Sonoma gamer answers his personal ’call of duty’

It’s safe to assume all of us have taken a deep dive into various hobbies this quarantine. Knitting, embroidery, cooking, and so on. But for those looking for escapism on a screen, video games are a hobby certainly getting a lot of play, in more ways than one.

Sonoma native Max Scoville, 33, is more than familiar with the gaming world. Over the course of his working life, he has merged his love of what he deems “nerd culture” and Internet entertainment as a writer, host and producer for video game news outlet IGN, covering everything from the latest episode of “The Mandalorian” to recently discovered favorite games such as “Yakuza: Like A Dragon.”

“The way I describe it is sort of ESPN, but for nerd stuff,” Scoville said, his background on Zoom filled with purple light, rare X-Men comics, and a plethora of make-you-feel-young-again action figures. “So video games, and superhero movies, comic books, and just sort of everything but sports basically.”

From an early age, Scoville was deeply immersed in the fantastical world of comic books and game controllers and quickly became adept at talking about it. At Sonoma Valley High School, he loved taking classes from both retired English teacher Mike Lyons (to whom he attributed his love for Hawaiian shirts and eBay acquired sci-fi memorabilia) and Peter Hansen, who remains a favorite educator in the school’s video department.

Scoville also created his own live blog where, in addition to arguing with people on the Internet over the latest issue of “Deadpool,” he continued to hone in on his narrative skills. “I would write half funny articles or talk about my feelings or whatever, and really fell in love with just writing natural prose,” he said. After graduation in 2005, he became a cartoonist and columnist for the Oak Leaf newspaper at Santa Rosa Junior College before attending San Francisco Art Institute to round out his undergraduate education.

With his skills in visual, film and literary arts, Scoville has managed to work his way up while talking about what he loves most: nerd culture. With his skills in visual, film and literary arts, Scoville has managed to build a career where he can talk about what he loves most: nerd culture. Starting as an independent content creator, he went on to co-host “The Destructoid Show” for the popular gaming site Destructoid. The show, which was carried by the Revision 3 network, broke down all the major developments in the gaming world. Before long, he served as what he describes as a “preditor” or producer and editor for the show and additionally worked on his own videogame analysis podcast “Study Hall.“

The production capabilities of IGN have only opened more doors for Scoville. Not only does he continue to report on the gaming industry, but also now hosts events such as the “Star Wars Live Show” (the streaming and live viewing party celebrating the franchise) in April of 2019.

He can’t help but smile when describing the irony of a formally awkward teenager with his nose in a comic book now being expected to shine as a personality among major celebrities: “It’s incredibly surreal that [IGN is] like, “Hey, go and have a conversation with these famous people,’ and I’m like, ‘I have a hard time having a conversation with normal people and you want me to talk to Ben Affleck?’”

Perhaps even more interesting to Scoville than being able to tell Ryan Reynolds in person that he wrote a book report about a Deadpool comic book in the fifth grade, is the direction in which the gaming industry is headed. While plenty of academia articulates the negatives of video gaming (aggression, laziness, etc.), the other side of the dialogue has been steadily emerging. According to a study conducted in 2013 by the American Psychological Association, shooter video games actually encourage three-dimensional thinking; and a 2011 study showed that games are a way to encourage cooperation, with more than 70 percent of gamers playing with at least one friend.

Not only this, but celebrities and politicians are using gaming as a way to connect with people during the pandemic. “The way you see people doing online Twitch streaming, it’s beginning to resemble being in front of a crowd,” Scoville said, in reference to the recent live stream on video game streaming service Twitch showing a game of “Among Us” between Congresswomen Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.

Video games are becoming increasingly popular as a form of pandemic-era entertainment, as production is forced to halt on major TV and movie projects in Hollywood. Aside from making the adjustment to remote production (which Scoville describes as its own form of four-dimensional chess), new games are able to come out on a previously planned production schedule, and personalities like Scoville are able to do their reporting from home with more ease than other media forms.

“I think games are kind of the frontier of every previous form of entertainment and are sort of coagulating into this one… to say that video gaming is a medium is an understatement,” Scoville said. Games are absolutely more than just the visuals on the screen. Whether it’s traveling through Japan by playing “Ghost of Tsushima” - because real traveling is off the table - or playing “Call of Duty” over a headset with friends you couldn’t see this winter break, video games undoubtedly provide a much-needed escape from quarantine.

“Games I think really stepped up to the plate,” Scoville said. “In quarantine, everything’s been kind of a wreck, but gaming is kind of the pinnacle of escapism.”

So if you are looking for a hobby, one of Max Scoville’s recommendations on IGN might be just the thing.