Andy McNamara leans back in his office chair. A framed copy of Game Informer hangs on the wall behind him. McNamara is a pretty big deal in the magazine world, having won over thirteen Maggies and two Joystix in his 18 years as the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief.

Hardcasual wanted to find out what made him and his product so successful, so we visited him at the magazine’s headquarters in Minneapolis. We had every intention of stealing his ideas and claiming them as our own.

“That’s the first issue of G.I. I was editor-in-chief for,” McNamara says, pointing behind his back. “The cover story was The Dukes of Hazzard: The Game. Remember that one? It was a pretty slow month. But they can’t all be winners, right?”

There’s a knock at the door. Herb Martin – a pudgy little man no older than 25 – enters and sits down across from Andy. There’s an uncomfortable silence as Andy stares at Herb. He gnaws on a pencil and spins his seat a full circle.

“You have a good time at the Halo:ODST press event, Herb?”

Before Herb can answer, Andy pulls a file folder out of a cabinet and tosses it on his desk. “I sent out Herb downtown last week to review the new Halo game. He reviewed the last two, so I figured he could handle it…”

“Andy, I hadn’t eaten in…”

Andy opens the folder and reads a random page aloud:

“Boy, did Microsoft and Bungie outdo themselves this year! They shifted venues from the Holiday Inn to the swanky Ritz-Carlton up the street, they offered a fully stocked bar for free, and they tossed in a healthy heaping of babes to flirt with the reviewers. The only thing that was missing was the quesadillas.”

Herb scoots to the edge of his seat. “Can I stop you there, Andy? I think it’s worth knowing that last year they had this entire spread with, like, five different types of quesadillas. They had chorizo sausage, spinach and gouda, bacon and walnut…”

Andy raises his hand. “Yeah, we know, Herb. You talk about them for the next two-hundred words. You even talk about what new types of quesadillas you’d invent if you had a quesadilla machine. You know that we send you to these things to review the game, not stuff your face, right?”

“I think it’s really easy for you to sit here and judge me when you never even tried these quesadillas,” Herb says. “I was really looking forward to them. I skipped dinner.”

“Did you play the game?”

“No. I got drunk while waiting my turn and fell asleep on the leather couch. I get really sleepy when I haven’t eaten. Plus the couch was really comfortable. I think it was a Soflex.”

Andy stares at the kid. He leans back and slaps the arm of the chair a few times. “Get out of here.”

Herb rises from his seat and walks to the door. “Am I fired?”

“No. You’re not fired,” Andy says. Herb shrugs. “I don’t see any spelling mistakes. You got impeccable grammar, and there ain’t sentence fragment in sight. You’re the best fucking writer we have. But pack a fucking granola bar next time.”

Reported by Hardcasual’s Canadian correspondent Filipe Salgado.