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I can distinctly remember the first time I saw Super Mario Bros. A moment, for most, that would be thrown away in the vast zip file of one’s brain. This moment changed my entire life. Now, I’d seen the Atari and played it on many occasions, but it was this game that really grabbed my attention and punched me in the face. This game was different.
I would say that it was this moment that turned me into a gamer.
Before that I had simply been someone who played games on occasion.
From that very moment on I constantly hunted for Video Game news and
was always anticipating the next big release. Video Games pushed me
forward in many ways. Both in the more traditionally thought of realms
of hand-eye coordination, but they also propelled me forward
intellectually. Text heavy games, like Ninja Gaiden, inspired me to
learn how to read at an early age.
As I progressed through life, Video Games were always something
on the forefront of my mind. I did many papers on them, including my
final paper for college, and read many books on the subject. Like
Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy VII really made me rethink what I
thought of video games. The story in Final Fantasy VII touched me, and
my group of friends, in ways that could rival the most intense feelings
I’d felt in life or through any other medium (movies, music, or books),
and this feeling really made me understand that Video Games are an art
form. Any art form goes through early periods of simplicity and
disrespect, and Video Games are no exception. As time went on I fought
for this notion, and gradually the rest of the world became more in
sway with my views.
All the talk of violence in video games also mirrors the great
art forms that are now established. Shakespeare said it best, “Artists
do not create nature, they simply hold it up to a mirror for the world
to see.” Art is about emotion. Art is about being human. Art is
about being alive. And so are Video Games.
I see Video Games as the newest art form just now getting mass
respect, but still with a long way to go. I play Video Games for the
same reason I listen to music or watch films; to experience the emotion
that the artist designed for me. I play Video Games for their artistic
value whether it is in the gameplay, graphics, sound, story, or all the
above. Games are not something that people grow out of, games are
something to be loved and cherished forever.
I have had a website related to my avatar, BreakmanX, since
1996, but it wasn’t until September of 2002 that things really got into
full swing. I decided to ask one of my best friends, Richie, to do a
radio show with me where we’d just talk about games. I have absolutely
no idea why I decided to do so, but it sounded like a fun idea even if
we didn’t think anyone would listen. We recorded a show, and were
pretty proud of it, and put it on a ShoutCast stream to see if anyone
would listen. To our surprise we had three listeners that week despite
not having any advertising whatsoever. It took us another month to get
another show going, and a week after that we decided to go live and
invite my best friend since Kindergarten (Shadow) to join the party.
The show quickly became one of my favorite things to do, and we
gathered listeners quickly. At the end of May we had interviewed the
Penny Arcade Guys, interviewed a programmer for Halo2, were making
plans to go visit Microsoft and Bungie, and were also making plans to
go to E3 in 2004.
Unfortunately, as everything really began to take off, I had some
very serious personal issues that took me away from the site mentally
and made me unable to really pursue things and keep the momentum
going. Even with that, though, we were able to cover E3 2004 - 2006,
have three successful BreakmanX LANs, and garner a relatively large
following (16,000+ people or so to 8,000 or so depending on the
month.)
We’ve had many former hosts, VdgmasterX, Jack Burt0n, Shadow, and
WeezerJedi, but now feature a lineup of Richie, Q, Maul and myself.
Personally, I think this is the best lineup since Richie, Shadow, and
Q. I have many great memories from the show, and look forward to
making many more. After all these years I still love saying, “Hey
what’s up!” with all the great people sitting by me. Ultimately, my
favorite things about BreakmanX.com are my cohosts and the community we
have gathered. Even the lurkers... I’m really proud of the site, and
I can’t wait to see where it takes us.
Favorite Games:
Final Fantasy VII (and the entire series of Final Fantasy)
Most Nintendo First Party Stuff (Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc)
Most Treasure Games (Radiant Silvergun, Ikaruga, etc.)
Castlevania (Moreso SOTN and before, but also the new ones to a lesser extent)
RPGs, especially Ps1-era Square games (FFTactics, Chrono Cross, etc)
Mega Man Series (Original and X up to X7 mainly, but the Z and ZX series are ok)
God of War
Panzer Dragoon (Even Orta was awesome)
College Sports games (College Hoops 2k and NCAA Football)
Contra series (1 - 3, Shattered Soldier, and IV DS)
Eternal Darkness
Kingdom Hearts
Nights
Mike Tyson’s Punch out
Rogue Squadron
Tales of Symphonia
Sonic Adventure
Virtua Tennis
Rez
Soul Calibur
I basically love all games of all genres, but tend to hate most
FPS games. I haven’t really found out why, but I always get bored with
them fairly quickly. I think this may have something to do with my
cinematic eye and having one angle the entire game. That said, the
Halo series was ok. Not my favorite or anything, but I was able to
beat all of them which says something in relation to my normal boredom
of the series. I actively play my NES, SNES, Genesis, Ps1, N64,
Saturn, Dreamcast, Ps2, GameCube, Xbox, DS Lite, PSP, and Xbox 360
almost every day. Beyond the ones I own, I’ve played most every system
released. I love all games, old and new. Well, the good ones anyway.
;)
Its not hard to see that I am a huge geek with regard to games,
but I also am a huge geek in respect to other things. I try to grow
and learn all I can about everything that interests me. I love to play
and listen to music. My favorite bands being Tool and A Perfect
Circle. I am working on an album that I will be releasing soon where I
am playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboard, and singing. I also love
film and have made many projects throughout the years including a
StarWars fanfilm. I just graduated from the University of Kansas with
a degree in Religious Studies and concentration in Psychology and plan
on going to the University of Southern California school of Cinematic
Arts in the Fall of 2008. My favorite movies are StarWars, Jaws,
American Beauty, Se7en, Halloween, Collateral, Ghostbusters, and a
million other movies it would take me years to list. I also love comic
books, especially Marvel, and have collected them since around 1991 or
1992. I also love to sit down and read a book about anything that
interests me. I have a weakness for conspiracy theories and paranormal
topics. You would too if you lived in a haunted house. ... Talk to me
about that sometime ;)
I am happily married to the woman of my dreams, and could not
have found a better partner to go through life with. I can’t wait to
see what the future holds for us. We have one dog named Boba, and are
preparing for our move to Los Angeles.
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