Gunslinger Gaming

Feature MisterYoda, May 2013 Edition of the Member Spotlight does! Please excuse the awkward sentence structure for sake of a Star Wars reference. There is, however, plenty to GS*MisterYoda beyond that of being a Star Wars fan. He has been a Gunslinger member for over two years, and many of you have interacted with him on the GS Forums or on some game’s online servers. Let’s put down the controller for a moment to find out more about MisterYoda, the person. By all means, pick up your favorite beverage and enjoy the read!

GS: You have a habit of greeting new members via replies in the Introductions section of the GS Forums and have even taken the time and money to put together a Battlefield 3 Server for your fellow Gunslingers. What inspires you to continue to help out the Gunslinger group, and who made the first lasting impression on you when you signed up back in January, 2011?

MisterYoda: I believe there is a lot of things that make me want to help out the Gunslinger group. One being that we are a mature group of adults. Heck, we all like to sit back, drink a few beverages and goof off. I love the atmosphere that has been set since the beginning, where I can goof off, relax, and just laugh with people that are either equally as bad as me or better. I believe the first person that got me to sign up was Twin40, back when I played MAG. Asked me if I wanted to join GS after I started playing in Black Ops, then just went with it since. I have seen great members such as MargirataMama, leifvr, and shawn come through. Sheesh, good times.

GS: Are you still part of the United Air force? How long have you been serving and what drew you to the military experience in the first place?

MisterYoda: I am lucky still part of the United States Air Force. I been serving for 4 years now and

MisterYoda’s first video game experience was Top Gun.

will continue for another 4 more years. I love doing my job there, which is Network Administration. Really blast of a job, because I get to work on servers all day. The thing that drew me to the military experience was two things: my dad who served 22 years and a bit of me wanting to get a Masters Degree. I always wanted to get one, because seriously, who has one theses days?

GS: From the very beginning of your GS membership, you have stated you play both PC and console games. If a crazy person held your PC and your PS3 over a cliff and made you pick only one to save, which one would it be? Why?

MisterYoda: Well, seeing as it is only those two, and I get to keep my Wii U and Xbox360, I would have to go with the PS3. The crowd on the PS3 is amazing, and I get to hang with crazy people who get to put up with me. I don’t get that same experience in a PC when I played through, which is why I went to playing consoles. I will always miss Zombies in Counter Strike Source, but heck, PS3 has some pretty cool Zombie type games or plug-ins, so I am okay with it.

GS: What was the very first game you remember playing?

MisterYoda: I have to say my first game that I ever got to play was….wait for it…Top Gun for Nintendo. Yes, my brother had it and I got addicted to playing that game. I never did get the landing portions down right, as it was pretty much luck anyways. From there, I went to the PC world for a LONG time before really coming back to consoles. I went from Starcraft, to Counter Strike which I played for many years to a game that many people did not know was online play, Halo. I played Halo for about 5 years, and know the ends and outs of that game very well.

[Here's MisterYoda during some Frosty Pints high jinx]

GS: Once upon a time in the GS Forums, you confessed a secret love for J-Pop. Please explain. What groups are among your all time favorites? Does this musical taste bleed over to an interest in anime as well? Which series are among your favorites?

MisterYoda: OH NOES! No one was suppose to know about that. Man, I got addicted to J-Pop from watching a large amount of anime. Listening to large amount of J-Pop will piss the Miss Yoda off, but hey, she doesn’t mind if she gets to watch her shows. I know very well it did bleed over from watching anime, because when you starting watching as much anime as I have, you start getting songs in your head, and then from there, a new world opens. As for anime, that is a different subject for a different day. I could give anyone reviews for almost every single anime out there, and if I don’t know it, I go watch it. As for some of my favorites, it would have to go with Gundam series (pick one), Fruits Basket, Hellsing, or Astro Boy (1980).

GS: I must ask. Why isn’t your name MasterYoda? In other words, what’s the story behind your name?

MisterYoda: Well, it started one night with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Nah, I seen too many Master Yoda’s, so I thought to bring out a gentlemen side to it, and then began MisterYoda. I been using this name since I

MisterYoda is also a anime and J-Pop fan.

been gaming online, and people see it sometimes and know it from 10 years ago. Man, I never went outside as a kid, but I never wanted to annoy adults online, so I kept my mic off to make people think I was a gentlemen. As for the Yoda part, picked it up from watching the old school Star Wars and thought he was the best out of all the characters.

