Mark Serrels, Australian Editor - Official Nintendo Magazine Australia

As of October 14, the Australian version of the Official Nintendo Magazine has had itself a brand spanking new editor: Mark Serrels, a 28-year-old who's previously written for the likes of IGN, Games TM, Play, Hyper, and the Official PlayStation and 360 magazines. Mark's first issue of ONM hits the shelves of all good magazine stockists this November 25, and to gain an insight into who's now steering the ship at the publication, here's an interview we've just conducted with the man himself.


You're now the Editor of the Official Nintendo Magazine (ONM) here in Australia. How did this come about and what's your journey been like?

It’s taken a long time in a lot of ways! Back in the day I was a freelance games writer in the UK, and when I first came to Australia three or four years ago I was surprised to see that there wasn’t a local Nintendo magazine on the market at all.

At that point I got in touch with a couple of people and asked why? One company asked me to come in and have a discussion about starting a Nintendo Mag – but this was a long time ago, and nothing came of it.

In the years that passed I did a number of other things – I worked on the Official PlayStation Magazine for a good couple of years, and went across to work on Australian 360 to redesign that – and in the meantime the Official Nintendo Mag got started over at Future Australia. I got the call to come over and head up the mag, and I never looked back.

The overall journey’s been awesome, and I’m really looking forward to doing something special with the Official Nintendo Mag – I think there’s a lot of potential here to really push things forward!

Why have you chosen to pursue game journalism over the real-life variety?

Man, good question! If I’m being perfectly honest, I don’t necessarily think of myself as a Journalist, I’m more of a writer, or a reviewer. I just really, really love to write about videogames!

Writing about something that matters to you is just a rewarding job in so many ways. I get to stay ahead of the curve in gaming, play new games before they’re released, travel overseas to check out games in development.

Honestly, there are times when I’m just itching to start writing about what I’ve played/seen! I really do love my job


Could you describe for us a day in the working life of Mark Serrels at ONM?

I wake up at 7.30, giving me just enough time to have a shower and catch the train – instead I slam it on snooze, get up, ignore the shower and head to the train station smelling like a homeless person.

I get into the office around 8.40, with two cans of Pepsi Max. I slam those bad boys back, and get cookin’.

I spend a lot less time playing games than you’d imagine – mostly you’ll find me emailing people hassling for review code, art, screenshots, etc, or writing, checking pages, going to meetings, etc.

But man, when it hits lunch-time, that’s when I come alive. Meatball footlong subs, or big arse pizzas – that’s my time to shine.

Under your reign, what can we now expect from ONM? What shake-ups do you have planned and where do you hope to take the magazine?

That’s another good question – man, this is some Andrew Denton shit!

Long story short I’d like to make the magazine more of a gamer’s magazine. Nintendo has a decent sized casual audience, but I don’t necessarily think that many of them would regularly buy a Nintendo mag.

What has consistently amazed me since I’ve started in this job is the strong community Nintendo fans have built online on sites like Aussie-Nintendo – I’d like to start catering to those fans a bit more. Which means less casual user guides, and a stronger focus on the games Nintendo fans are really looking forward to: your Mario Galaxies, Red Steels, Monster Hunters, Epic Mickeys, Metroids, etc, etc.

Retro stuff too – I really like ‘The Making Of…’ section in ONM (interviews with developers) it’s probably my favourite section of the mag. I’d like to do more stuff like that, but a bit more retro – like a ‘Making of… Super Metroid’, or a ‘Making of… Yoshi’s Island’. We all love these games, and we all love to look back and discuss them. Every single Nintendo forum in the universe has a backlog of threads with people waxing lyrical on their favourite Nintendo games – I’d like to bring that culture into the mag.

Typically Nintendo mags have been pitched young, aimed at younger readers, and although to a certain extent that makes sense, I think it’s a dangerous assumption to make. It’s part of a Nintendo ‘kiddie’ stereotype that’s been around since the release of the first PlayStation.
The fact is, this mag should really be targeted at people who love Nintendo, regardless of their age. I love Nintendo and I’m 28 years old!

You've become a member of our community here at Aussie-Nintendo.com, and you've demonstrated that bridging the gap between you and your audience is something you're working on. What's so important about this and what do you hope to achieve?

Well first off, without being too patronising, I’m a fan of the site, and I’m a big fan of the community. I’ve said this on the forums before, but I’m so relieved that places like Aussie-Nintendo exist – it really confirms for me that there is an audience out there that wants a proper Nintendo gaming magazine. It confirms that this mag doesn’t have to be a casual user’s guide to succeed.

I hope this doesn’t come off arrogant, but I’m really big on building a community and being accessible to that community – it builds trust in the magazine and what the magazine stands for. It was also borne of the fact that I want you guys to all know that I’m not just some dude stuck in his tower churning out a mag – I’m a huge Nintendo fan with the same interests as you guys.

See kidz! I’m down! I’ve got the 411! [Flips cap backwards, and performs a slam dunk whilst riding a skateboard].


There's obviously still demand for printed publications given that you're in a job. What's your take on the internet versus magazines situation? Do you feel secure?

Yeah I feel secure. The perception that print is dying is, in my opinion, completely overblown – in a lot of ways it’s harder to make money from online than it is from magazines. There’s this misconception that it’s easy to set up a site and just watch the dollars roll in, when the fact is, unless you’re an IGN, a Games Radar, a Kotaku, or a GameSpot, it’s tough.

