TriXie Chats with the League of Amateur Gamers

The League of Amateur Gamers is a 21-and-over gaming group that's in it not to win, but to have a good time and make friends. I recently chatted with four members of the group with my favorite tagline: "Spawn. Die. Spawn. Die."

TriXie: What's your Gamertag story?

Deaths Head II: Deaths Head II was a popular Marvel UK comic book character in the early 90s. I enjoyed reading the comic until Marvel UK went out of business and terminated the series. So I basically took the name as my gamertag because it's still my favorite comic book character.

FragMaster B: FragMaster B is a bit of a play on the Married with Children Bud Bundy bit, "GrandMaster B." That always killed me. Plus the B is my first initial.

Knickerbocker: In my college days, I was a member of a small fraternity known as "The Knickerbockers." When I went to think of a Gamertag, that is what popped into my head. I did not think it would be available, but I was excited when it was. Whenever I play on Xbox Live, people ask me if I am from New York. The answer is NO!

Aim2Annoy: Mine goes back to my IRC chatting days. I used to use a nick of "Shakey" but others started using it, so some of my friends helped me pick a new nickname—something more appropriate. "Aim2Annoy" was the one they felt fit my personality the best. When signing up for Xbox Live, it was a perfect choice, because annoying my opponents and teammates was something I'd hoped to do. Unfortunately, my teammates are probably the only ones who feel that I've accomplished this task.

TriXie: What's your connection to LAG?

Deaths Head II: I'm a frequent poster (and one of the resident goofballs) who enjoys
chatting and playing Xbox® with the LAG community. I joined about three months after it started.

FragMaster B: Co-Founder/Site Admin/Code Weenie. ThunderMutt posted on the Xbox.com forums a while back expressing his frustrations on getting owned by 12-year olds who just learned a few dozen expletives. I concurred and suggested we start a "clan" ... POOF! ... LAG was forged.

Knickerbocker: I joined LAG right when it was starting on the same day I signed up for Xbox Live. I am now a moderator on the boards and am in charge of bringing the latest and greatest Xbox and Xbox 360™ news to the site.

Aim2Annoy: I'm not a founder but I was on board probably a little over a month after it got started. I've been a Super Moderator (it's just the title ... not a description of my ability) since last summer. Am I a frequent poster? LMAO ... uh, yeah, you might say that. It's been the subject of ridicule many times over the past year and a half since I quickly got into the lead for post counts and never looked back. I think I currently have almost 3,000 posts, more than the second-highest poster. Of course, most of the posts are nonsense.

TriXie: Natch. What's the best thing about LAG?

Deaths Head II: The people. It's a very friendly, fun, and down-to-earth bunch. Gaming isn't life-or-death to us and many of us have jobs, families, and social lives that keep us from playing 24/7.

FragMaster B: Friends. Getting to play with like-minded people, with similar skillz … mostly ... I'm looking at you, goBlue52 ;). Being able to schedule games and get a little pre- and post-game banter in is definitely high up there on the list too.

Knickerbocker: The best thing about LAG is that many of us have become friends outside of gaming. We talk over IM or e-mail, or on Xbox Live about things going on in our life. We genuinely care for one another. And we make it an effort to get together if possible. We have meet 'n' greets in different areas of the country. I am going to visit with a fellow LAGer when I am out West in a couple weeks.

Aim2Annoy: I think it has to be the relationships that have been developed. I can confidently say that many of the folks that I game with and chat with on the board are as good a friend as any in my offline life. Without LAG, I would've given up Xbox Live last year. To game with people that I know on a personal level is the best part of Xbox Live. We never compete for stats ... we're just having a good time and that's what XboxLive should always be about.

TriXie: Favorite Xbox Live game?

Deaths Head II: Star Wars: Battlefront™! As addictive an Xbox Live game as you can get, in my opinion, and you only need a handful of people to have a great game, since bots will round out the sides.

FragMaster B: Halo® 2.

Knickerbocker: My favorite Xbox Live game of all time has to be Links® 2004. It is not even my favorite golf game, but I can always go find a public game on Links that has some fun people to play with. I can't really say that with other games.

