We decided to put the Area 51 aliens hostages back to work this week, and they came up with our third Member of the Moment!
How long have you been gaming?
For about 25 years (god I feel old =P), my uncle bought me an Atari 2600 when I was 3ish and I was flipping games like Asteroids and Centipede by the time I was 4. (which the release of Centipede on the arcade made me think my skills have dropped, I suck at that game now)
What was the first game that you played and what drew you into gaming in general?
The first game that I played where I felt like I needed to get it was the original Legend of Zelda (yes the good ol' gold cartridge). My parents rented an NES (for reasons I seem to forget) and I ended up playing hookie a few days from school to play that game. I ended up buying it a year or so after its release and playing it at my cousins (I did alot of my gaming at friends and relatives, at home I jumped from the Atari 2600 to the SNES so I missed a bit...)
What brought you to 360voice, and what do you think is the best feature of the site?
A link on live.xbox.com when 3v was a featured community site. Remember thinking "My 360 can blog?! WTH!?" and then I was intrigued to figure out how it all worked. Best feature is the community of course, I think for the most part we're a close-knit family. ^_^
Is there anything that you would like to see on 3v that isn't already here?
A button that says "Vote Cormyre for 3VCE!". Other than that I think its progressing great, and with Squid a part of the team now, it'll be interesting to see the added or combined features.
When did you sign up for live?
When I bought my original xbox... I was kind of late to the game, as I was happy with my PS2; so I guess not until fall 2004. After hearing the hype I had to play through Halo and get Halo 2 when it came out, plus I knew I needed to play through Ninja Gaiden (and then Black and then Sigma...). But I didn't really get into Live until I got my hands on Halo 2 and finished the main campaign, and still wanted to play it. Even then, until the 360 came out most of my gaming was done on the PS2.
You seem to like the GH line/music type of games. What do you enjoy most about them?
I'm almost always listening to music, so to actually be able to interact with it was a great change. I have been playing the Harmonix games since before Guitar Hero, (Amplitude and Frequency on the PS2) so it was just a natural progression. The fact that these games take actual skill is a plus (though I'm not skilled enough to stand up to some of our community members =P)
You have a pretty good streak going. How far are you willing to go to keep that?
How far? Unfortunately not as much as one may think, I always make sure to play something, and I'm in a household with 2 360's at the moment (soon to be 3 since The Third End is hooked on DMC4). Plus being that I'm part of the IT dept at my work, even if my internet cuts out I can always run in there and play something online for a few, haha.
When do you most often game?
In the evenings/late night after work mon, wed-fri and the other days are just random if any. I lose entirely too much sleep to video games.
What other systems, if any, do you own?
I've tried to own every system since I've been out on my own, but it hasn't always entirely worked out with systems dying, given them away and whatnot. Currently owned systems are: PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox, 360, Wii, DS, GBA. The one that gets the most play by far, is my 360. =P
What's your favorite feature on Xbox LIVE?
The fact the Microsoft opened the data to community developers. That idea just blew my mind at first. Other than that, the ease of linking to friends (when NAT problems aren't involved... grrr), and just the whole integration of everything.
You have 156 played games in your 3v list. What games that you have played in this last year really stand out for you, and why?
X_x Oy, so many great games came out this past year. Bioshock, and Call of Duty 4 I think are the ones that stuck out the most, though I certainly put more time into CoD4 than anything else. I've been weening myself away from the MP of that game though... I'm sure I'll relapse when the DLC comes out in a few months.
Any must-have titles for 2008?
Almost every title is a must have for me, =P (as a drawer full of games shows) but the ones that come to mind mainly is Ninja Gaiden 2 and *cough* sorry 360 fanboys, but Metal Gear Solid 4 *cough*.
I see you have the HTTK badge. What do you feel is the best part of the challenges?
Its an interesting push to see what people are willing to do to win challenges, going back and playing kids games and whatnot. Just an overall change in playing style. I know I've went after a few titles I've played that I wouldn't have, Kong and Avatar to name a fe.... OK, actually that's pretty much it.
When you aren't in a challenge, do you play for points... or fun?
C: all the above. I think I have modified my style of play a little bit trying to build up my completion percentage. The Orange Box is one example. It's been sitting here for a while, but I'm not sure I want to play it on my main gamertag being that I know I won't get the TF2 achievements.
What is the Achievement are most proud of?
It use to be finishing CoD2 on Veteran, now its easily the most frustrating achievement I have... Mile High Club from CoD4 X_x I played that level sooooo many times, just barely failing.
Is there a feature you would like to see in the next Xbox 360 System Update?
There's so many ways they can clean up the dashboard and speed it up. Caching gamerpics, arcade games and whatnot, making it so the users don't have to wait so long for lists to show up. I have TONS of gamerpics and dread it every time I go to change it because of this.
Is there anything that you would like to add, or that you would like the community to know about you?
...I'm the one that's been spiking the punch with non-alcoholic beer... sorry. And thanks to Trapper and Steve for all the hard work and our 3VCE' as well ^_^
Thank you so much for your time and your contributions here at 360voice. Community members like you are what make this place one of the most amazing things to be a part of.
