The video game industry is lacking characters. People with charisma, intensity and big ol’ brass ones.
Sure we have our “Make those marines twice as big and thrice as oily!” Cliffy Bs, our “I gotta go home early today, so cut half the features.” Peter Molyneuxs and our “Put faces on EVERYTHING!!!” Miyamotos but I wouldn’t call them true heroes. The same way that I might describe Conan to be a hero. Kicking someone while your legs on fire, air surfing debris from a crumbling building through a monsters heart, breaking jail bars with bare hands and ejaculating so hard you bust down the prison walls kind of hero.

Oh well I guess that kind of guy aint around… we should just give up on th-

!PAUUUUL STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!

HOT DAMN! Paul Steed! The man himself. For any of you poor individuals who don’t know who paul steed is, here is what wikipedia says

Paul Howard Steed, Jr is a video game modeller and artist. He has worked for Origin Systems, Electronic Arts, id Software, Wild Tangent, Microsoft’s Xbox, Atari, and now Exigent. He is made of an unknown indestructible metal and openly admits to running over John Carmack drunk on Death Head moonshine distilled through Tom Selleck’s moustache while driving his Porsche 911 (infused with the spirit of Thor).

Paul Steed modelled and animated most of the characters in Quake 3 Arena, it should also be noted that he stayed at work an extra 10 minutes everyday (so he could code the entire game himself).

Paul steed has written 3 books. HAVE YOU EVEN WRITTEN 1? Yeah I thought not.
When Paul Steed went into his first job interview he just looked the boss in the eyes and told him to get out. Before the ex boss could leave Steed sat in his big leathery chair and took his house keys and simply asked what his wife’s name was.

Back in 2007 I actually had the pleasure of meeting Mr Steed. Or as we affectionately referred to him as ‘STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDY!’
I was at AIE Canberra studying 3D animation for games. Our teacher came in and started ranting and raving that ‘The MAN HIMSELF’ was coming to give a talk. I must confess that at this time, this ignorant time I had no idea who he was, other than a man who’s name alone invokes the images of powerful stallion muscles.

The day Paul Steed arrived we will never forget, it seemed we could hear his footsteps from miles away. Suddenly the door was kicked off its hinges, Paul Steed dive rolled into the classroom, punched our teacher in the face then got the high score on space invaders all in the blink of an eye. He went around the class and glanced at every ones work. Any student’s work he didn’t like he hacked our teachers computer and unenrolled them from the course. Any student work he ‘liked’ (Paul Steed has never liked anything ever, so perhaps tolerated would be a better word) he would kick in their monitor.

Basically he came through like a buffalo stampede then he was gone again, and we were left gored and in awe. Perhaps I’m slightly exaggerating the man. Though in all honesty he once hacked through his boss John Carmack’s locked office door with a claymore sword. I know what I’m going to do the first day I get an industry job.

So now you know about the MAN they call PAUL STEED. So you don’t have to be as ignorant as I once was, lets hope that at some point you get to meet the man and lets hope after, you are still alive to blog about it later.

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