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Games Animal So after several high profile interviews of American Videogame personages, we thought it was about bloody time we chatted to some industry luminaries back here in old Blighty. And what better place to start than Dave Perry – you know, him with the bandana from that GamesMaster show on Channel 4. I caught up with Dave in typically reflective mood, and came out the other side somewhat enlightened by Dave’s musings. Read on and make your own mind up dear Rodents as the "Games Animal" puts the record straight...Alright Dave, welcome to Way Of The Rodent, we appreciate you talking to us! It's good to be asked. So dude, what's up with the bandana? Ah, the bandana question. Straight in there eh? Well, the bandanas have become something of a trademark for me. They have certainly helped me become instantly recognisable within the games community. But the reality is I only started wearing them when we were making the second series of GamesMaster. I was in the process of growing my hair long and to be honest it looked crap. So I put on a bandana and Director Cameron McAllister thought it looked great and encouraged me to keep the 'image' throughout the show. From that point on bandannas became synonymous with my public image.
Do you wear one to bed? I have an image of you in your matching pyjamas and bandana with teddies on... Actually, a bandana is the ONLY thing I wear to bed. Deal with that mental image. Oo-er. I’ve come over all peculiar-like. Anyway, where and when did gaming all begin for you Dave? I guess the earliest memories I have of videogaming would be on an old Binatone Pong machine my parents bought the family from Woolworths in the 70s. But the Commodore Amiga would change my life forever. The improved graphics, along with the sheer playability of titles like Dungeon Master, Drakken and Kick Off instantly had me playing right through the night and sending my reviews in to the national press. Around that time I was living in an old single decker bus that had been converted to house two people and simultaneously run two computer set-ups using an external generator. This was with a guy from Manchester and a Rottweiler called Layla. We travelled around the country producing signs and corporate identities for showmen at fairs and carnivals, until one day we passed through London and I jumped off the bus, said my goodbyes and went for a job interview as Deputy Editor on an RPG magazine called Confidential in Sawbridgeworth. It was owned by Tony Rainbird of Rainbird Software and Anita Sinclair (the same) of Magnetic Scrolls. I never went home. I was in the games industry, and loving it.
Dave? Yes? Did you just make that bit up? Nope. Blimey. Well I would guess that most of our readership remember you from "GamesMaster" on Channel 4 - how did you get the job? I was hired by Hewland International to be part of a five-man team while I was working as Publishing Manager for Special Reserve. Our brief was simple, to put together and launch the UK's first videogames TV show. However, with such a small team and such a big job ahead of us, there was an opportunity to get involved in all areas of the production, including screen-testing possible presenters. It was during these screen-tests (where I would adopt the co-commentator role that I later became so famous for), that I saw the benefit of pushing my face in front of the camera rather than just working away in the background. So, in typically modest style, I told the Director that I would like to co-present on the show, and the rest, as they say, is history. It was a move which lead to my becoming a co-commentator for the next 6 series of the show, plus 3 seasons as a presenter on Games World for Sky One. To your credit, I think I'm right in saying you only lost one games challenge, the Mario 64 one? Is that right? Yes, you'd be right. Over the years you lose plenty of games, but that was the first and only time I'd lost a games final of any kind, and to be honest I probably wouldn't have lost that one if the game hadn't been switched on the day of the challenge to one that I had never played before, on a system I had never played on before, but that my opponent had been practising on for the last 3 months! But hey, his best friend was the show's presenter, so you do the math. They had to do something to liven things up I guess. There seemed to be a certain amount of onscreen pressure building up between you and Dominic Diamond over the 4 or 5 series you appeared together, was this the case on and off screen? To be honest, we hardly spoke off screen. As far as I can remember he pretty much used to just disappear into his own room as soon as he came off the set and that was that. I'm told that Dominik has said himself that he used to regularly ask for me to be taken off the show, but that the show's producers used to refuse. I'm not sure how the problems between us started, but perhaps every appearance I made on the show just wound him up more and more. It's a shame as in the early days we seemed to get on fine. After all, I was one of the guys who screen-tested him for the show and so ironically was instrumental in giving him his big break. But all of this was a long, long time ago. Let sleeping Doms lie.
