by NorseGamer, HSM Publisher

One of the things that bugs me, whenever I watch most consumer-facing presentations in the gaming industry, is the uniform of corporate banality that has to be worn.

You know exactly what I’m talking about: the neutral gray slacks and sports jacket, the Oxford-collar button-down shirt in some various shade of blue, no tie — because that would appear to be too formal and disconnected from the gaming audience — and the “I’m in presentation mode” vocal cadence that makes every sentence sound exactly the same.

It. Drives. Me. Nuts.

It’s a necessary evil, of course. Sony’s a publicly traded company, so you can’t really expect someone like Andrew House to come out dressed like Oderus Urungus. And indeed Sony has done a very good job of walking the tightrope between simultaneously appearing sufficiently corporate and sufficiently connected to the gaming consumer base, particularly with the hype-up to the PS4 debut.

Here’s the thing, though: as a consumer, long before I ever became a developer, I’d always wanted to see what these guys were like in their natural environment, when they didn’t have to be onstage. Video gaming is one of the few industries out there — even within the entertainment sector — where you really do kinda have to have a good time, even when things are crazy. Because you’re in the business of having a good time interactively, and that does require some level of connection to the core experience.

So, when LOOTcast was reborn as a video series, one of the first things we all agreed upon was that it would be a true look at us behind the scenes. Not just the stuff in development — us. We really do want you to get to know all of us as people, because that makes it worth following the journey of us as developers. Given that the bulk of our overt brand recognition currently comes from PlayStation Home, where power users tend to actively want to feel engaged with a developer at a more personal level, we believe it’s the right course of action.

This starts at the top. Invariably, any organization takes on its general tone — its gemeinschaftsgefühl, as the Germans so accurately put it — from whomever is overseeing it. And at LOOT, that’s David and Danilo. So that meant putting a camera right in their faces.

This is a big deal. I spent ten years in resort development at Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, and had I gone to our regional vice president’s office with a camcorder and asked him anything, I probably would’ve been fired. On the spot. So you can imagine my surprise when David and Danilo wholeheartedly agreed with the approach to these initial LOOTcast episodes.

But maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. They’re both exceptionally down-to-Earth people. I mean, our idea of a PR event in Home isn’t some sterilized Q&A session, but rather a weekend hangout where we watch cheesy movies. And when you watch this episode, the big thing I want to impart is that what you’re seeing on camera is truly how they really are. As you can see, it makes LOOT a really fun place to work.

Subsequent LOOTcast episodes are going to broaden out and show more of the team as a whole — and there are some really fun moments coming up, such as Mr. Shackles, Coffee Dance, the Ben Sandwich, and even us working frantically on fixing stuff when it breaks — but it’s important to show you that the zaniness starts from the top. Welcome to LOOT!

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