Thursday, February 13, 2014

Gamer Corner: Edward

Welcome to this week's installment of Gamer Corner, where Fangirl Review interviews a gamer and gets his thoughts on the gaming world and learning what he is enjoying at the moment.


Tell me a little bit about yourself? What rig do you currently game on? What kind of gamer do you classify yourself to be? ie. PC, Console, Tabletop, LARP as well as Hardcore, RPG, etc.


My name is Edward Polack. I’m 38 years old and I’m in the U.S. Navy. I currently game on the PS4. I consider myself a console gamer, however, I was previously a PC gamer for a short time.
What is your first memory of gaming?


My first memory of gaming was back when I was about 6 or 7 years old. My Dad brought home an Atari 2600. I played a lot of Pac-Man and Pitfall. Pitfall was by far my favorite game on that console. Trying to jump over those crocodiles was hard!


What game are you currently playing right now? Do you enjoy that game, why? How’s the overall game play and graphics?


I’m currently playing Assassin’s Creed 4! I really love this game! It’s by far the best out of the Assassin's Creed line. What I love most about this game is the ability to drive your ship anywhere in the Caribbean! There is always something to do in this game from plundering ships, modifying your own pirate ship, and building your own town on an island! This game will keep you busy! The game play is very smooth and the graphics are awesome at 1080p! The developers have gone overboard in terms of design and game play. They definitely ensured this game was ready for next generation!


Would you recommend it, why?


I recommend this game to people who want to try something different besides the typical Battelfield or Call of Duty games. I find it refreshing to be able to immerse myself into a game and make it feel that I’m the lead character and that everything I do has a consequence for my actions. This is truly an open world game where you get to decide when and how you want to complete the game.

Are there any games coming out that you are looking forward to?


I’m really looking forward to Planetside 2. My buddy just told me about this game coming to Playstation 4 sometime this year. This game is not just a first person shooter where you go into a map, play for a few minutes, and then bounce out until the new map starts.  Planetside 2 is an ever evolving war between three factions fighting for resources on three different continents. This game will be free to play and will have up to 2000 players on each continent at one time. Truly a Massive Online Gaming First Person Shooter!


If you could design your own game what would it be like?


I like games that require you to have a character for you to build, develop, and use with other players.  I was a huge World of Warcraft player but in reality I don’t have time for those kind of games anymore.  But if I did, I would develop an MMORPG with a modern day Battelfield experience. This is why I’m looking foward to Planetside.  The difference with my game is that I would make it so you could only choose one class and that’s it.  You would develop that class as you level by unlocking items similar to Planetside 2 but each option has a cost and of course multiple options that will leave you wondering if you chose the right options for your class!


Thoughts on this new generation of consoles – Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One?


I was an Xbox 360 gamer prior to getting a PS4. To be honest I was really looking foward to the next Xbox. When Microsoft had their press conference introducing the Xbox One, I left work on my lunch break to go home and watch it. But for me, it was just depressing to hear “TV,” “Kinect Required,” “Requries an internet connection,” and “no disc trading!” I know now that Microsoft reversed some of these policies, but at the time I was watching this video I was just silent. It wasn’t what I was looking for from a company that I had grown to love through the Xbox 360.


So of course once Sony did their PS4 reveal, I went to GameStop later that day and pre-ordered my PS4 and the rest is history.
What are your thoughts on the gaming industry?


I think we are at a good time in the gaming industry. Both the PS4 and Xbox One are really trying to get the attention of Indy Gamers and bringing them to the next generation of consoles.  I’ve played more Indy Games since getting the PS4 than any other time in my past gaming history.  This is the future for gaming. Bringing in newly developed games from independent developers is going to start getting bigger during the rest of 2014.  When you see company’s like EA exploiting current developers to get games to release early *cough* Battelfield, it really hurts game developers because they can’t release a good product. Luckily we’ve seen developers step up and hold back games from release because they know their titles are not ready for release.

10 years from now, where do you see the industry? Are you happy with that direction? If you had the power, what direction would you have the gaming industry go?


I think the WiiU was developed too soon. We were not ready for a machine that interacted like a Nintendo DS wrapped into a console. Right now people are slowly grasping the concept of being able to take their Vita’s or using their Tablet’s and interacting with their games.  However, Nintendo went beyond that with the WiiU but its something that gamer’s don’t want right now.  I think Nintendo is on the right path.  The Next Generation of consoles won’t be boxes sitting on a desk or under a TV. It’s going to be a tablet but we will be wearing smart gear where the tablet is just the interface to download games. From there we will be using the smart gear to interact with our games. Everything will be digital. I still think we will have a controller though. I can’t imagine not being able to use a controller!


Favorite Game (can include tabletop) of all time and why?  


My favorite game was World of Warcraft. I played that game continuously from 2004-2010. I made a lot of online friends and generally speaking I had a great time playing with everyone I met. We did some crazy things in the game. Some people find it weird that you go online to a game everyday to play with people you don’t know. But you know what? Those people were the ones I’d trust the most. I had a common bond with them through World of Warcraft. We had the same interests. This is what I liked most about this game and why it was my favorite game.


Additional Thoughts and Comments?


Don’t ever be ashamed to call yourself a gamer as you get older! I have some great co-workers at my job, but sometimes they look at me all weird because I’ll bring up something awesome that happened to me in a game that I had played the night before. I really like gaming and I plan on gaming for another 20+ years!


Thank you to Edward for a fantastic interview. If you would like to be interviewed for Gamer Corner please contact me at fangirlcontact@gmail.com.

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