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Subscriber/Staff Spotlight - June 2013 SPECIAL EDITION


jackanape
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http://www.xbox360achievements.org/images/guides/0-subspotlight.jpg

 

I'VE NOT FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU!!!!!!!!

 

That's right people, it is that time again. Time for you to sit back, force yourself to stare straight ahead and read all of these delicious wordy, words as I pour them into your eye holes.

 

Suffice it to say that this month is going to be suitably epic. After all the hubbub of E3 it would only make sense for us to throw something suitably special your way, so I'm delighted to have been able to fire our peculiar brand of lunacy at none other than the illustrious Phil Harrison Corporate VP of Microsoft (formerly Sony, but we'll forgive him this once) with thanks to our very own Dan Webb for harassing him with these questions recently.

 

So let's be on our best behaviour and see what he has to say about life, the universe and gaming setups.

 

http://ts2.mm.bing.net/th?id=H.4630491200160921&pid=1.7&w=224&h=144&c=7&rs=1

 

[spoiler=test]

Nah, not really.

 

Who cares what that dude that looks like my sisters boyfriend thinks. Instead we reached deep, deep into our bag of resident loonies and pulled out the delightful

Kairi, a member of the ever helpful Guide Team and forum stalker extraordinaire.

 

You KNOW that you prefer her to some bald dude. YOU KNOW IT!!! So on with the show.

 

 

Welcome to the spotlight! Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself. (THIS IS A QUESTION - don't ignore it like Shinobi did. That devil man.)

 

Hello, and thank you for the welcome! My name is Kimi and I am currently a high school student who is graduating this month and very excited for college this fall! I will be studying French and Japanese while I am there since I am intrigued by foreign language. I hope I can be a translator one day! Other than school related things, I enjoy reading and playing video games in my spare time along with spending time on this site; it's become like a second home to me now! XD

 

I see you're a fan of "French stuff". I have no idea what that entails, but hey, let's get into it. Tell me about some cool French stuff. GO.....

 

French stuff would refer to pretty much anything French related really! I adore the French language immensely as well as the culture! I love everything from the French food to the berets. Even though I'm a huge fan of cheese, I must say some of the cheeses need to avoided like the plague such as Roquefort (if you have never heard of it, it's one disgusting type of cheese).

 

The French have a, shall we say, love-hate relationship with English folk like myself. Are they actually hard to love or just misunderstood poets?

 

I would say they are misunderstood poets!

 

Likewise your love of Japan. Is that tied down to anime or the whole culture?

 

My love for Japan is similar to my love for France; I am interested in the language and the culture! I tried to teach myself Japanese which was really difficult since I wasn't sure where to start with some things, especially with the writing. I'm glad I can finally take a class in the fall to make things a lot easier. As for the culture, I find it awesome since it is so different from the culture here (I live in the United States). Their customs are very distinct and I think all of the various kinds of festivals are neat.

 

Have you ever been to Japan - lived there/holiday/business? If so any sights and sounds that you'd recommend? (FYI I went and thought it was kickass awesome).

 

I have not been to Japan, although I would really like to go someday! Japan is on my list of countries that I want to visit along with England and France. I'm hoping that I get to either study abroad there or visit or something in a few years!

 

I see that you're an anime fan (impeccable taste) any awesome shows that you could recommend to me.....I mean, to our readers (if you say something generic like Cowboy Bebop etc I will cut you!)?

 

This may be a shocker, but I'm actually not a fan of anime. Sorry for the disappointment that any of the readers may have had! (Editors note: This is what happens when you assume kids. NOW I LOOK LIKE A FOOL.) It seems like people think I am because of my avatars and signatures, but all of them have been from video games. For example, the current one is from a rather obscure horror game called Corpse Party Blood Covered. I've seen a couple of anime before though, but none were recently. The last one I remember seeing was Chaos:Head and that was easily over a year ago; anything else I've seen was way after that.

