Author Topic: Special: NWR Book Interview with Steven Rodriguez  (Read 1849 times)

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Offline WindyMan

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Special: NWR Book Interview with Steven Rodriguez
« on: December 07, 2016, 05:08:17 PM »

Hear the full story of how trivia guru "WindyMan" went from answering a competitor's mailbag to becoming Nintendo World Report's leader during Wii launch mania and a prolonged website redesign.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/rfn/43736/special-nwr-book-interview-with-steven-rodriguez

Welcome to a series of special podcasts, hosted by your friends at Radio Free Nintendo. Former podcast host and website director Jonathan Metts is sharing his extensive interviews with current and former staff members from Nintendo World Report [the very site you are now reading, which is also still widely known as Planet GameCube (which is one of the long-term prices we've had to pay for the privilege of changing our name at the peak of our popularity).] These interviews are part of his research for an upcoming book about the long-running website, focusing on its vast array of dedicated, all-volunteer creators. This paragraph is painfully thorough because I want to reuse it for each subsequent release from this series, which is planned to continue throughout 2016 (and now 2017)!

This interview features Steven Rodriguez, also known as "WindyMan". It's the first book interview with a Director, the highest position at our website. Steven took over for myself in late 2006 and was replaced in early 2009, so we get into lots of details about everything happening around that time, including the Wii launch, redesigning our site as Nintendo World Report, and even the 2008 financial crisis. Other stories include Steven's early days at Nintendo Nation, becoming Planet GameCube's trivia guru, serving up scoops as News Editor, testing games for THQ, and covering the infamous E3 2007 -- solo!

If you haven't already, subscribe to Radio Free Nintendo with the links above to automatically receive all upcoming interviews in this series.

Steven "WindyMan" Rodriguez
Washed-up Former NWR Director

Respect the power of the wind.

Offline MASB

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Re: Special: NWR Book Interview with Steven Rodriguez
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2016, 02:10:36 AM »
Yet another great interview, Jonny! Occasionally, it sounded like Stan Ferguson talking when Steven did a dramatic voice. :)

Nintendo Nation. It felt like the day the music died when NN went down! It seemed like a big deal at the time. Hopefully, Don Allen is doing well these days. It'd be nice if there was some place for Steven to put up the old NN files, mailbag, etc. Have a feeling that's just about all that's stil left of that site.

It was cool to hear Jonny talk about writing letters to various fan websites. I remember when Hyrule - The Land of Zelda published one of my letters (about the possibility/feasibility of Nintendo theme parks!). It was so neat, especially in those early days of the Internet as we know it.

Glad Steven and his family recovered from their economic troubles. It'd be fun if one day he did occasional pieces for the site. NWR does seem like the site where people come and go and come back again.

Offline King of Twitch

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Re: Special: NWR Book Interview with Steven Rodriguez
« Reply #2 on: December 14, 2016, 06:48:51 PM »
I'm gaining more and more respect for the hard work that's gone into NWR and the high personal costs involved; never thought that writing and reporting about a hobby would take such a toll behind the scenes. It's inspiring to hear about people trying their best to make it work and then handing it off to the next generation. I can't wait to read this book (and the TV miniseries to follow).
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