Jay Cohen answers 10 Questions from the Academy
Introducing 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community.

AIAS: How do you measure success?
Jay Cohen: Review scores and unit sales!
What's your favorite part of game development?
Sitting around the table and seeing a spark of an idea ignite into creative wildfire that rallies the team to go the extra mile. Then, seeing that idea implemented into the game and having it actually work as imagined!
How do you want to be remembered?
As an active and caring contributor committed to the promotion and advancement of the video games industry.
What game are you most jealous of?
Rock Band. Only in my wildest dreams could I imagine ripping up a guitar solo like that in real life! I would love to be able to create a project that delivers that same feeling to the player in future projects.
What's the one problem of game development you wish you could instantly solve?
Having a secret handbook that knows exactly when hardware transitions will occur and the precise specifications when they do. Short of having that notebook, we'll just focus on great story, characters, and controls.
On a practical basis, what's the one thing you're going to tackle next?
Adding more hours to a day. And then more days, weeks, months to concepting and pre-production.
Tell us one of your recent professional insights.
You don't know what you don't know. Who knew that social networking games and iPhone apps would explode the way they have?
Are games important?
They are the most important entertainment medium of the near and long term future. Games combine the best of audio, visual, and interactive technology and drive progress and improvement within each discipline like no other medium.
What's the biggest challenge you see facing the industry?
"Finding" our audience...there are so many platforms available in the home, at the office, on your mobile device, on the web, that it's becoming a huge challenge to stay connected with your audience and find them where they are when they are.
Finally, when you look at the future is there one great big trend that effects everyone?
Merely that games are ubiquitous.
10 Questions from the Academy is reprinted with permission from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and appears on Joystiq every week. Read the archives here.












Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MystileArmor @ Nov 21st 2009 1:21AM
I appreciate these interviews and they're usually fun to read, but honestly. This guys answers weren't very insightful at all.
You asked good questions, just got a bit of a "meh" answer out of the guy.
But that's just my opinion, and I'm just a fat german little pudding lover.
CaramelZappa @ Nov 21st 2009 1:33AM
Definately agree. The questions look like they'd inspire some great answers, but it didn't turn out that way.
MystileArmor @ Nov 21st 2009 1:34AM
With "you" I meant the interviewer. I'm aware this is a reprinted article. It's 12:30, what do you expect?
Solace @ Nov 21st 2009 1:48AM
I know what you mean. I only started commenting and reading joystiq because some of the weekly editorials they ran but now that's all but gone. I go to Destructoid much more often now but not for news just to read about video games and hear different views on so many subjects and aspects of a game. I also like how the writers are SO much more involved with that community it blew my mind finding out some of the main page articles were from the community. I still love joystiq for all the crazy comments but D'toid is where I go for a good read.
MystileArmor @ Nov 21st 2009 2:18AM
I enjoy the articles here more then anything, don't get me wrong. I just wish someone on the Joystiq staff could have conducted the interview. The level of journalism here is 9 out of 10 times without a doubt excellent and funny and witty. And I got everything that goes on in the industry here in one convenient place, with intelligent people to have discussions with in the comment sections, and a whole bunch of others to laugh at.
This is the only video-game news site for me. Thanks Chris, James, Ludwig, Andrew, Randy, Justin M, Justin G, Alexander, Ben, David, Griffin, JC, Kevin, Richard and Xav. Whenever I have a crappy day, Joystiq is sure to turn it around.
Markez @ Nov 21st 2009 2:19AM
I like what he said about recreating the Rock Band experience. Just in terms of delivering a powerful game experience that sucks you in. Overdone as the genre may be at this point, riffing out and succeeding at some awesome solos when you first get into those games is a magical experience. Think him saying he wants to deliver 'those' types of experiences is pretty cool.
I'm with Solace though, only other gaming site I read with any regularity is destructoid. Love that site. Don't comment there, but still love it.
Tiptup300 @ Nov 21st 2009 2:34AM
AIAS: How do you measure success?
Jay Cohen: Review scores and unit sales!
What the hell dude? Really!? Just numbers!? And you say this guy's a programmer?
Josh @ Nov 22nd 2009 7:22PM
I'm missing your sarcasm, I guess, but he's not a programmer (at least they didn't say that here on Joystiq).
Phix @ Nov 21st 2009 5:36AM
Anyone else stop reading after the very first answer?
Nook @ Nov 21st 2009 11:08AM
I read the rest after that, just to get a feel for this dude. A brainwashed, low hanging fruit gatherer. That's what he is.
Hey Jay, you CAN rip a solo like that in real life - put some work into learning the real instrument. It's 100% possible and gives you a very rewarding feeling of accomplishment.
No need to stop playing RB either!!
As per adding hours to the day, that's right - keep on figuring out way to pick those pennies longer! Less personal time! More worktime! YAY!! Blackberries for EVERYONE!!!!
(now you can't get away)....mmmmm...guess this is why you'd like to be able to play guitar but haven't made any effort - YOU HAVE NO TIME!!! (whistle while you work boy, whistle MOAR!)
It's a professional insight to say "you don't know what you don't know"?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, you frakking idiot. Go home son, just go home.
Josh @ Nov 22nd 2009 7:24PM
u mad?