Trading Card Spotlight - Doug Newville
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Doug Newville, who’s Groovey TV is displayed on card number 710, from the Superstars of 2014 Collection. Groovey.TV is an internet community created by Doug Newville of Denver, Colorado. Groovey.TV is a one-stop shop for all things entertaining in pop culture today. TV shows, music, celebrities, and of course video games. In the first 8 years of the company, Doug has done around 800 video and in person interviewers and a thousand more over the phone. Such celebrities as Metallica, Linda Blair and of course Walter Day. Doug has a world record on completing 70 interviews in 24 hours which has been verified and approved by Guinness.
What are your opinions about today’s generation of video games? How do you compare them to older, classic games?
We live in an infinite variety of options now, where in Ye Olden Days we had what we had. There’s cutting edge but also old school style games constantly being produced for computers and consoles on Steam and other distribution platforms. As far as actual new stand-up arcade games being produced, I have no bloody clue because when I walk into an arcade all I ask is, “Where’s your Robotron?”
Did you ever think when you were younger you would be on a Video Game Trading card?
Never in a million years. Such an amazing honor!
When did you first meet Walter Day and where was it at?
I met Walter at the 2013 Denver Comic Con where I interviewed him and Steve Wiebe.
If you could describe Walter Day in one word, what would that word be and why?
I’m going to blatantly cheat here. My good friend and Groovey.TV co-founder, Stu Kennedy, came up with the perfect way to describe Walter Day: Mother ship technology. Walter is so far ahead and operating on so many levels at once that to us humans he is mother ship technology.
Have you ever received any media coverage for your appearance on the Trading Card? If so, where?
I have for the world record but not the trading card. This is the first one.
What does it take to be a Video Game Journalist?
To honestly care about this silly affection, we all have for making sprites go “BOING!”
Do you remember your first video game / arcade you played and what do you remember about it?
I grew up in rural Wisconsin so there was nothing around for miles’ arcade or anything wise. My first video game was a Sears Pong machine with three different modes you flipped a switch to assign. I think the three modes were single player, two-player, and two-player but you could catch and hold the “ball”. When I made it to high school, Wizard’s Arcade opened where my friends and I would play all the usual big names but my favorites were Cosmic Avenger, Satan’s Hollow and a four-player table top of Warlords by Atari.
Do you prefer playing video games alone, against friends or online against the world and why?
Depends on the game. Alone for RPG’s. With friends for arcade and twitch console games like Rayman Legends and against the world for FPS PvP. Destiny anyone?
Which company makes the best games and why?
I would have to say Bungie but many others are a close second.
Growing up were you team Sega or Nintendo and why?
Nintendo in the 80’s and then Sega in the 90’s. Nintendo dominated the 80’s but when the Genesis came out, I totally jumped ship. I think the Genesis, and especially the Dreamcast, were superior systems.
Do you learn anything from playing video games?
Problem solving is the most important. My brain solved a real-life conundrum while I was working on a puzzle in the new Tomb Raider. I wasn’t even aware that the processes were rolling. Then out of nowhere my brain went, “Here is the solution for the life thing and oh yeah…. set that thing on fire and swing on that up to that ledge and you’re good to go in this video game dealie.”
Are video games good for relieving stress?
Yes, it’s like a direct dose of sanity and perspective.
Do you like it when Hollywood makes a movie from the video game?
No, they are all crap. There’s some excellent fan made films out there that blow Hollywood away. If I were forced to pick a favorite it would be Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn just because the Warthog was ridiculous.
Who is your favorite video game character and what makes that character special?
Yar from Yar’s Revenge. It was the first video game I was truly exceptional at and I even did the thing where you take a Polaroid of your finish screen and send it off for a patch and get a mention in a magazine. I had a high enough score to get the really, cool patch. No clue what the score was. WAY too long ago for that.
What springs to mind when you hear the term ‘video games’?
SWEET! WHERE?
Of these five elements video games, which is the most important to you and why? Gameplay, Atmosphere, Music, Story, Art style
Gameplay is the engine. The others are the frame, tires, transmission etc. An engine can still run without those components. Would it suck? Yes. Would it run? Yes.
Do you find boss battles to be the best part of a video game?
If done right, yes. If not, then it’s the worst. Nothing worse than an impossible boss because of glitches or a too easy boss and there’s no awesome cinematic afterwards. Good job you’re done. Go buy another one of our games.
What is your favorite single player game and favorite multiplayer game?
Of all time? Single player: 1994’s X-COM: UFO Defense and Destiny for multi.
If you can design your own game, what would it be about and who would be the main character?
I would take the possibilities of No Man’s Sky but instead of unlimited travel I would have unlimited outcomes and timeframes for an action RPG. Beyond that I am not saying a word because it gets WAY intense from there. It’s almost like I have it all planned.
What is your favorite portable gaming device and why?
The Atari Lynx was the best handheld of all time. The console was the perfect size, it had a great selection of excellent games and was durable as hell. Mine has taken a beating over the years and still works.
Do you prefer PC or Console gaming and why?
PC’s are better for Real Time Strategies and click-fest hack and slashers like Diablo. But consoles are better at everything else. And since I mainly play “everything else,” I choose console.
What games today do you play and what are your favorite genres of games?
My buddy Night Mutilator lives in an arcade so I still get a lot of stand-up arcade and pinball games in, but my main gaming focus is Destiny on the Xbox One which I am not too shabby at. I also just finished Fallout 4 which was good and Inside which is amazing. First Person Shooters are my favorite but I’m bored to death with the Call of Duty’s. Destiny is where it’s at.
If you could own one arcade game or pinball game, what would it be and why?
Robotron. I think it’s probably the fastest arcade game out there and it hones the twitch skills like no other. Warm up on Robotron and then destroy in FPS PvP.
How does video game music influence games past and present?
In the Jurassic times, they were just trying scrape whatever sound they could out of something that had the memory of a stump. So, the music of the way-back-when had to be beyond catchy and make you hum it after one play, all using one note at a time. Today’s video game soundtracks are played by symphonies. The Halo 1 soundtrack played by a symphony is a religious experience.
Do you believe some Video Games are too violent and lead to violence in America today?
No, that is completely ridiculous. If you are a horrible driving instructor and your students get in wrecks do you blame the roads? What leads to violence in America is bad parenting and the love of blame shift in our society. It seems the violent in our society are taught it’s only wrong if you get caught. I (and all my friends who also love video games, horror movies and metal) were taught it’s just wrong. No grey area on real violence unless you are being attacked. Bad parenting.
Are you still involved with gaming today, and what role do you play?
I’m a rabid gamer and ready to throw down at any point. If I am not playing pinball, arcade, or console I am thinking about it.
Where do you see Video gaming in the next 20 years?
VR and more VR. I guarantee you there will be new forms of psychology developed to help people reconnect with this simulation and not the other one they were playing.
Please visit Doug’s website at http://groovey.tv
https://www.facebook.com/Groovey.TV/
http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/95005-most-tv-interviews-conducted-in-24-hours