Jade Raymond is a producer of video games and was a host on G4's program The Electric Playground along with Tommy Tallarico, Victor Lucas, JulieStoffer andGeoff Keighley.
Overview:
Jade Raymond Q&A
written by Frank Meyer on Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Where are you from and where do you live now?
I'm from Montreal, Canada and after seven years in New York and San Francisco I've moved back to my hometown to make games at Ubisoft.
How did you get into producing and developing games?
I got a computer science degree at McGill and my first job after graduating was programming games for Sony. I moved into a producer role at EA a few yearslater and have been producing games ever since.
What was your first gig in this video game and/or TV biz?
This job on Electric Playground is my first TV gig. I never thought that I would be doing this, but it's a lot of fun, the crew is great, and I stillhavetime to make games. What could be better?
What inspired you back in the day to head down this path?
After spending one whole summer playing games it became pretty clear to me that I had to make them.
Worst non-TV job you ever had and why?
I did the night shift as a hospital switchboard operator. Part of my job involved calling "Code-Green" or "Code-Red" over the loud speaker and paginghospital staff when there were emergencies. It was stressful to have people's well-being depend on my responsiveness at 3 AM.
How did you hook up with EP?
I was one of the presenters at the 2003 Game Developer Award's Ceremony. Victor Lucas (co-host and executive producer of Electric Playground) came upto meafter the Awards show was over and asked me to join the crew.
What is the funniest thing that's happened to you while filming EP?
Fubar is always the funniest thing on EP shoots! Apart from that there was a pretty funny moment on my first day. We were doing the Star Wars: RepublicCommando preview and a bunch of kids kept on asking for my autograph and to get their picture taken with me. I couldn't understand why until one ofthe crewmembers pointed out that I was surrounded by guys dressed as Storm Troopers and the kids assumed I was Nathalie Portman. How embarrassing and flattering atthe same time!
What is the longest you've ever sat and played one game?
I played Everquest 10 hours every day for three months when it came out. I was working at Sony at the time and as you can imagine this cut into myprogramming productivity a bit…but at least it was a Sony game!
If you were stuck on a desert island with only one video game, which would it be?
Am I on this island alone or with other people? If I'm alone I would want to have Tetris. Seems like a great way to go insane to me. If I'm withpeople thenI'd like to have the Settlers of Catan, the best board game ever!
Favorite things to do on the weekend?
Anything that's not planned.
Name your top three favoriate websites?
Engadget, Bluesnews and Gamespot.
Your top five bands/artists?
The Arcade Fire, The Killers, The Shins, anything produced by Dr. Dre or little Louis Vega, The Pixies, David Bowie…oh shoot, I'm already overfive.
Top five movies?
Hero, Evil Dead 2, The Magnificent Seven, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and The Professional.
Top 5 current TV shows?
Lost, Alias, 24, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Six Feet Under.
Top 5 video games of all time?
My recent favorite is Resident Evil 4. Other all time favorites are Prince of Persia Sands of Time, Intelligent Cube, Tekken 3, Incredible Crisis, PaRappathe Rappa and Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
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