On Twitch, Mary hosts her own live stream called IndieLP on Monday nights, in which she plays recently released indie games and interacts with the audience via Twitch chat – and sometimes you may get to see Mary’s adorable dog, Simone, depending on his mood. Mary also has a brand new Twitch show called FreshStock, which examines sneaker culture.
Over at GameSpot, Mary continues to produce and co-host Resident Kinevil with Mike Mahardy, a two-person let’s play type of show in which Mary plays through the Resident Evil games while Mike helps – or doesn’t. Most recently, they started playing Resident Evil 5 together.
Mary was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to allow me to interview her about indie games and Resident Evil. Full Q & A below.
Erroll Maas: What originally inspired you to work in games media?
I made my own company called IndieViddy, where I worked on trailers for indie games. I did this for several years, where I sent my trailers to games media companies like Polygon and GameSpot. At some point, a friend at GameSpot asked if I wanted to work for them during E3, and my life dramatically changed.
EM: What inspired you to produce IndieLP?
EM: IndieLP has a smaller fan community than other Twitch streams, although you always welcome new fans. Are you glad it’s not as chaotic in the chat as other streams tend to be, or would you prefer a much bigger audience?
I decided to make time in my evenings by streaming them. Anna Prosser from Twitch has a channel dedicated to positivity called MissCliks, the whole thing seemed like a good fit – thus IndieLP was born.
EM:What was your favorite indie game of 2016 and why?
EM: Favorite indie game of 2017 so far and why?
EM: Is there anything you’re particularly excited to see or play during E3?
Next up would be Rain World, for completely different reasons. It’s beautiful and the movement is fluid and fun to play. I love Rain World.
EM: You also still co-host Resident Kinevil on GameSpot with Mike Mahardy – what inspired that?
EM: Is there a particular reason why the episode lengths are up to an hour or two rather than the easier to watch 10 to 20 minute segments seen on other game channels?
EM: Would you ever consider producing a separate series focusing on indie horror games, since there are a number of titles available now?
EM: Do you have any specific advice for people who want to work for sites like GameSpot or Twitch?
I’d like to thank Mary for taking to time out of her busy schedule to sit down and chat with me. To keep up with her work at GameSpot and her IndieLP series, follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Twitch!
Get in the habit of talking about games. Hell, in today’s world you don’t need to work at a site like GameSpot or Twitch to make a living in video games. My advice is BE DIFFERENT. Twitch has thousands of variety game broadcasters. We only have one Futureman, or ManVSGame.
Find a niche, find something that makes you stand out and run with it.