Interview: Paolo Cupola

We had a chat with Paolo Cupola and let’s hear what he has to say about his works and the video game industry.

 

NoobFeed: Tell us a little about yourself and your background.

Paolo Cupola: My gaming background is very simple: it started in '78 (I was 8 years old) with an Atari VCS 2600 and it never stopped. The professional one, on the other hand, started in 1992, when I started writing for a video game magazine ("Game Power"). The arrival in Gazzetta dello Sport was much later: in 2007 when the editor Carlo Verdelli decided to set up a "general news" section in the most read sports newspaper in Italy, asking to include video games in that section. "Altrimondi" (that's the name of the section) continues to this day.

 

NoobFeed: What are your duties at La Gazzetta dello Sports?

Paolo Cupola: I'm just a collaborator, that is an "external" author but, despite this, I write on the "Rosea" (as the Gazzetta dello Sport is affectionately called in Italy given the color of its pages, “rosa” means “pink”) for more than 12 years. I've been writing about video games and, every now and then, about technology.

 

NoobFeed: As a journalist, what trends have you noticed in the gaming industry recently? Do you support where it’s heading?

Paolo Cupola: On the hardware side, the main trend seems obvious to me: we are moving towards a progressive dematerialization, virtualization of machines. The console that we are used to know will disappear forever to be replaced by a data center connected remotely to hundreds if not thousands of kilometers. On the other hand, we are witnessing the increasingly radical spread of "on-demand" content platforms based on the “Netflix model”. It seems to me a positive evolution, but it has a weak point: the quality of the network and, above all, the latency, factors that, of course, are out of the control of producers and publishers. In Italy, for example, our national network is not so good, and it is not unusual to have connections, perhaps with a good bandwidth, but with a ping close to 100 ms. Such a high lag makes most of the titles unplayable.

On the software side, however, after a period largely dominated by markedly multiplayer games, I see the return, by the industry, to titles characterized by a strong narrative component. And it's something that I really like: the multiplayer is fine, but the video game is also an excellent platform for sharing stories, ideas, plots and feelings, all in all not too different from what happens with a good book or a good movie. I hope it's a trend that will get stronger and stronger in the near future.

 

NoobFeed: Esports focuses on its social aspect a lot these days. Do you think there’s a lot more potential in terms of the social aspect of Esports than there currently is?

Paolo Cupola: Of course it is. Despite the recent boom, eSports are still going through a primordial phase of their history and have not yet become a phenomenon with a mass notoriety. Perhaps this customs clearance can take place if, for example, a major event such as the 2024 Olympics will definitively consecrate its spread and popularity. Only then eSports can capitalize on their full social potential.

 

NoobFeed: What is the most challenging part of writing, especially when it comes to editorials and reviews?

Paolo Cupola: La Gazzetta dello Sport does not publish reviews: the column dedicated to video games is just a small showcase that illustrates the latest titles coming out or the most important trends: we, more than anything, try to tell stories. The Gazzetta, however, is the first newspaper in Italy: it is read every day by more than 3 million people, most of whom know video games only by hearsay. This is the biggest challenge for a journalist who, like me, was born professionally and has written for years for the specialized press: to write for an audience that includes skeptics, fans or readers who simply know little about games. You need to use simple but precise terms, avoiding technicalities like "FPS" or "graphics engine" that most non-experts simply don't understand. At the same time, it is necessary to provide clear, precise and rigorous content. The simplicity of language cannot and must never translate into approximation or a decline in quality. Guaranteeing an information standard that respects these constraints is sometimes really challenging.

 

NoobFeed: Have you ever gone above and beyond the "call of duty" for publishing any piece?

Paolo Cupola: I try to do it all the time! I don't always succeed, but some cases are successful. An episode that I remember with pleasure happened in 2014 when I wrote about Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs. As you may remember, the game bases much of its gameplay on a systematic violation of privacy. Given the theme, I liked the idea of hearing what the Italian Privacy Authority thought, given its institutional role. So I began to contact the press office of the authority and, in the end, with a bit of insistence and the active collaboration of the Press Office (which, probably, found the idea very funny), I managed to convince them. So I went to Rome to have Antonello Soro, the “Garante” (Italian Data Protection Authority), an austere and authoritative political representative almost seventy years old who, probably, had never played a video game in his life, try the game. He didn't like the game, but it turned out to be a good piece.

 

NoobFeed: Have you ever received negative feedback on a piece of writing? What was your response?

Paolo Cupola: On a couple of occasions, which, out of hundreds of articles written in over 12 years, is certainly an acceptable percentage! In both cases it was, essentially, a misunderstanding, a distorted interpretation, albeit in good faith, of what I had written. It must be said that if a piece is misunderstood by more than one person, the responsibility always lies with the person who writes it, so I have drawn a significant lesson from both cases. Today, with social media, however, it is relatively easy to try to explain the misunderstanding to readers who really want to understand. In both cases, it seems to me that the misunderstanding has been substantially cleared up.

 

NoobFeed: Can you tell us about a time when you developed your own way of doing things other than following others?

Paolo Cupola: There is one thing I do differently (I think) from my colleagues: interviews. I start all my interviews by reversing the roles and asking my interlocutor to ask me some questions first. I think it helps to break the ice and to establish a climate of mutual trust that puts the interviewee at ease.  It usually works. Many people ask trivial questions, but someone is really curious and has asked me some strange questions, which I try to answer with the utmost sincerity. Once in 2011, during an interview for Gears of War 3, Cliff Bleszinski asked me if I ever tried games while I was in the bathroom and if that particular situation could somehow influence my assessment. It must be said, for honesty, that it did not always go well: in 2008 I interviewed Dario Argento (famous Italian director of horror movies) who, in the Italian version of Dead Space, dubbed one of the characters of the game (Dr. Kyne), who asked me what was my favorite Italian horror movie. I imagine that he didn’t like the answer because the interview ended even before I started!