 

And on that vein, any anime that you'd love to see made into a game? And what kind of badass game? (EDITOR: THIS QUESTION IS NOW POINTLESS AFTER THE LAST ANSWER - KHAAAAAAAAN!!!!)

 

I can't really think of any that I would want a game of other than Detective Conan since I absolutely love mysteries! It would have to be really suspenseful as well as a good mystery to solve like something out of a Sherlock Holmes novel for instance.

 

Back on topic. How did you come up with your gamertag?

 

I've used the username Kairi for a long time, and then since Kairi by itself was already taken, I added x360 for Xbox 360. I really wish I had originally made it Kairi x360a though so I could represent the site though!

 

What first brought you to x360a, and then what made you stick around?

 

I joined x360a when I first got my Xbox. I remember hearing about achievements and thought that they sounded really cool, and I came across this site when looking up information. It looked extremely informative to me, so I signed up! I've never looked back since!

 

You currently help out with the Guide Writing team, a squad that is often misunderstood. Care to set the record straight about what you guys do?

 

The Guide Team publishes Achievement Guides and Roadmaps to the site for everyone to see. They handle submissions for them as well as submissions for other things on the site like achievement tiles, awardables, game covers, and game tiles. My job on the team deals with post publishing on guides and roadmaps. I update the Award Tracking for Achievement Guides, Roadmaps, and other submissions. I also make the Achievement Unlocked every month in the forums as well as let other members know when their guides and roadmaps are published.

 

You've obviously nabbed awards for your guides and roadmaps. What's your motivation to helping others?

 

I have always enjoyed trying to help people as much as I can! I started writing guides since I thought it was another way that I could help others complete games.

 

Any games you wish you could have had a hand in doing the guide for, or maybe something you've gotten your eye on in future?

 

I have been planning to write a new guide for Boom Boom Rocket for quite a while now since it's missing a roadmap and the current guide is lacking any sort of detail. I am hoping to finally get that posted sometime in the next month or two since I should have a lot more time to do so. Other than that, I can't think of a guide that I plan on doing. I may do a few guides and roadmaps for games or DLC I notice is currently missing something soon as well, but I don't have anything specific in mind.

 

Is the 360 your only current console? What others have sharpened your gaming skills over the years?

 

The original Gameboy was the first game system that I ever had, and I got it when I was only about 4 years old (EDITORS NOTE: Well now I feel ancient). I played on it so much (mainly Pokemon games) that one day, it just stopped working. :/ I also used to have a PS1, but that was given to someone a long time ago when I got the PS2. Other than the 360, I also currently have PS2, Wii, 2 Gameboy Advance, DS lite, and PSP. I don't use my Wii or PSP much; the consoles that I use the most are the 360 and the DS!

 

What is your gaming setup?

 

I have a TV set up on a stand with a drawer that has all of my games under it. There is a power cord to the left of the TV where everything is plugged into, and the Xbox is located on the left of the power cord. My PS2 is in front of the stand; the games for that are in a disk holder which I have located on my bookshelf to the right. My DS games, Gamecube games, and PSP games are kept in their cases which are also located on my bookshelf. The Wii and its games are kept in containers next to the bookshelf since I very rarely use them.

 

http://oi41.tinypic.com/30jr5vq.jpg

 

When you're picking the next game to grace your console, do you go for game play or achievements first?

 

I usually do not go for anything in particular. I have quite the backlog currently, and normally end up playing whatever I feel like. I tend to pick a longer game, and then a shorter game and/or a game in a different genre so there is some variety, although this isn't always the case.

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Everyone has a 360 game they can't get enough of, what’s yours?

 

I guess the game I can't get enough of at the moment would be Lost Odyssey. The game has an amazing story, great music, and excellent battle system! :D Lost Odyssey is definitely the best RPG I have played in a long time!

 

Out of all of the games you played (on any system), which was your favourite?

