Shawn Smith is an old school friend of mine from the mid 2000’s era of Electronic Gaming Monthly. These days he’s up to something that allows him to express himself even better, but I’ll get to that later.

E3 2003: Shawn Smith and Paul Gale

I first met Shawn at E3 2003, which was already a year after working for Gamers.com (EGM’s former website, before transitioning into 1up.com) and as with all of the other editors from Electronic Gaming Monthly, he was a really cool guy. Cool in the way that when I came up to him, despite seeing the exhaustion on his face from covering E3 and being just drained, he was more than happy to talk with me, take a picture, and support me with my E3 Q/A piece that I was constantly updating.

E3 2004: Shawn Smith and Paul Gale

I always appreciate that, the “man I’m spent, but sure let’s hang out anyways” attitude. After meeting Shawn a couple of times at E3, I learned of his ability to draw. That came up in a conversation in regards to my video game themed pumpkin carvings…something the EGM gang use to really dig back in the day. And that brings me up to what Shawn’s doing these days. If you like Pokemon and think that Nintendo has created an impressive 600+ unique creatures, you’ll probably like Shawnimals.com and what they have to offer.

It’s Shawn’s company that he founded with his wife Jen in 2002. There are over 400 really cool, unique, fun creatures in the Shawnimaland universe and I definitely recommend checking his site out for yourself. You may find one that really matches your personality or that you find so awesome that you’ll make it your own.

I’m happy for Mr. Smith and was glad to be there, talking with him over the years at E3 and online, and ultimately see him follow a dream and actually make something both successful and cool for all to enjoy. I wish Shawn all the best of success in his future days, because he’s just a cool guy with a talent and a good spirit. Congratulations on everything up to this point and here’s to more Shawnimals!