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JULY 2004
 A
CHAT WITH RANDY BEVERLY
GIGnews recruited Melanie Cambron,
known by most in the industry as The Game Recruiting
Goddess, to use her skills for the good of gamekind and
recruit some of the big names in the industry to give us
all valuable insight into what they do and how they do
it.This fall,
when you’re lying on your couch, watching UCLA play
Oklahoma State, stuffing chips and pizza in your mouth,
nacho cheese sauce dripping down your chin, and thinking
"yeah, so he can sack a quarterback on a blitz, but I
bet he can’t make a video game!", you need to think
again.
Randy Beverly has produced over 15 hit game
titles on three continents, and served as Lead Designer,
while overseeing production, on titles numbering over 3
million sold. While at EA,
then Disney Interactive, he worked as a designer and
producer on the Madden series, the ESPN
brand of video games, and several Fox Sports
titles.
But before creating football magic in the world of
video games, Randy created it on the grid iron as a
defensive back and kick returner at UCLA. An
All-American (also in track and field) and Team
Co-Captain, Randy played in four major bowl games,
including the Rose Bowl (UCLA 45, Iowa 28).
Usually, background details are briefly summarized in
this opening introduction, but how Randy went from
making game plays to making games to play has made for
one of the most interesting interviews in this series,
so we’ll let the interview tell the story.
MC: At UCLA,
when you weren’t being an All –American in football,
track, and field, or winning a Rose Bowl, Cotton Bowl,
or Aloha Bowl, you were a political science major with a
minor in economics. How does a poli sci major -- with a
minor in economics, no less -- come to design and
produce video games?
RB: Melanie,
while in high school, my interest in video gaming grew
enormously. I owned an AS 2600 and ruled my block with
it. I was just as competitive a video game player as I
was a student and an athlete. I actually began
programming games in my computer science classes using
BASIC back then (this tells you just how old I really
am). I made a stick figure climb some stairs and a
hang-man game and a few others and thought I had created
the world over. My interest in video games, and games in
general, was always prevalent since childhood.
I actually began my collegiate career with a Math
major, then switched majors when athletics dictated my
availability to attend lab work consistently. At the
time, I was on a full scholarship given by the UCLA
football department and UCLA was also a powerhouse in
several sports. While I was there, almost all of our
teams were ranked within the top 3 nationally in their
sports categories. Imagine walking to class every day,
some taught by Noble Peace Prize winners, and others by
world-renowned scientist and doctors, with guys like
Reggie Miller, Ken Norton Jr., Greg Foster, Tommy
Maddocks, and Troy Aikman. Or Eric Karros and Carnell
Lake - both of whom were my roommates during my freshman
year. Or working out next to world class athletes and
Olympic Gold Medalists like Florence Griffith Joyner,
Jackie Joyner Kersee, or Michael Marsh. This was my
world as a Division I collegiate athlete at UCLA.
Despite opportunities to attend Ivy League schools
like Yale, Cornell, and Brown with annual scholarships
renewed at the end of each year, this was significantly
different than having someone come to your house and
tell you that they’d be willing to give you an education
at a premier university for 4 full years,
unconditionally. This is what happened when UCLA
football coach Terry Donahue showed up at my doorstep
while I was in high school. And so I took advantage of
this opportunity.
As a prospective collegiate athlete, I also wanted to
be exposed to some of the best athletes in the world and
went 3000 miles away from home and everything familiar
to me to go to UCLA for this. About midway through
college the reality set in that I would not be able to
leave the university without dedicating a significant
amount of time to the math labs – beyond my scholarship
availabilities. At the time, I was looking forward to a
professional career and collegiate athletics, which was
a big business nationally. And getting out with your
degree – especially as an athlete – was crucial because
you never knew when your time as an athlete would end.
Athletics are terminable, while the education and
knowledge we receive throughout our daily lives is
everlasting. I switched to Economics, then accelerated
my degree eligibility by switching again to Political
Science. This, combined with summer courses annually,
allowed me to graduate two quarters early and try out
with two professional football teams immediately
afterwards.
So I left UCLA prepared for both worlds – as both a
professional athlete and also as a college graduate
ready to begin living in the real world when the time
came for me to draw upon my own experiences and my
degree. Over time, as athletics took a back seat to my
daily living, I re-evaluated where I was in life and
followed my passions. I ended up in the gaming industry,
thanks in part to another roommate in college named
Marcus Turner (former NFL player with the Packers and
the Cardinals). Marcus was an avid Madden video
game player and suggested that I go see the folks at EA
and put some time in over there. And this is how my
career began.
MC: When I talk
to people about the sorts of jobs they would consider,
many always include "producer", even if they’ve never
produced a game before. You, however, have produced some
of the biggest titles known to gamekind. You were also a
contributing author for
Get in the Game! Careers in the Game Industry.
If there is anyone who can shed some light on what it
means to be a producer and what skills are required, it
would be you. Could you please share some of your
"insider tips" for what it takes to be a game producer?
RB: In my
opinion, the most effective games producer is probably a
good coach, and one who most likely comes ready-made
with solid, highly acclaimed experiences in the game
development process – either on the technical side or
the artistic. One must also be an excellent listener –
listen to the development team, your publisher, your
company, core gamers, and yourself. A producer is a
religious scheduler and always quality-conscious. One
should also be a strong team player and a leader. The
success of a project goes hand-in-hand with
understanding the team you work with, the individual
roles each member plays, and the goals this team wants
to accomplish throughout the stages of product
development. The really great producers, project leads,
and managers in our industry are the ones who can lead
by example in the development process.
MC: I know I ask
this question quite a bit, and every time I ask it, I
swear to myself that’s the last time, but then I
encounter someone like you with your background, so I
have to ask it again: An ever increasing number of
schools are offering degrees in game design. You got
your start before most schools began offering
game-related degrees. Do you think game design is
something that can be taught in a school environment?
The industry has grown so fast since you worked as a
designer on Madden ’98, realistically speaking,
is there still opportunity for a poli-sci major in this
industry?
RB: I think
any education that can enhance one’s focus upon what
they want to do for a career is an excellent starting
point. The most amazing thing about this industry is
that people come into it from almost anywhere, and
there’s really no cookie-cutter process involved in
getting started. And for me, personally, one of the most
important elements to come from my schooling is having
been taught how to finish what I start successfully,
given my own circumstances. Theoretically, the college
degree allows most people to take that degree and do
just about anything desirable, career-wise. The key word
there is "desire - able." Desire is not taught, nor is
talent or creativity. Sometimes there are requirements
necessary for us to get ourselves to the front doors of
where we want to go. I see the industry changing slowly
to include these requirements, and that’s a good thing
as long as the talent and desire needed to not just do a
job, but to do it with passion and success, are not
overlooked in this process. I’d much rather work with an
individual whose creative abilities and raw talent can
help create a triple A title, than an individual who has
a degree in game design but has no ability beyond
demonstrating that they are capable of earning their
degree in game design.
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