Quick Hits Interview: Ed Roman
Our quick hits interviews have become a favorite of some of our readers. The series this week continues with Ed Roman, CEO of Ghostfire Games. The company just recently released Rage of the Gladiator which takes elements from a number of games. The game is available for 1,000 Wii Points.
Can you introduce yourself to everyone?
I’m Ed Roman, CEO of Ghostfire Games and producer for “Rage of the Gladiator”, a $10 WiiWare game that launched recently. Rage of the Gladiator is a fantasy fighting game similar in mechanics to Punch-Out!
What are your favorite games from the past?
I’m a really old-school gamer, so I enjoyed games all the way from Colecovision up through today. Some of my old favorites are Super Mario Bros, Military Madness, Phantasy Star, Devil’s Crush, Addams Family Pinball, and Street Fighter 2.
What are your favorite games from this generation?
Some favorites are Punch-Out!!!, God of War, Final Fantasy, and Diablo. We actually borrowed ideas inspired by each of these games when making Rage of the Gladiator.
If you could meet one other person in the gaming industry who would it be?
Shigeru Miyamoto because he’s a legendary game designer and I feel I can learn quite a bit from him.
If someone came to you wanting to know what it would take to do your job what piece of advice would you give them?
The biggest thing is to realize the games industry is a hit-driven business. If you want to run a small indie game studio, be aware that its a challenging field and that there’s far more supply than demand for games. So you need to really know your stuff.
If you weren’t making games now what do you think you’d be doing?
Gaming is my passion, but my destiny is to run startup companies. I think I will be starting, growing, and (hopefully) selling businesses for the rest of my life.
The Great Friend Code Exchange
“If you want to run a small indie game studio, be aware that its a challenging field and that there’s far more supply than demand for games.”
I think this applies to many industries: movies, music, books, etc.
I can imagine the challenge of trying to be a small developer, looking at the market and seeing where to try and go next. Especially with the difficulty of digital distribution, and basically having to rely to the internet for marketing.