 

This is quite a tough question for me to answer since I have many favorites! If I had to narrow it down to only a few, I would have to say Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Blazblue: Calamity Trigger and 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. Spyro the Dragon was one of the first video game series I ever got into, and Year of the Dragon was my favorite out of all of them. Blazblue: Calamity Trigger was one of the first console fighters I had, and I loved it. The soundtrack of the game is one of the best game soundtracks I can think of, and it had a very good plot and characters for a fighting game which really surprised me. 999 is the last game I listed, is severely underrated, and it is part VN (visual novel) and part puzzle where you are trying to escape. The mystery in this game is extremely detailed and amazing; I really enjoyed getting all of the endings too.

 

Well, there has to be a few games that you didn't like. Which ones were the worst?

 

Dynasty Warriors 6. Someone please kill this monstrous pile of trash with fire! For some reason, there were a bunch of people who recommended it to me because I liked Ninety-Nine Nights, but this game was just awful! I did not enjoy it at all and it's a shame I wasted $30 on such a garbage game. Another one I did not like at all was The Sims 2 for DS, which is by far the weirdest thing I have ever played. Instead of being a normal Sims game, you are running a hotel, fighting robots and aliens while wearing a rat suit, had a living mummy living in your room, and there is an opportunity to dissect aliens which is very bizarre.

 

Admit it, there must be a few games you played just to hear that wonderous achievement unlocked sound? NAME AND SHAME THEM!!!

 

Dash of Destruction and Harm's Way for me! There are a few where the easy achievements were a big factor of me wanting to play the game too like the CSI games for instance. I actually wanted to play those because I love detective like things, but the easy achievements definitely helped me decide to play these way earlier than I normally would have wanted to. :p

 

On that topic, what achievement(s) are you most proud of?

 

There are a few that I am proud of having! All Hail the Splode King form 'Splosion Man is one I am proud of since I never thought I would be good enough to get it, but I ended up being able to get it with a bit of practice although a few levels were rather annoying. I am also proud of Seraphic Gatekeeper from Infinite Undiscovery, and most recently, Treasure Trove in Lost Odyssey. Seraphic Gatekeeper is definitely the hardest and most time consuming 1:gsicon: that I will probably ever get, and Treasure Trove is one since I'm very glad that I was able to get it without back tracking at all.

 

Not every game with quick points is easy to complete. Are there any games that you are giving up on or left in the dust?

 

The first game that comes to mind is Battle Fantasia; some achievements in that game are ridiculous like the Perfect Hero achievement. Kameo comes to mind next since the A ranks in that game are crazy. I wish that I was able to complete it though because I enjoyed the game. I have given up on a lot of the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games as well since I'm not skilled enough to get all of the achievements in most of them and/or I don't have enough people to complete the game (some of them require several people locally).

 

Any games that makes you scream (in frustration/rage or fear)?

 

I don't think I have ever screamed at a video game before, but the time that was probably the closest to that was in either Pokemon Ruby or Emerald (I forget which). I was lucky enough to catch a Shiny Voltorb in my game! It was my first shiny that I ever caught and I was so happy about it since they are very rare. One day, when I went to play the game next....my save got deleted! I think my cousin did it but I'm not sure. I was really pissed that it was gone since I thought it was the coolest Pokemon I ever caught. :/

 

If you could wipe one game franchise clean of the face of the Earth, which would it be?

 

I would probably choose Call of Duty because the series seems way too over rated to me. (EDITORS NOTE: Call of Duty is getting a kicking on this particular question, lolz).

 

Do you care that most games nowadays seem to be rehashes? If you could choose would you go for a new IP or something familiar?

 

I would definitely like too see some new IPs out there since I've noticed a lot of games getting released lately are just prequels and sequels to other games and it would be nice to see some more original games out there instead of sequels or games that are very similar to each other.

 

We all know gaming goes on till the early morning. What do you eat and drink to keep the reflexes sharp all night?

