BONUS: Ep.910: Alone Again (Naturally) Aftershow

·38 min·3 clips

Sean Smith got his EGM job because he was dating the cousin of editorial director Joe Funk.

The episode is an aftershow where hosts Phil Theobald and Greg Sewart, without regular host Chris Johnston, share personal stories about entering video game magazine work. Phil begins by explaining his background: after junior college and a brief film school stint, he worked at Babbage's and was encouraged by high school friend Sean Smith to apply for a holiday temp position at EGM. He reveals Sean got his own job through dating Joe Funk's cousin, illustrating the 'who you know' nature of the industry. Phil describes the messy Lombard office with desks made from filing cabinets and doors, and a hole in the wall from John Gurka's rage. He was hired part-time and first appeared in EGM issue 87, writing a Virtua Fighter 3 preview with only untranslated Famitsu screenshots. Greg then shares his path: he managed a video game rental store, co-founded the Gaming Age website, and connected with EGM staff on the 'vid games' IRC channel. He wrote reviews for Pocket Games as a trial, then was hired by John Riccardi for Expert Gamer after an interview with Joe Funk. Due to visa issues from being Canadian, he first worked on a Grandia guide remotely, then came to Chicago to write a Final Fantasy Origins guide. Greg recalls arriving at the Oak Brook office via Ziff Davis limo, meeting OPM staff during a deadline, and later moving permanently. Both reflect on taking strategy guide jobs as a 'foot in the door' despite lack of interest, and the eventual shift from print to online media. The episode closes with Phil noting Greg welcomed him to Expert Gamer with a dinner invite on his first day.

As heard by us

A loose aftershow turns EGM memories, Virtual Fighter 3, and a room-temperature Seven Up foot soak into easy company.

Episode 910 opens in pleasingly odd fashion: a stray Audacity launch, Phil's room-temperature Seven Up foot soak, and the quick realization that no game is ready to go. Even the abandoned Uno idea helps set the tone.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You get an EGM origin story, a Virtual Fighter 3 preview built from screenshots, and a foot soak nobody expected.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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