GS: E3 is right around the corner. What are your thoughts on the upcoming generation of consoles? What things are you excited to hear? What are elements that you aren’t?

MisterYoda: I believe the next generation console war is already deciding a few fates of companies (sorry Nintendo fans, reminds me of Sega). I think if Microsoft doesn’t pull something crazy like a cheap console, I know Sony is leaving them behind finally. I am really super excited about the idea of the share button. I like playing my games, but would love to show a few friends how my drunken play is at times, and you really can’t do that now. As for a few elements that aren’t, I think the Wii U would be one. I really thought they would go the route of Sony, and make that spare screen something that can be used on tablets and gaming on the go. Instead, they made a separate screen and kept a different handheld.

GS: Okay. Let’s pretend you have a plane with unlimited fuel. Hell, let’s even say the thing is invisible, but Wonder Woman is not included (sicko). Where in the world have you always wanted to go? Why? Now, let’s pretend you got over-excited after a viewing of Top Gun and you crashed the plane. What are some local flavors where you live that a traveler MUST go?

St. Augustine, Florida. It’s MisterYoda’s top recommendation when visiting the Jacksonville area.

MisterYoda: I always wanted to go to Ireland. I am half Irish, so going to Ireland only makes sense. I wanted to go to the churches there and check out the scenery. It is a place that people can enjoy the locals just cussing up a storm at you, and it’s okay. As per your second question, lets pretend that no person has to come here to Wichita Falls. Now back in Jacksonville, Florida, I would say go to St. Augustine. It is a place to enjoy the scenery.

GS: What is something about you that tends to surprise people when finding out? Now, you don’t have to tell us, but we will be forced to make something up, Mr. Slinky Champion of 1994.

MisterYoda: I would have to say how much of a sports fan I am. People are blown away on how much I watch sports. I watch anything from NBA to MLB to NFL. I have ESPN as much as possible, and tend to keep up with it more than the real news.

GS: Yarr! What is your favorite drink?

MisterYoda: I have two really: 18 Year old Jamison Whiskey straight up and Crown ‘n’ Coke.

Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us, MisterYoda, and thank you, dear readers, for taking the time to learn more about a fellow Gunslinger. If you would like to comment on this interview, feel free to do so in this forum topic!

April’s edition of the Member Spotlight features House.Lannister, a Playstation 3 player who sports a Game of Thrones reference as his username, has been a Gunslinger for just over a year, now. If you ask him, he will swear he is a shy, unassuming person in his “real life.” You got on mic with him and play some rounds of online combat, you start to doubt his claim. That is why he is a great Gunslinger to get to know better, and I invite all of you read the following interview.

GS: As of March 30th, 2012, you have been a Gunslinger member officially for a year. How did you happen to come across the rest of us, and with which GSer(s) did you first get into game?

House.Lannister: Amazing that it’s already been a year… Wow, what a great year it’s been! Anyway, I had just gotten my PS3 about a month before finding the Gunslingers and the only game I had was Killzone 3. I tend to enjoy the objective type of games over the straight deathmatch stuff and since I was so new to the PS3, I didn’t have any buddies to squad up with. I went out to the Killzone site and was shocked and appalled at the incredible nastiness and disrespect that existed there. To this day I always feel like I need a shower after visiting that cesspool. I almost threw in the towel and resigned myself to the fact that I’d have to go it alone; but as a last ditch effort, I started sifting through the clan threads. That’s when I came across Murph’s gunslinger thread. I swear it’s only a slight exaggerating to say it was like the heavens opened and a chorus of angels sang – I signed up immediately. The first Gunslinger I gamed with was Scars… (normally I’d throw in a jab here because it IS Scars after all and who doesn’t like to poke fun of HIM!), but to be perfectly honest he’s the main reason I knew I was hooked from the get go and would make Gunslingers my online family – he really made me feel welcome and got me involved immediately. Within a couple of days I was running with Bison, Steak_N_Fries, Sosyc, CheesyMonkey, BigBangBear and quite a few others.

GS: Your original Introduction post remarked that you signed up for KillZone 3. What many people may not know is that the Nintendo Wii and your kids have a big role in you getting back into gaming. Can you tell us about that? Did it affect your decision in buying the Playstation Move? Additionally, let’s put some context the questions. What was the first game you ever owned and what was the last game you played prior to giving up gaming until picking it up again?

