Gamertag: BaldSnail
Superhero: Wolverine
Karaoke song: "Black" by Pearl Jam
TV show: The Simpsons
Film: The Big Lebowski
Cartoon character: Professor Frink
Xbox LIVE game: Rainbow Six Vegas
Offline Xbox game: The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion®

Gamer Spotlight:

TriXie Interviews BaldSnail

He's a hardcore gamer homegrown in Redmond, Washington who reads geek books, loves Tenacious D, and has the misfortune to not only work for me, but share my office! Send your condolences to BaldSnail.

TriXie: What's the story behind your gamertag?

BaldSnail: It's an interesting one to be sure. It all started a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away … wait a minute that's a different story. It actually was given to me by the MSN Gaming Zone. I had just started playing a Massively Multiplayer Online Game called Asheron's Call. In order to login I had to create an account. I spent at least 20 minutes trying to think of a cool username. Everything I came up with was taken so I finally gave up and had the Zone suggest something. Out came BaldSnail.

TriXie: Where do you live?

BaldSnail: In Redmond, Washington in a small cardboard box just behind the local 7-11 … Just kidding, about the cardboard box at least. I live in a swinging bachelor bad, a lot like what you saw in Austin Powers. I'm trying to find some nice shag carpeting to jazz the place up. No luck so far.

TriXie: Tell the kids how you pay for the bachelor pad.

BaldSnail: I work at Microsoft as an Editorial Assistant for Xbox.com.

TriXie: Everyone has seen the pictures of my office. How bad is it sharing an office with me?

BaldSnail: I will just say this: We should have called in the Dirty Jobs crew to help.

TriXie: Seriously. It took three of us almost four hours to clean up that mess. What's the worst or weirdest job you've ever had?

BaldSnail: I've been lucky enough to not have had a weird job like a Skull Cleaner or Worm Dung Farmer. But I have had some bad jobs. The worst job I ever had was answering phones for AT&T Wireless. "Oh that doesn't sound so bad," you might say. But at the time the wait for customers to talk to an actual person was averaging 30 minutes. That wait was for any issue they had, whether they needed a one word answer or wanted to completely change their service plan. Needless to say by the time I talked to them they were pissed. Getting yelled at for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week just isn't my idea of a good time, call me crazy.

TriXie: Do you have an arch enemy on Xbox LIVE®, and if so, who?

BaldSnail: I don't have an arch enemy. I typically play with people who I know personally. When I do play a multiplayer adversarial match on a game like Gears of War™ or Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas, I tend to be pretty quiet and keep the trash talk to a minimum. I don't want to end up being one of "those guys." You know who you are out there.

TriXie: What's your Xbox® set-up like?

BaldSnail: I have a 42 inch Sony LCD TV, a Sony Tuner with Dolby Digital DTS ES ABCD-LMNOP and all those other acronyms. Surrounding me is a set of speakers that my neighbors may not appreciate at times. And yes it goes to 11. I have a small couch for those extra-long gaming sessions. One day I hope to add a mini-fridge next to the couch so I can have adult beverages close at hand.

TriXie: What's the best feature of Xbox LIVE?

BaldSnail: There are a plethora of great features about Xbox LIVE. But I think the ability to message/invite your friends to play with you is the best. With game companies finally taking advantage of this feature, your friends can drop in and out of your game on a moment's notice without interruption.

TriXie: What do you think is the best game of all time?

BaldSnail: Like many others before me I did enjoy the hell out of Halo®. However when you add the words "of all time" to the question I have to change my answer. I can't remember having more fun or being more intrigued playing a game than I did when I was playing the original Half-Life on the PC. It was well ahead of its time and still holds up today.

TriXie: Gordon Freeman was a hot nerd. What do you think is the best album of all time?

BaldSnail: That's a really tough question. Being sort of an audiophile a ton of albums come to mind. Artists like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, AC/DC, Tool, and System of a Down just to name a few. If I have to choose one I would go with the first Sabbath album released in 1970. I consider Sabbath the grandfathers of modern Metal. \m/ <- metal horns.

