TriXie Interviews Tatsu24
Published July 15, 2009
She works on the technical side of the Xbox consumer support group in Texas and served as an Air Force meteorologist for four years. Meet Tatsu24!
trixie360: What's the story behind your Gamertag?
Tatsu24:I have two Gamertags that I use. My main Gamertag is Tatsu24 and my secondary one is MFJD. When I was a wily uncontrollable child, my parents thought it would be a good idea to sign me up for martial arts classes. Why they thought it wise to provide an overly intelligent, sneaky child with the ability to use weapons I'll never know. Tatsu-Do is a Japanese phrase meaning "Way of the Dragon." It stuck with me for some reason and became my first online name. I used it as my name on a BBS back in 1993 before most of the world knew what "getting online" meant! I use 24 because I like the number 24. I don't know why, I just do. Get off my back. MFJD is the Gamertag I use at work for working on work stuff. It stands for My Friend Jam D or maybe it stands for something else entirely inappropriate for work.
Tatsu24.
trixie360: Tsk, tsk. Where do you live?
Tatsu24: I live in beautiful, warm, never snowy Dallas, Texas. Yee. Haw.
trixie360: I hear good things about the BBQ down there. What do you do for work/school?
Tatsu24: ZOMGWTFBBQ!!! I work for Xbox! I work in Consumer Support where I get to take data and information from our awesome team of Tier3 escalation gurus and our kickass team of Listening Systems Specialists (kind of like Quality Analysts on steroids) and figure out how we can make the support process more efficient for all the gamers out there.
trixie360: What's the worst or weirdest job you've ever had?
Tatsu24: The one I get the most "Really?" reaction to is my four years as a Meteorologist in the United States Air Force. I got out of the Air Force in 1999, but I am still a weather geek. I will stand outside in the most horrific of weather with a look of awe on my face until someone with more sense pulls me inside. I may do this even when I'm feverish and on antibiotics.
trixie360: Very cool. How long have you been on Xbox LIVE?
Tatsu24: Just under four years.
trixie360: Do you have an archenemy on Xbox LIVE, and if so, who?
Tatsu24: Oh I have one and he's a little @$%&. My adversary, the bane of my existence, is my son come here boy. He constantly teases me because he's better at every single freaking game he plays.
trixie360: What's your Xbox setup like? Big-screen TV? Dolby sound?
Tatsu24: I've got a console upstairs in our game room with the big 65-inch fancy pants TV with the Surround Sound and the loudness and the thump thump thump. Usually my son takes over that space because he is the better gamer. I tend to slink downstairs to the family room and play on the console that's hooked up to the smaller 40-inch LCD with no Surround Sound. His loss though, I'm closer to the kitchen.
Lumines Live! is her favorite Xbox single player game.
trixie360: He will become unstoppable with the addition of a mini-fridge. What's the best feature of Xbox LIVE®?
Tatsu24: It's a tossup between LIVE Arcade and Netflix. I'm a fan of pretty much anything that offers me instant gratification.
trixie360: What is your favorite multiplayer Xbox game?
Tatsu24: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Vegas.
trixie360: What is your favorite single player Xbox game?
Tatsu24: Lumines™ Live! (I also play this on the PSP so I'm doubly addicted).
trixie360: What do you think is the best game of all time?
Tatsu24: Final Fantasy VII hands down. I took time off of work to play this game. I didn't even make any excuses for it. I just called and said, "I'm not coming in; I have to play Final Fantasy."
trixie360: True story: Final Fantasy release dates are national holidays in Japan. What do you think is the best film of all time?
Tatsu24: Heartbreak Ridge.
trixie360: What do you think is the best album of all time?
Tatsu24: Pink Floyd's The Wall.
trixie360: You are correct. Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
Tatsu24: I have some incredible memories of playing GHII so between the two, I have to go with Guitar Hero.
trixie360: What's the funniest thing you've ever heard on Xbox LIVE?
Tatsu24: "OMG I totally PWND you!" coming from my son, directed toward me of course.
Clint Eastwood stars in her favorite movie, and it's available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
trixie360: What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment?
