He’s not the hero we deserve, but the one we need
by Simon LaroccaOctober 29, 2024
Cristopher Nolan, in his famous film trilogy
dedicated to Batman, has Gary Oldman deliver what is probably the
most famous line: "he is not the hero we deserve, but the one we need."
Quando Alberto Trussardi lets me into his Batcave and
offers me coffee, before starting the interview, I reflect on the fact that it is
indeed passion and motivation that make the difference, and just as Bruce
Wayne had to become Batman to defeat criminals, so Alberto has
taken the path toward The Games Market, which he will tell us about himself, to
give the world of video games in Italy something important and new, something
that makes a difference in the industry. Seated at the table, in his home that is a
sancta sanctorum full of arcade titles, hard-to-find retro titles and even a
pinball machine (spoiler: he won’t let me play and won’t accept my challenge), I
am about to reveal the man behind the mask, with a smile.
1) Hi
Alberto! Video games, magazines, collecting, passion. These four words
are like hashtags on social media, each of them refers to something about you. But
let’s set aside the persona and take a closer look at the man:
who is Alberto Trussardi according to Alberto Trussardi?
Describing oneself is always complex; each of us is many different things at different moments in life. Among other things, I have been a designer, a content creator, a shop assistant, a dishwasher, a bartender, a waiter, but also a teacher, a marketing consultant, a salesman, a managing director, a president, and today I am the result of all the experiences I have gained over the last 20 years of activity, a serial entrepreneur I could say, but above all a dreamer. Do you remember Richard Gere in Pretty Woman? I do the same job: I buy or create companies, bring them to certain results and then sell them or keep them, but more than anything else, I am a dad in a happy family.
2) Every
respectable video game has a hero, a villain, enemies to defeat and
many levels to overcome in order to reach the finish line. Since you are
playing the hero, tell us about your entrepreneurial story and the difficulties you
had to face to defeat the dragon and find the treasure!
No way! The hero, dear Simon, is a cool guy and you can see few treasures on the horizon: old Smaug still keeps them all jealously, and soon I’ll try to open the mountain, to hell with dwarves and hobbits! My archetype is 98% King/Emperor and 88% Jester, and I’ll tell you that I’m prouder of the jester because irony, putting oneself at the service of others with lightness in the heart, has always been one of my strengths! Which does not mean being superficial, but light. Mauro Calabresi said that «it is the obstacles encountered daily that make it possible for things to happen, thanks to the determination with which they are faced». And then I think like Seneca: I don’t believe that luck exists, but rather the moment when talent meets opportunity. From there on comes the easy money, to quote a trashy example like Filippo Champagne, and I’ll stop here. But you get the idea, I’m sure.
3) Ambogiochi. One name, a guarantee, a legacy. How did the idea come about to revive a brand that has established itself over the last 40 years, and what are the differences between Yesterday and Today in the video game world, from your point of view and Patrizio Amboni’s?
Patrizio is a
old-school entrepreneur, polite, elegant, kind. At times, it seems
like talking to our eternal Fellini because of the human depth he has; he puts
anyone at ease. Today's world, on the other hand, is far too superficial; I think
of the onlyfansers, the super TikTokkers who probably in a few years no one
will remember. We live in a digital world made of appearances that leaves little room for content and passion because everything has to be
fast and concise. Instead, when talking about retro titles, one often
goes on at length about many things as enthusiasts, taking one's time.
That's why I wanted to relaunch a historic brand
like Ambogiochi. And it was wonderful! The children of the 80s and 90s have
grown up but still come to visit us today with their families: we left them
as kids and meet them again as adults with everything that happened in
between. From the period of video game rentals to pirated discs sold in the
streets, all the way to the 2000 boom: who needs the millennium bug, video
games were going strong! Today digital has changed the paradigms and
downsized a market that was running like a train. But one thing has not changed
fortunately, and that is the passion for physical media and collector's editions. Today
no longer mass market as before, but certainly of greater value.
4) In
a digital world that may be moving perhaps a little too fast, what do you think is the future of
video games? Will we still be able to play side by side as we used to long ago, when consoles and joypads represented the height of
fun with friends, or are we destined for a single outlook made up of eSports and competitiveness at the highest levels?
It will be and it is
eSports, where a video game is pushed to the highest competitive levels and
however much you may not like it, guys, this is reality. We have teams from
Serie A, Bundesliga, La Liga and all the most important leagues with eSports
teams, and the same happens in basketball, in MMOs, in MOBAs, in tennis, in fighting
games or in shooters. Seeing tricks and techniques so elaborate makes video games
a full-fledged spectacle, no longer just home entertainment. We nostalgics will
not give up lan parties with friends to play Age of Empires
2, and that does not mean that a changing world will become worse than the one we
knew. After all, it was Nintendo itself that created eSports, remember
the legendary Nintendo World Championship on the NES? Competition has always been there, only
it had never been officially recognized: today it is the new frontier of
entertainment that allows you to compete with opponents from all over the world
and not just with the guys from the neighborhood. Make no mistake, friends remain friends
always, but on some games they were truly epic noobs! Today, instead, there are no
borders and the possibilities for growth are dizzying, let’s embrace
change guys, always.
