Trixie360 Interviews Cookiecups

Published October 15, 2008

She's a 1UP.com alumna, a Chihuahua owner, and rad gamer girl. Meet XNA Community Manager, Cookiecups!

trixie360: What's the story behind your Gamertag?

Cookiecups: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away there were games made for Macs. My very first LAN party was for my favorite games at the time—the Marathon series. I'd never been to a LAN party and while helping me set up they asked for my screen name. The first thing I saw was this weird candy I'd bought called Reese's Peanut Butter Cookie Cups—so I replied, "Cookiecups!" Had fate turned my glance a different direction that day I might be known today as "Clearly Canadian" or "Cool Ranch."

trixie360: I once puked up Cool Ranch Doritos in college. They were sharp. Where do you live?

Cookiecups: The verdant Seattle area.

Cookiecups.

trixie360: What do you do when you're not gaming?

Cookiecups: I make words go for the internets as the XNA Community Manager.

trixie360: Hooray for words! What's the worst or weirdest job you've ever had?

Cookiecups: I worked at Gameworks as a Game Hostess. Basically, I got paid to go around, make sure people were playing, having a good time, and understood the games. Seriously. There was a time people got paid to do that. It was weird, but AWESOME.

trixie360: How long have you been on Xbox LIVE®?

Cookiecups: Since the first Xbox, I played Halo® and Halo 2 LAN-style. This isn't reflected in my Gamerscore, though, because a lot of the time I spent as media I had to play games on Partnernet. Plus, I love games, but I often suck at them. The key for me is to find joy in learning … and failing.

Halo got a lot of people playing multiplayer games.

trixie360: Do you have an archenemy on Xbox LIVE?

Cookiecups: Yes. Douchebags everywhere that ask if I am a girl, then when I say, "Yes" they call me a liar, then they call me various rude names. I hate them all. Thank god for blocking and mute.

trixie360: Wow! Those same dudes are MY archnemeses! Jinx, you owe me a soda! What's your Xbox setup like?

Cookiecups: My home is modest, but what meager space I have is dominated by my Samsung 40-inch LCD, and a Mythos SSA-50 from Definitive Tech powered by a Yamaha 910-watt 7.1 Channel Digital Receiver. The Mythos manages to deliver awesome surround sound in a very small space and from one source—I love it. I'm currently shopping for a nice, comfy couch.

trixie360: What's the best feature of Xbox LIVE?

Cookiecups: My friends—being able to see, share, and play games with them is so easy. Most any game I play is going to have some element of multiplayer in it, because that is what I love. Even the games that don't—like Geometry Wars 2: Retro Evolved—I can get on chat and still talk with my friends or see what their high score is right there so I know how much I suck compared to them. That's awesome! Also, being able to download so many games immediately. Helps me avoid some of the jerks at <insert videogame retailer here>. The other night I saw my friend Che playing Samurai Shodown II® and within a few minutes I had it downloaded and I was playing with him. That's rad.

trixie360: What is your favorite Xbox LIVE game?

Cookiecups: Hmmm … that's a freaking hard question! You mean right now? It would probably be Castle Crashers®. However, the game I keep going back to over and over is Halo 3.

Her current favorite game is Castle Crashers, but that could change.

trixie360: What is your favorite offline Xbox game?

Cookiecups: Hmmm … even though I like the online stuff in Rock Band™, the real fun is playing it in a room full of my friends so everyone can appreciate our incredible rock star flair and panache. Xbox LIVE still hasn't mastered a real way of transmitting that.

trixie360: What do you think is the best game of all time?

Cookiecups: Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions.

trixie360: What do you think is the best film of all time?

Cookiecups: It is most certainly not "the best," but my favorite is probably Showgirls starring Jessie from Saved by the Bell. However, the very best movie of all time is the Original Star Wars trilogy. The Greedo-shot-first-Jabba-free-yub-yub song version.

trixie360: What do you think is the best album of all time?

Cookiecups: These questions are hard! Perhaps impossible! I have to go with Bowie's Low, Heroes, Lodger trilogy.

trixie360: What's the funniest thing you've ever heard on Xbox LIVE?

Cookiecups: "You're not a girl."

trixie360: What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment?

Cookiecups: Oooh, that's tough. I've had many, many moments with Halo 2 and 3 that were just epic. I think I remember Halo 3 moments better, because of saved films. I had one night on Rocket Race (R.I.P.) with a big group of friends that was just full of hilarity. It was incessant flipping and screaming and laughing. I don't know if I've laughed so hard in a long time as I did there. Also, the night I hit 12 million in Pacifist on Geo Wars 2. I was all alone, but I'd beaten my friend Mark, a true Geo Wars Samurai, by a significant margin. That felt great.

Hitting 12 million in Pacifist on Geometry Wars 2 is pretty darn good.

trixie360: What's your favorite TV show?

Cookiecups: Of all time—Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Right now, though it'd probably be The Shield. That show is fantastic. I still need to watch The Wire. I'm told it will change my religion.

trixie360: I have to say I like The Shield better than The Wire. Who is your inner rock star?

Cookiecups: David Bowie—but 1970s Ziggy Stardust David Bowie with the media monkeys and their junky junkies will invite you to their plastic pantomime … throw their invites away.

trixie360: If they made a movie about your life, who should play you?

Cookiecups: Neil Patrick Harris.

trixie360: What's your karaoke song?

Cookiecups: "The Greatest Love of All" by Whitney Houston.

trixie360: Yikes. What cartoon character do you think is most like you?

Cookiecups: Brock from Venture Bros.

trixie360: What superpower would you like to have?

Cookiecups: Telekinesis, the power to move things by squinting at them.

trixie360: If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?

Cookiecups: Neil Patrick Harris.

How about a gratuitous shot of Neil Patrick Harris for Cookiecups? The show How I Met Your Mother is available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

trixie360: What celebrity would be the worst roommate?

Cookiecups: Tom Cruise. That guy seems like a crazy person.

trixie360: Just a wee bit of crazy. Only the bits between his ears. Hot celeb you'd like to be stranded on a desert island with?

Cookiecups: I'll give you one guess. That's right! Neil Patrick Harris.

trixie360: If you could be any videogame character, who would it be?

Cookiecups: The Unicorn from Peggle.

trixie360: What's the worst food you've ever eaten?

Cookiecups: The lunch at the Café in Mil-E.

trixie360: It's not THAT bad. What's the last book you read?

Cookiecups: Blankets by Craig Thompson (it is a fantastic book, you should read it).

trixie360: If you could go on tour with any band, which would it be?

Cookiecups: The Queen Tribute Tour starring David Bowie and Neil Patrick Harris with Boston.

trixie360: What do you predict will be the "next big thing" in gaming?

Cookiecups: Honestly, I'm not just being a shill, but Community Games is really exciting. No one has ever opened up a console like this and made it so easy for developers to offer their game to so many people. I'm so excited about what we're going to see, what people will be able to try, and where it could all go from here.

trixie360: What do you think is the best thing about Xbox 360?

Cookiecups: Again, Community Games is really opening up the industry. It doesn't take a big studio and million-dollar budgets to get your game to the people who want to play them anymore. If you are someone with an idea and the dedication it takes to bring it to life—we're providing you with a way to share that with cajillions of other gamers.

trixie360: What is the Xbox 360 Achievement that was hardest to get?

Cookiecups: Well, look at my Gamerscore, it's pathetic. I find all of them to be a challenge!

trixie360: What would you like to be doing in ten years?

Cookiecups: Living in my laser palace on the moon with NPH, David Bowie, and the Unicorn from Peggle.

Interview by TriXie