 

I like drinking water, Coke (Cherry Coke is the most preferred Coke since it tastes the best), or tea. As for food, sometimes I'll eat dinner while gaming or I will have peanuts or something.

 

I'm assuming some of those late night sessions included some achievement boosting. Any good/bad/memorable experiences you can regale us with? Were staff involved?

 

I play games that have multiplayer in them very rarely, so I have not been involved in many boosting sessions. The experiences that I have had with it were pleasant so far and I can't think of any bad ones. The best ones I can think of were going for the multiplayer achievements in 'Splosion Man since that was really enjoyable. There were some laughs too like the one level that originally took us an hour because both of us kept doing really silly things. We ended up having to do it all over again after beating the game since it turned out that the cake didn't register as being collected! Luckily that time we knew what we were doing and it only took a few minutes.

 

You have any particular online buddies that you hang out with regularly? Or any that have gone AWOL and you pine for like a lonely wolf?

 

I have a few people that I talk to extremely often and that I am extremely good friends with. I can't think of any at the moment that I miss that have gone AWOL.

 

Naked gaming - good or the stuff of nightmares?

 

That sounds absolutely horrifying!!!! D: What kind of people do this? O_o (EDITORS NOTE: I hope some of our Subs are reading this. WHAT PEOPLE INDEED?!)

 

What was the last thing you purchased on the arcade? Worth it?

 

I'm not sure what the last purchase was on the arcade, but I bought Dodonpachi Maximum on the Windows Phone the other day if that counts! I am interested in bullet hell games even though I haven't played many other than Touhou. I haven't gotten a chance to play it yet since I've been busy with schoolwork since I bought it, but I bet it's going to be worth it! It was only 99¢ for some reason, so you can't beat the price!

 

Do you purchase/enjoy DLC? Or see it as a vicious cash cow to be ignored?

 

I do purchase DLC on occasion and I do enjoy it! I normally buy extra characters to use in fighting games or things that add to the story of the game. I have not bought any DLC that I haven't liked so far which is good!

 

You're a music fan to boot, which is often an overlooked feature when it comes to games. Any soundtracks that particularly appeal to you, or that you own?

 

I can think of many video game soundtracks that are amazing. Bastion and the Blazblue series have excellent soundtracks that I think everyone should listen to! Another one that comes to mind that I highly doubt anyone here has heard of is the soundtrack for a really obscure game called Million Knights Vermillion; I can't speak for the game itself since I know very little about it, but I was shocked at how good the soundtrack was. Mint Jam is an awesome group and I love listening to their stuff now! Also, any soundtrack made by Nobuo Uematsu is good too of course. :p

 

Also as a music fan to you like to indulge in music games: singing, guitar etc? Or just prefer letting a fine score wash over you?

 

I like playing music games once in a while, but I haven't played any in quite some time now. I usually play like guitar, bass, or vocals in music games; I am terrible at drums!

 

And on that note, what do you think about the "death" of the music/rhythm genre? Too much too soon?

 

Oh definitely! Activision pretty much killed the genre by releasing an insane amount of Guitar Hero games at once. It doesn't surprise me though since Activision has a tendency to ruin things in my opinion. They ruin series like Spyro by rebooting the series twice, ruin genres like this one by milking them, and ruin companies by closing them like Bizarre Creations for example.

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I note that you have clocked up some of our Arcade Crazy tasks and snagged a bronze award (kudos). Any more of those badboys in your sights or maybe a dabble into the Over Achiever section?

 

I plan on working towards getting more Arcade Crazy achievements as well as ones for Over Achiever. For Arcade Crazy, I will probably work on the Cloning Clyde and Walking Dead ones since both of those games are in my backlog. For Over Achiever, I currently have 7 on the list, so I'm hoping to get 3 more soon for the bronze award! The 3 that I will most likely work on are EZI worshipper from Eternal Sonata, the achievement from The Sims 3: Pets, and The Last Remnant from the game with the same title. I wanted to get the one for Condemned since I could get that easily, but unfortunately the game glitched on me at the second to last level and I have no idea to get past it. :/

 

You have also made your own club. Why did you choose THOSE particular games? Personal nostalgia or pride?

