Photo Credit: Lorenzo Herrera Via Unsplash. Hey Hackers! I’m Michael Benko and I’m the Chief Marketing Officer of Improv Jam and gaming blogger at www.michaelbenko.com. First of all, a huge thank you to the HackerNoon community and staff for nominating me for a 2022 Noonies award! I’ve been nominated in the gaming category so please do check out these award pages and vote: HackerNoon Contributor of the Year: Metaverse HackerNoon Contributor of the Year: Games 1. What product/feature/project did you get nominated for? I wrote an analysis of Axie Infinity’s in-game economy, , and it was nominated for two Noonies. https://hackernoon.com/what-everyone-is-missing-about-axie-infinitys-economic-storm 2. Why did you design or develop it the way that you did? I had been reading analyses of the game’s economy, and from what I read, there were certain dynamics of the way the game Axie Infinity’s in-game economy worked that I didn’t think the analysts seemed to fully understand. There were basic parts of it that they definitely did. So the article was a humble attempt at voicing those dynamics from the perspective of a gaming guild participant. 3. What was the process like? It was frightening! The blank page in front of you :) But overall, it was a really good experience, as I continued the process, I felt more confident as what I wrote actually seemed to make sense to other people. 4. Were you expecting the nomination? Not at all, it came as a total and very pleasant surprise. I was on the way back from a family member’s wedding, in the car on the drive from Boston to Portland (I wasn’t driving, don’t worry) and I received the email. I was really surprised, and so pleasantly so! I’m a creator, and I know how easy it is to put out work after work, and never, ever have anyone acknowledge it. So for someone to have nominated me was a really big deal for me personally. I just really enjoyed the process and that I did work and it received a really nice result. Whether or not I win the Noonie, I’m honestly just thrilled to have been nominated. 5. What do you think made it successful? I believe it was a personal experience. I wasn’t writing about something in theory. I did a deep dive into a kind of obscure gaming economy that not many people do, or really should, be expected to understand past the basics. And I guess that made it fun, and my personal experience in the game really informed what I was writing. 6. If you could design the perfect project, what would it be? It would be a self-aware computer that ran on nanobots, that you could inject into your body and would be powered by your body heat. It would be able to speak to you, and it would be ultra-intelligent and also programmed to genuinely have your best interest at heart. Anytime, it could tell you what you should do in a given situation to absolutely master it, whether that’s what to do on any given day, or help you learn skiing in a nanosecond to get out of a bind. It would also be a great conversationalist, who you could have deep conversations with at any time, and if you wanted to, you could close your eyes and it would take you on awesome virtual adventures that could fit thousands of years into seconds. It could never break, or be lost. 7. What technologies in the games industry are most exciting? Decentralization. A million times over, decentralization. I believe that true innovation will be when everyone has the tools to create and can go off and do something amazing, potentially using APIs of pre-existing games to build in their universes--or create their own. Imagine if anyone could build a Pokemon game, and Game Freak had to compete with that--with the fans. What kind of amazing worlds would come out of that? 8. What is a major issue in the games industry that needs to be addressed? Scams. 1000%, scams. I say that specifically looking at the crypto gaming industry. For a while, I was looking for new NFT games to see if I could find some to be early on, and I keep going through chart after chart of tokens that launched, went super high, and then crashed super low (this was before the broader crash). I’m not saying that these were all scams, but I bet some of them were. I think for a healthier decentralized gaming ecosystem to develop, this needs to be addressed--I just don’t know how yet. Hopefully, there will be better community-created resources that help tackle this and can be go-to spaces to vet projects and enhance player safety for existing ones. 9. Is there something that you would like to shout-out? The person who suggested I write the article in the first place. That sent me on a really cool adventure. Thanks for being there for me. Then, friends + family. I just can’t say this enough. It’s rare for people to have your back, so I’m appreciative of the friends and family who do. Can I thank the editors and the HackerNoon staff and shout them out too? 10. How can gaming writers on HackerNoon set themselves apart from the mainstream gaming publications such as IGN and Gamespot? I think by covering the things that haven’t gone mainstream yet. The tech that’s around the corner, and in development now, which hasn’t been adopted yet by a wide audience. For me, this includes Blockchain in gaming, which there’s a ton of blowback for in some big gaming publications. As someone who’s loved video games most of my life (starting with NES), I’m really really sympathetic to gaming publications that don’t like Blockchain gaming as a trend. I look at pure gaming publications, and I think where it’s really good is they’re all about having fun, which I love. But I think that in the 20s, we’ll see Blockchain games develop as their own niche within gaming. So right now, some large gaming and non-gaming magazines might not love Blockchain gaming, and that’s okay, but in the future, there could be a situation when a Blockchain game comes out that’s so amazing, it’s just really hard for them to give it heat. Or some of their staff love it. Or, honestly, and I think this is likely--that NFTs are so much a part of so many games, we reach a point where it would be weird if you couldn’t own your in-game assets. Even if it’s not called an “NFT”, it would be hard to have ownership of it without Blockchain technology. Ownership which means you can do what you want like trading it or selling it. 11. Please give us the links to all your relevant social media profiles so we can use them to promote this interview! (Twitter and LinkedIn would be a huge plus) So most of the creating I do is here: . My Twitter is www.twitter.com/MichaelBenko, and my Linkedin is . And, can I throw this here? My website is www.michaelbenko.com. https://www.facebook.com/heymichaelbenko https://www.linkedin.com/in/himichaelbenko About HackerNoon’s 2022 Noonie Awards The annual Noonie Awards celebrate the best and brightest of the tech industry, bringing together all who are making the Internet and the world of tech what it is today. Please be sure to , nominate, and vote for the people and companies who you think are making the biggest impact on the tech industry today. check out our award categories The 2022 Noonies are sponsored by: , and . Thank you so much to these sponsors who are helping us celebrate the accomplishments of all our nominees. BingX .tech

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