Why did you start a Nintendo specific blog?
I started a Nintendo sorta-specific blog in a roundabout way. 4 color rebellion actually started as a comic book site. However, the people who were originally going to work with me on it dropped out and I then had a web address and a desire to write something. So, I turned to my lifelong love of Nintendo and started from there. If you check out the first every post on 4cr I think you’ll get the idea.
What influence do you hope to have on Nintendo as a company?
On Nintendo as a company? Not much, really. I would hope to have more influence on video game fans and in turn, they have an influence on game companies. My aim with 4cr is not to influence Nintendo or even to report the news. My aim is really to build a strong community where video game and comic book lovers can come and talk with their peers and enjoy themselves. Of course, keeping up with the latest and greatest events in those industries is nice and brings everyone together.
What makes your site different from GoNintendo or Infendo?
Well, on one hand I think we are all trying to do the same thing. We all want to share our love of gaming (most specifically, Nintendo gaming) with others and have our readers be passionate with us. What makes 4cr different? I love GoNintendo, I check for the latest videos and press releases. I try to encourage the 4cr staff to take those things as a springboard for a larger view of things. We try to write longer and more insightful articles. Of course, we aren’t The Escapist, but we try to land somewhere in between.
Infendo is closer to what we do and we have a lot of respect for them. All in all, what we try to do at 4cr to distinguish ourselves is to have writers who will not just report the news, but inject their personality and personal stories into their writing. We also branch out and will cover comic books, movies and artwork that we enjoy.
Do you do it for the money, the respect, or the power?
D. None of the above. It may sound cheesy, but we simply do it because we love it. Like I said before, the main goal of 4cr is to connect fans of gaming and comics and give them a place to get cool news and interact.
The console life cycle is about five years. Where do you see your site at that time?
The fact is, I don’t know what I’ll be doing two weeks from now, so that is a hard question. 4cr has grown from a single man operation to a 15 person crew of passionate fans. However, since no one is making a dime off the site (I refuse to put advertising on the site) we all work around our busy schedules.
I personally have moved into more of an Editor in Chief role, so I post less than before but am behind the scenes every step of the way, keeping things running and moving the site forward. Right now we are in the planning stages for plenty of new features for the site in terms of not only articles, but site functionality.
Hopefully in five years the site will still be around and will have found a solid voice and our place on the net. We don’t aim to take on IGN or even Joystiq. We just want to cover the stuff we like and share it with a strong, dedicated crowd. And hopefully those readers tell other people and our site will continue to grow that way.
What’s your favorite non-Nintendo platform?
Dreamcast, by far. It was a shame that Sega folded their hardware devision after the Dreamcast because they were really just getting back into the swing of things. The Sega CD and the Saturn had some major issues, but Sega pulled out all the stops for the Dreamcast. To this day it still has one of the best gaming libraries of any console.
Are you an Apple / Mac fan?
I wasn’t. However, now that I am working in the advertising industry, I work on Macs on a daily basis and have come to love them. I still like to get home and play around on my blazingly fast PC and tweak everything to my hearts delight, but I am now happy to have Apple in my life. From a design (both visually and in a mindset stance) I love Apple and what they have done/are doing.
My view on the Apple vs PC thing is much like my view on Nintendo vs non-Nintendo gaming systems. I appreciate them all for what they are. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and I am happy to embrace them all. I don’t want to miss out any good software apps and that is doubly true for good games.
If you were banished to an island and could only take one game, what
would it be?
Wasn’t it Greg from Gamespot that got internet-killed for saying that he wouldn’t take any games? Well, I probably wouldn’t either. First of all… how am I powering this system? I’ve seen those urine powered cranks for the GBA… Anyway, I would probably take a good book and a survival kit and live happy every after, soaking up the sun and surf. However, if there was one game I could take it would probably be Yoshi’s Island. It is by far the pinnacle of 2D platforming and it, in my mind, might just be the greatest game of all time.
What’s your favorite sleeper title / hidden gem?
Wow, are you asking for just one? Anyone who has read 4cr for a long time knows that I champion the sleeper titles. Some of the titles I’ve gushed about since starting 4cr have been Pikim 1 and 2, Chibi Robo, Battalion Wars and most especially, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. There are tons more, but I’d have to say that of the last few years, DK:JB is the hidden gem that I would recommend everyone pick up.
Mario or Zelda?
Mario, for sure. The plumber and I have a long history. I stared off playing the little guy in jumpers when I was five with my brother in the basement. I argued on the school recess field on the virtues of Mario vs Sonic. I ran around the world of Super Mario 64 for hours doing nothing but taking in the view. And I’ve already mentioned my love of Yoshi’s Island.
It just doesn’t get much better than Mario. Case in point… this past holiday season my two brothers were in town and we logged at least 100 hours into the original Super Mario Bros. The original! And this was with Twilight Princess sitting right next to us. Still fantastic all these years later. And with Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario on the horizon the little mustachioed Italian shows no signs of slowing down.
While it didn’t start out as a Nintendo-centric site, 4 Color Rebellion has become an incredibly fun place for news, updates, and the occasional non-Nintendo tidbit. Thanks to Nick, Blake, and Kevin for participating in this series.
[Digg this]
[The Nintendo Blog Trinity: Part One – Part Two – Part Three]