Patrick Hickey Jr. is a man of many talents (and I’m not saying that lightly). He is a full-time lecturer and Assistant Director of Journalism at Kingsborough Community College with a strong journalism background. His career contains many published works from The New York Daily News to Complex to the Examiner. And I can’t forget he is also the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com.
With such a strong passion in gaming, he has found himself involving from just writing about game but to being a part of the development. Hickey Jr.’s set of skills increased to voice acting as well as story editing for games. His resume consists various games such as The Padre (where he also was the Story Editor), Relentless Rex and The Kaiju Offensive.
With all of that, it was only time that he added another one to his stats and become a published author. Today we are going to catch up with him to discuss his journey as well as his upcoming book, The Mind Behind Adventure Games. This will be his second book that takes a deep dive into the minds of those who have created the games we know and love.
Ashley Dias: Your biography is amazing with a lot of accolades under your belt. So, let’s learn a bit more about the gamer side of you. What got you into gaming? And especially voice acting and writing for games?
Patrick Hickey Jr.: I’ve been gaming since I was about three. The NES was there, so I decided to fire it up. My dad loved Sports so we had RBI Baseball, Blades of Steel, Ice Hockey, Tecmo Bowl and I was off to the races. By the time we got a Super NES and Genesis, I was playing Wonder Boy, King’s Bounty, Mario RPG, Zelda, I was hooked. That was about 25 years ago. Now I have about 3,000 games, across about 25 consoles, haha. I spend a few hours a week in my man cave with my two-year-old daughter Josie, and she’s already a fan of gaming. I’m more than a collector though. I play most of the games I own and I appreciate the stories behind their creation. Because of that, writing these books became like second nature to me.
As far as voice acting and writing for games, those opportunities came through the first book I wrote. I got a lot of connections and when I saw issues in games, I decided instead of writing about them, I’d offer my help. That was a few games ago, haha. Luckily, I found developers who valued my ideas and efforts and allowed me to work with them. To see my work featured on the PlayStation 4, Switch and Steam (Especially with The Padre) after just about three years is pretty amazing and I’m hungry to do a lot more. I have a few projects I’m already hard at work on.
Before I forget… Congratulations on your second book! Your first book went a bit broader and detailed about games in general. In your latest installment, you took it a layer deeper and chose adventure games to hone in on. What made you choose this genre over another to tackle first?
Well, the truth is I originally had 43 games confirmed for a massive sequel. My publisher looked at the list and said you have at least three books here. I didn’t agree at first. I didn’t want to write shorter books in an attempt to cash in. So I had to get another 40 plus games and now I have over 90 games confirmed across an Adventure book, a Sports-centered one and lastly, a Shooter-based book, all of which should be hitting shelves by next year. In the end, it ended up being the smart and more fulfilling decision and I’m thankful they made me do it.
As far as your second question, I think I picked Adventure first because I had the most content there and I knew I needed more time to get the Sports and Shooter books right. So yeah, you guessed it, at one point, I was writing three books at the same time, writing and acting for games, running my site, ReviewFix.com, as well as working on a comic book project and a play, in addition to my full-time job as a College Professor and a husband and a father. But it’s been a ton of fun.
When writing and interviewing for this book, what was the best or most fulfilling part of it?
I always ask, “Tell me someone no one knows about this game.” Sometimes I get answers like, “Everyone knows everything about this game at this point,” or “There isn’t much else to add,” but I always get something new to add to the conversation. That ultimately has been the reason why I decided to embark on this journey. Video Games are art and the creativity behind them is important to share. The crunch has been documented, but the emotional and creative side hasn’t. This isn’t just kid’s stuff anymore. It’s the highest-grossing form of pop culture in the world and no one cares about the people that create it. I want to change that. It’s crazy how little hardcore gamers know about the people that made the games they love. That needs to change. I want to be a part of that change.
Meeting different developers (with varying minds) must have been incredible. Did you see any similarities in their thought processes when it came to creating these games?
Yes! All of these men and women had to make supreme sacrifices. They didn’t hang out with friends. Their relationships suffered. Their health sometimes suffered. But they had a vision. A dream. One they realized. To varying success. But they still did something and saw it through. They are different than most. They pay super close attention to little things. They appreciate them. They fight for them. They believe. They truly feel. Working with so many great developers over the past three years has definitely inspired me, an already confessed workaholic, to push harder towards my dreams, which is why I think these stories are so important to share with young gamers, young developers and those who want to reconnect with their favorite games in ways they never thought possible.
Of those you interviewed, who were your favorites?
Ah man, that’s super tough! I want to say, for the record, that all of my dealings have been pleasant and beneficial ones. There hasn’t been a jerk yet. Some people had to be pushed a little harder, but no nasty or arrogant people in the lot. That says a lot. But if I had to name favorites, I’d have to say Michael Book (NHL 94, Madden) Tony Barnes (Buffy, Strider) Eric Holmes (Hulk: Ultimate Destruction). Why? Because they’ve helped me connect with other developers and have been there to share stories and help me understand video game development in ways I could have never imagined. I’ll always be thankful to the three of them for all of their help.
Any closing remarks for our readers about your book?
These books (there will be four different editions available by the end of next year, the original, Adventure, Sports and Shooter) are the culmination of my career in journalism up until this point and a part of my legacy as a writer. It’s one of my missions to show people how important gaming culture is the world’s pop culture and how much the men and women behind these games matter. I’d love for you all to join me on this adventure- we have cookies.
Also, I’d like to tell any interested readers that I take their time tremendously seriously. I have crafted these books in a way where they are fun and informative and I make sure that every person that orders the book through my site, PatrickHickeyJr.com, gets a personalized copy and one that has a few surprises in it, whether it be a baseball card from a player that lives in your city or something cool like a Pokemon card or a button with the book’s logo on it. I love interacting with my readers on the book’s Facebook page.
So while the book is available everywhere, from Barnes and Noble, to Books A Million, Target, Walmart and Amazon, I prefer to be as hands-on as I can. I think this is something special and want to be as connected as I can be, for as long as I can be.
Interested In Patrick Hickey Jr.’s The Minds Behind Games Series?
You can purchase and pre-order directly from here for special autograph copy.
