Interview with Morgan Webb: We had the opportunity to interview Morgan Webb, the sexy cohost of G4 channels .X-Play. which covers the gaming industry. Dubbed the "First Lady of Gaming" and known for her luminous views on video games and the gaming industry, she has risen to the top echelon of hosts we want to watch when learning the latest in gaming. Being voted one of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World (2005) doesn't hurt either.

U. Since we are a college publication, we were wondering where you went to college?
MW I went to the University of California at Berkeley.
U. I see, and how did you like it?
MW I absolutely loved every single minute of it.
U. What did you major in?
MW I majored in Rhetoric and I have an Italian minor.
U. Let.s talk about your career. Did you think you would ever be on TV?
MW No. I didn't. in college I took some computer classes, and I had friends that
were interested in computers, so this was kind of the tail-end of the "bubble". Another thing is that you're sitting in college and you.re seeing your friends graduate before you and start making ridiculous salaries in the Internet startups. Especially since it was UC Berkeley and San Francisco; it presented both the companies and the individuals a great way to work with each other. So of course, you'll start thinking that "I'm going to be in computers too!" and of course, when I got into the job market, the "bubble" was starting to fail, but I did actually get a job in computers and it was with a little Internet Startup, which never really got anywhere. And then I got hired at Tech TV because of my technical background to do research. My degree did come in handy. As a Rhetoric Major, you look at history and philosophy and you're basically constructing and deconstructing people's arguments. You get a fair bit of English, history and philosophy, but you're focusing on how to construct an argument. A lot of people do it for Pre-Law, but I liked it because it had elements of an English degree, but was slightly more analytical. It turns out there is a lot of money in writing about computers and explaining how they work. See, the thing is the people that are good at computers are not necessarily good at explaining them or writing about them. It seems that it all worked out for me, because I went into Technology and then they started putting me on Television and now I'm a television personality.
U. That's great. Congratulations!

MW Thanks!
U. What would you say is the most challenging part of your job?
MW That's an interesting question (long pause). You know, my job is pretty sweet, to be honest (laughs)! I play video games and hang out with my friends, think up comedy sketches, and talk about video games on TV and get to play all the best games before anyone else gets to. I even get to meet all the game developers.
U. That's a real good, honest answer.
MW It's still a job, and you still have to go into work every day, whether you feel like it or not, especially if you're on television, you have to keep up with appearances. There are always some younger woman coming up behind you trying to take your place, but you work with good people who are mellow. It's nice to get to do something I enjoy while at work, like play video games and it's also something that people tend not to think about when they start a career but maybe they should, like you will have long, long hours sometimes and sometimes my friends will get called at 11 o.clock at night for emergencies for their job and there's never really a video game emergency. You.ll have late hours sometimes. When you work in video games, which are in the entertainment industry, you seem to have a pretty good perspective [about your job].
U. Sounds like it's like a lot of fun.
MW Yeah it is a lot of fun.
U. I don't know if you're allowed to say this, but do you have a favorite gaming platform?
MW You know, not really. As gaming professionals, we have all of them, and it's really about the different games that are available, and there are good games available on every platform. If people are looking to buy a console, definitely look at the games that are available. Even if it's the best, most technologically advanced, flashy, most expensive console out there, if you'd rather be playing Super Mario Brothers, then you should get Nintendo GameCube. And I think that the PSP vs. the DS proves that in a little bit of the way, because the PSP is more expensive, it's flashier, has better graphics, but the DS, it really focuses more on the games, and has really taken advantage of that.

U. That was a very diplomatic answer using that Rhetoric Major!
U. Should I even ask? Do you have a favorite game franchise?
MW I can mention a few of my favorites games, I don't have a favorite but I'm really looking forward to the new Zelda game 'The Twighlight Princess'. They say it's going to be a launch title for the 'Wii' and I really enjoy the Ratchet & Clank series and I'm excited about the new game coming out in that series released by Insomniac Games. The Unreal Tournament franchise is on my list too. I'm very excited about the Gears of War game coming out for the 360, developed by Epic (the same team that did Unreal.) So those are few of my favorites.
U. How did you start your career?
MW I got lucky and looking at most of my friends, who graduated Berkeley, there is an element of intent to starting your career and there is an element of accident. Some people have more intent than accident and some people, such as me, have more accident than intent. My friend, who's a lawyer, knew what she wanted to do for a very long time, and she's settled in her job and loving it there. I stumbled on my career mostly on accident. I didn't think I wanted to be on television, and it's been hard. Television brings with it a certain amount of notoriety. People seem to be interested in what you're doing on the Internet all the time. People are watching what you are doing and what you're wearing. They invade your privacy and it's a little bit strange and I never really wanted that. But, now I have a good time at my job, so. I can't really say no.
U. That's cool. What have you learned in the business world that you'd like to pass onto college students? Any good business lessons?
MW We hire a lot of kids straight out of college for internships and that kind of thing. I can kind of give some tips to the new kid at the company if you're interning or if you are just starting out, like the lowest peg on the totem pole . I could give some tips about that.
U. Just some advice, something that you probably didn't know, like you were green and just coming out of college..
MW Hmmmmmm..: You know when you first start out at a company, you have no idea how the corporate world works, and you're going to make mistakes and you're going to feel like cr@p. You just have to learn from them and not beat yourself up over them because it's your first job out of college and you don't know what to wear or when it's appropriate to ask a question because some people say, 'You should always ask questions' but others say 'You should be a self starter' and there is no one right answer or one right way. Just be prepared to make mistakes. And don't come to work in ripped jeans!
U. Even your job?
MW Well I shouldn't really say ripped jeans, more like a ripped tee shirt, ripped jeans are in style right now and that's a bad example, but I know this is your first job, I know you are just starting out, but look professional, there's casual and then there are holes in your shirt. This is not your frat house, this is your job. I see some of these interns, it's a pretty casual workplace, so they think 'Oh I can come in with Cheetos stains on my shirt'. Not that casual. There is a limit.
U. What would you like to accomplish in your career?
MW Right now it's strangely important to me to educate people about technology. I used to work on a more technological show and you want to educate people on technology because it can be so difficult and there are people out there trying to make it more difficult in order to make them feel better about themselves, so I would like to help educate people about technology. Right now I'm focusing more on video games, you know I feel good when I help a ten-year old save $50 which is probably the only $50 he's going to get that year to spend on a video game. I like educating people even if it is in weird esoteric ways.

Thanks very much for your time; I really appreciate you talking with me today!

For more info on Morgan @ http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/