Twenty Questions:
An Interview with Aldo Ghiozzi
Let
me tell you all. This is not
as easy as it looks. I want
each interview to be different. I
don’t want to repeat myself too much with each interview.
Each person has their own ideas and their own quirks.
Since we’re on the subject of quirks…after I did the interview
with Jim Ward, I thought of the next potential interviewee.
I remember meeting Aldo at Origins and also remember thinking to
myself “It would make sense that a guy like that would come up with
Battle Cattle.” Aldo was so
fun to talk to and so over the edge and so…well, you get the idea…
that I just had to share him with the rest of you.
So, without further adieu…the head Nut of Wingnut
Games: Aldo Ghiozzi.
First of all,
congratulations on your little blessing a few months back.
Boy or girl? And what
is the name?
A girl, Sophia. That is two
girls total.
Are you going to
have another one?
Oh God, no! My wife and I sleep in separate beds now. <Aside>
that’s a joke. Don’t
print that. (The NGG fights censorship in any form, so here is Aldo’s
full answer)
How did you get
started in the gaming industry?
In 1993 my two close friends and me were playing a card game.
My friend Andy, who likes bathroom humor, said, “Wouldn’t it be
funny if this was about farting?” That
is when Phart started. That
was when Magic was just getting hot.
We decided to print the game and brought 20 copies to a convention.
That was the birth of Phart: The Dispersing.
So, I had this booth and
I was selling old stuff and a few copies of Phart.
A buyer for Berkeley game distributors came by and thought it was
hilarious. He asked for a copy and I said “Sure, that will be $12
dollars.” He said, “No,
you don’t understand. I’m
a distributor.” After a
while, I got it and gave him a copy and then he calls me wanting a big
print run. Later I made a $3
Og combat game. That was how
Wingnut got started. We just
figured we could do good games.
I think you said once
that you could get started with a good idea and $500 on a credit card.
How is that possible?
Well, I had a little bit of an advantage.
I had a damn good job out of college.
I had an advertising job. I
didn’t have the money problems that some game companies have.
I started making the games part time from my real job.
My real job from 16 years old on was advertising and marketing.
Your games are known
for their “zaniness”, for lack of a better word.
I mean “Battle Cattle”? What’s
up with that?
Credit goes to my best friend Matt. I
decided Og, our third game would be a role playing game.
We were watching Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy
Grail.
You know that part where the cows were flying over the castle?
My friend Matt turned to me and said, “Wouldn’t it be cool to
do Car Wars with cows?” My eyes just lit up. My
friend Matt is a great thinker on concept, but to get him to write is near
impossible. He came up with the concept and the name. I wrote the whole game.
We are working on another Battle cattle Expansion. Battle
Cattle: The Moo-squerade. <pause while interviewer stops laughing>
Vampire cows! A lot of the
jokes about the clans…I mean think about it!
It’s perfect. Cows
have clans. Cows with fangs sucking milk out of each other.
It’s hilarious. This is probably the last expansion. I also want to do a dumbed down version box set.
It would be pre-made. Very
basic rules. But that may not be for a while.
Do you have a favorite
Battle Cattle moment?
Oh, God. It was during the
play test. Matt made this cow
that was basically built to do nothing but one thing…once.
He had a cow that had special horns, special ram damage, and
special attack damage. He was
out 12 inches with an adrenal implant and tons of modifiers.
He did 24d6 damage. He
killed the cow. But, he had nothing else to do.
It was great to really test the game.
But he left himself pretty open.
If you could be any
super-hero (or stuper-hero I suppose) who would it be and why?
I am going to have to give you a boring answer.
When I was a kid, I always had a thing about Iceman.
Whenever there is an element for powers in playing a game I always
pick ice.
A lot of your focus
lately has been on your marketing company Impressions.
What brought that about?
I deciding to work on my own to get contract jobs with my old friends in
the video game market doing marketing and advertising brought it about.
There was a big stock market crash and I didn’t know what to do.
A lot of friends of mine were asking me to help them out.
I thought, “There aren’t a whole lot of games in the hobby game
market that help with marketing.” The
game market doesn’t pay much. I
figured I had to do more. I
used to sell advertising. So
it was natural. I started doing programs that had anything to do with
advertising and marketing.
Looking over the list
of services, it seems you have a lot to offer for what appears to be a
pretty low price.
$550 per month is an industry standard price.
But there are some game companies that find that too high.
If it weren’t the game industry, I would charge double.
I had to adjust my price for game companies.
Game companies don’t build marketing into their budget.
Game companies were wondering why my silly games were selling so
well. I told them that is was
the marketing hook. I do a
lot of promotions for Wingnut Games.
I wanted to take what I had done and apply it to game
manufacturers. Now let me say
this, and people who read this may call me egotistical, but 75% of the
game companies don’t know how to write a press release.
If there are misspellings, how are people going to want to buy your
product?
Has any client posed a
challenge of some sorts?
