever they want. You've put yourself out to the public to be judged.

As far as you being proud of 250,000 rank. I am happy for you as a young entrepreneur. However your website having rank, or a Mark Reign interview has nothing to do with the fact that you are a novice. And this is what you need to work on. I would work on my public speaking, and my vocabulary if I were you. Remember, you are the one running the website. Not me. My ability to email Mark Reign and get him to answer questions has nothing to do with your website. Puffing your chest up about how great your site is, has nothing to do with the reality of the interview.

You can ignore this all you want, which I would do when I was 17. But if you are running a business, and running interviews. You really need to either hire professional people, or train yourself to do a professional job in the future. This should be an embarrassing moment for you, and you should learn from it. It will only help you in the future.

Good Luck.

[MrTeenie]

As for learning to do a professional job, the best way to do that is with experience which is what this interview was. As for this being an embarrassing moment, nah bud I am no where near embarrassed only you thinking I cannot take criticism. I admit I did not do as great as I was hoping to, although I am very proud that I got the chance to interview Mark Rein who is very high up in the Gaming Industry.

Also a note to yourself, trying to put someone who is trying to get into the Game Industry is not very productive to the industry it self.

[Blademask]

Topped with an uncanny ability to refuse to understand beyond what you know. We both agree that the interview was terrible. We disagree that you should be embarrassed. And thats fine.

Just so you know, and you can re-read what I said all you want. I am not putting you down personally, but professionally. If you fail to grasp this, its not my fault. Someone will come along and do a better job, and their website will get the traffic. People don't receive congratulations for getting an interview, you receive congratulations for the quality of the interview.

Find out how to pronounce a persons name before you stomp all over it. That really was the worst part.

[razer]

The industry has a big credibility problem.

[Bolts]

You do realize this is an internet fansite interview and not Meet the Press right? Where have you been the last...oh, 10 years. I'm not sure if you're aware of this but PC devs like Mark Rein are used to granting interviews to obscure fansites and they're probably not bothered by the amature nature of the interview as you are. I can't even recall the number of times John Carmack grant interviews to some fansite I've never heard off, and more often than not these guys are nothing more than teenage fanboys who doesn't understand a single word he's saying, they also tend to ask the same questions over and over again without realizing it LOL!

But regardless it seems Bladmask missed the point of this interview which is an opportunity for Rein to preach to the choir. On the contary this kind of interviews is probably what make the industry great, it give the fans an opportunity to interact with the devs instead of just another clinical Gametrailer in studio interview.

[subzero9]

that was harsh.....

[andrewf91]

dude thats a bit harsh don't ya think?

[King Eric]

Don't be pissed because of all of the negative comments. One of the things Mark forgets to mention is that in order to make mods with the PC version you need a video card that supports shader model 3.0 or higher.
Dude, why would you choose the name Mr. Teenie? You're not 3 feet tall are you? lol

[MrTeenie]

It's the Monkey off the simpsons, it's actually spelt MrTeeny but I liked it MrTeenie more.

[King Eric]

I thought that it was the monkey from the Simpsons. Don't worry about what people say, everyone's a critic. You should have asked Mark what happened to the graphics on the PS3 version. I would have liked to have heard the answer to that. I would have preferred it been delayed more if they could have polished the graphics on the PS3 version a little more.

[Relcom]

You didn't know it was the monkey king. Admit it.

[tfur]

I just listened to it, and he did fine. He is a young kid, who is applying himself, and with experience he will only get better.

At least it wasn't a Kotaku self-ego-drama that also includes an interview... or a Joystiq stealth troll article...

Thoughts... since it seems like we are giving advice on this thread?

- Keep up the good work.
- Accept criticism
- Network.
- Never write down/read questions, but just make a bullet point list and let if flow naturally.
- Make some friends with a few graphics artists, because if your site is getting popular, it will eventually need a redesign. Having designers is a must.
- Always ask the interviewee if he/she would like to add anything at the end. Those people love to talk.

[andrewf91]

although it was six minutes it was pretty good

[gamesblow]

That incredibly painful to listen to, folks... I've had bouts of constipation that were more enjoyable than that. I thought it was specifically hard to listen to when Mark new the kid wasn't funny but felt he had to laugh just to move the garbage ass interview along.

Mark, you're a stand up guy. I'd like to call and do an interview with you and talk about paper plates sometime.

this interview was a joke and Mark is probably pretty sorry he did it. That kid made everyone involved, even the game, look unprofessional.

[Guwapo77]

I'm going to have to disagree with those that said the interview did a good job. But I'm sure with more practice he'll do a heck of a lot better.

First and foremost...know what your going to ask and be confident in your tone. Dude sounded extremely nervous...which is normal, just get it under control.

Secondly, ask questions that aren't already known to the gaming community. Everyone already knows that the PC version is the only one to have the mod editor. But what we don't know is why? Mark kind of hinted on why it was for the PC only. What I don't know is why couldn't it be implemented on the PS3. What tools are there that the computer has the PS3 doesn't?

Lastly, the thing about UT3 vs COD4... why even ask that? Trying to get a flamer versus two highly respected devs? The gamer knows the difference between the two titles already.

Aiight, I'm done with my mini comment.