Welcome to Talkin'Games! Let me tell you a little something-something about this project of mine..

TL;DR

Okay, I get it. You're curious, but not curious enough to read the whole story about which corner of the internet you've just stumbled into. Well, to sum it up, my short-for-time friend, Talkin' Games is exclusively dedicated to my extensive interviews with game makers – including designers, programmers, composers, producers and more. Go and check it out for yourself and, if you like what you're reading and you want to see more great content, support me by donating via the appropriate button below or becoming a patron.

About Me

First thing's first, let me introduce myself. The name's Mars; Mars Vertigo. After using it for years as my DJ handle, the moniker has become inseparable with my online identity. But, besides blending sinister beats in my Berlin base of operations, I also belong to the generation of veteran gamers who remember rubbery keyboards, chiptunes, cassette recorders and 48K of RAM among other artifacts of this bygone era.

Sincerely speaking, I confess that playing video games has consumed most of my waking life, among other hedonistic vices indeed. I did graduate with a BSc in Psychology, but my passion for games inevitably sprawled into my professional life too. Et voilà, in 2015, I became a video games journalist at last!

 

Born in the Wild Wild East more than three decades ago, equipped with the native tongue of the ancient Western Slavs, the Czechs, I naturally began my journey writing for a local gaming magazine of cult status. SCORE was established in 1994 and up to this day, it is still stubbornly print-exclusive.
Two years later, I ironically joined arms with its rival-since-'95, LEVEL. Most of my contributions were published on its sibling web portal, Games.cz. During the fall of 2017, however, I was struck by serendipity. I found myself organizing a spontaneous, debut, interview with one of my videogame design heroes, Josh Sawyer of Obsidian.

 

The Berlin Encounter

It all happened at extremely short notice. It was Josh Sawyer's final evening in Berlin before leaving early for a conference the next day in Poznan. Nevertheless, he agreed to meet for an interview, and despite having had barely any time to prepare, I was restless with excitement.

Our initial exchange revealed a common interest in history, before I braved myself to press the fateful red button of my voice recorder for the very first time. Two hours and some cocktails later, I escorted my exhausted interviewee back to his hotel, before commencing the exhaustive transcription first thing in the morning.

Originally, an abridged version was cherry-picked and translated for the Czech gaming outlets. However, I soon realized that it would be a crime not to publish such an insightful interview, from one of the industry's finest, in English – and in full.

The English-language publications I approached seemed disinterested, so I concluded I need to discover another channel. Thus, the idea of my own dedicated website was inevitably born.

The Inception

A website dedicated to interviews with game makers – perfect! The only problem: I had no web design experience nor the cash to draft in a designer, and I didn’t fancy the idea of using predesigned generic blog templates either. I decided to start completely from scratch, spending many sweaty months trial-and-erroring my way from zero to Talkin' Games. Eureka! It worked and here we are on board together! Saying that, I'm always open to, and grateful for, constructive feedback on both content and form. Feel free to use the contact form below to hit me with some constructive criticism.

The Format & The Funding

You can't have in-depth interviews without lengthy reads. But you can have your cake and eat it – in nourishing bite-sized chunks. To optimize your reading experience, I am currently planning to deliver about two monthly interviews, divided into smaller episodic parts.

I hate ads, so you won't find any here (unless they are part of the occasional YouTube embed). Instead, the whole site is dependent on donations of all forms – be that a one-time contribution or a Patreon subscription, which is to help me invest even more love and time into this project. The start-to-finish interview process – research, transcription and copy editing included – is extremely time-consuming, so the more support I can get, the more quality content I can provide to you. It’s a simple equation really.

Donations can be made via the red 'Donate Now' and green 'Become a Patron' buttons below.

Final Words

Dear not-so-short-for-time friend, if you have read till here, I salute your interest and curiosity in this passionate project of mine. I hope you enjoy the interview series and I welcome your conversation, feedback, shares and support via any one of the social or donation buttons below. My wish is to dedicate as much time as possible to Talkin' Games; not just through my own sheer enthusiasm, but to see the platform grow exponentially, and to share many more great interviews with like-minded gamers like you.