House.Lannister: First games were for Atari 2600 – Breakout, Combat (since it came with the console), Defender, Yars Revenge, and Pitfall come to mind as favorites among the shoe boxes full of cartridges. Pretty much kept up with most new consoles from then until the early nineties when I went to college. Even though I took my SNES with me to school I ended up playing more games on my computer at that time… Maybe it just felt more like studying!! For the next 10 years or so I’d get an occasional game on the computer (Sid Meier’s Civ and Alpha Centauri were a couple that consumed me for a month or 2 at a time) but for the most part games took a back seat to Real Life. Then a few years back my Mom gave my kids a Wii for Christmas and the seal was broken. At first, it was just some Wii Tennis here or some Band Hero there… with the kids of course. Then IT HAPPENED. A friend handed me this disk and said I should give it a try… COD4: Reflex. This was my first ever experience with Online Multiplayer (and first FPS since Doom) and Holy S^*t was I hooked. I convinced a co-worker (and now fellow Gunslinger Iskaral_Pust) to pick it up as well and we’d always try and play together. Only major complaint we had was we couldn’t talk to each other while we played (well, the noob tubes and quick scopers too, but that’s another long winded post all by itself!). That’s when the wife surprised me with the PS3 as a belated birthday present. It was bundled with KZ3, but I immediately ran up to Gamestop and bought COD4, figuring “hey, I know the guns and maps, I just have to get used to the new controller and I’ll be in business!” Um… Nope. That’s when I realized that aiming with analog thumb stick is a skill I just do not possess. So COD went back to the store and the PS Move came home.

GS: You have been playing KillZone 3 for over a year now. Do you find yourself as the type of gamer who enjoys one title at a time or do you juggle other titles as well? What unreleased game that is coming out in 2012 do you find of interest, and in what ways may your experiences in KillZone 3 serve as a meter stick to your expectations?

House.Lannister: Historically I’d say I tend to have one primary game at a time. I’m a bit of a “completionist” (some would call it OCD) so I tend to keep at a given game until I’m done with it. Online multiplayer has changed that a little for me though since it’s never really DONE. So now, I’d say I have one game for online gaming and a couple of other single player/offline games to mix in when I’m in the mood for just getting lost in a game by myself. As far as future titles are concerned, I’m really looking forward to Dust 514 and Counterstrike: Global Offensive. I wouldn’t say that I use Killzone 3 as a meter stick per se, but fun gameplay, varied game modes and good graphics (all while being Move supported) is a combo that’s been pretty hard to find so far.

GS: You have remarked that you are an engineer in your GS forum profile. What sort of engineer are you? How long have you been in this profession, and what do you find most appealing about the profession?

House.Lannister: I’ve been a Mechanical Engineer in the Jet Engine Business for the last 15 years; initially in the design and improvement side of the business but now in the troubleshooting and repair side of the house. Basically I’m the onsite technical support for the Air Force whenever they have engine problems – If the engine isn’t operating like it should, they look to me to help figure out what’s wrong and get it fixed and back in the air as quickly as possible. It’s taken many years of job shopping within the company to find my niche, but I can honestly say now that I Love My Job. At the risk of sounding kind of cheesy, to me the most appealing part of my job is the pride that comes with helping keep the F-22 flying – that and getting to walk out of my office throughout the day and watch Raptors take of and land (yeah, if it hasn’t been fully established by now, I’m a geek).

GS: Being a parent, which gender has caused you more grey hairs? Your sons or daughters?

House.Lannister: Tough question… It is true I didn’t have a single grey hair before kids, but each one causes grey hairs in their own special way. I struggle with the mind blowing emotional swings with the girl (and she hasn’t even hit puberty yet!?!) and the strong willed defiant nature of the boy. But I’m not sure how much of that is gender based or simply the particular personality of the kids.

GS: We now know House.Lannister, the professional and the gamer. What are some other loves in life you wield that we may not yet know? Living in Virginia, does any of your other interests have a more local application?

House.Lannister: We’ve only lived in Virginia for a few years and really haven’t found a local niche hobby yet – does shuttling kids around town count?? Before VA (and kids), we lived in Connecticut for 7ish years so we really embraced Skiing and Snowboarding. Before CT, we lived in South Florida where my in-laws introduced me to SCUBA diving. By far diving is still one of my favorite hobbies; we just don’t get to do it as much as we’d like to anymore. Last but not least, motorcycles have been a life long passion – I’ve been riding them in some fashion since I was about 5 years old.