Yeah. But you won’t get me
to quote them. I’ll talk in
generalities. I have told
several game companies that it would be difficult.
I told them, “You are going to have to give a lot to get a
little.”
What exactly is the
POP program?
The POP program is a Point of Purchase display.
It is what you are used to when you walk into a Best Buy and see an
end cap. It is basically that
concept but for the hobby game market.
It is an actual floor display for one company’s game.
Hopefully that will increase sales.
Your list of
references for Impressions is pretty impressive.
Did they all basically want the same thing?
I mean, what are the different things that individual game
companies want from you?
That’s a great question. Everyone
always wants the same thing, but I explain it is different for everyone.
If someone came to me with their D20 product it could be “in”
month 1 and “out” month 2. If
it was a board game, it is different.
Distributors buy light from board game companies.
The thing is, every manufacturer comes to me wanting more sales and
web traffic. I tell them
“That isn’t marketing. Most
consumers won’t buy your product unless they have seen, heard, touched,
felt something seven times. On
average, marketing says that a consumer needs those seven times to be
comfortable giving up their money.”
Marketing is so long term. People
put an ad once in a magazine and get no response and say, “That
sucks.” You can’t look at
direct return. You need to
spread your advertising dollars for the longest length of time you can.
A small business card size ad that runs for a year is more powerful
than a full-page ad for one month.
What is your favorite
beverage?
Coke. No ifs ands or buts
about it. Actually, my wife
and sister in law are flight attendants and bring me international
versions of Coke. I have 10
different countries of Coke in my office.
They always bring me two…One to try and one to keep.
What changes have you
noticed in the gaming industry in the past 10 years?
I would say the biggest thing that’s changed is distribution, which a
lot of consumers can’t see. Back when I first started, a distributor could carry your
game and do all the selling and marketing and promotion and get it to the
retailer. Right now, the
distributors are still the gatekeepers, but the manufacturers need to make
more of an effort to help the distributors get the product out there. There were more SKUs in 2001 than in the past 10 years.
Manufacturers need to make an effort to get their game out there.
It’s hard to get the consumer’s dollars.
You need the marketing and the exposure.
Where do you see the
gaming industry going in the next 10 years?
Everyone thinks there is going to be a big D20 shakeout.
I think D20 will always be around, but unit sales will go down to
more normal levels. Back when
D20 came out, there were tons of sales. A
lot of D20 sales are down 70%. Which
isn’t really bad, it just brought the market back to normal.
What advice do you
have for any “would-be” game designer?
They need to make a game that is an evergreen product.
Its status in the marketplace never changes.
Will it stand the test of time?
Is it unique and compelling? Humor
based games are like that. There
are always going to be 1000 gamers who will buy anything.
You will likely sell 1000 copies.
If you can get some buzz for your product you can maybe sell 2000.
The big kicker comes with the years after that.
How will it sell after the first year?
Is there a magical formula? No.
Battle Cattle is not unique. It
plays like Car Wars…but come on! It’s cows!
Shooting each other and tipping.
Unique and compelling is the key.
What do you like to do
in your free time?
Free Time? Play games.
I mean really. When I
have free time I play computer games or we go to my buddy’s house and
play. We play Riot or Settlers
of Catan. He just got
Formula De so we are going to play that.
Playing games is my hobby is playing games.
What is your favorite
book? Movie?
I don’t read books. Isn’t
that terrible? My wife thinks
it’s terrible. I read game
book instructions.
My favorite movie used to
be Die
Hard, the first one. But
then Aliens,
the second one, came out. Those
are the two I could watch over and over again.
Don’t forget Groundhog
Day. That movie is
awesome.
Is there anything new
out there that you like?
Do you have a favorite
game?
WizWar.
Tom Jolly originally did it. Chessex
did the last incarnations and they are coming out with a new version in
the next few months.
I know you have at
least visited our site, the National Gamers Guild.
What do you think? (Shameless self-promotion is about to become our
trademark if I’m not careful)
I like your site.
I always love your site. I
send you a review copy and see a review in a week or so.
If you want constructive criticism, if you talk about something
that is related to the game industry, talk about how it relates to the
gaming industry. Talk about
the Lord of the Rings DVD and say how it could help Decipher sell the CCG.
I always go to your site. You
do more than just the news releases.
There is so much there that I like.
I go to three sites regularly.
Yours, Ogre Cave,
and Gaming Report.
Finally, the 20
Questions staple… boxers or briefs?
<chuckles> Boxers
Aldo, thank you very
much for your time. It
was great talking to you.
You’re welcome. So am I
going to see you guys at Origins?
Absolutely.
All right. I’ll see you at
the show.
Interview by Bill Albanito
(Posted 04-10-02)
Are you a big shot in the
gaming industry?
Maybe a little shot? If you would like to be considered
(or nominate someone to be considered) for our "20 questions with
___" please e-mail
Mr.
Albanito directly! Thank you!