For the next few blog entries I am going to be interviewing some of the employees here at SEGA. I have scheduled meetings with them throughout the week and will be asking them a few questions about working in the gaming industry. My goal with these blogs is to get people that are interested in working in the videogame industry some info about different types of jobs available in the industry and how to get there.

Today I interviewed Mike D. He is the Manager of Web Design here at SEGA and his job is to manage the web design projects and some flash design for the various Sega websites. He has worked at Sega for about 10 years with some work at Konami and EA in between. Here are some of the things I got to talk to him about.

Q: How do you define a gamer?

A: I would say a gamer is someone who plays games on a consistent basis. It doesn’t have to be everyday. For instance, I wouldn’t consider someone who bought a Wii and played Wii Sports for a week and then stopped, to be a gamer. But if they bought it and continue to play it regularly and buy new games regularly, they are a gamer.

Q: Are you a gamer? If so, what are the last three games you played?

A: Well my wife uses the term “addict.” So that’s a yes.

1.      Soul Calibur IV

2.      Gears of War

3.      Ninja Gaiden II

Q: What is your favorite game of all time? Current favorite?

A: My favorite series is the Final Fantasy series and my favorite game in the series is FFXII. I love other franchises also, such as the Resident Evil and Metal Gear games, among others. The current game taking up most of my time is Gears of War because it is so intense, tight and generally polished. I try to play online as much as I can.

Note: (but he usually finds himself getting cut down by my chainsaw. Haha.)

Q: Any games in particular that you are looking forward to?

A: I’m most looking forward to Gears of War 2. Ever since the launch of the first game I have been playing online with friends. When new games like Call of Duty 4 and Halo 3 came out, I played them through single player and a little bit of the online multiplayer but always end up going back to Gears pretty quickly. I like the fact that getting killed in that game impacts the rest of your team rather than being killed again and immediately respawning every 20 seconds.

Q: Do you have a favorite console? Of all time? Currently? Why?

A: My favorite console right now, and maybe of all time, would have to be the XBOX 360 mostly because of the online aspects.  It’s also because it has such a solid lineup of games that have come out.

Q: What other jobs (even not game related) have you had prior to this one?

A: While in high school, I worked odd jobs until I landed a position at a video game retail store. While working at that store, one of our customers was a game tester at Sega and gave me the inside scoop on how to get a job there. Within weeks I started my career in the gaming industry as a tester. I briefly left testing for a job at Interact Accessories where I worked as a product designer but later came back to Sega and worked my way into the web team.

Q: How did you make the transition from testing to web design?

A: While I was testing I was also going to school for multimedia. The web team at Sega was very small (about three people at the time). There was an opening for a programmer that came up and I applied for the position. The rest is history.  Being a tester really helped me in getting this job – if gave me the foot in the door. I’d recommend it to anyone trying to get into the industry. Even if you only work as a tester for a few months before moving on, it really gives you an insight to how a video game company works.

Q: What School did you go to?

A: To learn about building stuff for the web, I went to a multimedia tech school. I attended school 4 nights a week for 18 months while working by day as a tester at SEGA. Most of the things I do in my job today are self taught, but the schooling helped with learning all the basics for the tools and programs I use.

Q: What kinds of projects are you working on right now? Any you are particularly proud of?

A: Sonic Unleashed is the current project I am working on as well as some other Sonic titles. I guess I am most proud of the Sonic Chronicles microsite that I recently finished. It was an idea I’ve had for a website for a long time and I really enjoyed working closely with the developers.

Q: What is your favorite part of your job and why?

A: My favorite part of working here is seeing everything about games that I was always curious about as a gamer, the behind the scenes kind of stuff. I like seeing everything from the other side of gaming that not everyone gets to see.

Q: What is your least favorite part of your job and why?

A: Shifting schedules. It’s frustrating for me as both a gamer and a worker in the game industry. As a gamer, there is nothing worse than hearing that the game you are most excited for just got pushed out another 6 months.  And as an industry worker, things are on such a tight schedule that if one thing changes it can easily interfere with other things on the agenda.

Q: What kinds of things do you like to do outside of gaming?

A: I love having fun with my family, be it going to the park or just relaxing at home. I also love building games in Flash for fun.  It’s a good way to practice what I do while making fun and interesting things for others to play with.

Q: Do you have any advice for people that would like to get a job in the gaming industry?

A: Start at the bottom and work your way up. Working as a tester or an intern is a great start for anyone that wants to work in the gaming industry. Just being around everything in the company can help a lot. Getting the most experience you can starting from the bottom and moving up is easier than trying to come into the industry in the middle somewhere. It is generally easier for a company to hire someone from within that already knows how everything works. Almost everyone I know working as a Game Producer started out as a tester. But working in test is not what everyone thinks it is. While testing a video game, you do things like jump into a pit for 8 hours or drive along a wall for 8 hours. It’s not always the exciting position one may think it is.  It is also pretty important that you play games, and not just one type but a wide variety of genres and are tolerant of working on those genres you may not like.

Some people think that working at a videogame store like EBgames or Gamestop will guarantee them a job at a videogame company.  In my case, a customer of ours kindly gave me the information I needed to apply for a job as a tester, but most people I know working at retail have been there for years and are still waiting.  And some of those that have made it end up in customer service as that most closely translates to the experience they had at retail .But it would be a good alternative for people that don’t live somewhere near a videogame company and would like to work with games without moving.