This is an interview conducted with Mark Rayson of
Retro Vision. Retro Vision is now in its 5th outing
and is proving to be a fast growing retro gaming event
- which is supported by many in and out of the gaming
industry.
As you will uncover within the interview that took
place between myself (Barry Tyler) and Mark, he is very
passionate about what he is working on and has the drive
to not only deliver a 1st class gaming event, but to
also expand such a venture into one of the hottest dates
in the gaming calendar for the future.
1.
What inspired you to try and organise a gaming event,
and how did you approach the idea?
First idea's of a real game playing
event started to form at the same time as the awful
GAME ON was in London. I had quite a collection of machines
and whilst sat in a pub one day my wife Sarah and I
were tinkering with the idea of having them set up in
a social place like a pub for all to play.
Well,
as we had the machines all we needed was a venue and
our friends ran a pub! With a basement! That had a bar
in it! Fab! and 7 weeks after that discussion RV1 came
of age.
It was a very nerve racking
start I can assure you. The Llamasofties decended on
me in mass and brought me beers in order to keep me
from worrying my way to a heart attack.
As far as an approach we basically
winged it all the way, just went with the flow…
very relaxed really… we had the machines, we told
folk via forums we were happening and just crossed our
fingers and hoped for the best. Actually, that’s
what we do now too! You never know exactly what’s
going to happen at an event… trust in the force!
2. How has the reaction
to the events been in general from the public?
Everyone seems to have a great
time. We have many folk who pop in for an hour and stay
all day! Thats a fantastic reaction. In general we don’t
seem to do much wrong. Ok, there are always are few
consoles or machines that don’t get set up for
some reason or another, occasionally there absence is
noted but on the whole if a machine does not appear
they just play something else.
3. We notice that you have Jeff Minter (LLamasoft)
attending RetroVision 5, and indeed the majority of
your previous events too. What does someone like Jeff
bring to the event?
The creation of RV stems
from one dream, to bring people together, in this case
the foundation of such a show in deeply embedded in
the world created by one Jeff Minter. Jeff has inspired
me since I was 14... his games were so totally different,
as different as the man himself infact.
For it was that one man who
gave me the will to become one, to live the dream, to
grab the oppotunity of life and live it! As the games
came out and I remember waiting every morning for the
postman to arrive, the wait was totally unbearable...
but they came, the cassettes were loaded and whilst
loading I would scour the instructions for not just
how to play said game but for those lines of goodness...
the inspiration and the dream, the dream to which I
will never forget being given by a man who at that time
I had never met.
Jeff Minter > Llamasoft
> YakYak is the flow of life from Jeff and in this
I have found everything I need for Jeff and the Llamasofties
around him are part of my life, a major part of my life
and I absolutly adore being part of it.
So RV is an extension of the power of the Yak and my
own Retro Gaming dream... the coming together, being
as one, and being "friend" for friendship
forms who we are.
4. What
can we expect to see at RetroVision 5? Will there be
any changes to the format that you have used in the
past?
Lots! RV4 was a big step but RV5 is going to be absolutly
LOADED with machinery... my god, havent got a clue where
to put everything yet, but I will... we hope to be running
Jeff Minters llatest game "UNITY" on the big
screen. We hope development of this will be ready by
Feb 05. Also, we will be featuring far more minority
machines like the old panasonics etc... this should
be fun. Apart from that the format remains basically
the same, this format works! so, it aint broke so we
dont fix it.
5. Having successfully
now navigated your way through 4 shows, with the 5th
approaching fast, what do you see for the future of
the RV brand and which direction would you like it to
take?
RV's Future? .... um... at the end
of every show I always say thats the last one, it never
is! ha! Future... no idea, I'll just keep winging it
till I fall over I guess.
6. You are
also responsible for the development of the new retro
directory Retrogamesworld. How has the response been
to the site from other people in the industry?
Slow response but also very encouraging...
it's only been running for 3 weeks are if it keeps going
like this then we have a success on our hands. I'll
keep ya posted on that one.
7.
How do you see the retro-gaming industry developing
in the next few years?
I hope it grows… it was
a wonderful time in gaming history. I think that we
will always look back with wonder. Certainly as long
as RV continues there is a forum for play… only
time will tell.
8. Finally, to put you
on the spot, what’s your favourite all-time game
and why?
Jeez, loads... loads and loads....
to name a few Matrix (vic 20), Revenge Mutant Camels
(c64), Scorcery (amstrad), Gran Turismo1 (ps1), Mashed
(xbox) .... the list is endless....