 

Those three games were chosen since they are similar hack and slash titles, and also because bplayak helped me choose since I was rather indecisive on a club until right before the clubs were released (Bplayak, if you are reading this, thanks for helping me choose!)

 

Be honest now, Ninety Nine Nights 2 was a bit of an oddball right?

 

I didn't like Ninety-Nine Nights II as much as the first game, and it also had nearly nothing to do with that game as well. If compared to the original game, the sequel is horrible; but if you treat it like a totally unrelated game, it's not too bad. I couldn't think of a third hack and slash that I had completed that wasn't already used though, so it ended up getting used.

 

Which game(s) are you most eagerly awaiting?

 

Dragon Age III: Inquisition, Fable Anniversary, and Phantom Breaker. Dragon Age III is because I loved the first one; I still haven't played the second but I plan on doing so before the new one comes out. I am excited for Fable Anniversary despite never playing any Fable game before since I have heard that the original was an excellent game. I never had a chance to play it, so I'm glad they decided to make a HD remake of it so I can have the chance now. I've been waiting for Phantom Breaker to come out now since it seems like an interesting fighter. However, it was supposed to come out a year ago in North America and is still delayed!

 

If you could add ONE thing/feature to the site, what would it be?

 

I would like to see collectible guides published to the main site in some way just like how guides and roadmaps are published.

 

If you were Admin of the site for a day, what would you do?!

 

I would publish some things on the main page like more of what's going on in the community, and I would spent part of the day banning a bunch of people like spammers so I could say that I had a chance to wield the all mighty ban hammer. :p

 

Any closing remarks?

 

Thank you (and random.org of course) for letting me have a chance to be in the Spotlight! Thank you to the x360a community for being a wonderful group of people as well! I would also like to apologize to Jackanape for sending so many PMs, sorry if I spammed your inbox! XD

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Guest Scotty

Awesome read, Kairi/Kimi:) sooo confusing

 

And don't worry about it Jackanape, i thought every cartoon drawing with a female and a ridiculous haircut was anime too.:p

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Good thing I checked that spoiler tag! :D

 

Great read! Of course you were just bragging about naked gaming the other day when we played Aegis Wing. But it's cool, your secret is safe with me. :p

 

How do you think he got promoted to Super Mod? :woop:

 

Seriously though, nice job on the interview and the answers!

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Not an anime fan? But I thought everyone on the internet was obsessed with it?

 

Also, it took far longer than I am proud of to realize that it was not an interview with Phil Harrison.

 

How do you think he got promoted to Super Mod? :woop:

 

Seriously though, nice job on the interview and the answers!

 

Wait, that's all it takes? You're in for a real treat at PAX.

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Thank you everyone! =) It's good to see that all of you enjoyed reading this except...

 

Aww man! I was so hyped for reading the Phil Harrison interview!

I'm sorry to disappoint you, Nozza!

 

 

 

Awesome read, Kairi/Kimi:) sooo confusing

 

And don't worry about it Jackanape, i thought every cartoon drawing with a female and a ridiculous haircut was anime too.:p

I guess it is rather confusing since they are kind of similar. :p I don't blame Jackanape either honestly since it's an extremely easy assumption to make. A lot of the art from Japanese games (especially the VNs) look they come directly out of an anime, and there are anime that are based off of games sometimes as well like Chaos;Head for example.

 

Good thing I checked that spoiler tag! :D

 

Great read! Of course you were just bragging about naked gaming the other day when we played Aegis Wing. But it's cool, your secret is safe with me. :p

Lol did I even say a word about anything when we were playing? XD Aegis Wing was fun though!