5) The Games Market, the platform that, given the premises, is destined to become the
ultimate meeting point for video game collectors: tell us about
this new personal project of yours, how it was born and what will be the
main goal you have set for yourself?
I don’t know if it will be a success; it is certainly a tool that is not currently on the market, and major companies in the online sales and video game distribution sectors immediately showed interest, even when the idea was only on paper. The project was born after an unpleasant personal experience at a trade fair in Milan, where I saw stallholders sell a used Final Fantasy 8 for 400 euros to a boy who was probably not aware of its real value. After that episode, I asked myself: why not create a standard that provides market metrics and valuations, but above all, awareness to consumers of what they are buying? Today retrogaming is an established market, and the nostalgic effect of some titles leads to crazy valuations, if you think about it, but that does not mean being authorized to sink into speculation. The real value of that Final Fantasy 8 was not, and is not, the exorbitant sum demanded from that boy, as had been subtly instilled in him.
6) The
video game market is at a crossroads and The Games Market could be
the turning point, especially for those who do not know they own valuable
consoles and video games in their basements and want to exchange opinions with others like
them: can it be said that your platform positions itself as an innovative
social experience?
We tried to replicate the experience
we lived for years in store at Ambogiochi and across various communities,
creating a big family that thanks to The Games Market will become even bigger! I brought together many technologies and
approaches to create the platform, starting from a centralized Amazon-style model to present all the data for the titles with images, descriptions,
release dates and various versions, then I connected the price data from Price
Charting, a tool used by large distribution chains with millions of
daily users that provides updated sales data on the main
market titles purchased in the USA, Europe and Asia, so as to immediately present below
all the sellers with their products. The goal is not to give an exact figure
in terms of value, because that will be provided by the seller thanks to their
own experience, but to create awareness in the buyer of what
they are buying or selling, so as to understand whether a title deviates
too much from the valuations and for what reason, or whether it is in line with the market.
Certainly, that Final Fantasy could have been taken home for 50 euros elsewhere!
7) Platform
dedicated to collectors, but not only: within the site you can find
articles and in-depth features on every topic related to the retrogaming world and
the news that will arrive on next-generation consoles. Do you have any other
gems to reveal about The Games Market and its future?
Well, considering that you write the in-depth articles yourself, how could I tell you that you did a bad job? (Alberto laughs here, and I laugh too, because I can’t disagree with him!). The good news is that many new authors want to create exclusive content for us, and that makes me happy, because it means the platform is credible and generates interest, stirring up the old pleasure of writing about video games, as was done for the old printed industry magazines.
8) Thank you
for answering my questions! Would you like to add anything before we say goodbye?
Do you have any secrets to reveal or messages for anyone who wants to join the big
The Games Market family?
For now we have created a stable commerce platform
that offers valuations, content, and products. The next steps will be auctions,
like those seen on eBay, absolutely essential for important and unique titles; moreover, we have built a grading service with a commission of experts
that we will launch in the coming years. As for the names, we have to wait, because we are also
involving production companies, journalists, entrepreneurs, and
dealers, and who better than them will be able to give their own title a grade?
Con questo ultimo interrogativo retorico, Alberto says goodbye to me,
after having put on the table many juicy dishes for those who, like me and
you, eat video games for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He accompanies me to the door
of his temple dedicated to the wonderful video game multiverse that he has
collected over all these years. It is like traveling along an imaginary timeline of
experiences, fun, and great sacrifices on the part of someone who has labeled himself
as a serial entrepreneur but is also, at least in my opinion, a passionate
visionary who never stops dreaming with his eyes open.
Of meat on the fire there is truly a lot, and Alberto, with his usual cheerfulness, winks at me, pointing to the pinball machine.
The next time,
he says. And I can’t wait to play with him.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.
Simon Larocca
Mi chiamo Simon Larocca, e sono un videogiocatore, collezionista e amante della cultura pop in tutte le sue forme. Vado al cinema ogni volta che posso, leggo da quando porto gli occhiali, quindi da sempre, e ho la passione per lo storytelling in tutte le sue forme, così dirompente da farla diventare una professione. Ma come direbbe Doc di Ritorno al Futuro, non ci sarebbe presente se non si guardasse al passato con rispetto e ammirazione, ed è il Simon bambino di più di trent’anni fa, anno più anno meno.