Gamertag: Calcharlie
Cartoon character: Chip
Superhero: Thor
Inner rockstar: Elvis
Album: anything by Led Zeppelin
TV show: 24
Xbox LIVE game: Rainbow Six Vegas
Offline Xbox game: Oblivion

TriXie,

What I am writing to you about is a question regarding who is the oldest player on Xbox LIVE who plays GRAW. I am 60 and soon to be 61. The subject of age comes up quite often when we are playing and most of the other players have a hard time believing that someone my age would be playing. I am just curious if there is anyone older than me who is playing on a regular basis.

Thanks

CalCharlie

Gamer Spotlight:

TriXie Interviews CalCharlie

Published May 23, 2007

He's a retired Navy guy living in Stockton, California, a Patton fan, a disliker of cow tongue and at age 61, he may be one of our most senior players of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas. Say hello to CalCharlie!

TriXie: What's the story behind your Gamertag?

CalCharlie: That's easy. Cal—because I live in California, and Charlie—because that's my name.

TriXie: What do you do for a living?

CalCharlie: I am twice retired. Once from the U.S. Navy where I worked as a Data Systems Technician working on computer systems of all types. The work included both hardware and software. Second, from the Life Safety industry, where I designed, programmed, installed and maintained fire detection systems.

TriXie: Worst or weirdest job?

CalCharlie: The worst job I ever had was for a cable TV company doing outside sales. I hated telling people how great it was when I knew in my heart that the service was garbage and that prices would continue to go up almost every year. That job lasted about three weeks.

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

CalCharlie: I have been on Xbox LIVE for 17 months. My youngest son and my wife got together and thought it would be a good idea to get me an Xbox® for Christmas. I love to play games on the computer, but I have a hard time getting on as everyone else in the house was constantly on the computer. So, they bought me the Xbox and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat™. My son and his brother-in-law played it on line every week and they wanted me to join them. At first I had a little trouble as I didn't know the maps, and had a little trouble learning how to aim and shoot the various weapons. After about a month or so, I had gotten the idea. Instead of playing once a week like they were, I was playing for two or more hours everyday. As you can imagine, I got better at it. Not as good as a lot of the younger players as I don't have the reaction speed they do, but passable.

TriXie: Describe your gaming setup.

CalCharlie: My setup is pretty simple. I now have an Xbox 360™ which I monitor on a 17-inch screen. I have it all set up in what I like to call my office. It's a spare bedroom that I use to play my games, keep my fishing gear in and have my sewing machine setup. I sew quilts when I'm not playing online. You see I had a heart attack three years ago and had to retire. Too much stress from my job. I had to find something to occupy my time. I started sewing quilts and then I got into Xbox LIVE. Now, I do both.

TriXie: That is a killer combo: quilting and kicking ass! Best feature of Xbox LIVE?

CalCharlie: The best feature of Xbox LIVE is the friendships that I have gained and the people that I have met via voice communication during and after the games. The competition is great as well. There are some great people playing on Xbox LIVE, and the only problem that I have is that my friends list can only hold 100 people.

TriXie: Yeah, we need more room! What's the best game of all time?

CalCharlie: In my humble opinion the best game was Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter™. That is until Ubisoft started making changes, and knuckled under to pressure from a bunch of people who can't stand to get beat.

TriXie: I didn't say it. What's the best film of all time?

CalCharlie: You have to understand that at my age, 61, I have seen a lot of movies. If I have to pick I would pick Patton. The reason is this. First, I really like war movies. Second, George C. Scott played a great part in that film. Third, I really admired General Patton. Fourth, I think that the movie was really well done.

TriXie: I thought George C. Scott was excellent in The Rescuers Down Under. What has been your greatest Xbox LIVE moment so far?

CalCharlie: My greatest moment on Xbox LIVE was when I got my "Elite" in Rainbow Six Vegas.

TriXie: Hot celeb you'd like to be stranded on a desert island with?

CalCharlie: Alison Krauss. She can sing, she is beautiful, and she is just a down home girl.

TriXie: What video game character would you want to be?

CalCharlie: My warrior in The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion™ .

TriXie: Worst food you've ever eaten?

CalCharlie: Cow tongue.

TriXie : Ick. I had that in Tijuana. It was tasty until someone told me what it was! What was the last book you read?

CalCharlie: On average, I read 1 or 2 a week. The one I just finished was Violets Are Blue by James Patterson.

TriXie: What band would you like to go on tour with?

CalCharlie: Lynyrd Skynyrd or ZZ Top.

TriXie: What do you predict will be the next big thing in gaming?

CalCharlie: I think the next big thing in gaming will be more interactivity with the characters we play. By that, I mean that with the speed of the Net increasing and with technology where it is going, we will see characters that have more human-like responses such as better hearing, the ability to look around and be more aware of their surroundings. I think that the game will become more realistic and will react less predictably as time goes on. Games that give you lesser control of the characters will become less and less popular. Look at what you can do in Rainbow Six now. People like to be able to play together with what you might think of as a team, or at least a bunch of people who play together all the time. This isn't "stacking," but it is playing with people of like minds and people who know how the others will react in any given situation. I think that as time goes on, the ability to have larger groups in online games will become common place. Games that only permit groups of 2 or 4 will go away, to be replaced by games that can support 16 or more players.

TriXie: What's the best thing about Xbox 360?

CalCharlie: Best thing about Xbox 360—graphics, speed, ability to talk to other players, ability to send messages to other players. I think it beats anything that the PS3 has to offer. Be nice if the game makers would talk to the actual players to get ideas and to find out about the problems in their games.

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

CalCharlie: In ten years I would like to still be breathing and able to get out and do things. Plus I would still like to be playing on Xbox LIVE.