TriXie: What's the funniest thing you've ever heard on Xbox LIVE?

BaldSnail: I was at a good friend's house playing Call of Duty® 3 online. About 30 seconds to a minute into the game from out of nowhere one of the players on the opposing team decided it was time to start making weird noises. These were loud, sharp, short, beeps and bops. Something like a car alarm but more annoying. The funny part was about 5 seconds after this player started the rest of the server decided to join in on the fun. This went on throughout the length of the match. So not only did we have gun shots, tank fire, and grenades, we had an accompanying orchestra of loud, annoying sounds as well. We couldn't help but laugh.

TriXie: Boys. What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment?

BaldSnail: There have been so many great Xbox LIVE moments, it's hard to pick only one. I consider my greatest the first multiplier game of Halo® 2 on the original Xbox. Nothing in particular about the game sticks out, but just being online with my friends and kicking some Halo butt was great!

TriXie: Who is your inner rock star?

BaldSnail: It's Jables, otherwise known as Jack Black of Tenacious D. He knows how to harness the pure essence of rock and use it to his advantage. If rock were an energy source we could power this great nation on the unadulterated rock fury that is Jack Black.

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

BaldSnail: I wish I could get away with saying James Dean here, but if you know me you know that's not the case. I'm going to say Jerry Lewis. I'm more Nutty Professor than Rebel Without a Cause.

TriXie: Skinny Jerry, not Fat Jerry. If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?

BaldSnail: It's Albert Einstein, Nobel Prize smarts and killer with the ladies, yes please.

TriXie: I heard he did Marilyn Monroe. Hot celeb you'd like to be stranded on a desert island with?

BaldSnail: It's Monica Bellucci. She's got it all in spades.

TriXie: Let's hear it for the brunettes! If you could be any video game character, who would it be?

BaldSnail: It's Sam Fisher of course, he's a bad ass. Traveling all around the world completing clandestine operations sounds like fun to me. Plus he's gets all the best toys.

TriXie: What's the last book you read?

BaldSnail: The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass by Stephen King. Also a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien.

TriXie: Lord of the Stinkin' Rings? That's it, you're fired. If you could go on tour with any band, which would it be?

BaldSnail: AC/DC, they are a road-hardened, fun-loving, kick-ass rock-and-roll band.

TriXie: You've been with us almost a year; without getting anyone *cough* me *cough* in really big trouble, what have been your most memorable Xbox.com moments?

BaldSnail: My first week here was a whirlwind of activity. It was the first time I had done anything like this so it was nerve racking and exciting at the same time. Of course there was also the day I met trixie360. Little did I know that I would soon become her first office mate in over 4 years: A task that I proudly took on, and with gusto I might add.

TriXie: I keep my mess on my side of the room! What do you predict will be the 'next big thing' in gaming?

BaldSnail: Of course the technology will improve. You will have better A.I., better graphics, physics, etc., but in my mind the gameplay will always take center stage. Games like Spore will change the way we play and think of games and what they should be.

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

BaldSnail: The hardware is great; the games coming out for the system are fantastic. However, I think Xbox Live is the best feature of Xbox 360. Being able to instantly communicate with other people, download movies, TV shows, demos, game content, and so on, is awesome.

TriXie: What is the Xbox 360 Achievement that was hardest to get?

BaldSnail: The War Hardened achievement for Call of Duty® 2. You had to beat the game on Hardened or Veteran difficulty setting to get it. I chose veteran of course, much to my own dismay. It was some of the toughest gaming I have experienced in a long time. But I have to admit it was some of the most fun I've had, too. You really had to fight for every inch of ground you got.

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

BaldSnail: I would really like to be working on my own games by then. Maybe start a small development company and make the games that I want to make.

TriXie: Cool. Maybe one day I'll work for you!