 

Not an anime fan? But I thought everyone on the internet was obsessed with it?

 

Also, it took far longer than I am proud of to realize that it was not an interview with Phil Harrison.

Everyone expect me apparently, although I tend to dislike things that everyone else seems to like and vice versa.

How long did it take you exactly to realize I wasn't Phil Harrison? XD

 

Congrats on the interview, Kimi!

 

Jackanape was right it was super special.

Thanks Temporal! =D I'm glad you found it super special!

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Normally I don't bother commenting on these posts, but this was a good interview. Nice to see jack's comments inserted into her answers.

 

Could someone get jack to append one more question/answer to the interview?

 

How do you pronounce your username?

 

<answer>

 

I know you told me already but I forget >_>. I can't be the only one who doesn't know...

 

How long did it take you exactly to realize I wasn't Phil Harrison? XD

 

I didn't read the spoiler, but I cottoned on once it hit "My name is Kimi".

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Guest Scotty

Could someone get jack to append one more question/answer to the interview?

 

How do you pronounce your username?

 

<answer>

 

I know you told me already but I forget >_>. I can't be the only one who doesn't know...

 

 

i'm pretty sure it's like 'ky-rih'. i have a mate with a daughter whose name is Kairi and that's how he pronounces it.

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Normally I don't bother commenting on these posts, but this was a good interview. Nice to see jack's comments inserted into her answers.

 

Could someone get jack to append one more question/answer to the interview?

 

How do you pronounce your username?

 

<answer>

 

I know you told me already but I forget >_>. I can't be the only one who doesn't know...

 

 

 

I didn't read the spoiler, but I cottoned on once it hit "My name is Kimi".

You aren't the only one who doesn't know; I know numerous people have pronounced it incorrectly in the past. It's pronounced like Ka-eye-ree, just like Kairi from Kingdom Hearts.

 

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAPbkTIM7NA]Kingdom Hearts 2 - Kairi's Scene - YouTube[/ame]

 

In case what I said is unclear, it's said within the first five seconds of the above video so you can hear how it's pronounced.

 

Honestly? For a brief moment, I thought "cool, Phil Harrison is Kairi. Must really like his work."

Well unfortunately, I'm not Phil Harrison. XD It would be cool if I was though!

 

Nice interview, Kairi! And thanks for the mini shout out for what the CGT wants! :)

Thanks, and no problem! :p I think it would be awesome if there was a way to get them published!

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You aren't the only one who doesn't know; I know numerous people have pronounced it incorrectly in the past. It's pronounced like Ka-eye-ree, just like Kairi from Kingdom Hearts.

 

 

In case what I said is unclear, it's said within the first five seconds of the above video so you can hear how it's pronounced.

 

 

Well unfortunately, I'm not Phil Harrison. XD It would be cool if I was though!

 

 

Thanks, and no problem! :p I think it would be awesome if there was a way to get them published!

Never thought about adding the first syllable in since it'd be too hard to specifically pronounce it. I'd always say it fast like the KH characters and pronounce it like I said above:p Trying to say it with 3 syllables makes it feel like I'm slightly stuttering lol

 

Oh, and congrats again on that Infinite Undiscovery 100%. I saw you working on that for a while.

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Never thought about adding the first syllable in since it'd be too hard to specifically pronounce it. I'd always say it fast like the KH characters and pronounce it like I said above:p Trying to say it with 3 syllables makes it feel like I'm slightly stuttering lol

 

Oh, and congrats again on that Infinite Undiscovery 100%. I saw you working on that for a while.

I added it so it would be easier for me to explain it since I'm not very good with explaining how to pronounce things without actually saying it. lol That's why I put the video; should explain it better. :p

 

Thank you! :D I'm happy that I was able to finally get the 100% on that! I shall be working on finishing Lost Odyssey next! I need to fight the Immortal, beat the final boss, and complete the DLC dungeon.

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