When it comes to working on a website, the pressure to get hits can be overwhelming, and it’s easy to buckle under that pressure and start posting the fanboy baiting news stories, or the rubbish hyperbolic opinion pieces that you see clogging up sites like N4G. It’s too easy to start writing any old nonsense just to get a reaction, instead of trying to build up a loyal community through quality editorial.

And in a lot of ways it’s easier to do that kind of thing with magazines – you have that captive audience, they’ve already bought the magazine, so you don’t have to worry about writing nonsense to get people’s attention, you can really focus on delivering quality content.

But at the end of the day they both perform different functions, they each have different strengths, and it’s my job to try and play to those strengths with ONM. We obviously can’t compete with the immediacy of online for news stories, but we can afford to go more in-depth in a magazine. And our reviews can be better, and we can do awesome retro features. You’d never click on that kind of stuff online, but you’d read it while taking an almighty dump on the can.

Long story short – you can read a magazine whilst taking a crap. That’s magical.

What's good and what's bad about being the Editor at ONM?

Good: my new mahogany desk – classy; two for one Pepsi Max at the cheapo store on the corner; travel; writing for a living; Vienna sandwiches across the road (seriously if you’re ever in North Sydney, eat one of these bad boys, your taste bud shall not forget it).

Bad: deadlines; getting pounding headaches from drinking six cans of Pepsi Max a day; my wife not letting me play games because I “play games all day at work”; the average monetary compensation; getting garlic chicken burped in my face by our designer Jason Lyon.
That’s about it!

Given your job description, you must love video games, right?! What is it about them that's led to them becoming the centre of your working life?

Man, I don’t even know where to start. I’ve been gaming from the moment Mama Serrels squeezed me out of the womb – I can’t remember not playing games. So in a way gaming has always been at the centre of my life.

Music fans often talk about how certain albums become the soundtrack to their life – I feel that way about specific games. I barely have a single memory I can’t attach a game to.

I think I’m drawn to games because they’re fun, but also because it’s something that was new and fresh for people my age. I like being at the forefront of something that is constantly evolving and changing. Other types of media (movies, music, television) are becoming a bit static – almost as if they’re content to just recycle the same old ideas ad infinitum – but gaming is really exciting right now. It’s pushing forward, charting new territory, inventing itself along the way. I really love being a part of that in my own small way.

So yeah, that probably sounds a bit pretentious, but I think that’s why I’ve made writing about games my job!

You're planning on featuring a special reader-voted Top 50 games in an upcoming issue and A-N readers are going to have a say on their own Top 10 in the magazine as well. However - what's your own favourite game and why? (Of any platform!)

This question is just way too hard. It changes all the time – on some days it’ll be Ocarina of Time, another day Yoshi’s Island, the next Monkey Island 2. On a bad day you might hear me claim that Metal Gear Solid 3 is the best game ever made, and the next claim that Metroid Prime is the daddy.

Today, however, I’m going to say Zelda: A Link to the Past. Despite the fact that Ocarina of Time is more often celebrated as the best game ever made, I reckon Link to the Past is a far more timeless experience. If you take off the rose tinted glasses, Ocarina of Time has aged quite poorly, while Link to the Past is still flawless, and utterly playable to this day.

Every other Zelda game ever made follows the template that Link to the Past developed. The dungeon design is flawless, the Dark World/Light World mechanic is genius. Man, I could go on all day long about this game, but I’ve got a mag to write, so I’ll just leave it there!
Also, the flute kid who turns into a tree – manly tears were shed.

Right now in November 2009, what is it that you're most looking forward to as far as gaming is concerned?

Ah, I’m glad you asked me that – this is my chance to name drop some awesome games and send my gaming cred through the roof!

I’m looking forward to Epic Mickey, but I can’t help but feel like we may all be in for a bit of a let down on that one. I’m calling Peter Molyneux on all the stuff Warren Spector is promising.

Metroid: Other M is a real dark horse for me. Metroid Prime was my favourite game on the GameCube, so I’m a bit worried about this new direction. I’m hoping for a super sexy updated 2D title that mixes in the mechanics of Super Metroid with something fresh – I’m dreading a button bashing effort with poor level design. Metroid is all about level design – if they don’t get that right I’ll weep bitter, bitter fanboy tears.
Oh, and Pikmin 3, and a fresh new Wii Zelda that looks and plays as good as Mario Galaxy did. Make it happen!


What do you like to do outside of work and playing games?

Um… yeah. About that.
(Anime, manga, movies, writing, listening to music, playing soccer, watching Pro Wrestling – don’t you judge me!)

Do you have any advice for aspiring journalists, and indeed any general advice for loving life and pursuing one's goals?

I get this question a lot, so I’ve got this answer down pat!

If you want to get into this racket it’s not enough to simply love games, you have to be able to write, so I’d recommend working on that. Read a lot of mags, think about what worked, what didn’t, develop your own style, become a grammar nazi, etc.

At first you have to be prepared to write for free – there are loads of local websites that would be happy to have you write content for them so it’s good to build up some experience. Then, once you have a decent amount of work out there, start approaching some Editors with examples of your work and a resume. Some might not get back to you immediately, but some will, and the more you get your work out there, the more likely you are to get more work in the future.

Think outside the box with what you pitch, and who you pitch to. Be creative – If you persevere you’ll definitely get there in the end.
Feel free to email me at mark.serrels@futurenet.com if you have any questions – we’re not necessarily looking for freelancers or staff at the moment, but I’d totally be willing to help anyone interested as much as I can!

Thanks Mark!