GS: What was the last vacation or trip you and your family took? If asked, what would your family say it is like traveling with the House.Lannister? Please refrain from using phrases such as “God-like” or other red-flag terms of untruth.

House.Lannister: Nearly all of our family vacations involve driving to visit family. Since that’s the way it’s been since the kids were infants they actually handle the 6-16 hour drives like champions. Where the complaints tend to come from is the seat next to me… She’d be the first to tell you that my right foot is entirely too heavy and I’m not the most tolerant of drivers that aren’t paying attention or think they are the only car on the road.

GS: What was the first album you remember buying, and, to date one’s self, on which media format was it on?

House.Lannister: I love music in general but I never really spent much of my disposable income on it. My parents had a pretty large record collection that I’d sift through when the radio inevitably got too monotonous, so I never felt the need to have to go out and buy more music. However, the first album I remember buying for myself was Metallica’s Ride the Lightning on cassette tape. The main reason that one sticks out is I had just gotten this new fanged device called a Walkman (how’s THAT for dating myself) and was amazed that I could actually bring my own music with me while I was cutting the grass.

GS: You have been a responder to the “What Are You Currently Reading?” thread and have noted in your GS forum profile that reading is among your interests. What sort of genres do you most often read? If left on a desert island (yes, I did just add a desert island question), what are some reads you just couldn’t live without?

House.Lannister: I try to mix it up a pretty good bit. Fiction tends more toward the sci-fi and fantasy genres with some spy, mystery, and horror mixed in for spice. I also try to have a non-fiction in progress (usually political or science based, but occasionally I’ll pick up a historical account or biography as well) to try and put some perspective on the 20 second sound bites that are thrown at us on a daily basis and passed off as “News”. As an aside, for anyone still in the “reading with kids” stage of life, I highly recommend The Strange Case of Oragami Yoda and Darth Paper Strikes Back… They are just full of win. As far as the desert island question goes, I’m going cheat a little: I’d choose my Kindle with a solar charger, that way I can load it up with Stephen King, George R.R. Martin, and Tolkien. Almost sounds like an awesome vacation… Don’t suppose I’d have access to the 3G network would I??

GS: Prepare yourself. The following question is going to be a tough one. What is your drink of choice?

House.Lannister: Sweet Iced Tea! But, I assume that’s not what you’re really asking; if I’m aiming for something a little stronger I’ll usually go with a Jack and Diet Coke.

Thank you, House.Lannister, for being a member of the Gunslingers and taking the time to answer our interview. To our readers, thank you for your attention and game on!

By now and thanks to 2010′s E3, many gamers have heard of Sony’s intention of releasing their answer to Nintendo’s WiiMote with the Playstation Move. It promises to move the Playstation 3 towards the direction of providing motion-controlled gameplay experience.

Of course, that is going to need game developers producing titles that are compatible with the Playstation Move. Here is a list of the first twelve titles announced by Sony that will support the new control scheme:

Sorcery

Kung-Fu Rider

The Fight: Lights Out

Heroes On The Move

SingStar Dance

Sports Champions

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11

Killzone 3

SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy Seals

LittleBigPlanet 2

EyePet

Time Crisis Razing Storm

You discuss this topic and join other Playstation 3 topics in the Gunslinger Gaming Forums.

The Sony Playstation 3 had a lot of loss ground to make up. After finally edging out its own system, the PS2, in annual sales, the PS3 still came in a distant third after the Xbox360 and the Nintendo Wii. The last 12 month annual sales period ended on March 31st, 2010, so where now does Sony stand in the console war?

Sony lost $435.6 million last year. As daunting of a figure as that may be, that is an improvement from the year prior that cost Sony a whopping $1.05 billion. PSP sales dropped from 14.1 million units sold to 9.9 million.

According to Sony,

“Game sales decreased due to unfavorable foreign currency exchange rates and decreases in unit sales of PSP hardware and of PS2 software, although unit sales of PS3 software increased……Despite PS3 hardware cost reductions and increased unit sales of PS3 software, profitability deteriorated primarily due to lower unit sales of PS2 software and of PSP hardware.”

