TE: What are some of the other "art-house" style games that inspire contributors?
LC: Katamari Damacy, PaRappa the Rapper, Animal Crossing, but it's not limited to niche games. Yoshi's Island and Paper Mario also generate a lot of work. The characters in the more mainstream games inspire a lot of artists both old and young, since some have grown up with them, while others are experiencing the classic gameplay for the first time and enjoying just the same experience we did when we were young.
TE: Who do you feel you cater to?
LC: We don't have a real target audience, but we try to avoid anything explicit.
TE: Are you trying to create a family atmosphere, or are you avoiding trouble?
LC: Art on Lifemeter is supposed to have the impression that this stuff [the art and comics] could actually happen to the characters, which is why we reject submissions, for instance, [of] Mario trying to score cocaine off of a Goomba, and we've gotten plenty of those. We try to keep it in the game world, since there is a lot of that kind of stuff out there already; parody, slash-fic or other adult content.
If we included that stuff, we'd have to be more particular about whom we allow visiting the site. [We] like to think that videogames are for everyone. There are specific games for adults only, and they are becoming more and more popular, but for the most part, videogames appeal to both kids and adults, and [we] like the idea that all ages can visit the site.
TE: What makes Lifemeter different from large artistic community sites like deviantART or a Yahoo group?
LC: We are editorial about it. The people who submit [art] are generally professionals, and there is an expectation of quality of what gets [posted] on the site. It's not a sketch blog or a message board. We need the art to tell a story or have a really strong voice. ... Originality goes a long way.
TE: What about legal issues? Any cease and desist letters so far?
LC: Surprisingly none, yet. ... We didn't want to upset copyright holders or jeopardize our professional careers ... [Surprisingly,] the reaction so far has been very positive. We never expected ... Nintendo Power to not only [approve of us] but to give us a recommendation. They told their readers to check the site out. They were one of the first magazines to call us and ask if they could write about [us]. We've found that the creators of the games get excited about [the art] in the same way that we do, and they understand that we are celebrating them and not exploiting them or parodying them. If anything, we are helping people remember games they haven't played in years, and maybe getting them to go out of buy them again. It's almost as if we are an advertisement for gaming itself.
TE: What about the future, will a higher profile bring problems with copyrights and licenses?
