When I first approached Jason with an interview request, I was a little skeptical, I was afraid the answer would be "No. . " or even the polite "Gee, I am soooo busy". So I was MORE than a little suprised when I get a response within an hour of sending the request. It was well after midnight, and all I could think was "Sheesh, is that guy still working??". Jason's exact words were "Sure, no problem".   Wow. With the recent ENGINE wars going on and the "who said who to what", I was almost certain Jason would be the one who was skeptical.

Here's where it get's even better. . . everyone that comes to this site knows, I've had the Hypothermia shingle hangin' out there for just over a month. So when your requesting interviews from people in the industry that are as big as Jason is ( literally ;^), you have to expect to take what you can get. Well, I took what I could get alright. . . this guy, on a request from a nobody like me, went out of his way to get me some of the coolest, most personal ( exclusive ) photos for my interview.

If you've seen my whole "about me" page, you know I am a "wanted_to_be" bodybuilder who gave up the competitive side seven years ago. But knowing that our friend Jason is a wieghtlifting kinda guy and his Beautiful girlfriend is a fitness competitor, I asked Jason to get me some "GOOD" shots. As everyone knows, Jason is not the big show off kinda guy, but big he is. . . . At 6'6" and damn near 260lbs, He could probably apply for his own Zip Code. I kid you not folks, I am 5'8 and 245lbs right now. . . I got arms the size of my melon ( head ) and I'll tell you what . . . the man is big.

So let's just see what this Monolithic Guy had to tell me. . . ( heh, sorry Jason, couldn't resist! )

Before and After

1.) How'd you get started in the Games game and/or who was your inspiration.

Hmmm… that's a long story that I'm saving for my book! The main gist of it is that I kind of fell into this industry. I didn't have any master plans in the beginning. I just have always had a love for games and a fairly solid technical competence in general. I never woke up and said, "I wanna make games!!" There was no one person of inspiration. If I could target one moment where I fell totally head over heals for games I would have to say it was the time when I was around 10 years old and I was over at James Garner's house (the actor from The Rockford Files) and he just got a brand new thing called "the Atari 2600" from some movie studio as a gift. Now I had seen Space Invaders, Asteroids, and Pong and the like, but I never had a chance to really get to play them. This time, I was able to spend ALL DAY playing with this "Atari thing"… I was hooked. I had to have one. I fixated on it like there was nothing else in the world. Thusly, I would have to say that my passion for video games started there, at Jim's house, on that day.

2.) What's the most memorable thing to happen to you in recent history ( opposed to ancient history)

Well, a lot of memorable things have recently happened to me. It's tough to pick a good story. Let's see, for those that don't know, my girlfriend is a national level fitness competitor and I try to support her in her competitions. That effort winds up giving me an opportunity to make friends with a lot of well-known pro bodybuilders and fitness competitors (for those that don't even remotely follow this sort of thing, the next part of this is totally worthless). I was recently hanging out with Shawn Ray (Mr. Olympia competitor) and Skip LaCour (men's all-natural champion) and had a chance to go with them to hear them do their motivational-nutrition-like seminars, and then after we all went back to Monolith to kick back and chat and play games. For me, that is really memorable, because these guys have demonstrated some of the most intense dedication to their profession I have ever seen. To get as far as they have in their sport, they have had to overcome a lot of obstacles. I like listening to what they have to say about meeting difficult challenges, and staying positive. It was cool to kick it with them. Here are a couple of pics. One of them is Shawn Ray at my messy desk, the other one is Skip and Shawn together.

**click here  for a larger version**

3.) People you admire in the industry. ( please limit your answer to 2 people and EXCLUDE me, thats a given. . )

It is too difficult to narrow it down to two people. So I really can't say. What I can say is that I admire all the developers out there who are currently slogging it out and doing everything that they can to survive. I know what that's like. I know that there are developers out there right now with tremendous passion, and they are dealing with things like:

Not getting called back.

