Mark MacDonald currently runs 8-4 which is a video game localization company based in Shibuya, Tokyo, but long before this career, he was an editor for Electronic Gaming Monthly, 1up.com, and one of the first friends I met in the video game industry.

E3 2001: Mark MacDonald, Dan “Shoe” Hsu, and Paul Gale

At E3 2001, I was playing Luigi’s Mansion at Nintendo’s booth behind closed curtains, and was asked by the rep if I wouldn’t mind stepping aside for a moment to let some journalists in for a quick play. I happily stepped aside to see Mark MacDonald and Dan “Shoe” Hsu from EGM come up. They both apologized and said it would be quick, since they just have to get in a look for the game of the show contenders list, but to me, bigger than anything else was meeting a couple of my favorite writers in the magazine world.

After they played some Luigi’s Mansion, they said the game was all mine, but instead I asked for a picture and that moment…everything changed for me. The three of us took that funny picture above, several months later Gamers.com started up and I sent Mark and Shoe the picture, and that’d lead into me eventually having a place for years to come as part of the family.

E3 2003: Mark MacDonald and Paul Gale

Mark has been one of those guys that I’ll forever thank so much for his help in getting me to where I am today. An early example was, after a few months of being a member of Gamers.com, James Mielke in March, 2002 had the decision to hire me and Mark (alongside Shoe) was the guy that gave me a big backing. He also was extremely helpful in assuring me that for 2002’s E3, I would be going, and representing Ziff-Davis Publishing. That E3 was also the beginning of what’d be a big part of my legacy: creating detailed E3 Q/A’s so that every single gamer would have each question answered by me. Mark was a huge fan and supporter of these pieces by me and was always thankful. I always felt like the one that should be thankful, as thanks to folks like him, I was able to get a break into this business I love so much.

E3 2005: Mark MacDonald and Paul Gale

Over the years as Gamers.com would evolve into 1up.com, Mark continued to see to it that I was a part of E3 and got all of the interviews I needed, as I was the site’s main expo correspondent for its readers. Never a dull moment along the way as MacDonald behind the scenes is one of the most chill and fun people to talk to as well.

E3 2009: Mark MacDonald and Paul Gale

I know that Mark will always have a place in the video game industry as long as he wants one. A person with as good of a writing talent as him that can conduct interviews, write well thought out reviews, preview games amongst the best, and just have a knack for understanding both Japanese and American cultures, will never be without work. And that brings me to what Mr. MacDonald does nowadays with his company.

E3 2010: Mark MacDonald and Paul Gale

Him and his team work in association with a number of companies like Nintendo, Kojima Productions, Capcom, Ubisoft, Bandai Namco Games, and plenty more, to ensure that the games we play in the US that come from Japan, don’t loose any of their message, value, humor, etc. Likewise, the opposite is true…in making sure American games get proper text localization for the Japanese market.

Going from business to personal life, Mark is one great guy, so much that he even invited me over to stay at his place in Japan if I ever visit the country. It’s likely that I will hit Japan some day too, as my passion for martial arts only doubles my interest in visiting (so don’t be surprised if I knock). I wish Mark only the best and hope 8-4 (visit the site here) continues to flourish for years to come. Thank you for being a great friend and here’s to 8-4 one day working on a Paul Gale Network game!

Update:

E3 2011: Mark MacDonald and Paul Gale

Mark and I once again met up at E3 2011 and in addition to having another fun conversation, I also told him the story about how my girlfriend said, “of all the industry friends you introduced me to at E3, I liked Mark the most.” He was happy to hear it and said it was worth mentioning in my article about him, so there…I did it Mark. 🙂