He’s an IT specialist, a former military brat, and a current Xbox MVP. Say hello to goverland, but don’t feed him any haggis!
TriXie: What’s the story behind your gamertag?
goverland: Picked it up while in the military from some buddies. I started using itin PC games so it was a natural carry over as one of my Xbox LIVE gamertags.
TriXie: Where do you live?
goverland: I've been in Maryland for quite some time now. I was a military brat and then joined up myself and never stayed anywhere for more than four years until I was transferred here from Germany. The plan was to move back to the southwest and I just haven't gotten around to doing that yet.
TriXie: What do you do for a living?
goverland: I work as an IT specialist for the federal government. Currently I'm busy working in our web group where I get a chance to play around with some programming as well keeping hands on with the servers. I've been playing around with computers since high school and have been fortunate to have had chance to do experience a lot of different IT disciplines.
TriXie: How long have you been on Xbox LIVE?
goverland: Since the beginning. It's been a mainstay in the house since my first original generation Xbox; I mean how can you have an Xbox without Live? Now with two original generation Xbox consoles and the Xbox 360 networked I can host my own LAN parties.
TriXie: Tell us about your experience as an Xbox MVP.
goverland: It started as an amazing surprise when I got an email asking for permission to be nominated for the Xbox MVP award. First off I didn't even know there was such a thing for the Xbox brand and then when I found out there were very few current Xbox MVPs I was floored. I got a chance to go to the Microsoft 2005 MVP Global Summit and meet personally some of these people and share in some of the behind the scenes of the creation of the Xbox 360. TriXie, you and the other Xbox Team made all of us feel right at home during our brief visit and I like to think the MVPs try and bring that same sense of community to our fellow gamers.
TriXie: Do you have an arch enemy on Xbox LIVE, and if so, who?
goverland: Oh but of course and that would be Thesomeone or is it Thethreesome as we like to joke with him.
TriXie: You boys are dirty. What’s the best feature of Xbox LIVE?
goverland: I think Live adds so much to the Xbox experience as it definitely adds replay value to some many game titles. I've met people from around the world, and for the most part, all of it has been positive. Yes, I think most everyone has had the experienced of that gamer that is dead set on being a royal jerk on Live, but still, the overall experience of Live is well worth it. I have friends on Live that I met years ago and we still get together for fun. Now if all game matchmaking on Live could be modeled after the Halo 2 matchmaking the world would be at peace.
TriXie: What do you think is the best game of all time?
goverland: I think I'd have to say DOOM. We use to play this so much on an IPX network. The only problem was that it could take down the LAN so game time had to be move to off hours, not that we were playing during work hours, no not us, must have been some other problem causing those outages!
TriXie: What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard on Xbox LIVE?
goverland: Hearing a perfect Elmer Fudd impersonation of "Shhhhhhhh, be vewy vewy quiet; I'm hunting wabbits, ehehehehehehe" come over the headset when first encountering the elusive bunny suit in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon™ 2. Although it still is funny to hear a first time Gears of War® player say "sweet" when they see a curb stomp. Nothing like a little humor with a splash of gratuitous violence.
TriXie: What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment?
goverland: Don't tell Major Nelson, but getting both a snipe and melee on him in Halo 2 was my moment of glory. Of course I probably got killed a lot more by him during that match, but who remembers those things.
TriXie: Who is your inner rock star?
goverland: Eddie Van Halen. He's a talented guitar player that learned early on that if you keep practicing, anything is possible.
TriXie: Eddie rawks. If they made a movie about your life, who should play you?
goverland: Chuck Norris. Besides he stole his look from me.
TriXie: His tears cure cancer. What super power would you like to have?
goverland: Psychokinesis; talk about the ultimate wireless gaming accessory. It gives a new meaning to being able to reach out and touch somebody.
TriXie: If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?
goverland: Major Nelson and I'm not sure I'd last the full day. Seriously, that man has so many things up in the air at the same time you begin to wonder if he's really a bot.
TriXie: What celebrity would be the worst roommate?
goverland: Paris Hilton, I mean really her personality would drive anyone crazy after a week. Now the first week would be interesting, but after the umpteenth “That's Hot”! Wonder how she'd do with that line on Live?
TriXie: Hot celeb you’d like to be stranded on a desert island with?
goverland: Keira Knightley.
TriXie: If you could be any video game character, who would it be?
goverland: Samus Aran of course! See, everyone can be in touch with their feminine side. It was a cool ending to find out that what everyone thought was a male cyborg character turns out to be a kick ass lady in a power suit.
TriXie: What’s the worst food you’ve ever eaten?
goverland: Well I think everyone should at least try it once, Haggis. It was while visiting Scotland with my parents so it was an authentic version, but that didn't help the taste at all. Some people enjoy it more than others.
TriXie: Dude that’s just nasty. What’s the last book you read?
goverland:Halo: First Strike. Yes it's been awhile. I still haven't gotten a chance to read the fourth one yet, but it's on my list.
TriXie: What do you predict will be the 'next big thing' in gaming?
goverland: More virtual immersion into the game. I think the Wii controller is the first of more readily adopted accessories that will be hitting the market soon. Eventually 3D capabilities will be the must-have but that is still a bit on the horizon.
TriXie: What do you think is the best thing about the Xbox 360?
goverland: The introduction of achievements. It's one of those things that once you get a taste of it, it keeps drawing you in to get more.
TriXie: What is the Xbox 360 Achievement that was hardest to get?
goverland: Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Vegas - Rainbow Six Legend, I was one of those people that made the unfortunate choice to first play the single player story mode on normal mode. Then started the second run on realistic mode and not knowing that it could switch back to normal mode. So after now completing the single player mode at least three times and the endless number of times trying to figure out which map I still needed on realistic, this one was worst.
TriXie: What would you like to be doing in ten years?
