FORZA NATION - Digital All Stars

28 FORZA NATION SEPTEMBER 2012
QUESTION TIME
INTERVIEW WITH DEVLINGFS
So tell us about Forza Nation. How did it start
and where is it headed?
So tell us about Forza Nation. How did it start
and where is it headed?
Well that’s a difficult question to answer. It’s
something that started back in 2008 roughly.
Originally conceived as a magazine for my old
car club and it’s members. We wanted to cover
cool stories, competitions and basically be a
wrap up of our news and events. Giving a little
something back to our members. Eventually
though we decided to open it up to the whole
Forza community and it really evolved from
there.
As to where it is headed? Who knows. We
obviously have a lot of ideas and ambition
driving us forward. For the time being we are
wanting to establish a greater level of quality
than previous issues and build upon what we
have achieved so far. We want to establish a
regular release schedule and build up our
reader base. The more readers and support we
get the further we will take it. Rest assured we’re
only just getting started.
Are you affiliated with Turn 10 / Microsoft in
anyway?
Quite a common question. I get a lot of
messages asking if I or any of the FN team
work for Turn 10. Sadly the short answer is no. I
personally am an Xbox Ambassador, but other
than that have no direct affiliation with Forza,
Turn 10, Microsoft or Playground games. To
the best of my knowledge neither are any of
the other guys on our team. We are just fans
that love the Forza community, enjoy what
we do and want to give something back. The
community managers like Brian and Jube have
given us shout outs and been supportive of
what we do which is awesome. I’d like to think
Turn 10 / Playground games or even people
at Microsoft read Forza Nation and dig it. I’d
love to have a picture of Dan sat in Starbucks
reading Forza Nation or something. It would be
an awesome endorsement for us and make a
cool front cover.
Tell us about yourself. How much of a time
investment is Forza Nation?
For sure it takes up a huge chunk of my time,
co ordinating things, doing the artwork and
generally running the publication. We have a
very solid team, although currently in it’s infancy.
The more members we have, the more work
their is for me to begin with, but as we grow I’m
hoping to have people to help run things. We
currently have an assistant editor and a staff
editor going into issue two. That helps a lot. As
the only art guy at the moment that’s a huge
time investment right there. Plus getting people
on board and up to speed on top of the actual
art. It’s a lot. I enjoy it though and I know things
will only get easier. Especially after people see
issue one. I hope it draws in a ton of new people
to ease the workload on everyone else. We
actually have tons of content either finished or
in the works, too much for one issue. I like this
though, it means your never going to be short of
content. I feel issue one probably lacks variety
you will see in future issues, but it’s a solid start.
As for a bit about me? Well I originally wanted
to get into video games. Either level design or
art, modelling whatever. I never really got to the
stage where I could specialise. Back then (I’m
only 27 but feel old saying that) there were no
game courses in the UK. In fact the year I was
due to go to University the first course started
in Salford. So the way you went about it back
then was Graphic Design. I got into that and
did a course at college. When I finished life
took over, never made it to Uni, but carried on
doing freelance work as well as working full
time. I’ve worked in warehouses, call centres,
banks, supermarkets and various retail jobs. I
have had a few design jobs over the years also,
but it’s hard to get a full time long term job. So
I revert back to sales / customer service roles
as it’s something I enjoy. I’d love to go to work
at Rockstar Leeds, or even better Turn 10 in
America. Although I’m not qualified. I’m all self
taught other than 2 years at college. I do logos,
websites, print and just about anything else you
would expect. I dabble in Cinema 4D, a bit of
music production and can make some pretty
crude low polly 3D models. All self taught.
I enjoy my music, been in a few bands in my
teenage years, guitar drums and vocals. I love
my games and movies, and I’m pretty crazy
about my cars. Hence Forza. Match made in
heaven. When I was 5 I wanted to be a fighter
pilot, until I was 8 when I wanted to be a race
driver. I’ll never be one, so Forza is my release.
Plus loving design the paint booth is where
I’m at when I’m not tuning or on track. Grip or
drift, if it has an engine (or sometimes even if it
doesn’t) I’m there.
So when your not playing Forza, what do you
play?
More like what DON’T I play! I’m a huge
sandbox guy. Just Cause 2, Crackdown 2, GTA
and Saints Row 3 to name but a few, I love, plus
their prequels. I’m actually currently replaying
through GTA: San Andreas. That game still blows
me away. It’s art to me. Of course I love my ‘car’
games. I say car because it’s more than just
the racing for me. Test Drive Unlimited 2 is more
about the exploration and cruising. Maybe
because of the shocking handling. GRID, DIRT,
F1 2011, even ‘that other game on the other
console’. Yeah I have a PS3 too. Although that
only gets dusted off for the exclusives. I like
my FPS games, played a lot of Black Ops with
friends, ploughed 100’s of hours into Far Cry
2 online, Halo, Gears of War, Crysis and most
recently Battlefield. Always loved Battlefield.
I even dabble in Minecraft (mainly with my
daughter as she lives with her mum, we play
online together) and love my RPG’s. Fable, Elder
Scrolls and some JRPG stuff like Blue Dragon. Not
been a huge fan of Final Fantasy games. I could
go on through my gaming history, consoles,