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EG meets Konnie Huq

Talking John Leslie, SimAnimals and S&M.

Ellie Gibson avatar
Interview by Ellie Gibson Contributor
Updated on
EurogamerWhat's your involvement with SimAnimals? How come you're promoting it?
Konnie Huq

I do a lot of stuff with young people who like gaming, and also I'm quite animal-friendly, so I think I seemed like a good choice. It's really cool because it's quite different from a lot of other games. It's great if you like nature and gardening.

It teaches you a lot about the different plants and animals you get in the woodland environment, so you can start building up a picture of how different food chains work.

The future botanists of our nation will start with SimAnimals, maybe.

EurogamerOur readers tend to be more into games where you shoot monsters in the face. Is there anything similar in SimAnimals? Can you run over the animals and break its legs off?
Konnie Huq

You can drop the animals in the river, and put all the plants in there and then they start dying. So if you wanted, you could create an urban wasteland. There is that possibility.

EurogamerHave you played the game yourself yet? What do you think of it?
Konnie Huq

I have, and it's really good. For a lot of city kids who might never get to see greenery, it's a nice compromise. It could get them into something they might not get into otherwise, so they don't just stay in front of a computer. It could open their horizons.

EurogamerGames are often portrayed negatively in the mainstream media as being bad for children. How do you feel about that?
Konnie Huq

I think it's good to have variety. If everything is just zombie-bashing, it gets monotonous and bland. It's good to have light and shade, and I think this is quite a nice flip-reverse.

EurogamerTo quote Blazin' Squad.
Konnie Huq

Yes. You know the lyrics of Blazin' Squad? Shame on you.

EurogamerI love Blazin' Squad. I'm not ashamed.
Konnie Huq

I'm usually found quoting Shakespeare, not Blazin' Squad.

EurogamerBlazin' Squad's better. So what you're saying is, alongside all the zombie-bashing, it's good to have a bit of rabbit-drowning?
Konnie Huq

Absolutely. I used to be a champion at House of the Dead in my time. But it's good to be able to be brilliant at everything - to be brilliant at growing a forest, and brilliant at killing, too.

Eurogamer During my extensive research on wikipedia, I read that you were once offered a six-figure sum to pose naked for Playboy...
Konnie Huq

I never heard six-figures. All I know is that my agent heard something... But they don't tell me stuff anyway, because they like to move all their little players about. So they probably gave it to one of their other people, who's a millionaire by now.

EurogamerProbably Gemma Atkinson.
Konnie Huq

That's what agents do, they just play everyone off against each other. So I don't know specifics. I have said "Never say never", but I don't think I will.

EurogamerI work for a videogames website which is a little bit smaller than Playboy...
Konnie Huq

How many hits?

EurogamerOver two million unique visitors a month, if you really want to know.
Konnie Huq

Really? Shut up! That's great.

EurogamerI'm afraid Eurogamer can't afford to offer you a six-figure sum to pose naked. We can offer you four-figures, though, and you can keep your vest on.
Konnie Huq

Doesn't that defeat the object?

EurogamerI didn't say how big the vest would be.
Konnie Huq

Aha, I see how you work... Interesting. Well, you know, we'll have to talk logistics off the tape recorder. We'll liase.