May Community Spotlight: ReverendMeta

Well now, this month I had a chance to take a scary step into the mind of ReverendMeta. A member since December of 2007, Rev hails from Texas and currently enjoys starting riots in GTA IV and getting shot at in Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Hektic: So Rev, how did you happen upon our community here?

ReverendMeta: I actually don't remember exactly, but I am fairly sure I first noticed some one's state ranking sig bar on either Achieve360points or xbox360achievements.org. I loved the idea of seeing how I stacked up against other Texas 360 gamers, so I came in here and signed up straightaway. I took a look around the forums and was impressed by the active & friendly community.

Hektic: Well, from those places I take it you are pretty big on achievements, but who isn't? I mean, I've got Avatar in my games list Do you really like what Microsoft has done with achievement points? How do you feel about multiplayer achievements/boosting-only achievements? And finally, what, if any, is the most embarrasing game you've played simply for points ?

Rev: I was a rabid PS2 and PC gamer for a long time, then my girlfriend and I got serious and I started working a lot of extra hours at work so I sort of fell out of video games. Years later I was single, at a job with minimal hours and in an apartment I shared with 2 friends so I randomly decided to blow my W2 on an Xbox360, along with Dead Rising and Gears. Long story short, I basically had no idea about any of it. But when I fell off the top of that warehouse rack in Dead Rising and the "Achievement Unlocked!" popped up, I was intrigued.

I later read and could appreciate how people in the gaming community often found the whole idea a cheap gimmick and/or marketing tool, but I love having my little virtual "trophy rack" to look over, and in my quest for Achievements I have played many games I normally wouldn't touch, and played some games long after a point when, without Achievements, I would take them back and grab something else. I had a lot of fun trading stories with the few other 360 owners I knew.

While they are the bane of folks like me that only really enjoy a handful of games and play everything else for the novelty experience & points, Multiplayer Achievements definitely have their place in 360 gaming. "Seriously..." in Gears is a definite badge of persistence if not respect. Getting X amount of kills with Y weapon in Ranked Online can lead to some crappy experiences for players that actually want to play well or, God forbid, enjoy themselves playing video games. I think a better idea is Achievements like "Play X amount of matches in Ranked/Player" as long as they aren't absurdly high, as this encourages more people to make rooms/matches and can keep a game's online component healthy. I don't have a moral problem with Boosting, but I can understand how others do, and I think it should be reserved for private matches between consenting parties and not "HAY GUYS LINE UP SO I CAN KILL YOU WITH THE SWORD PLZ" in Ranked Online matches of popular games.

I actually thought Avatar was pretty cool, and I enjoyed TMNT. King Kong became a little tedious as I really didn't care for the story. But the only games that have left me feeling dirty and cheap in the pursuit of 1000Gs are College Hoops 2K6 and that freakin' MLB game I just finished. College basketball is something I have 0 interest in, and baseball in any form bores the snot out of me. Those were definitely me at my lowest

Hektic: Dark times indeed...Well now, we've seen GTA 4 hit; regarded as one of the top if not the top anticipated game of 2008. With any high-profile release, it has received it's criticism. Were you looking forward to GTA? Did it meet/exceed your expectations? Are there any other games in particular that you are really looking forward to in the future?

Rev: I liked the original GTA and I spent even more time playing & enjoying GTA2. I only ever got a few hours with GTA3, though I found it very fun, less than one hour with Vice City, and only a few minutes with San Andreas. So overall, yes, I was looking forward to GTA4 a lot--not because I expected it to be super revolutionary, but just because I wanted a GTA game made for my 360. So far it has been exactly what I expected with a few small features that pleasantly surprised me. I have really been enjoying the multiplayer when my connection is good enough to complete a match. Playing around in a sandbox environment with good friends in LA and KS has been nice, and I get cackling fits over the mayhem that is 10+ player GTA Race matches with strangers.

