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, along with how 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 focusing on the web and 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 mobile games but mobile entertainment and lifestyle as a whole. PixelJump would eventually be left behind for fully independent game development once again; theses days, and like everyone else, Matt has been working on assorted iPhone projects for both himself and various other parties.
Matt's been active in the consultation space as well, and has served as strategist for numerous film & television entites that needed guideance with the wild world of gaming. Clients include Sony Classics, Paramount, Warner Bros, and Miramax. He also taught game design at his alma mater, SVA, even becoming a thesis advisor for interactive student at the computer art department for a short period. 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 since contributed to numerous print and online publications on the subject of games, including GMR, 1-UP MegaZine, Insert Credit, The Gamer's Quarter, and Anime Insider, to name just a few. Along the way he's also reported on various non-game related topics, such as Hong Kong cinema for Inside Kung-Fu, the world of funny books for Comic Book Resources, and was even a cell phone blogger for the mobile social network Zedge. These days Matt's a semi-regular contributor to Gamasutra, is the NY correspondent for GameSetWatch, and recently became Heavy.com's primary game blogger. 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, an autobio mini comics series based on hard to believe yet very much true tales that are illustrated by a variety of indie comic talents, which was recently given a honorable mention in The Best American Comics (2007 edition). The FORT90ZINE is a print version of his blog, and has also been warmly received by critics, plus 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 Matt has talked about games at I-CON, the Northeast's biggest fantasy/science fiction/science fact convention, to the point of being featured on MTV News, and has since moved his act to the New York Comic Con/New York Anime Fest. There's also a few other projects that he unfortunately cannot talk about right now, but hopefully very soon!
Matt currently resides in Manhattan with his girlfriend Katie Skelly, and when he's not "working", 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 cury rice. And when he has the time, Matt still enjoys drawing robots and hot dogs.