Fortunately for us, Steve Jackson Games has survived to produce an assortment of games to appeal to a diverse audience. I talked with Steve Jackson himself at Comic Con this year, armed with a list of 10 questions of varying value.
Collector Times:
OK
I hope I got a good mix of the common, ordinary boring questions versus the off the wall.
Steve Jackson:
(quick aside to a customer about the cover art for a player's guide)
CT:
One of the common questions: How's the Company's success?
SJ:
How's the company's success, as in how are we doing?
CT:
SJ:
OK, well, there's always room for it to be better, but "Munchkin" in particular this year has just gone crazy. It's not easy being an independent, but we're an old independent and we kinda know how.
CT:
On that, when you were first starting out, how much did you get from your family and friends to "quit this gaming stuff and go get a real job?"
SJ:
CT:
SJ:
CT:
What would you say was your biggest "surprise success," the game that you thought, "Ah, this is OK" but took off beyond your wildest expectations?
SJ:
Well, at least in the last ten years, "Munchkin." I thought I was doing this cute little game. It turned out to be a monster hit. We've had lots of sequels and people were still asking for more.
CT:
Yeah, my daughter and son-in-law love it. What about on the opposite side, the "flop?" The one that you thought "This is so great!", and everybody just said, "Eh."
SJ:
Uh, that's . . . that's harder. (Thinks for a moment) The relaunch of "Car Wars" wasn't as big as I expected it to be, but I know why, because we quit relaunch in the middle, and, you know, there was a real problem with the next thing to come out and we're going to solve it before it comes out. That's probably my biggest disappointment right now, but it's a "pending" disappointment.
CT:
What would you say was the thing that gave you the biggest controversy; "angry mail generator?" You know, the negative feedback. Did you ever get any where people said, "Oh, this is terrible! This is gross! This is disgusting!"
SJ:
CT:
SJ:
No, I expected some on "In Nomine," but we didn't get it.
CT:
Ah. People just didn't write?
SJ:
People . . . People seem to understand that I'm yanking their chain so they don't bother to get mad.
CT:
Wow. They've got a sense of humor. That's unbelievable. What would you say is your favorite game that you don't produce?
SJ:
Well, you know, it's hard for me to . . . at least you didn't ask me what my favorite game is that I did produce, because when people ask me that I ask if they have any children, and then if they say "yes", I say, "Which one do you like best and why?" My favorite that I didn't produce depends on what kind of game I'm playing on any given day. If it's a computer game it'll probably be "Star Craft" or "Caesar III", if it's a board game, sometimes "Risk". I like a whole lot of James Earnest's stuff. I like gaming!
CT:
Have you ever gotten "back at someone" by making a game character out of them? I would think with "Munchkin" that would be an extremely tempting thing to do. "Ah this person was a jerk! Let's make them a character!"
SJ:
Ah, they're already parodies. (chuckles)
CT:
What would you say is the best game for a newbie, someone who doesn't really know anything about gaming?
SJ:
Something that their friends like to play, because playing with yourself is limited fun.
CT:
Yeah, even if the Australians do say it's good for us. Who do you think should write "The Steve Jackson Story?"
SJ:
OK, that's out of left field.
CT:
SJ:
I don't have an amusing answer to that, or even a truthful one.
CT:
I expected you to say Steve Kovalic.
SJ:
Steve Kovalic? You mean John Kovalic?
CT:
John, yeah, OK. I got myself confused there. (Note: really embarrassing goof since I'd just gotten John Kovalic's autograph a few minutes before . . .)
SJ:
You didn't think it was a funny question either! Ha ha! Well, you know, I suppose John would have fun with it. I don't know if that's good or bad.
CT:
And the second one . . . they're making a movie out of you. Who would you have play you?
SJ:
I don't know . . . who looks like me?
CT:
Heh, doesn't necessarily have to look like you.
SJ:
I don't watch a whole lot of film.
CT:
Get Robin Williams. He's always funny.
SJ:
Robin Williams is always funny. Get Sean Connery and confuse people. Get Halle Berry and really confuse people.
CT:
If you were going to sit down Saddam Hussein and George Bush and say, "settle this with a Steve Jackson Game," which game would you pick?
SJ:
CT:
Any other comments you'd like to make to the audience of "Collector Times," other than "Who the hell is Collector Times?"
SJ:
Funny, that was what I was thinking! Well, uh, I don't know. I'm still not sure in my mind if the collector angle has been good or bad for the gaming hobby. I know it's been very good for the pockets of certain companies.
CT:
SJ:
But, has it really added to gaming as such? I think the jury is still out on that. A card or figure that is locked away in somebody's collection is not being played with. And, if all the really cool cards are locked up and not played with, the game becomes less cool. On the other hand, the collectibility has drawn interest, and it has brought money into the hobby, even if it also sucks a lot out.
CT:
Yeah, my son is a Warlord for Mage Knight, and he's run into that. Someone shows up and starts stealing limited figures, so nobody wants to bring their limited figure. When the thing's got a collector's value of thirty, forty, fifty bucks, you don't want it walking away.
SJ:
I guess I would say collect if that's what floats your boat, but for heaven's sake, play with them some, too.
CT:
Well, OK, thank you very much!
SJ:
Steve Jackson Games is on the Web at http://www.sjgames.com
