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Take-Two’s Strauss Zelnick, First Game Exec To Land A Fitness Mag Cover

October 21, 2008

Strauss Zelnick, the chairman of Take-Two has landed the cover of the November issue of Men’s Fitness. While some will describe the first gaming exec to get featured on the cover of a sweat mag as a stereotype-breaking sign of the apocalypse, the face of gaming has been changing for years. The association of video games with the image of a flabby, Dorito-stained basement-dweller hasn’t been completely exorcised, but it’s definitely on the way out. Whatever your stance is on the average gamer’s body mass index, the cover is at least one thing Zelnick has that John Riccitiello can’t take in a leveraged buyout.

Zelnick reveals the secret to his rippedness thusly, “I schedule exercise as though it’s a meeting and treat it the same way… When someone asks me to have a drink, I suggest the gym instead.” Besides delving into the 51-year old’s fitness regimen the article also notes that, back in his pre-Take-Two days as a movie exec, Zelnick hit the greenlight on Dirty Dancing. The uber gamer isn’t afraid of 50-mile cycling excursions, EA hostile takeovers, or even goddamn jazz hands. Zelnick never once uses the phrase “my two tickets to the gun show,” but he should. Check the video (it won’t embed here for some reason) to get your tips on getting as rock hard as der Uber Gamer himself.

Full cover: