Joystiq interviews GameTap's David Reid
by Christopher Grant 
{ Sep 8th 2006 at 10:25AM }
We had a chance to sit down again with David Reid at PAX, and talk with the former director of platform marketing for Xbox and current vice president of marketing for Turner's online subscription gaming platform GameTap about the growing role of episodic gaming and downloadable content, the Sam & Max deal, competition with Xbox Live, and even the Penny Arcade game. Since the interview took place on Friday morning -- after the embargo on the Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness game had already been broken, but before the team made their official announcement -- there wasn't much David could say except that they'd be willing to work with Penny Arcade "in principle."
You can download the full interview here (.mov), or watch the video embedded after the break.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
aDub @ Sep 8th 2006 11:01AM
I just finished watching the video and really enjoyed the interview. More original content like this please!
C. Grant @ Sep 8th 2006 11:13AM
Wait a couple hours. :)
omg @ Sep 8th 2006 11:35AM
Yes this was good. The guy could really answer for himself.
cringer8 @ Sep 8th 2006 12:10PM
Hey Christopher, is it really comfortable to sit with your arm behind your back like that (in the beginning of the vid)? :)
Good interview. It's funny how this "casual gaming" theme has penetrated so many areas of the video game market. Is digital distribution is the future? I, for one, think so. I am an avid user of RealArcade. Being able to play demos for free and then choose to purchase the game for casual play is genius. It's like "renting" for free.
I can't believe you brought up Steam. Pretty ballsy, Christopher. He kinda tiptoed around the question, though.
mandarin @ Sep 8th 2006 12:27PM
Kewl. David, dont be like other companies like IGN. A ton of recycled articles, lots of stupid polls on superheroes, popup ads and impossible to remove memberships.
C. Grant @ Sep 8th 2006 12:39PM
cringer8: I guess so. :) I get nervous when I do interviews and I tend to do stupid things, like forget questions. David was really a nice guy, really congenial.
Is mentioning Steam ballsy? I didn't consider it, just seemed like a natural comparison. They're both going after the same paradigm two totally different ways.
cringer8 @ Sep 8th 2006 1:10PM
Well, usually gamers get so excited to land an interview with *anyone* that they play it safe. The competition is hardly brought up. For someone in marketing, an interview is almost like an advertisement for them. To have the competition mentioned in any way is something they avoid like the plague.
So, yeah, "ballsy" :)
Grim @ Sep 8th 2006 2:59PM
Great interview Chris. People have high expectations for Joystiq, and I think this video really shows that quality. I can't wait for more original content. I think Robert's reviews could take a view pointers from this interview.
As a Gametap subscriber, I'm glad to see that the VP of this service seems to be a gamer--or atleast have a good understanding of what the majority of gamers like.