I think the easiest way to not be disappointed by a high profile release like this is to not check the latest preview blogs and videos twice a day every day for a year before it comes out and start quoting media hype to gamer friends. I just wanted GTA on 360 and that's what I got, so I like it a lot.

There is tons of high profile stuff coming that looks nice--Gears of War 2, Too Human, Fable 2. But I am most looking forward to Age of Conan on 360 if it makes it in the PC world, as I still have a soft spot for MMOs that are actually fun, and being able to burn hours in the Hyborian Age in a persistent online world with the comfortable ergo-grip of my 360 controller will be terrific. Rise of the Argonauts is another title whose content and thematic elements are right up my alley, and while I can already see it likely meeting with tepid reviews like Beowulf, Conan and Viking before it, I will probably enjoy it on the "10" scale like I did those titles. Same thing for the new Golden Axe in the works. Semi-medieval/ancient world/low-fantasy action adventure is the same ecstatic gaming experience for me that stuff like Half-Life, Halo and Call of Duty are to the rest of the gaming community.

Hektic: Ah, hack n' slash games; I have many fond memories of Gauntlet 64 with 4 friends. I know this may be a hard question, but if you can, what has to be your absolute favorite game of all time? Was there something specific about the gameplay or physics of the game that you really liked?

Rev: Uh... man I don't know that I can pick one absolute favourite. There have been a lot of games that I have milked tons and tons of play and fun from even though they aren't great games, and there are some really top-notch AAA titles that I just couldn't really get in to, even though I could recognize the quality. I guess the first game I really fell in love with and endlessly, repeatedly plumbed its depths was Super Mario World on SNES. I played it often at friends' houses, and when I finally got an SNES it was my first video game console, so I played Mario World and Mario Paint pretty much constantly. I think I've put more time and energy into Mario Paint than any single game in my history of gaming, but it barely counts as a game anyway. It is the ultimate sandbox title though! Not many sandboxes out there that let you make music and animations. I also really love the Mario Kart games but I can't pick a single one that's universally 'best'.

Hektic: Well now, we've covered some video game history; how about you? Do you have any current/future career/education plans? Anything special we should know about?

Rev: Back in 2001 I started going to community college for business but after 3 semesters I could already tell business wasn't something I wanted to do as a career, so I dropped out and just worked for awhile. Last January, I went back because I found out about a program they had for an Associate of Applied Science degree for game & simulation design. Luckily, a lot of the classes I had already taken apply to an AAS so I have the prerequisite stuff out of the way. I just finished up my first semester with Intro to Game Design and into to programming logic, so this coming autumn I get to dive into C++ as well as some animation, it should be interesting! After I finish my Associate's, I'll probably get an entry level job at one of the places in Austin and then go back to school for a Bachelor's. My goal is to be a code monkey, developing for the next generation of consoles. Actually, as long as I don't end up coding Bejeweled clones for cell phones, I'll go wherever my skills can take me.

Apart from that, I have been in a couple bands first in LA then TX. I had an excellent black metal band for awhile and we got a demo out and then an EP after that, but we're all spread out right now. Lastly, I freakin' love tacos.

Hektic: Well who doesn't love tacos? What instrument do you play? Do you think you could ever try to have a fruitful career out of music, or is it something you would rather do as a hobby?

Rev: I play guitar and bass, and I know my way around a drum kit fairly well but I can't yet play fast & precisely enough for the kind of metal I like. I can't see myself being able to make a career out of it unless I could move to somewhere in Europe that the band I was in could play shows often enough to pay rent & food. I think for the most part it's probably better as a hobby anyway, as that alleviates pressure & obligations.

Hektic: So what are a few of the bands you are into? Any big influences?

