Jennifer Hawke Interview
We’d like to thank Jennifer for taking time out from her busy scheduel to answer our questions. For those of you not in the know, Jennifer is the Assistant Producer on Impossible Creatures as well as the officla spokes person on the Relic Forums. Now, without further ado, here’s the interview:
For the record, please state your rank and name?
Jennifer Hawke, Assistant Producer.
What are you currently working on?
“Impossible Creatures”
What does a day at work look like for you?
Like the back of Nick Carota’s head? :)
Actually, that’s a hard question to answer because the biggest thing I love about my job is the variety. No two days are the same and sometimes I really have no clue what to expect when I come into work in the morning. Perhaps the most important part of my job is remembering everything the Producer (John Johnson) forgets. That task alone can be a full day’s work. ;)
We have word that you’re going to become the official Relic spokeswoman on the Relic Boards. For god’s sake, what were you thinking!?
Haha. Umm… I’m a sucker for cruel and unusual punishment? I’m actually a closet forum junkie and I love interacting with people. Relic fans are unique and hardcore. I really admire that.
How did you get started in the gaming industry?
Quite by fluke and with a lot of luck. I applied through a recruitment agency for a completely different job in a completely different field. They called me up and said that job was already taken, but was I interested in a position in the gaming industry? Was I ever! At the time, they couldn’t tell me what studio I was applying to, only the details and qualifications needed for the position. The rest is job interview history and I find myself extremely fortunate to be here today. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that the opportunity to combine my favorite hobby with “making a living” would fall right into my lap.
What do you like the most about your job? The least?
There really isn’t much I don’t like… I get to learn new things everyday and work with totally awesome people. The hours can be pretty long (especially during milestone crunch time), but it’s easy to work hard on a project you enjoy — especially when you get to see everyone’s hard work come together.
A few of the Relic employees have some weird pets. Shane “rupract” Alfreds has ferrets, there a rumors that one of the IT guys has a boa constrictor… Do you have any interesting pets that you’d like to give us info about? A pack of brain eating spider monkeys perhaps?
I have a yellow lovebird named Zeke. Most people don’t think birds can be incredibly unique or interesting until they meet one in person. He’s as smart as a parrot, but doesn’t have the vocal chords or capacity to learn actual words. He picks up whistles pretty quickly though and you can hear him muttering under his breath in practice when he thinks you’re not listening. I usually leave his cage open when I’m home in the evening or on weekends. He can’t fly very well (wings still growing in), but has taken to gliding to the floor and running around the apartment looking for me. If you haven’t seen a bird the size of your hand run on legs that really aren’t meant to, you totally won’t get the visual I’m going for here. :)
What’s your favorite animal combination in IC?
Oh man, the lobster looks cool combined with ANYTHING.
What excites you about working at Relic?
Relic is full of these amazing people that have such COOL ideas. It is very inspiring to work with people of vision that also have the intellect and imagination to carry out what they dream. The most exciting thing about working at Relic is the future. I can’t wait to see what’s in store…
Female gamers aren’t very common. Tell us, how did you get interested in games? What genres do you like? Are there any specific games that you just can’t stop playing?
Hmmm… the first games I played ever played on the PC were Space Quest and the King’s Quest series, but I’m not a long-time PC gamer by any means. I got harsh addicted to UT nearly 2 years ago and haven’t looked back since. At the time I was working with a bunch of guys at an e-commerce place and we had our own dedicated UT server. Everyday at 6pm (almost to the second), work was shoved aside and it was time for a bit of friendly employee whoopass.
Since then, I’ve been sucked into nearly every genre from RTS to RPG to FPS. I think I enjoy first-person shooters (Counter-Strike) the best, but real-time strategy games (Starcraft & of course Homeworld) are a close second. As far as role-playing goes, I was addicted to Diablo 2 for awhile, but found the novelty wore off after a bit and didn’t enjoy the online community very much.
Aside from IC, what upcoming games are you looking forward to?
I’m not a big console gamer, so PC games that I’m looking forward to include:
- Warcraft III, naturally.
- Soldier of Fortune II might be cool. I liked the gore of the first one.
- Age of Mythology. If looks could kill…
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer… er, not. :)
- and of course, Unreal II
That’s about it. I’m not one to go out and buy a game the day it’s released… I’m usually still addicted to the last game I bought and will wait for initial reviews before making a purchase.
Do you think that Relic can make its games more accessible to women gamers? If so, how?
Well Ubi Soft already has the rights to Charlie’s Angels — darn! ;)
I sincerely think the female gaming market is expanding slowly but surely. Still, there aren’t a lot of us out there… Most females I know think computer games are for kids (ie: learning tools & toys) or for guys (ie: graphic, gory & perpetuated with bouncy women). I would love to see female characters within games portrayed in a more intelligent manner. I think female (and male for that matter) gamers will respond to that; to being given an online persona that is not merely representative of over-used (mostly negative) stereotypes. The game genres need to be re-written; tried and true design methods need to be re-worked and more females need to enter the industry before this virtually untapped audience can be fully taken advantage of.
I am currently 1/4 of the female employee population here at Relic. It’s great having the washroom all to ourselves, but I really think more of us actually employed in the industry would help this “alternative” market grow. Guys know how to make games for guys. We’re not going to be able to fully cater to the female market until there are girls around here that know how to make games for grrlz! :)