Interview with Chris (Jacko) Jackson

In this interview, Red Phoenix interviews Chris (Jacko) Jackson, webmaster of RCT Inc.

Red Phoenix: Where did your first hear about Hasbro's Rollercoaster Tycoon?

Jacko: I first saw a review of it in my monthly mag and as always I read most of the reviews in there. And a week later I was in my local EB shop and I saw it so I decided to have a read of it and I thought to myself "what the hell, why not" so I bought it as I like games like this and I also have Transport Tycoon and that game has cost me many many nights sleep.

Red Phoenix: After you had a chance to play it, what did you think of it?

Jacko: I thought it was a great game as to me it seemed to be a cartoonish game just like Theme Hospital which I also love. I also found RCT hard to start with as I like a good challenge in a game.

Red Phoenix: What do you think of all the "anti-cheat" code Chris Sawyer placed in the RCT games?

Jacko: I personally didn't like it as I think some cheats can give a game a more longer life span as when you complete a game your all done but with cheats you can have some fun with it which sometimes can be more fun then the game itself. But hey, that's just me.

Red Phoenix: Recently, Infogrames publicly announced the production of RollerCoaster Tycoon 2. What are some things you'd like to see added?

Jacko: I would love to see bigger park maps as there is a lot of people out there with a huge amount of creative skills when it comes to RCT and I think there held back by small maps. Also I would like to see some sort of ride your own ride, even if its just in the preview window of your ride but it will still be something. Also I would like to walk around my park to a degree like you can in the newest Theme Park games. The last thing I would like to see if to be able to set the spirits of the game yourself depending on the speed/power of your computer as its no fun when your held back with just a few thousand people in your park.

Red Phoenix: When did RCT Inc launch?

Jacko: RCT Inc. went public the same week as my birthday.. lol not easy to forget then. And for people that don't know me that's around January 30th, 2001.

Red Phoenix: How happy are you with the success of RCT Inc?

Jacko: To tell the truth I'm over the moon with the way RCT Inc. has turned out as I care very much about my website and about the game and I love being part of the community. But I do hope to see if grow more as time goes on.

Red Phoenix: What's the most difficult aspect of maintaining RCT Inc?

Jacko: I guess I would have to say is TIME… as I have to look after my mum which is disabled and its very hard helping her out and running the site. But another hard thing about running RCT Inc. is finding people to help as a lot of people know my staff members don't stick around to long as there always coming and going but when they do help it helps me a great deal and submissions lately have been very few and between and as you know yourself its not easy running a site without files.

Red Phoenix: What can we look forward (in the future) to at RCT Inc?

Jacko: Well only thing I can say to that really is that RCT Inc. is defiantly going to cover RCT2 and I was going to cover Zoo Tycoon but couldn't find anyone to run it with.

Red Phoenix: What RCT-related sites do you visit on a typical daily basis?

Jacko: The sites I visit all the time is mine of course lol. Tycoon Recourse - as I talk to Sarah (webmistress all the time), RCT Station - as its always nice to know what's going on, TycoonPlanet - well there my host so what you expect, RCTUK - as that's where it all started for me and now I visit RCTOA a bit now.

Red Phoenix: If you could be someone (alive or dead) for one day, who would it be, and why?

Jacko: um that's a good one. I would have to say Pete Tong or Paul Van Dyk. Both of them are to me the best DJs of all time as they both have contributed to the music world so much its beyond believe and I hope to be just like them one day as I'm a novice DJ myself and I get such a kick out of music. I've helped out at a gig once where we did the music for about 2000 people and it was just amazing and you get such a buzz from it.

You can find Jacko at RCT Inc - http://rctinc.tycoonplanet.com/index.shtml