Latest Canadian Gamer Spotlight

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Canadian Gamer Spotlight – MatrixDude

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Canadian Gamer Spotlight – MatrixDude

The next gamer in the Spotlight received a whack of nominations from the Canadian community.  I first met him in person at X’06, and from the short time I spent chatting with him, this guy is one serious Xbox gamer.  Originally from Nicaragua and now based in London, Ontario, MatrixDude is one cool gamer dad – each of his three sons has their own Xbox! Read on to see if MatrixDude is looking to adopt new family members.

Jade: How does the old saying go…a family that games together, stays together…(okay, maybe that’s not exactly how it goes, but sounds sweet doesn’t it!) You are probably the most hardcore gamer family I have met to date!

MatrixDude: Well, I think I am very fortunate that I have a close relationship with all my sons. We have a lot of things in common and I feel like a friend to them.  We joke all the time, we go out, we play Xbox, and we never forget what a wonderful wife and mother we have at home.  She supports our love of gaming.

We currently have 3 Xbox 360 consoles in our household – each of my 3 sons play Xbox. My sons BulleProof E and CornChipNinja have the premium Xbox 360, but I just got the Xbox 360 Elite for my living room, that’s where I play mostly. I'm still working on getting my wife playing Xbox to justify another console for my bedroom.

Jade: Now that’s a family goal I can get behind!  And huge bonus points for the shout out to mom, she sounds like one very understanding woman. What is your favourite thing about Xbox?

MatrixDude: I love everything about it, but if I had to pick one thing, I would say the interaction with my Media Center PC. My Xbox Elite is the centre of my living room, for all my movies, photos, music and gaming. When friends and relatives come over, they love the console and I show off all our photos with it.  We watch HD movies from my MCE, and of course the main attraction is the gaming experience.  I'm so hooked on Gears of War right now.

Jade: Sounds like you have one seriously connected house.  I’m jealous…do you have your own LAN set up too? 

MatrixDude: Well, as I mentioned, we have 3 consoles in the house.  Each of them is wired to my home network.  I have 2 Media Center PCs, one dedicated for the boys and one dedicated for my living room experience.  We all use our consoles to watch TV, play movies, show slideshows, listen to music, and of course play endless hours of video games. My ultimate setup is my living room - that is my private paradise, I have my Elite hooked up to my home surround sound system – all in glorious HD. When I play Gears, it is truly an experience. In September we'll be picking up a Halo 3 Edition Xbox 360 for my son BulleProof E as he is a total Halo gamer.  Hopefully his old console will go to my bedroom to extend my Media Center connectivity.

Jade: Seriously – will you be MY dad?  It would be hard to get away from, but what do you do for fun when you aren’t playing Xbox?

MatrixDude: I love to read about technology.  I will go and pick up a Frapuccino at Starbucks and sift through the latest gaming and digital home magazines. I also enjoy golf, tennis and spending time with my beautiful wife, just spending some quality time together.

Jade: So what’s your favourite Xbox game of all time?

MatrixDude: For me this one has to be Gears of War.  I have lost track of how many hours I invested in that game. I am looking forward to Halo 3 as well… I already reserved 3 copies. My boys and I will more likely be playing the night it comes out until the wee hours.  That’s what we did with Halo 2, and I **ahem** knew they would be feeling sick the next day and would have to stay home from school.

Jade: What about your favourite Xbox Live arcade game?

MatrixDude: PacMan for sure. I've been playing games since I was very little.  My parents always made sacrifices to be able to get me a console and PacMan was a game I stuck with for many, many years.

Jade: What’s your favourite video game of all time?

MatrixDude: It would definitely be the Halo series.  When Halo was released, I remember playing it every single day for months and months.

Jade: I guess I don’t need to ask, but what game you are most looking forward to this holiday season?

MatrixDude: You got it.  Halo 3, no doubt about it. The momentum is already building here at home and we are planning an Xbox LAN Party that night.

Jade: I will keep my eyes open for my invite.  There are probably so many to choose from, but tell me about one of your most memorable Xbox moments?

MatrixDude: For us, we have many, but if there is one, I would probably say X’06.  My boys and I had a chance to meet Major Nelson in person and we enjoyed playing Gears of War before it hit the shelves.

Jade: As the ultimate gamer dad that really knows his stuff, what game would you recommend (Xbox Live Arcade or otherwise) as a good choice for the whole family?

MatrixDude: I would say Lego Star Wars is a good game for young children and adults.  It is easy to play, the graphics are good, the game play is very interactive and it is most of all a lot of fun.

Jade: As an active member of the Canadian Xbox community, what keeps you coming back?

MatrixDude: Well, besides the fact that I love Canada, I would probably say that Canadian gamers are very passionate and behave well on Xbox Live. I find when playing with Canadians on Xbox Live, we can all relate and the game play is much more fun. We have a lot to offer our gaming community, keep it up all you Canadian Xbox gamers.

Jade: And last but not least, what would you bring on a desert island to entertain yourself?

MatrixDude: If I was stranded anywhere, the one thing I will bring with me is a few issues of Microsoft TechNet and of course my XBOX magazines to brush up on the latest technologies so my technical skills were in top shape, ready for action when I was rescued. 

That’s planning ahead, nice one MatrixDude.  Thanks to MatrixDude and his personal army of Xbox gamers.  To nominate a gamer making a difference for the Canadian Gamer Spotlight, send me an email to jade@microsoft.com.