Aim2Annoy: For the longest time, it was Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® 3 (the original). Now, it's clearly Ghost Recon™ 2. I love all the game modes that are available ... you can play with just one or two others in one of the co-op modes or up to 16 in an adversarial game. The graphics are the best in an FPS that I've ever played. I'd like to give a special nod to Ghost Village. I don't know how many times I died while staring into those puddles.

TriXie: Archenemy?

Deaths Head II: I don't think I'm good enough to have one, LOL. However, on LAG, goblue52 seems to be everyone's archenemy in games. He must have cheat codes or something. ;-) Other than that, I'm my own worst enemy.

FragMaster B: In Golf it'sKnickerBocker (I beat you in Outlaw Golf 2 before ... and I SHALL do it again!). For FPS it'sRustyFox (I swear my skull and the scope of his sniper rifle are soul mates).

Knickerbocker: Krackerman. He is a Green Bay Packers fan, I am a Detroit Lions fan. He is a Michigan fan, I am a Michigan State fan. Whenever we play together, you can count on us trying to shoot each other (even if we are on the same team).

Aim2Annoy: Well, that has to begoblue52. He's one of my best friends from LAG but he's so damned good at every game he plays. It's a real feather in the cap to be dominant in a game that he's playing. It's actually my belief that, most times, he's not even trying ... that's how good this guy is.

TriXie: Fave feature of Xbox 360?

Deaths Head II: The pure power of the system. The early demos of the games look incredible.

FragMaster B: Sounds like the Gamerzone is just what the doctor ordered for us LAGers.

Knickerbocker: I think my favorite feature is that all games will be at least Xbox Live-aware. I was just playing Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas™ on my Xbox and I could not see if any of my friends were on Xbox Live nor could I get any game invites. It will be nice to hop into Xbox Live games whenever you are on your Xbox (even when you are watching a movie).

Aim2Annoy: In addition to better graphics, I'd have to say the feature that allows streaming of music to my friends is going to be a great feature.

TriXie: What's the first Xbox 360 title you're planning to get?

Deaths Head II: Perfect Dark Zero™should be a nice launch title to get and be able to jump online with.

FragMaster B: Gears of War®. The E3 footage was enough to pique my interest. But after hearing that the story was being done by Eric Nyland of the Halo® books, I was 100 percent sold! Sounds like a must-have game.

Knickerbocker: I would have to say Perfect Dark Zero. I am also looking forward to Madden™ NFL 06 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 06.

Aim2Annoy: Most definitely Ghost Recon® 3, assuming it's being released at launch. I can't wait for this game!

TriXie: What Gamerzone do you think you'll choose—Family, Pro, Underground, or R&R?

Deaths Head II: Definitely R&R ... stats are meaningless to me and I just enjoy the camaraderie and fun of playing online.

FragMaster B: R&R ... duh.

Knickerbocker: I will be hanging with the R&R group. That is what LAG is all about—casual gaming. It will be nice to make R&R games easier to find.

Aim2Annoy: Most likely R&R ... it's more my style.

TriXie: What game developer would you like to challenge in a game?

Deaths Head II: It would have to be EA SPORTS™ or Pandemic Studios, because I don't think I'd embarrass myself playing either NHL® 2005 or Star Wars: Battlefront. I might actually surprise some people.

FragMaster B: Hmm ... challenge probably isn't the right word, but I'd like to "play" with some of the guys from Bungie Studios, I suppose. Just because I really respect their work.

Knickerbocker: I would say Bungie. They usually get beat pretty bad in their hump-day challenges. They could use some easy target practice like myself.

Aim2Annoy: That would have to be Ubisoft since they're the developers of my favourite ("favorite" for my buddy Krackerman) games. It'd be very cool to hear what they have to say about certain features or details of the game that we're playing. Thanks for the questions, TriXie, and for taking notice of LAG ... I love our community and it's a great thing to be able to share it with others.

TriXie: My pleasure. See you guys online!