Unboxing Miguel Mota - Interview
Miguel Mota, Press Officer and Creative Writer: so it was affirmed on his contractual agreements with Cereal Games. On an Unboxing conducted by the company’s CEO Lázaro Raposo, this gentleman with an above-average intellectual caliber, not only brings you this fantastic introduction but shares with you his relation with games and his experience divulging and writing Pecaminosa.
From the pages of the Açoriano Oriental newspaper to the controllers of Cereal Games. From a journalist to Creative Writer of a game made in the Azores. In what universe did you imagine that this would be a reality?
Before the invitation? Being a game’s Creative Writer was something in the universe of the absurd, unthinkable and impossible. After the invitation? Within the galactic meanders of challenging and tempting proposals. Pecaminosa is, for now, the most timeless and complete testimony, creatively speaking, that I’ve ever conceived in my whole life. May I live long enough to see my texts steal a good laugh from my daughter – aged a year and a half, at the moment – and the children she might have someday. It will be as satisfying as the day I got my “ticket” drawn to be part of the team that would release the first RPG made in this archipelago. A big hug to my team! Hey, get back!! I don’t want cookie crumbs all over my shirt!
"The most challenging was to seek to line that atmosphere with genuine humor without standing only on the usual clichés and jargons of noir films and still balance that side with Pecaminosa’s supernatural themes that are also present in the story."
What’s the best part of breathing life into a noir story? The most challenging? How about the most lashing?
I’d say it would be to lend a voice and personality to a grim, seductive and mysterious environment. The most challenging was to seek to line that atmosphere with genuine humor without standing only on the usual clichés and jargons of noir films and still balance that side with Pecaminosa’s supernatural themes that are also present in the story. Lashing…? I don’t think there is anything I would classify as lashing regarding building dialogues and designing the narrative… That doesn’t mean it was easy approaching our stories’ non-linearity while keeping it coherent. It’s not an easy task in fact, and it is very less so to keep the harmony with what the writer wants to transmit, and what the game should say to the player. Salve Lázaro Raposo! Salve Rodrigo Botelho!
In the contract, there was some tiny letters that said you were also to be the Press Officer. Didn’t you notice, or was that the reason that made you think “Hey, it won’t be that different!”?
If there was anything I was ready for was for the responsibilities that came with assessing our communication channels. I knew I could play a role in cementing and reinforcing Cereal Games’ name on the regional and national media and so I did. Regarding all the rest, well… My lack of knowledge was such that… that I had a rough time! I had to run after the clock to understand certain ecosystems such as Indiegogo, Steam, Twitter, Discord and Gamejolt. I needed to go back to school and I still need to study these days… Goddamnit...
On a modified Mercalli scale, how would you classify Miguel Mota, the Gamer?
I consider myself in an illusive zone. The seismic waves of gaming propagate enthusiastically in a rapture until they’re face to face with my qualities as a gamer. Then there’s the so-called seismic silence, a discontinuation from my part, that you can sum up to a complete lack of videogame achievements and experiences since my early years. But ok, to answer the question and swallow my pride, I’d say I’m an unfelt earthquake, registered only by seismographers.
"It’s more dosed sure, but there are still slivers that remain of that boy that woke up his parents to say he beat Dr. Robotnik on the Starlight Zone in 1993"
What do you find most alluring in videogames?
Through an external analysis, the singularity and plurality of the kind of discourses and aesthetics that you can find in them. There’s a lot of amazing things being done. It’s art (period). I don’t game anymore without considering the juncture of its several areas… Graphics, sound, message or texts, it is the whole, the art of balancing all those elements that fascinates me the most (it’s your fault Cereal Games). But I haven’t lost the desire and the celebration of achievement… It’s more dosed sure, but there are still slivers that remain of that boy that woke up his parents to say he beat Dr. Robotnik on the Star Light Zone in 1993… And the soundtrack (hope my soccer buddies aren’t reading this) still pulls my heartstrings to this day!
6. Quick-fire round: Pizza or Hambúrguer? Sonic or Super Mário? Curling or Quidditch? Stallone or Schwarzenegger? Nothing Hill or American Pie?
Pizza! Sonic! Curling…lol! Stallone! Nothing Hill!
