Here are the rules:
1 — Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 — I will respond; I’ll ask you five questions.
3 — You’ll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 — You’ll include this explanation.
5 — You’ll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
D’Arque (Scott) Bishop is about the only active friend on my LiveJournal, so he pretty much got to ask these questions to me by default:
1) You had a chance to try out for American Idol. You didn’t. Would you consider actually trying out next time they came around to your area?
You had to bring up American Idol, didn’t you? Heh.. well in all seriousness, if they did ever come to Columbus, OH I’d probably try out in a heart beat. I know I mentioned in channel one time that I had planned to try out last year. They were in Cincinnati I believe. The major thing that kept me from trying out that year was because I was still in college, and even though tryouts were in the summer, I believe I still had school. Then came the next American Idol tryouts for this upcoming season, there was some in Chicago which isn’t that far from me. And I had/have enough frequent flier miles to have got there for tryouts. Two things that stopped me was that I had nobody to go with. The whole audition process I hear actually lasts several days and it’s good to have a buddy. Last, I’m pretty sure the Chicago auditions we’re pretty close to when I was in Chicago for Gamers’ Day last September. I think I remember the dates were conflicting, and I didn’t want to pass up covering Gamers’ Day. Next year American Idol is supposed to be held in almost every major city in the country, so maybe you can count me in for the 2006-2007 season. However, there’s still the part where I don’t think I’d be good enough to even make it to the Hollywood round. For those that don’t know I sang all through high school in an auditioned group and did solos and such. I think I’m average, but some people insist I’m good. We’ll let Simon be the judge of that.
2) Outside of Mortal Kombat, which is your favorite video game series or franchise?
I rarely play video games anymore to be honest. I rarely purchase new titles. Call me cheap, but I’m always so busy with other things. If I had to choose another favorite, I used to always love racing titles. I’ve contemplated purchasing Midway Arcade Treasures 3 for that very reason, and I might get L.A. Rush. From the small hands on time I’ve had with that title, I’m impressed. Also, even though I’ve yet to purchase the new Madden ’06, I’ve always been a fan of football sims.
3) Where do you see yourself being five years down the road?
Five Years.. Well I’ll be 27. Honestly at this point in my life it’s hard to say. I’m kind of stuck in a time bubble right now and just sort of waiting for my life to take off after college. I know what I would like to see in five years – working in marketing for a great company, maybe in the video game industry while happily married with maybe a child on the way. Realisticly though, I just hope that in the next 5 years that all my hard work from college and my other activities truly pay off. I’d like just to see myself at least financially healthy with a job I actually enjoy. I hope in five years I’m in a relationship or have been in a relationship, as I don’t care about marriage at this point. I’d also like for me to possibly be out of this house and onto an apartment or a small house of my own. My parents are already thinking about getting a ranch someday, so that seems as realistic as possible.
4) If you had an opportunity to visit another country, where would you go and why?
The only other country I’ve been to is Canada, twice now. It’s a nice place, but I really want to get the chance to go elsewhere. If I had to pick, I’d say London. From television it seems like a beautiful place, and I wouldn’t have to worry about not knowing the language. I’d like to see Big Ben and stuff. Whenever the time comes that I have a family, I’d love to be able to go there for vacation or something.
5) In your seven or so years with MK5.ORG/Mortal Kombat Online, what would you say was the defining moment for you?
I think I’ve always told people that my most defining moment for me had to be in May of 2004 when I first had the chance to not only meet my staff, but Ed Boon and the Mortal Kombat team at the party they had for MK: Deception on the rooftop of the Standard Downtown LA. For one, the rest of the MKO guys already met the MK team and attended such high profile events. This was my first at the time. The E3 party was the first thing that we went to after my first visit to Los Angeles. I was overwhelmed by how much fun it was. For years I idolized Ed Boon, and getting to meet him for the first time was such a rewarding experience. It’s funny how I saw him earlier this month for Fight Night and now it’s not even a big deal. That happens, but the first time meeting Ed Boon and the rest of my staff was enough for me to think all the work I’ve put into MKO was worth it. Last night I was watching a show called The Ultimate Gamer on Spike TV where a fan got to meet the creators of Socom 3. With MKO, I don’t need to be on a TV show or win a contest to have dreams like those realized. I was able to work for them myself, and look what happened.