Guy Blomberg interview
Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg from AustralianGamer on the evolution of Australian video game websites.
Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg is the co-creator of the AustralianGamer.com website, helped launch the world’s first video game bar, ran Pax Australia for several years, was the Global Gaming Content Director at ReedPOP and is basically an all-round ‘industry identity’.
What are your earliest memories of Australian video game websites? Where did you go for local online content back in the day? Forums, bulletin boards, other sites?
“Honestly we mostly went to US or UK based websites. IGN, Gamespot, Eurogamer were my go-to websites. There were a bunch of forums as well (e.g. NeoGaf) where you could connect in more meaningful ways than todays social media I think too.”
You started AustralianGamer in 2005, what was the local competition like at that point, which other sites were you competing with? Can you paint us a picture of 2005 online in Australia.
“The frustration back then was the disparity between what we would read online and what the actual situation was in Australia. Rarely was a game released in Australia at the same time as the US, so you'd be reading these reviews for games you couldn't play yet - even finding details of WHEN the game would come out in Australia would be a struggle sometimes. It was tricky to find a genuine local voice.”
“There were great existing sites such as PALGN, AusGamers, and some forums that served the local market, as well as localised gaming magazines, but you would get most of your news and scoops from the international brands.”
“Matt and I started Australian Gamer as fans of Penny Arcade. The comic + commentary format and personality of Mike and Jerry spoke to us, as I was more the artist and Matt the writer. We were best friends who had conflict, and felt we could contribute an irreverent voice amongst others that were trying to be more professional.”
I want to touch on the economics of running a local site. I read online that AustGamer at its peak was getting around half a million site visits a month. Were you able to turn that traffic into a viable business plan? Did local distributors and software companies see the value of local sites as a way to promote products?
“We had no idea what we were doing commercially. By the time IGN and Gamespot had entered the market with hyper localised journalists, I think everyone else recognised the effect of the audience we had except us. Because we were so personality driven though, we would get invited to launch parties, host stages at events, and get access to developer interviews. I think we just loved what we were doing, neither of us thought it could ever be a career, we both had day jobs.”
Social media started to have a real presence towards the end of the 00s, what sort of impact did that have on sites like AustralianGamer?
“It worked in our favor to be honest, since our site was so personality driven. We were basically content creators when Youtube started to take off, and we got in early when podcasting started to become a thing, which took off and became almost more successful than the website itself.”
What's something most people don't know about the history of Australian video game websites?
“I think there was an incredible culture of passionate gamers who created sites from scratch with no commercial ideas what-so-ever, but they paved the way for Australia to be taken more seriously at a global level. I think we punched above our weight compared to our population and distance from other countries, and gave local publishers and PR more reason to get more support.”
“The folks that started these sites deserve more credit - PALGN, AusGamers, Games On Net, GameArena, XboxWorld, Vooks, etc. I'm glad some of these stories may get told, cause it was such a fun time with people that were in it for the love of games.”
And finally, what's something I should ask you about?
“Maybe the scene of gaming events in the early days - eGames Expo, GAME1, GO3, EB Games Expo... it was pretty wild before PAX game in to be honest.”
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