Tommy Gun

Gaming History:

I grew up playing NES (Mario, Lifeforce, Legendary Wings, Contra), then got a Genesis. I played a lot of ToeJam & Earl, Vectorman, Bubsy, Ecco the Dolphin, and of course Sonic. Although I didn't have an SNES at the time, I knew a lot of people who did so I probably played even more of that. My friends would rent games every week, so we played a lot of different games in short bursts. We played tons of Super Mario World, Mario Kart, and F-Zero, though. Super Scope was fun, so I bought a Menacer for my Genesis, even though the only half-decent game was "Ready, Aim, Tomatoes!" I still really love light-gun games to this day, although my favorite is still Point Blank. I rarely bought systems right when they came out, but I played my friends'. We used to play a lot of Panzer Dragoon and Turok, and even Doom online over 2800 baud modems. I got a PSX and N64, and played way too much Super Mario 64 and GoldenEye. I bought a bunch of failed systems (after they failed, like 3DO), but don't have them anymore. I own basically every (good) system now, but don't have an Xbox 360 yet (though my roommate has one in our living room, so I can play it whenever). I really want a Wii, and probably definitely won't get a PS3 until they've dropped way down in price.

Favorite Games:

I spend a lot of time playing music games (DDR, Drummania, Guitar Hero, Ouendan, etc.), but my all-time favorite game is Twisted Metal 2 (no, I'm not saying it's the greatest game ever made). I used to beat TM2 on Hard playing co-op with my friend every single day after school, for about a year. I don't think there's been a game since where I've actually wanted to play it every day and never got bored with it. All the SingleTrac games are amazing, though. (TM3 and 4 weren't made by SingleTrac, by the way, they were ruined by 989 Studios.) TM2 is still tons of fun, although now I'd probably rather play Twisted Metal: Black (better control, physics, resolution, graphics, etc.).

Aside from that, ICO is probably the most wonderful game I've ever played in my life (but it's not for everyone. Shadow of the Colossus is also great).
Psychonauts…hilarious, amazing, awesome, brilliant. Those two are definitely at the top of the list.

I'm a big Zelda fan, I'd rather play Half-Life 2 than Halo (but I like that as well), and I love Burnout 3/Revenge (so damn awesome, I got all my friends addicted to it). Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future is one of the most beautiful games ever, although now it seems all but forgotten. Ikaruga is brilliant. Fire 'N Ice (NES, aka Solomon's Key 2) is my favorite puzzle game, but ChuChu Rocket! (GBA version) is a close second. I bought a Saturn just for NiGHTS.

Game Genres:

Love: Music/Rhythm, Vehicular Combat, FPS, Action, Platformer, Shmup, Light-Gun, Racing (non-realistic; Burnout, Jetmoto, etc.), Puzzle, and anything really weird.

Like: RPG, Beat 'em Up, Adventure, Horror.

Don't Play*: RTS, most Simulation games, Fighting, (traditional) Sports, MMO.

* I say "don't play" because there really aren't any genres I hate, just ones I haven't really gotten into (yet), or don't play much.

Forum Usernames:

I post on too many to mention, but some notable ones are:

GameSpot/GameFAQs: Tommy_Gun_CRG (I really don't post there anymore)
GAF: Tommy Gun
Xbox Live: I have one now, but really don't play online, so don't bother

You can email me from our contact page.