Matthew Hawkins grew up in the Pacific Northwest, the small town of Lakewood, Washington to be exact. Because the state's mental ward was just a mile away (the craziest of the crazies had a tendency to escape and wreck havoc), Matt spent most of his time barricaded in his bedroom, keeping himself occupied with a steady diet of Transformer comics, fine Canadian sketch comedy, and the holy trifecta of the NES/SNES/Sega Genesis. Along the way he developed a knack for drawing robots and hot dogs, hence the decision to study art in New York City. Matt attended the School of Visual Arts where he produced several crappy comics, as well as several crappy short films. But not long after receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in cartooning in 1999, Matt found himself fully immersed in the world of video games.
Things kicked off when Matt was enlisted as head game designer at Ubi Soft, for their short-lived New York studio, where he designed and developed several titles for all the major gaming consoles at the time. Immediately after operations ceased, Matt began creating games on his own, primarily browser based games. He also foresaw cell phones as being the next big gaming platform, which led to the formation of his own company, PixelJump; Matt not only focused on entertainment but the mobile lifestyle as a whole. PixelJump would eventually be left behind for fully independent game development once again; theses days (and like everyone else it would seem) Matt has been working on assorted iPhone projects for both himself and various other parties.
Matt has also served as a consultant to those who wish to enter the interactive space but need guidance, primarily traditionla media houses, primarily film and television entities. Clients include Sony Classics, Paramount, Warner Bros, Miramax, to name a few. He also taught game design at his alma mater, SVA, even becoming a thesis advisor for the interactive students at the computer art department at one point. Matt's involvement in game academia, along with as his activities within the local chapter of the IGDA (International Game Developers Association), have all been part of his concerted efforts to help foster a stronger game development community in NYC.
But Matt is mostly known for is his work as a writer, primarily in the field of video game journalism. Starting with Nickelodeon Magazine, Matt has contributed to numerous print and online publications on the subject of gaming, including GMR, Insert Credit, Anime Insider, Heavy, and Tiny Cartridge to name just a few. Along the way he's also written for various non-game related outlets, such as Inside Kung-Fu, Comic Book Resources, and was even a full-time cell phone blogger for Zedge, the mobile social network. These days Matt's a semi-regular contributor to Gamasutra, is the New York correspondent for GameSetWatch, and recently started doing stuff for the newly relaunched Electronic Gaming Monthly. He also maintains his own blog, which not only deals with gaming but comics/cartoons/toys from Japan, life in the Big Apple, wacky internet hijinks, and everything else that's fit to bitch about. It's perhaps why Matt has been called "The Harvey Pekar of video game journalism."
Other projects include UNLUCKY, a series autobio mini-comics based upon hard to believe yet very much true tales from his past, all of which are illustrated by a variety of indie comic talents. The very first installment was given a honorable mention in The Best American Comics, 2007 edition. Backing to gaming, FORT90ZINE is a print version of his blog, which has been called "the publication that helped spark the video game zine renaissance currently in effect." The zine also recently became part of the permanent collection at Central Booking, a gallery space in Brooklyn that is dedicated to the art of printmaking. Matt's also a fixture at various conventions; for years he has talked about games at I-CON, the Northeast's biggest fantasy/science fiction/science fact convention, which led to MTV News coverage, and has since moved his repertoire to the New York Comic Con/New York Anime Fest. And most recently, Matt became the official east coast representative for the video game culture shop Attract Mode.
Matt currently resides in Manhattan with his girlfriend Katie Skelly, and when he's not "working", i.e. surfing the web for insane YouTube videos, most of his time is spent soaking in New York City cable access, trying to beat his own top score in Pac Man: Championship Edition, or looking for that next great dish of Japanese curry rice (which again, he also writes about). And when he has the time, Matt still enjoys drawing robots and hot dogs.