 

NoobFeed: We all have experienced this at least once. Will you share an experience when your ethics and patience were tested? How did you keep your emotions in check?

Paolo Cupola: I've never had a significant ethical problem. La Gazzetta dello Sport is a sports newspaper, which has no major interests for the video game industry, so it is difficult even to imagine a situation in which a potential conflict of interest could arise. As far as patience is concerned, I'm a tolerant person so it's hard for anyone to put it to the test, even though there have been a few cases. In 2011 I interviewed the Italian ambassador of North Korea by phone: I wanted his opinion about Homefront, the THQ game in which Korea invades the United States. It was very irritating and rude, and I struggled to stay calm, but I managed it anyway, after all I didn't want to cause a diplomatic incident! Another episode that put a strain on my nerves occurred in 2007 and concerned one of our politicians. In that year the then Minister of Communications, Paolo Gentiloni, forbade the publication, in Italy, of Rockstar’s Manhunt 2. I managed, with great difficulty, to get a short telephone interview, but it seemed to me that the Minister, in reality, was not really interested in answering my questions, in understanding them: he just wanted to express his criticism of violent video games, regardless. So, in the end, I couldn't publish any interviews. It was very frustrating, but even then, given the institutional role of my interlocutor, I did everything I could to stay calm.

 

NoobFeed: What in gaming excites you the most? Outside of work, how much time do you spend playing video games in an average week?

Paolo Cupola: As I said before, I prefer games with a strong narrative content, with a deep, important, credible and compelling plot. Titles such as Red Dead Redemption or Detroit: Become Human, just to name two recent examples. It's hard to tell how much time I spend on "outside of work" games, because the two aspects, work and leisure, often merge. On average I play about 20 hours a week.

 

NoobFeed: What experiences would you personally like video games to deliver in the future?

Paolo Cupola: Video games are a medium, that is, a channel through which content is communicated to users, but I believe that the ultimate mission of video games, of all video games, is simply to entertain: a game that conveys important values, of high educational value, but that is boring to play is still a bad game. So what I expect from the future of gaming is that the industry stays true to this diktat and, without being too distracted by the ethical drifts of the moment (however legitimate) continues to pursue its mission, which is to make good games that amuse users. I'd like technology to make more and more immersive experiences possible. Virtual Reality is already doing a lot, but I think it's still in a too immature phase to be really considered an entertainment technology for everyone.

 

NoobFeed: As a Journalist, you get a lot of people trying to get your attention to their works, but they may not know the best ways. Do you have any tips that you can impart to make their pitches towards you and other journalists more effective?

Paolo Cupola: La Gazzetta dello Sport is a mainstream newspaper: it's difficult for an emerging team to turn to us to promote their work, they usually turn to the specialized press. However, I was recently invited to moderate an academic event that simulated the presentation of some pitches of work done in the university and I had the opportunity to see some. I saw some good ideas but the impression I got was that they were too "plastered". The sense of a pitch is to present a project in a very short time, making good use of the few minutes available. The best projects seemed to me to have a clear idea of gameplay, more or less original. Others, however, focused on less relevant details, such as the identification and positioning of competitors in the market, and in my opinion were less interesting.

 

NoobFeed: With so many gaming websites and independent journalists trying to reach the same target audience segment, do you think the correct messages are being spread across?

Paolo Cupola: In principle, yes. Apart from a few extreme cases of "amateurs at fault" who, however, have very little following, the level of expertise of the specialized press, in Italy and in major international sites seems to me extraordinarily high. It is difficult for conflicting or misleading indications to emerge. Of course, about some titles or themes, different reviewers can express opinions even diametrically opposed, but if journalists can explain correctly what are the evaluations they have made, an attentive reader is able to get a “personal”, independent idea. To give an example, as I have already said, I tend to evaluate negatively an action title that does not have a good narrative structure, but this is my particular inclination: for some readers may seem predominant pure gameplay and this is fine, the important thing is that each reader is able, after reading my article, to make their own idea.

 

NoobFeed: Why is it important for gamers to maintain a healthy lifestyle? What advice would you have for a gamer looking to take the first steps towards a healthier lifestyle?

Paolo Cupola: A distinction must be made, probably, between "ordinary" players and progamers, i.e. the athletes of eSports. For the latter, the care of fitness is a must: I had the pleasure of visiting several "gaming houses" (such as Samsung Morning Stars, one of the most important Italian teams) and I saw how well the physical health of the players is taken care of: there is an athletic trainer who ensures that the gamers follow a program of controlled physical activities and a nutritionist who defines the menu for each player. Good fitness guarantees shorter reaction times, good concentration and much longer resistance to pressure and stress. These are all qualities that can make a difference for a professional player! The same benefits, of course, are in favor of "common" players who, however, have no competitive needs. I don't think I'm the best person to give advice of this kind, even if I believe in the need to be in good physical shape regardless. It must be said, in all honesty, that I meet very often common players to the fairs or various events and the cliché of the overweight or unhealthy gamer seems to me, in fact, a cliché, in most cases completely unfounded.

 

NoobFeed: What are the future plans for Paolo Cupola?

Paolo Cupola: I have no specific plans for the future: in the Journal I am just a collaborator and, therefore, I am available to the newspaper and "undergo" all the organizational changes decided by the publisher, trying to do my best to support its decisions. On a more personal level: when I was younger, I took the flight license which I then let expire. I'm thinking of starting to fly again.

 

Many thanks to Paolo for doing the interview with us. We wish him all the very best with all of his ventures. Keep up with Paolo Cupola by following him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.

 

Admin, NoobFeed