GameInformer

Hello there GIO!

My name's Tim and I'm a 34 year old gamer/reader/writer/thinker (I also cut steaks and mix drinks, but that's for a living).  When I'm not playing games or writing about them here I like to water and snow ski, cook, read good fantasy or sci-fi, and generally have a good time.

I'm a very active member of the blogging community here and would like to give a few shout-outs

Bloggers you should know:

Saint (our fearless leader), Oni No Tenshi (mother,gamer,good people), Jolt the Cynic (a buddy and pretty damn good writer), Le Hannibal (Jolts arch-nemesis/buddy), GoldvsSilver (GIO welcome group high lord), MojoMonkey (stocking up guns for the zombie apocolypse), DJH (fiction dreamer), Chris, the savior of the galaxy (has remarkable taste in media/similar to mine), Caudex (our resident book reviewer), DarkLadySarai (I just see sexy and mysterious in my minds eye), Stranger (contributes to nearly everything!), Hist (our resident canadian, I think), and xking595x, Anticitizen-One, and Doctor Apozem (I don't know much about them except that their blogs are good).

My Herded Blogs! *denotes newsletter appearance!

How RPG Conventions Changed Modern Gaming*

Two Trends I Like And One  I Don't

Ode To The Quest-giver

Building a Better Conversation...*

Pics of some of my favorite games interspersed with 'personal' facts unrelated to the game!!!

(Talk about aging poorly!)

-I live in mid-Missouri and work as a meat clerk or butcher.  I bar-tended for several years, but it got too annoying after I (mostly) quit drinking myself-

(My 'favorite' GTA... No controllable camera rules out future re-plays though!)

-My first game console was the TI 94? maybe?  Games included Parsec, Ice Climber, ... Other games I'm sure (I was quite young)-

(My other 'favorite' GTA... D&D meets the 'hood!)

-The rain sequence in the beginning of A Link to the Past was the first time I remember feeling emotionally involved in a story-

(My favorite srpg...)

-I wish I had the energy to be a conspiracy theorist... It looks to be fun!-

(No offense Jolt, but this game is awesome!)

-I collected comics from '87 to '95 and still have them in bags and boards. Mostly Spider Man and the various X-Men titles, I've also got the first dozen or so of Image's entire launch window.  I collected Bone and the early Dark Horse Star Wars titles also.  DC only had my loyalty with Green Lantern and Lobo, God was Lobo awesome!-

(After this game came out I had to buy Morrowind goty and Oblivion again)

-I played pencil, dice, and paper rpgs in the '80s including, but not limited to, Star Wars by west end games, D&D, Batman, MERP and Rolemaster by ICE, Rift(s)?, and while not a rpg, Magic the Gathering from beta until Ice Age.-

("What're ya buying?")

-I was raised Catholic and educated Jesuit, but consider myself more of an open to new evidence atheist now.  I've attended services ranging from Synagogue to Hari-Krishna temple services, (there was a great one at a place called Govindas in St. Louis city.  temple on half the building and all you can eat, cafeteria style, vegetarian restaurant on the other. If you attended service on Saturdays you ate free!) but don't really feel aligned with any.  A great series of books to read that pretty much sums up my ideas for the future of man is the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons. Epic sci-fi with a mix of personal tales, galactic intrigue and war, the evolution of galactic man into a theocracy, and the ultimate reconciliation of evolution and faith. Phenomenal series!-

(Uncharted kind of defines adventure this generation)

-I talk in my sleep.  Including having full on conversation with people who are awake only to be publicly mocked for amusement sake!  At least I can be a good sport about it... It's not your fault if asleep right?-

(The last 'real' FF in my humble opinion.)

(XII was good and XIII interesting, but XV better recapture what was lost after X)

-I've had a love affair with Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest since they were Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior, 1 that is.  I've gone so far as to switch console allegiance because of these series and may have to again with DQX for the WiiU-

(I love the blades of whatever... They're so ***)

(Damn profanity editing software ruined a perfectly good The Wizard reference!)

-I was a cook for 12 years and, now that I'm out of kitchen work, actually enjoy doing it at home and for others again. Thank whoever for small wins!-

(Conversation gaming at its best!  Also Mass Effect)

-I never beat Fallout New Vegas, Mass Effect 2 (or 3), or LA Noire (although I got really far).  These are my biggest 'gamer' shames.  Shame on you for wanting to know about my personal ones!-

(My new obsession.  Old school srpg at its best! Rainbow Moon.)

-Ogre Battle, Final Fantasy Tactics, Heroes of Might and Magic, Disgaea, Civilization and Masters of Orion, Valkyria Chronicles, my love of strategy games, srpgs in particular, can' be overstated!-