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This wouldn't be something you could print off and use, but knowing a
baseline of what kind of things people get asked and are important to
get asked is a good one, examples are even better, thus my last comment.<br>
<br>
Saying "It's good to ask what has changed" is fine, but a example of
that kind of question is good too ;) (I never put any question marks
behind what I put down there for the very reason they were generic
examples, and easily expanded or changed!)<br>
<br>
Thanks for the input, I'll note it down when necessary.<br>
<br>
Andrew<br>
<br>
Devin Monnens wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:b96706b70901221041s63250210me66bccaa93491ead@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">I think the questions will depend on what you are
researching. So you can't have a list of questions and just ask
everybody those because you won't get the answers you want! Of course,
there may also be some things the developer wants to talk about that
nobody has asked before (What's one story you'd like to tell that
nobody's asked you to tell before?).<br>
<br>
If we're talking about game history, it's probably a good idea to ask
about what game development was like then versus now. History seems to
be about change (change is also on the news today): how things differ
today from yesterday, what things have stayed the same, what events
happened, how events shaped history and how history shaped today. <br>
<br>
I guess maybe one other thing would be 'Who have you mentored?' Who has
the developer taught and influenced directly? That seems like a pretty
important question because it allows connections to be made through
historical design.<br>
<br>
-Devin<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 11:11 AM, Andrew
Armstrong <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:andrew@aarmstrong.org">andrew@aarmstrong.org</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Before
I finish off my list of changes for the SIG's main wiki page (see:
Spring Cleaning earlier. Comments still welcome!), I want to bring up
the start of a discussion on recording people's personal histories.<br>
<br>
I'm thinking that a guide written to provide a list of basic
information that could be collected when interviewing or researching a
person (who could be anyone from a developer, to a journalist, to a
producer, to admin staff, to an academic, to a historian ;) "...related
to videogames").<br>
<br>
This would help firstly start out the project, and secondly, it'd be
damn useful.<br>
<br>
For instance, I might have possibly been able to discuss getting
interviews, at least via. email or other mediums then face to face,
with several classic developers when I've seen them at various events
or places. However, not knowing what to ask, since the project wasn't
started, lead to me not bothering.<br>
<br>
Therefore, let's start outlining the kinds of things needed to be done.
Here's some initial thoughts:<br>
<br>
===================<br>
<br>
Get their permission to print the information as freely available
online, and if something needs to be withheld, mark it specifically as
such.<br>
<br>
Gather a factsheet (asking the person or researching elsewhere):<br>
- Full name, and how they pronounce it (recorded if possible)<br>
- Gender (sometimes this isn't wholly obvious in today's world :) )<br>
- Date of birth<br>
- Country of origin, places lived (perhaps)<br>
- (Optionally) Marital status, spouse, children, relations (at least
ones related in industry)<br>
CV information<br>
- place of education, degree type<br>
- previous work (IE: the stuff on a person's CV), especially games
developed and under what title.<br>
<br>
A list of generic interview questions for necessary information, or
just so you can compare answers between interviews.<br>
- On work: How did you get involved in the industry. Why you left
company X, or joined company Y (job changes). What inspires you at
work. What resources do you use to work.<br>
- On people: What are they like.<br>
- On games: Why are they important to you personally. What do you enjoy
playing in your spare time. Your most favourite games. What are you
playing this week. If you can remember, what was the first videogame
you played, and/or what was the first non-videogame you played.<br>
- On other things: What activities do you enjoy outside of videogames.
What physical activities do you enjoy (sports, gym, outdoor things).<br>
- On other media: What do you think of other art (books, films, music,
sculptures, paintings/artwork, dance, poetry, architecture, comics,
opera, etc.)<br>
<br>
Need more topics - perhaps depending on the person, certainly their age
and experience, but also some generic ones about the time they've spent
in industry too (perhaps on gender, pay, quality of life, the business
side, etc.)<br>
<br>
A photograph (or more then one) of the person if possible. Finding
photographs of some developers is nigh on impossible, even if they are
famous (I found a total of 1 for the Bubble Bobble creator!). They are
more likely to have copies of photographs themselves. Highest quality
is better.<br>
<br>
A copy of their "signing" signature, most ones who get asked for one
make their own up for this, so it's nice to have a record.<br>
<br>
===================<br>
<br>
I have a feeling that asking Jason Scott and a few people who do
interviews at different historically-inclined sites would help too, and
I might do this, and report it on the blog too. Here's the starting
place however!<br>
<br>
So, any additional generic interview questions, example interviews to
take questions or ideas from, tips for doing specific types of
interviews (written interview notes done in person, email, chat client,
skype, doing a proper oral history in front of a camera or microphone),
and advantages/disadvantages of them. Tips for a progression from
initial contact to finished historical information. Tools of the
trade...and so on.<br>
<br>
Andrew<br>
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</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
The sleep of Reason produces monsters.<br>
<br>
"Until next time..."<br>
Captain Commando<br>
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