Gamertag: BAPenguin
Superhero: Superman
Film:The Lord of the Rings
Album: Goldfly by Guster
Xbox Live game: Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
Offline Xbox game: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
First achievement: Hexic - Cluster Buster

Hi TriXie,

I nominate BAPenguin (Editor-in-Chief at Evil Avatar) as a potential interview candidate. He's known affectionately as an 'achievement whore'! What else is there to say? ;-)

Thanks,

fitbabits

News Editor
Evil Avatar

Gamer Spotlight:

TriXie Interviews BAPenguin

He's an IT professional by trade, but his true passion is Evil Avatar, of which he is the Editor-in-Chief. Bow down to BAPenguin …

TriXie: What's the story behind your gamertag?

BAPenguin: Penguins. They're badass. Hence … bapenguin.

TriXie: Totally makes sense. Where do you live?

BAPenguin: Easton, Pennsylvania. It's where they make Crayola Crayons.

TriXie: I once stuck 15 crayons up my nose and one got stuck in my brain … oh wait, that was Homer Simpson. Is Evil Avatar your full-time gig?

BAPenguin: Nope.It's simply my passion.I do it in my spare time, in between meetings and during lunch breaks. It's the first site I visit in the morning and the last site I visit before I go to bed.

TriXie: What do you think sets Evil Avatar apart from other gaming sites?

BAPenguin: I think we are a no-holds-barred tell-it-how-it-is news site.We have a very strong (and vocal) community. We try to let the community moderate itself, and usually it does a pretty good job.It's not just games either, we have a weekly comic segment and movies are often discussed. Politics has been known to show its ugly head as well, and most times the discussion goes fairly well.We have one of the best and most intelligent communities on the internet and the conversations are always a blast to follow.

TriXie: What's the worst or weirdest job you've ever had?

BAPenguin: I've been pretty lucky. Growing up I had great jobs, working at a movie theater and a games store. I guess my current job is the worst, it's a lot of big business BS.

TriXie: How long have you been on Xbox Live®?

BAPenguin: Since day one. MechAssault® was quite a bit of fun online, but NHL 2K3 was where it was at!

TriXie: Do you have an arch enemy on Xbox Live?

BAPenguin: No … I don't think so.The EvAv guys usually play group games and mix it up quite a bit. I suppose the PMS Girls are our arch enemy … they kicked our ass when we played them in Halo® 2. Damn you PMS Athena Twin!

TriXie: Just don't let her start pouring tequila down your throat. Trust me on this. What's your Xbox® set-up like?

BAPenguin: I've got a home theater with a 96" screen and Panasonic HDTV Projector, 5.1 surround sound, big sub and some ButtKickers on the chairs.

TriXie: That's funny; at my house we just have butts on the chairs. What's the best feature of Xbox Live?

BAPenguin: Definitely the seamless unified experience.The ability to send invites across games and see what people on your friends list are up to is great.

TriXie: Best game of all time?

BAPenguin: Phantasy Star 2 on the Sega Genesis. Greatest RPG ever. It actually took me and a buddy 10 years to complete!

TriXie: I don't have anywhere near that kind of patience. What's the funniest thing you've ever heard on Xbox Live?

BAPenguin: During a co-op game of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon one of our teammates was laying behind a box of ammunition for cover. Coincidently, that box was a goal for the mission. Another one of my teammates decided it was time to blow it up and proceeded to yell "Fire in the hole!" Before the words were out of his mouth he shot a grenade into the ammo crate and blew our teammate 25 feet into the air. I don't think he understood that when you yell "Fire in the hole," you are supposed to wait and make sure your teammates have time to clear the area.

TriXie: What is your greatest Xbox Live moment?

BAPenguin: There have been so many great little things. We've had this tradition at Evil Avatar where every Tuesday night we play a game together. It started out with Halo 2 and now continues with GRAW. Every Tuesday there's always one of those great moments.

TriXie: What would you like to see on Xbox.com?

BAPenguin: I'd like to see the Xbox Live Arcade leaderboards made available on the website.

TriXie: Who is your inner rock star?

BAPenguin: I'm more of the suave and classy kind of guy … kinda like Ben Folds.

TriXie: If they made a movie about your life, who should play you?

BAPenguin: That would be one romantic comedy action packed thriller! The only one cool enough to fill those shoes is Jason Statham.

TriXie: He is cool. He would be my choice for playing Master Chief, Peter Jackson, are you listening? What cartoon character do you think is most like you?

BAPenguin: Space Ghost. I like to keep the guest Evil Avatar people in line with my power-bands.

TriXie: If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?

BAPenguin: I don't know if it would be one specific person, but it would definitely be somebody in another time period. Perhaps one of the early American pioneers as they crossed the country to the west. It would be amazing to see this country in all its raw glory.

TriXie: What celebrity would be the worst roommate?

BAPenguin: Pee Wee Herman. Not only would that stupid voice get old real fast but … well … you know.

TriXie: Coming in loud and clear, dude. Hot celeb you'd like to be stranded on a desert island with?

BAPenguin: Scarlett Johansson.Hopefully we are on that island for a long time.

TriXie: What's the worst food you've ever eaten?

BAPenguin: Brussels sprouts are pretty much inedible for me.

TriXie: Plus they smell like a petting zoo. What do you predict will be the 'next big thing' in gaming?

BAPenguin: I think the 'next big thing' has already started with more advanced online gaming. I think you'll start to see online gaming somehow integrated into the single player experience. Perhaps the enemy AI is actually based on other people that play the game. Perhaps the content is player created and shared amongst other players automatically. I think a lot of the things that Will Wright's Spore is doing are pretty revolutionary and will probably become the standard for a lot of games to come. I also think you'll see tighter web based integration of games and their console counterparts. I think the ability to do or change things on the web and then go home, fire up the console and see those changes take effect could be huge.

TriXie: What do you think is the best thing about the Xbox 360?

BAPenguin: Xbox Live Arcade and Marketplace are great.

TriXie: What would you like to be doing in ten years?

BAPenguin: Producing a video game or being a community manager for some gaming company. Whatever it is, I hope to be in the games industry even more than I am now.