Ross "r0sc0 s1xx" Fortune
What's Your Job on the Podcast?:
I show up and talk. Rocky does the rest.
What's Your Day Job?:
Western Energy Market Analyst for a large trading shop and electrical utility based out of Calgary.
Origins of Alias:
PowerGlove was taken. Motley Crue is awesome.
When did you become a gamer:
Back around ’88 or’89 my parents bought my sister and I a NES for Christmas. Nothing beats watching a 240 lb Scotsman yell at 8-bit Mallards and a conniving retriever. When the SNES came along, that really changed gaming for me, I remember playing Super Mario World, Pilotwings, F-Zero, Super Punch Out!!!, Donkey Kong Country and countless other games for hours on end and that’s the point I really considered myself a gamer. I stuck with the SNES until high school and only gave a nod to the N64 for Goldeneye and the occasional Mario game. I became a gamer again when I bought a PS2 in 2001. For me the PS2 was the Super Nintendo all over again and it all started with Grand Theft Auto 3 and Gran Turismo 3 and ended with the God of War games. Something was very pure and right about the Playstation 2, it wasn’t gimmicky, it wasn’t fancy, it was dependable and beautiful at the same time and just dominated a generation of gaming. I think it brought gaming to the masses in a totally different way. A lot of great franchises or gameplay concepts started on the PS2 and that’s why I continue to love games on the 360, PS3 and Wii today.
What Are Your 10 Favorite Games?:
BioShock, Super Punch Out, Super Mario World , Grand Theft Auto Vice City, Tetris, Street Figher IV, COD4: Modern Warfare, Gears of War 2, Rockband 2, Tiger Woods 2004
What Games Are You Ashamed to Admit You Love?:
Wii Fit, Family Feud for Wii
What Can You Do Better Than 99% of Other Gamers?:
Take an ungodly amount of time to beat the single player mission in any game.
What Is Your Favorite Part About Being a Gamer?:
Well for one it’s not work, but more importantly for me I’ll never be a ‘hardcore’ gamer, so the social atmosphere of Rockband or the sheer bad ass feeling taking out a platoon while crawling on the ground in a Gillie suit or the ridiculously fun Wii bowling drinking games we have made up are what draws me in. The games within the game and the art of exploring new worlds and ideas is what makes gaming fun and a good game a great game to me it’s not about competition with other games or shouting at 13 year olds on XboxLive.
What Is Your Least Favorite Part?:
Time commitment. I love gaming, I rarely have time to play. Games are often slow to start as we learn a control scheme and get a hang for the game. Often times this is at least 1-2 hour commitment which is frustrating, I just want to get to the meat and potatoes of the game. The other big gripe when I actually put time into a game is endings. I think most game endings suck. Why? Well 95% of them are designed to have a sequel so there is never a complete ending or wrap-up to many games. Also, a lot of endings are tacked on. Game designers develop a gameplay idea or character idea and then build a story around that. Very rarely is there a great story and a game built around it. That’s why I appreciate BioShock because I feel the story and the world was the priority and game was built around that idea.
What Do Your Parents / Partner Think of Your Gaming Habbits?:
My grandparents owned a Playstation when I was growing up and are very accepting of gaming as a form of entertainment. My wife wishes I turned her on as much as my Xbox.
Any Other Geeky Habbits?:
Comic books are something I have gotten into in recent years, with Y: The Last Man, Preacher and DMZ topping my list of favorites. Also, I have an obsessive compulsion to watch certain movies from the 80’s any time they are on TV. This is particularly relevant to the Karate Kid, The Breakfast Club, anything with Sylvester Stallone and Ghostbusters 1 and 2….Viiiiiiigoooooooo.
Random Gaming Facts:
I have never played a Halo game….even a store demo.
I don’t really like Zelda games.
I thought the Aerosmith/Terminator 2 video game was a good idea at the time
The Simpsons side scrolling brawler was the first arcade game I ever played.
I beat the autistic kid from “The Wizard” at Super Mario Bros. 3, and I did it without using the PowerGlove or sporting a mullet
