Alben Pedroso
Age: 29
Title: Associate Producer, Sony PlayStation
Current Favorite game: Rise to Honor, Planetside, Unreal II, Madden 2003, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
AW: If you were a video game character, who or what would you be?
Pedroso: I’d like to be Ryu from Street Fighter because he’s one of the biggest characters, and to know that I would be an influence to all these gamers now … I think a lot of my interests in gaming started with Street Fighter.
Ever wonder who the mastermind is behind the games you play? Associate producer Alben Pedroso has been working on Jet Liís Rise to Honor project for more than three years in the Foster City offices of Sony Computer Entertainment of America. The project is finally wrapping up.
The 29-year-old Filipino American, who has been with Sony PlayStation for eight years now, has the task of helping to oversee the game’s programming and development.Growing up in Union City, Calif., Pedroso says that he was raised in a “predominantly Filipino American community,” and that one of his biggest influences is his mother. “My mom is my role model. My parents were divorced, and she’s a great example because she did what she could to make a great life for me,” says Pedroso.
But asked who his biggest inspiration is, Pedroso laughs, “John McEnroe is a god.”
Pedroso, who attended UC Santa Cruz, earned a bio degree with plans of eventually becoming a doctor. But he soon realized he didn’t want to do work in a lab.
At that point, Pedroso had few plans. He had a friend in college who was a game tester at Galoob and Sega, though, and decided to give it a try.
“I’ve been [with Sony] ever since,” recollects Pedroso. “Playing video games in college probably helped to get where I am now, and that’s probably why I’m not a doctor!”
Asked if being Asian Pacific American has had an effect on his career, Pedroso says “No. My career has been built on merit and good work ethics.
“There are a lot of us [APAs] in the industry, and I think our team reflects that diversity, with people from Hong Kong, Korea and the Philippines … APAs are everywhere.”