Interviews
10
Questions for Kate Walker
Interview Conducted by Randy Sluganski
I’ve been privileged
to interview some of the biggest and best names in this industry:
Nancy
Drew, George
& Nico and even Jack the Ripper. And now my true heart-throb
(sorry Nancy, but you’re too young for me!) – Kate Walker.
Ever since following her
adventures in Syberia,
I have – like thousands and thousands of other adventure gamers
– anxiously awaited the completion of her journey.
It was an honor to sit
across from the beautiful Kate Walker. The glitter in her eyes and
the pure joy etched across her face were often the only response necessary
for some of my questions:
- You were a hardened
corporate New York who threw her career to the wind to join an old
man on his quest to a mythical land populated by mammoths. Can you
pinpoint the exact moment when you knew in your heart that something
inside you had changed and there was no going back to your previous
lifestyle?
Randy, it’s impossible
for me to pinpoint with certitude an exact moment when I felt a definitive
change inside of me. As my journey was progressing through the East,
little things inside me started to change. A number of events had
some effects on me. Meeting Helena Romanski was very special. She
made me realize some things about my own life that I never stopped
to think about.
When I learned of the “accident”
that happened between Dan and Olivia I also felt something break inside
of me. That was a difficult moment. I felt betrayed. It made me feel
like there was more for me, as a person, in front of me than going
back to New York. You know what I mean?
Any final doubts about
my decision were erased in the train just before arriving in Romansbourg.
But I guess, this is something the players will discover in the second
chapter of the Syberia series…
- Was there ever
a moment that you considered going back? That you doubted your decision
to follow Hans?
I didn’t have a lot
of time to think or to doubt. When I jumped on the train, I just went
with my feelings. You know the type of decision you never make when
debating a case with a corporate client…
- Can you tell
us a little of your impressions of each of the following and what
you learned from them:o Hans Voralberg
o I’ve become so attached to Hans. Even before meeting
him in Valadilene I had developed some kind of affection for
him. Following his steps across Europe, getting to get familiar
with his work, I mean, this man is so brilliant and yet so childish
sometimes…o Oscar
o It started so strangely and yet… ended so strangely…
I don’t want to tell you too much. Who could have ever
think that a stiff automaton like Oscar and a once-stiffed woman
could get along and tie such strong bonds. I mean, overall,
Oscar as been my closest friends for that whole journey. He’s
the only one who went through every step of my road from Valadilene
to… The only thing I want to say about Oscar is that I’m
not the only who changed during this whole adventure…o Madame
Helena
o Helena gave me some strength to pursue my quest at a moment
where I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
As I said earlier, by talking with her, I realized so much about
myself, about the person I was and the person I wanted to be.
She has achieved so much in her life and she became such a model
to me…o The Patriarch
o I wish I had only good memories from that journey…o Mr. Marson
o Who? 🙂 - You left your
past and the hustle bustle of New York behind, yet hung on to your
cell phone like a life preserver. Was there a subconscious reason
behind this?
Randy,
the only person I really wish to call me took forever to contact me…
I mean, why did you wait so long? Did you know you were the only reason
why I kept my cell phone with me?
- Ahem, please
Kate, my wife may read this. You seem to have become the Laura Croft
of adventuring: fishing, piloting airships and scaling cliffs are
just a few of the activities we’ve seen you accomplish. What
kind of shape were you in before your journey to Valadilene? Did
you work out on a regular basis, were you involved in any outdoor
activities?
Pretty much basic training…
My office was paying for my gym registration. I was there 3 to 4 times
a week. I use to like spinning but after my journey, I’ve discovered
that there is nothing like the smell of fresh air when you are exercising.
- You had a team
of over 35 people involved in bringing your newest adventure to
the public. Can you tell us what it is like working with author
Benoît Sokal and Project Manager Marie-Sol Beaudry?
I miss Sokal these days.
He seems busy working on other new characters. I think I’m a
bit jealous… Seriously, I don’t think I could any closer
to somebody than I have been with Benoît. I’ve become
an extension of his imagination through out my creation and I pretty
much owe him every thing I have.
I have to admit he’s
getting old and grumpy and that it seems that we have more and more
arguments together but hey this guy is me and I’m him…
As for Marie-Sol, I think
if you’d get to know Marie-Sol, you’d see a lot of resemblances
between the two of us.
She’s an awesome
young professional that invested so much in making this whole adventure
happen. She’s so determined and yet so open and enthusiastic.
I’ve learned a lot from her and particularly in these moments
when you think everything is going the wrong way…
Just being around these
two individuals as changed my life for ever and I hope we manage to
keep a very strong relationship together even though we’re geographically
all far away from each other.
- You’ve
been privileged to see and visit many places and people that the
average person will never have the opportunity to see over the course
of their lifetime. How has this changed your view of the world?
Not only has my vision
of the world changed, but my whole vision of history also changed.
I’ve been meeting people that had such a role in the evolution
of their local history. I mean Hans Voralberg is basically a pioneer
for everything that has to do with robots, automatisms…
I’ve also discovered
some places that had completely lost any connection with the rest
of the world… places that are literally frozen in time. That
makes you change your entire perception of how you see our “civilized”
world, how we handle time…
You know, you get raised
within some values but you never get the chance to see a completely
different way of thinking and then, in your mid-20s early 30s you
go through such an adventure… I mean it’s a complete shock.
How can I not see things differently today?
- I can’t
resist the comparison here: Paris Hilton, rich West Coast socialite
who lived The Simple Life; Kate Walker – high profile East
Coast Lawyer who traveled to the frozen tundra of Syberia. Are there
any secret video tapes in your past that could turn-up on the Internet?
Unless you use Just Adventure
to publicize our little secrets Randy, I don’t have any other
souvenirs of video tapes that could turn-up the Internet…
- Is this the
last we’ll see of Kate Walker? Or are there future adventures
on your agenda?
You think I’ll be
staying in New York after what I experienced the last few years? C’mon
I hope it isn’t finish for me! The Kate Walker everybody used
to know before my journey is gone. The person I am today has nothing
left to learn by just staying home and letting my life go by. My whole
body and my mind are hitching to go again… but where?
- One last question
– panties or thongs?
Yours to discover honey…
C’mon Randy… You’ve been married for a long time
haven’t you? Most women my age are wearing thongs… Welcome
to the 21st century Randy!
