Getting to know the Gamer is a interview series where I ask you guys, the gamers, a bunch of questions pertaining to the industry. (Unless we’re lead astray) These interviews are a stepping stone for me as I move into a future as a game designer, who will always value opinions of my fellow gamers. If you wish to take part in the process I ask you email Brianna@opprincess.com with a little backstory on your gaming history.
This first interview took place with Erica, who you can find over on her tumblr here.
You’ve mentioned your first system was the NES. So, you’ve been gaming for a while. How old are you?
I’ll be 23 this September.
Your favorite game is Halo, what were your thoughts with them re-releasing it in an anniversary edition?
I’m such a huge fantard, I guess, that I was completely exited about it. I pre-ordered it, picked it up the day it came out.
Did you think it was a good re-release?
Yes, I was impressed how they re-masted it. My favorite part is how you can change between the old graphics and new graphics,you can see how much the game has changed.
What made you pick up Halo anyways?
I didn’t get an Xbox until after Halo 2 and I got caught in the hype, watching all my friends play it. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get into it until Halo 3 was getting ready to come out. Then I had to get the limited edition 360 to play it, and I just feel in love with the storyline.
Have you ever wanted to be a professional Halo player?
I have certainly wanted to do it.
One more Halo question than we can get off of this! Any thoughts on Halo 4?
Erica: I’m excited for it! I’m hoping they reveal more about the forerunners, story, and of course that Master Chiefs going to be alright. Combined with the books and everything I have theories about Cortana and I’m hoping they end up being right.
No disappointment that it was a new company taking over?
Oh no-no-no-no! I absolutely trust 343 Industries (fact check) completely. Most of it is made up of the Bungie(SP) staff in the first place, and these are people who care about Halo, the story, and will go out of their way to make sure they have all the details needed. It’s not like it’s some new company that doesn’t know what they’re doing picking it up. 343 has in a way spawned from Bungie and they’ve worked close together.
How do you keep up with what’s going on in the game industry? Are there certain websites you check?
I usually have a subscription to Game Informer, I don’t right now. So, normally I would keep up with Game Informer, look things up, read reviews, and some interviews.
When reading reviews do you generally check the score with a few sites?
It depends on my interest in the game. If I’m really into the game I’ll check and see what everyone is saying, what the different thoughts are, or to see what different people’s reaction to a game is. Otherwise, I just look to see what the basic thoughts are and wait to find out for myself.
Do you have any gaming tattoos?
I’ve actually have two tattoos and they’re both video game related. The first one I got the UNSC logo from Halo, and the one I just got a few days ago was the head of Ormagöden, which is kind of like the God in Brutal Legends. It’s specifically the version from the EA logo. I could be wrong, but to my knowledge I am the only person with a Brutal Legend tattoo, that I’ve seen at least. It’s my absolute favorite game that isn’t part of the Halo series. I’m all about Brutal Legend, it’s kind of sad really. Most of the fanbase has more of a cult following then it does anything.
Have you ever had a gaming drought? (where you don’t pick up a game/don’t care for a long period of time)
I do that frequently. I have a lot of interests, and while I really love my games there’s a lot of other things that I’m into. I get very one-tracked focused on something and I don’t get around to playing my games. Even if I just bought a game two days ago, if something else catches my interest more than that game then it’s going to be awhile before I pick it up. Also, I hit these weird periods where I don’t want to play any of my games now, because the games I want to play I don’t own and nothing else can satisfy.
Can you name any gaming studios off the top of your head, don’t worry this isn’t some crazy test?
There’s Bungie, the huge conglomerate that is Activision, then EA, Blizzard, Bioware, Bethesda, Ubisoft, and Double Fine of course.
Would you say it’s generally a good or bad thing that you can recall their names?
It’s usually a good thing. Everyone knows Bioware, they’re known for putting out great RPGs. Halo and Bungie are pretty much synonymous with one another. If a company is new and put out a game, even if it’s a great game they don’t really pick up on the name. You have to put your name out there and be constantly putting out things. It gets even harder for your name to get out there if you’re being back by a bigger company. I know who Double Fine studios is because Tim Schafer is pretty much my gaming idol, but not a lot of people know Double Fine specifically. If you look at Brutal Legends you’re just going to see that EA sticker.
How important are realistic graphics to you?
It would depend entirely on the genre of the game. When you have something like Call of Duty or Battlefield that are supposed to be hyper-realistic, you want the realistic graphics. Whereas when you got something like Mario, you want good graphics, but you want it to be cartoon-like and bright.
What’s your interest in the Wii-U?
What’s that?
On the Xbox do you own a Kinect?
Actually I just got one.
Next, obvious question! Do you like it?
Yes, but it’s actually the reason I’m in a funk with games. There are games I want for it, but can’t afford yet so I don’t want to play anything.
Gottcha, what games are you looking forward to using the Kinect with?
Dance Central for one, and I really enjoyed the demo for Kinectimals. It was a lot better than I was expecting it to be. I mean I knew I was going to want it anyways, with the cute little kittens! But still there was a lot more than I was expecting from that game. I also want Rise of Nightmares, and that Star Wars games- that needed to just hurry up and come out last week you know?!
What games have made you wonder if the developers actually ever sat down to play them prior to launch?
Well if I don’t think its going to be good I won’t play it. Most of the time I just hear about a game being a complete flop. I know that newest Metroid game left fans really upset because it does not follow canon whatsoever…
I always have to question games like Shadow Run and Brink, because they’re pretty made to be multiplayer only even when they try to fit in a story.
I have that problem buying games that seem to be just multiplayer, I always question how long and how large an audience the game is going to bring in. Plus, you have a huge amount of competition with the big multiplayer titles; COD, Battlefield, and Halo. Those are taking a huge majority of players away from you already. I don’t want to be sitting in a queue forever, like in Bioshock 2.
It’s neat at the time, but I’m really up in arms about the whole multiplayer issue. I know a lot of developers are thinking “Oh we need a multiplayer aspect” because that’s what people what. But it’s nifty and probably fun for those first couple of months… but it’s not going to hold up.
What is your opinion on female leads in video games?
This issue to me is multi-faceted. I love it when a game has a female lead, as a female gamer myself. It’s always nice to see that, but regardless of what I feel about the character most the time she’s there just to be sex appeal. I love Lara Croft and I love Bayonetta, but what are they there for? Those game’s are not made for girls in a sense.
And of course there’s the issue that you can’t have the strong female lead who’s unattractive, because then “no-one’s going to buy it”. Regardless, that they’re trying to bring in a larger demographic, the majority of the mainstream games are going to be made for male gamers and they’re going to market for male gamers.
They can give her smaller boobs, but she’s still going to be pretty attractive.
Gears of War for instance, I love Anya and Sam, but lets face it compared to the big burly guys and they’re huge armor that’s suppose to be the same as what the girls are wearing, but they have these itsy-bitsy streamline waists… Not to mention they’re gorgeous where the guys are all rugged and have deep lines in their faces. Not saying they would be considered unattractive, but it’s different. They’re built to appeal to the male gamers, in the I’m cool this is how we are kind of way. Where the girls are just look how pretty I am.
