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Sliced Gaming Feature: PR Profile: Joel Graham

Writer: Nick Schaedel
Posted: 21st April 2008, 5:42pm

It's time for another edition of PR Profile. This week, we're heading to Activision to speak with one of the intrepid PR professionals that keeps us up to date with the likes of Guitar Hero and Call of Duty. Is this the best job ever? Read on.

What's your name?
Joel Graham

How old are you?
32 Years old

Where are you based?
Sydney, NSW

What's the first game (and hence system) you ever played, and how old were you?
I think it was Karateka on the Apple IIe (in green and black colour). We used to hire it from school for the holidays. It is still one of the best gaming experiences I’ve had and I must have been eight or nine years old. I’m sure I played lots of games at friend’s houses who had systems before we actually owned our own. I remember Commando on the Commodore 64, Green Beret and Joust! Actually, I think Joust was the first.

I was also massively into arcade games. I remember the impact Double Dragon had in Australia, particularly in our local laundromat. There was a queue seven or eight people deep and the grumpy owner used to always tick us off.

What's the first game and system you ever owned, and how old were you?
Not sure if it is considered a system, but we had Game and Watches! Parachute, Mickey Mouse and Popeye. Our first proper console system would have been a Sega Master System - I can’t remember the game. Then we went on to own a Megadrive (can't remember which came first), SNES and then anything from Nintendo, Sony or Xbox.

What's your favourite game of all time and why?
Single player title would have to be Final Fantasy VII but it was hard to make that choice. Honourable mentions would have to go to: Resident Evil 4 and the rest of the RE series, Metal Gear Solid series, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, GTA Vice City etc. etc.

Multiplayer games have to get a mention too. So many fun hours have been spent playing against mates over the years, particularly the following: Hogs of War (PS1 – I still own this), Worms (PS1), Crash Bandicoot Kart Racing (PS1), Dr. Mario (SNES), Tekken 2 (PS1). Uni students have time on their hands. Also a huge Call of Duty 4 fan and play this very regularly. I whip everyone in the office daily (at COD4...).

What's your favourite system of all time and why?
Looking back, I think the PlayStation 1 or SNES probably brought the most fun. So hard to say, they’ve all had their day.

What current generation systems do you own?
I have a high spec PC at home, Xbox 360 and a PS3. Through work I have access to everything though (can’t get away from them). The PSP/NDS come in very handy on work trips.

How did you get into the industry?
I worked in sales for a (continued next page)