There are promising signs for the PS3, however. Sony did meet their (what was once considered unlikely) goal of selling 13 million PS3 systems. Much of those sales came in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, which very well may point towards 2010 being a good year for the PS3.

[Source: Gamespot.com]

Discuss this topic and other Playstation 3 related topics in the Gunslinger Gaming forums.

The fact that Hollywood is eager to make a movie adaption of the highly successful Uncharted franchise by Naughty Dog and Sony should come as no surprise. The game played like a movie and drew heavy influence from the action film genre, perhaps more so than it did from previous platform games.

Sony Pictures are starting to narrow down the possibilities as to who will be filling the director’s seat. David O’ Russell, who directed Three Kings, but may be better known for his dead-pan comedy efforts, Spanking the Monkey and I [Heart] Huckabees is at top of the list.

If the director choice is raising any red flags, the choice of screenwriters won’t help. According to the LA Times, the script has been penned by Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer. The pair of screenwriters didn’t gain a whole lot of attention with their previous efforts: Sahara and Sound of Thunder.

[Source: Los Angeles Times]

Discuss this topic, other Playstation 3 topics, and even swap PSNs for Uncharted 2 in the Gunslinger Gaming forum.

Scheduled for the summer of 2010, Sony plans to release firmware for the Playstation 3 system that will enable the system to play games (Blue-Ray support will be a separate release) with 3D effects. In the near future, gamers could enjoy 3D effects in their favorite games much like they enjoyed the enhancement in blockbuster movies such as The Avatar.

There are a few catches, however. Just because firmware is being released, doesn’t mean that players will immediately be able to put in Modern Warfare 2, for example, and become engrossed in 3D warfare. Game makers will need to re-release these titles with 3D production. Also, the 3D enhancement comes at a price. According to David Coombes, Sony’s Platform Research Manager, playing games in 3D could cut their console’s processing power in half.

[Source: IGN.com]

Discuss this and other topics about the Playstation 3 at the Gunslinger Gaming forum.

The official numbers for May have been released by the NPD Group, and for the third straight month, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter’s forecasts have missed the mark.

But that’s very good news for Sony in their battle with Microsoft for second place in the next-gen race.

Pachter had predicted XBox to outsell PlayStation 3 for the month of May in North America, but Sony wound up selling 208,700 units while 186,600 XBox 360 consoles were sold during the same period of time.

Nintendo won for May altogether with 671,000 units sold.

While Playstation 3 was number two this month, it was expected that GTA IV would translate into big hardware sales. It didn’t.

“The continued success of GTA IV is not translating into big hardware sales for either the PS3 or the 360 but there may yet to be a lift in June due to gift-giving for Father’s Day and graduations,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

Sure, Microsoft has slashed the price of Xbox 360 in order to try to get an edge against PS3. And yes, Nintendo’s DS still outsells Sony’s PSP.

But that doesn’t mean that Sony isn’t having an incredible fiscal year nonetheless.

Head honcho Jack Tretton recently revealed how the company is ahead of the game with PlayStation 3 and PSP.

“We are tracking at 100 percent up over last year,” he said in an interview with Reuters. “…About 30 percent ahead of where we should be. So sales could slow down and we will still hit our number.”

In fact, if the trend continues, there may be some heartbreak when the holidays roll around.

“I’d say we are able to meet somewhere between 80-90 percent demand, based on how things are trending,” said Tretton. But even if supply does get limited, he said that the shorages would not be “drastic”.

Don’t count the Playstation 2 out just yet.  That seems to be Sony’s introductory message for this year’s E3 convention held in Los Angeles, California.  Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony, wasted no time to announce that the Playstation 2 will be hosting at least a hundred new titles by the end of the year.  While that may not speak well of the Playstation 3′s ability to finally emerge from behind the Xbox360 and Wii sale figures, it is a good sign that Sony itself is finally listening to their consumers.  The Playstation 2, which easily won the last generation’s console war and, until the last quarter of 2008, was still outselling the Playstation 3, is still a solid investment for Sony despite the fact that both Nintendo and Xbox have had much success with their newest console offerings.  “We’re committed to the PS2 for as long as users see value in it,” said Tretton, and that is the most realistic and financially sound commitment a company can make whom has been struggling against the competition.

According to wikipedia.org, the Playstation 2 is the best selling console in history, totalling over 136 millions units sold by the end of December 2008.