Waiting to hear from that last person within a publishing entity for that FINAL approval before the deal can get done…meanwhile the developer is practically starving to death.

Getting jerked around constantly.

Being mislead intentionally, but "Oh not really…"

Cutting their salaries.

Extreme deadline pressure to the point of diminishing product integrity

Etc.

I admire the people who are dealing with that on a day-to-day basis. It really takes dedication and guts to stay alive as a developer in this industry. It is not all "big checks" and "fast cars"…contrary to some beliefs out there!

4.) What's the most annoying thing to deal with as a Programmer.

Well, I haven't programmed for 6 years, so I'm not a good person to ask this to question anymore!

5.) Does your WIFE/GIRLFRIEND still nag you to "Get off that damn computer before I break it" now

    that your a famous Game DOOD.

Dude, I'm not a famous "game dood." At least I don't perceive myself that way. I will say that I'm lucky in that my girlfriend does not nag at me at all. Normally she is just too tired. She does at least 3 hours of heavy cardio work a day, and has to do 90 minute weight lifting workouts on top of that. Combine that with her having to eat damn near 8 times a day, and you have one busy, worn out, sleepy headed, person. No time to nag! Right now, she is getting ready for a fitness competition in April and she is in the middle of a 16 week diet. She still has ten pounds of muscle to drop, and so needless to say she is in "super serious mode" right now. What she does really boils down to an exact dieting science and I find it really interesting to watch. I've learned a lot about nutrition from her. Here are some pics:

**click here for a larger version**

6.) Tips you can give young-programmer-jedi in training

Make sure when you go to an interview, that you have something impressive and relevant to show. Do not rely on your resume!

7.) Drink of Choice

Water

8.) Tunes of Choice

Anything that sounds good!

9.) Babe of Choice

My girlfriend.

( **interviewer's note, speaking for about a half a million NEW fans. . she's now our babe of choice too!**)

10.) The real answer to no. #9 for the married guys who had to say their wives.

Ok, ok…my girlfriend NAKED.

11.) Your working on a new project. . . . . HOW MUCH ASS IS IT GOING TO KICK!?!?!

It is going to kick more ASS than a 2-ton donkey…. ;)

and the bonus question

Since we are old friends, and hang out together all the time, share a little something with us that many people might be suprised to know about you.

Ok. I've debated about what I should say or do for this question. You said that you felt that if you had something unique from me that you would really appreciate it, and I tried to think of something that I have never said or done on any site before. I came up with something. A lot of people I meet in person in this industry ask me questions like "Dude, how much can you bench press?" or "Dude, what can you curl?" or the best one " DUDE! How tall are you?" Anyway I decided to give you exclusive pictures answering these ever-burning and important questions. So I went to the gym TODAY with a camera and took pictures just for this purpose. The pictures of me that I sent you have me doing these things:

Bench pressing 540 pounds.

**click the pic**

Single arm curling 70 or 80 pounds (now I can't remember and the number is not in the pic - I think it's 70)

  **You know the drill**

By the way, I'm 6 foot 6 inches tall. I weigh 258 pounds.

Remember, you got it first!!   You are the first site to ever have any kind of pictures like this of me or of any other aspect of my life.

If you guys out there knew what I know now after all the interviews I've done in the last month, you would understand the respect and admiration I have for all the people who have taken part in these interviews. On one hand we are all DYING to get the "scoop or goods" on these guys, because they have the fortune/misfortune of being in the public eye. I cannot imagine the scrutiny that they undergo everyday in the online media, so In my own little way, I am trying to show you that "OUTSIDE" the gaming realm, we are all much more than a .plan file or a faceless nobody that keeps cranking us out games.

You'd be suprised at the ammount of kindness to flow my way from people just like (and including ) Jason, cause they all remember what it's like to be the little guy. Pretty damn cool, aint it.

Do yourselves a favor and keep an eye on what these guys at Monolith are doing. You'll be pleasantly suprised.