Comments on: 38 Studios Exec Gives Interview, and No, It Doesn’t Go Well http://www.wanderinggoblin.com/2009/06/28/38-studios-exec-gives-interview-and-no-it-doesnt-go-well/ Gamer Stuff. Geek Stuff. General Tomfoolery. Tue, 10 Jan 2012 21:44:36 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Pig http://www.wanderinggoblin.com/2009/06/28/38-studios-exec-gives-interview-and-no-it-doesnt-go-well/comment-page-1/#comment-6255 Pig Wed, 01 Jul 2009 05:37:58 +0000 http://www.wanderinggoblin.com/?p=3089#comment-6255 I'm not sure how to respond, Chris. You admittedly recorded, then literally <i>transcribed</i> an interview, which made an otherwise intelligent man appear like a dolt. Who does that? The answer is nobody. The reason that professional journalists don't literally transcribe recorded interviews is because it makes people look outrageously stupid. If that's actually Joystiq's policy, that is the most poorly thought out policy I've ever heard. There is a reason that no one else in the industry has a policy that is remotely similar. I’m not sure how to respond, Chris. You admittedly recorded, then literally transcribed an interview, which made an otherwise intelligent man appear like a dolt. Who does that?

The answer is nobody. The reason that professional journalists don’t literally transcribe recorded interviews is because it makes people look outrageously stupid. If that’s actually Joystiq’s policy, that is the most poorly thought out policy I’ve ever heard. There is a reason that no one else in the industry has a policy that is remotely similar.

]]> By: chris grant http://www.wanderinggoblin.com/2009/06/28/38-studios-exec-gives-interview-and-no-it-doesnt-go-well/comment-page-1/#comment-6224 chris grant Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:33:40 +0000 http://www.wanderinggoblin.com/?p=3089#comment-6224 I trascribed the interview and, I'm not sure if you've ever spoken to someone, but that's how people speak – they don't have full sentences written out in their minds. Our readers are distrustful of prepared statements and "marketing" speak – a casual, conversational tone communicates candor and transparency. Leaving in the occasional tangent helps enormously – the interview is definitely edited for clarity and grammar (no UMMS or UHHS, or incomplete thoughts). In this respect, I think Brett came off as very well-spoken and thoughtful. Here's an example of a snippet where he's speaking in fragments, but it's very conversational, and he comes across as very informed and intelligent – "So the fact that this facilitated and materialized our vision of getting Copernicus as an IP out over more product platforms, more channels, and the fact that this studio is just a great fit. It's just flat out a great fit for 38 Studios in terms of technology and team. And increases our choices. Increases our product portfolio. Allows us capabilities with their product back-catalog. It just creates more choices and more opportunities for 38 Studios." So: we could've rewritten portions of his comment to remove the fragments and/or run-on sentence (depending on where we put the periods), but that's tricky for several reasons: 1) putting words into his mouth (!) 2) removing the casual tone of the conversation and venturing dangerously close to canned marketing speak. This is the way we transcribe all of our interviews: http://www.joystiq.com/tag/interview Thanks for the feedback, but I also wonder how this was the one takeaway you got out of the interview. I trascribed the interview and, I’m not sure if you’ve ever spoken to someone, but that’s how people speak – they don’t have full sentences written out in their minds. Our readers are distrustful of prepared statements and “marketing” speak – a casual, conversational tone communicates candor and transparency. Leaving in the occasional tangent helps enormously – the interview is definitely edited for clarity and grammar (no UMMS or UHHS, or incomplete thoughts). In this respect, I think Brett came off as very well-spoken and thoughtful.

Here’s an example of a snippet where he’s speaking in fragments, but it’s very conversational, and he comes across as very informed and intelligent –

“So the fact that this facilitated and materialized our vision of getting Copernicus as an IP out over more product platforms, more channels, and the fact that this studio is just a great fit. It’s just flat out a great fit for 38 Studios in terms of technology and team. And increases our choices. Increases our product portfolio. Allows us capabilities with their product back-catalog. It just creates more choices and more opportunities for 38 Studios.”

So: we could’ve rewritten portions of his comment to remove the fragments and/or run-on sentence (depending on where we put the periods), but that’s tricky for several reasons: 1) putting words into his mouth (!) 2) removing the casual tone of the conversation and venturing dangerously close to canned marketing speak.

This is the way we transcribe all of our interviews: http://www.joystiq.com/tag/interview

Thanks for the feedback, but I also wonder how this was the one takeaway you got out of the interview.

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