Indeed.. Do you still speak to Dominik? What did you think of "When Games Attack" on Bravo last year? No, Dominik and I don't speak. I don't think we've even seen each other since 1996. The strange thing is that he still seems to be a little obsessed. A short while ago he came onto my forums and started trying to hide behind a fake name so that he could cause trouble, then, not long after this, he was interviewed in Edge magazine about the launch of 'When Games Attack' and made some pretty unsavoury comments about me, which were published. Very odd behaviour really. As for 'When Games Attack', it was all very underwhelming wasn't it? But I suspected it would be. It was after all, pretty much put together by many of the same team that had run out of steam on the last two series' of GamesMaster. So you think he's a twat then? No, not at all. I think he is incredibly talented, especially as a writer. In fact I think he writes better than he presents. But of course, you've launched several successful magazines over the years? My latest launch has just been nominated for an industry award, while the magazine I launched before that remains the biggest selling independent single format magazine of all-time, with an ABC figure of 132,645. So yes, you could say that. Magazines are what I do, and I do them well. Good on you Dave. I suppose we ought to talk about your website - www.gamesanimal.com. Is this for real? It does seem to exude a certain arrogance? I struggle with the word 'arrogance'. It always seems so negative. Why is it considered wrong to be extremely good at something, and not be afraid to tell the world about it? I've had a hell of a career baby. Let's face it. Whoa! Less of the PR speak DP! But who else out there in the games press today has achieved anything that even comes close? I mean damn it, apart from all the launches, TV shows and competition victories, I was even voted one of the UK's Most Eligible Bachelors by Company Magazine. A professional gamesplayer receiving an award like that in the style press is unprecedented. I have been breaking down boundaries for years, I have had five page articles written about me in tabloid colour supplements, but typically this industry would rather people like me stayed in their bedrooms. At the end of the day, I don't ask anyone to come to my website, but surely if they do they know what they are going to get. I won't do the quintessential British thing and apologise for actually being good at what I do. "Oh, excuse me, I seem to have beaten you again... I'm so sorry..." fuck that! I've plucked this quote out of your website: "With a history stretching back to the late 80s, the 'GamesAnimal' brand has become one of the most recognised and talked about symbols of videogaming in the world". Do you really think you're the most recognised and talked about symbol of videogaming? First off, the quote says "one of the..." And with that in mind, as far as reporters on this industry go, then yes. It was 8 years ago that I last appeared on a games TV show, and it has been even longer since my previous magazine launch into the industry, yet here I am still being interviewed by people like yourself.
Well we were a bit desperate this month Dave! Only kidding, please continue... There is a whole mythology that has developed around the character of 'The GamesAnimal', and in typical 'gamer' style the majority of people seem to hate it, even though most people have formed this opinion without ever having met me. How can you question the opinion of someone who has professionally reviewed games for almost 20 years? To this day people still come up to me to shake my hand, talk about 90s Games TV shows, get a picture taken with me etc. That's pretty special I reckon. Who else in the industry still gets that kind of attention? It saddens me that no reviewer since has taken up a similar profile since I moved aside in '99. This industry can't grow without personalities, it just can't. Is Iain Lee really the best we can do to represent us to the outside world? People are fascinated by me and how I go about things, and that's cool, because at the end of the day I have earned their fascination and I love games. Come on....Do you really believe what you’ve just said? Yes, really. I dunno, maybe your website is targeting the younger male gamesplayer? (I am an old man after all). I just don't get it. There is nothing to get. Everyone keeps looking for an angle, but I don't target my website at anybody. I do it for me. But as for 'targeting' people, no, no, no. I have never cared about what other people think, so why should I start now? If I build it, they will come. But if they don't, then at least I had the fun of building it my way. That's pretty much how I choose to live my life. So do you still have the same confidence and self-belief you had during your Television days? Or have you mellowed out a bit? I've mellowed a lot, of course I have. Time does that to you. I no longer play competitively, so I've lost that hunger to stay on top of all the biggest arcade releases, and these days I play what I want, when I want to play it. I don't think the confidence and self-belief ever really go away though. I know what I can do and what does and doesn't work. As a result I have a number of developers in Europe and the US who regularly send me early code for upcoming projects in order to get my early feedback. I'm still the best games reviewer in the world. I'm very rarely wrong. Uhuh. You don't appear to be quite so high profile these days - what are you up to now? Well, the last bit of TV work I did was for QVC to pay for my wedding in 2002. Since then I've settled back into running my own Publishing company and reviewing movies and cars for various magazines, which has made a pleasant change from games. It is good to take the skills you have learned and try to adapt them for new arenas. I deliberately stayed away from the games market as I felt I needed a break from the industry, and just as importantly that the industry needed a break from me.
Has anyone ever confused you with Dave Perry of Shiny Entertainment? Do you think he might have some of your fanmail? Or maybe you have some of his? I've lost count of the number of copies of Earthworm Jim and Cool Spot I've signed through the years for people. Let's just say that around 30 years from now there are going to be some very disappointed people on Ebay. Dave's Top Tip for Games Memorabillia Collectors - don't trust that Certificate of Authenticity. Dave, it's been real. Thanks for your time. Pleasure. Lets do it again sometime. So there you have it. Love him or hate him, the "Games Animal" tells a good tale. To read up on Dave Perry go to his website www.gamesanimal.com Next Month, housewives favourite, Iain Lee. (I’ll get Dominik Diamond eventually, honest) May 2006
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