GameOPS Featured Gamer: Michael

Hi guys, sorry for the lack of updates for the past few days. I was transferring files from my laptop to my desktop... yay! new peeseee!

Anyway, let me present our featured video gamer for this week --Michael, also known as bobokid from the BNCXE Forum.

1. Could you tell us something about yourself? How old are you? Where are you located and what are you currently engaged in?

My name is Michael. I'm 28 years old. Working as a Failure Analysis Engineer in a semicon company in Cavite.

2. When was the first time you actually played a video game? What's the name of the game and game system? What or who made you play?

Can't remember the year but during the family computer days -- super mario, galaga, battle city. My friends encouraged me to try it, one of them owns a family computer.

3. Do you own a video game console? If yes, what system? Was it your very fist console? What video game platform do you prefer? (PC, Consoles or Handheld)

My one and only video game console is a 1st gen N-gage. We don't have money to buy consoles when I was a kid and I shifted interest to arcade gaming during my high school that is why I didn't buy a console then. I got my N-gage when I'm already earning my own money and I'm still using it now (more of a music player though).

4. What is your favorite video game? Why?

X-men Vs Street Fighter. I liked the play style. Eventhough I don't know any infinite combos, I was able to win a lot of games vs other guys. I was trained by the Philippines' representative to an international tournament of this game.

5. How about a particular video game character, who's your favorite? Why?

In arcade games, usually there are heavily used characters (like wolverine in X-men Vs Street Fighter) but I rather choose the characters that are rarely used in challenge modes. Good players already know the moves/combos of popular characters so they are easily countered. If you use a character like Dhalsim, you can do a lot of killer combos that an above average player might not even know about. Besides, you can get a lot of respect if are a good player of rarely used characters.

6. Do you play online games? What are your current and alltime favorites?

I rarely play online games. Just Starcraft on BattleNet but that was ages ago!

7. If you were to convince a friend or co-worker to play video games, how would you do it? Would you do crazy stuffs just to convince him or her?

I've tried convincing my friends to play DotA (Defense of the Ancients) by telling them how fun and challenging it is to play. Only few success stories. Never tried doing any crazy stuff.

8. Are you part of a clan or guild? If yes, can you give us some info about your guild?

I don't have a clan or guild but is having a regular set of guys to challenge in an arcade game counted? :)

9. Did playing a video game made any difference in your life? If yes, could you tell us?

I always say to my friends, whoever I am now it's all because of the family computer. During my high school days, I always wanted to become an engineer who can create video games. I took electronics engineering and really appreciated my programming lessons. One of my hobbies then is programming games. And now my work involves microprocessors! Good to know that I've worked on the processors used in X-box. I also got this 15 year old callous on my left middle finger because of the arcade joystick. Looks very ugly. I used this as a reason to quit but I really can' t :)

10. Do you have any personal video game related story that you can share with us?

I've receive a lot of threats (not death threats of course) because they can win a game with me. During those times, I just leave the arcade and have them play my character. I don't wanna go into a fight just because of one token.

11. Have you ever bought (or played) a pirated copy of a video game? Could you tell us about it?

I used to play a pirated version of Starcraft during college but when I got a job, I bought an original Starcraft (and Warcraft) Battle Chest. I go pirated only to try new games.

12. Any last message you wish to impart to our readers? Any greetings and link-love to your friends?

Enjoy playing but don't forget that you have a life outside the video game world.