Rev: Man, there are a ton of bands I like. It's hard not to rattle off like 100 worthy names, but I guess my favourites are Meshuggah, Behemoth, Dark Funeral, Mayhem, Cannibal Corpse, Darkthrone, Enslaved, Slayer, Nile, Anaal Nathrakh, Finntroll, plus Kult ov Azazel and Averse Sefira are two awesome USBM bands. Beyond those listed, I like probably 3/4 of all the black & death metal bands I've heard, it's amazing to me how much variation there is in those two subgenres. I also groove to Nine Inch Nails (especially their mid-era remixes), KMFDM, Combichrist, Juno Reactor, Infected Mushroom, some of ohGr & Skinny Puppy's stuff, and I have these two awesome old albums from Einstürzende Neubauten. It's freaking classic German industrial from the early 80's. I have an eclectic assortment of some jazz and jazz-fusion music but the only name that springs to mind is John McLaughlin & the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
I also used to like ICP a lot, Ringmaster and Milenko I listened to both over and over. I'm still a Juggalo at heart.

Even though I rarely listen to them anymore, some of the bands that had huge influence on me learning guitar were Fear Factory, Sepultura, Ministry and Rammstein. They each brought in some specific elements that added a genuine dimension to their music without being gimmicky, especially in their earlier days.

Hektic: Well, being a real musician, how do you feel about the direction the new music/rhythm games are going, what with Guitar Hero 4 including all instruments, Konami's recently unveiled "Rock Revolution" and the already popular Rock Band? Do you enjoy playing those games even though you already play the instrument in real life? Do you think that they are helpful to prospective musicians?

Rev: One the one hand, I really enjoy rhythm games. The best 'multiplayer experience' I have had in a long time came a few weeks ago when a bunch of us converged at a friend's house and jammed out Rock Band's Hard endless setlist taking turns on different instruments and just having a great time. It exposes you to music you may not normally listen to, and it's a sweet zen getting into the zone and nailing a hard passage on 'guitar' or the wicked mini-solos and fills you can lay out on the drums.

On the other hand, it's obviously a bad deal getting handed to us gamers. They can't possibly expect so many people to shell out the money for 3 different sets of plastic instruments! I think if some kind of compatibility issue isn't worked out, the rhythm-rocking genre is going to quickly become a bloated mass of me-too titles that will leave a sour taste in our mouths and an empty feeling in some people's wallets. Not to mention that now bands are going to be approached by 3 different groups for licensing their songs and we will likely see a ton of generic music appearing across the multiple games that folks will likely get sick of.

I think playing guitar in real life afforded me some extra finger agility, and while I was horrificly bad at Guitar Hero 2 when I first approached it, I learned very quick and can now rip it up on Expert with the best of them (except that 8 year old kid that can conquer Dragonforce). I also noticed that being forced to use my pinky so much on the plastic Les Paul's springy buttons helped further develop my speed & dexterity while playing my real guitars. I noticed a distinct improvement in my ability to run scales & riffs that require a lot of stretching, and I'm pretty sure I have GH3's brutal sets to thank. Despite the rantings of a lot of purists, I find Rock Band's drumming close enough to the real thing that it channels the same spirit of fun, and it can be great training for maintaining a steady beat with your foot and accenting with one of your hands, or vice versa. A lot of popular media claims folks will use their time and energy mastering the plastic instruments and never pick up the real thing, but I feel like it also probably works the other way too--people will be inspired by the fun of playing a fake guitar and may try picking up a real one. Even if you do play a real instrument, it can be hard getting into a band or jamming with friends, and that is what makes GH's co-op and Rock Band so great; the games really nail that feeling well.

Since the game company is trying so hard to leverage Rock Band as a "platform" to stay around for a long time, and giving it tons of DLC, the Guitar Hero & Rock Revolution people would be smart to swallow some of their pride and find a way to let users integrate some elements of their 'current investments' in to the new titles. No matter how big the dollar signs are in their publishers' eyes, it should be obvious that many gamers in their target demographics have spent almost $200 on a set of plastic instruments and gobs of dollars on songs for Rock Band, and they aren't going to want to just throw that away for the novelty of something new.


Well there you have it: XbA's ReverendMeta! Have your own questions for Rev? Add them below and I'm sure he will be more than happy to answer, provided we can get him away from his 360