Tatsu24: Sitting on my couch in Texas in the wee hours of the morning singing vocals in Rock Band with SpeedDemon (Xbox LIVE Program Manager) while he rocked the guitar in Washington.
trixie360: What's your favorite TV show?
Tatsu24: Anything on The History Channel, SciFi, Discovery, or Cartoon Network, (also SpongeBob and The Fairly Odd Parents).
trixie360: Who is your inner rock star?
Tatsu24: A long time ago, the internet told me it was Björk. I don't ever see myself wearing a swan suit though.
trixie360: Favorite cartoon character?
Tatsu24: Buttercup from the Powerpuff Girls.
trixie360: What superpower would you like to have?
Tatsu24: I want to be able to shrink and re-grow things simply by touching them (get your mind out of the gutter, young lady). Imagine never having to park your car again. You just get out, shrink it, put it in your pocket, and walk away. Oh, and I could totally increase the size of the food supplies that are provided to the needy and other more responsible less selfish stuff like that.
trixie360: Of course, solve parking first, world hunger second. If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?
Tatsu24: I would trade places with Mariah Carey and sign a legal document vowing to never make another movie. Ever. EVER.
Buttercup FTW!
trixie360: What celebrity would be the worst roommate?
Tatsu24: Let's see, Mary-Kate and Ashley would be ok because they would never eat my foo … well, they would just never eat. I think living with Madonna would be horrible if the whole no TV, no junk food thing is true.
trixie360: How many people are on your Friends List?
Tatsu24: Ok, I had to check and I was worried because I thought that it would be low and I would look lame, but it's 83. I think that's pretty respectable.
trixie360: If they made a movie about your life, who should play you?
Tatsu24: Me. If I have to deal with this crap, I want the damn credit for it!
trixie360: Mariah Carey it is! Who's your favorite superhero?
Tatsu24: The Ambiguously Gay Duo.
trixie360: Hot celeb you'd like to be stranded on a desert island with?
Tatsu24: Christian Slater. Did you hear that Winona Rider told Entertainment Weekly that Heathers 2 is in the works, and Christian Slater will make an "Obi Wan-type" appearance? I would love that.
trixie360: OMG, totally! If you could be any video game character, who would it be?
Tatsu24: Cloud, from FF VII.
trixie360: What's the worst food you've ever eaten?
Tatsu24: The first time I tried to make chicken soup, it was freaking awful. I'm a good cook but man, this stuff was blech. Toxic waste in a pot. I haven't made chicken soup since, and that was over 11 years ago.
Freebird!
trixie360: What's the first video game you ever played?
Tatsu24: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
trixie360: I'll ask the questions here. What's the last book you read?
Tatsu24: Night by Elie Wiesel. If you're interested in Holocaust literature, this book ranks up there with Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl and Primo Levi's If This Is a Man. Night is part of a trilogy of books Wiesel wrote; it's followed by Dawn and Day.
trixie360: If you could go on tour with any band, which would it be?
Tatsu24: They Might Be Giants.
trixie360: What do you predict will be the "next big thing" in gaming?
Tatsu24: I am wicked excited about Project Natal. I cannot wait to see what games developers come up with to take advantage of this technology.
trixie360: What do you think is the best thing about Xbox 360?
Tatsu24: The fact that it is the hub of my entertainment system. Every other week, a bunch of friends come over and we pop a DVD in the console or watch something via Netflix. My son spends a lot of time gaming, and it's awesome that we can game together because the Xbox makes it so easy.
trixie360: What is the Xbox 360 Achievement that was hardest to get?
Tatsu24: Not an achievement per se, but completing Freebird on Guitar Hero® II was a major accomplishment for me. I remember literally jumping for joy and then running downstairs to announce my geekery.
trixie360: FREEBIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD! What would you like to be doing in ten years?
Tatsu24: I would like to be in an even better position to positively impact the Xbox support process. I love working with and helping people and I can't imagine ever leaving the gaming industry. From support to dev, it's a fascinating place to be. I'd also like to become a more skilled photographer. I don't want it to be a source of income, but I do want to get past the professional-amateur status.
Interview by TriXie
