Well ladies and gentlemen, the Community Spotlight is back. After a bit of a hiatus, we should be back to having these spotlights out each month. This month I interviewed xxTime - or as he is known around the site - AJ. I figured it to be fitting considering his persistence helped bring the Community Spotlight back - and it will stay back!
Mini: First off tell us a bit about yourself.
AJ: Well to get things rolling; my name is AJ (obviously), I live in a suburb of Chicago and have my whole life, and I've been playing video games since I got a new Super Nintendo back in the day. Oh and my girlfriend of over a year a half is on the site as well and her XbA login and gamertag is Kimsu87.
Mini: Note to self: don't hit on Kimsu87.....kidding! I got my wife to join the site as well, I usually hog the computer though so she doesn't post very much. How did you find out about XboxAmerica?
AJ: Well it all started around sometime mid February when I was looking for a gamerscore leader board of sorts. I had seen some forums around the internet where people had their gamercards as their sigs and I thought that was pretty cool. I was a little apprehensive about joining such forums because my gamerscore was only about 9,500 at the time and all the other members of the sites had about 50,000 or 60,000 and up. So anyways after going through countless websites I finally stumbled onto Stallion83's personal website/blog and his list of Xbox related websites had Xbox America in it so I thought I'd check it out. After looking around a bit I noticed that people here seemed different than other forum related sites so I thought I'd sign up and maybe become an active member someday... And that's how everything got started
Mini: I always like finding out how people joined the site, and if I remember correctly you used to use your gamertag as your profile name - xxTime. Where in the world did you come up with that gamertag?
AJ: Well I've had a few over the years but this is the one I've stuck with the longest. It's a st00pid story really but 3 friends and I use to game very competitively in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for a website Gamebattles.com. So we thought we would make the dumbest possible gamertags and came up with: XxPenut, XxButer, XxJelly, annnnd XxTime. Ever since then it just kind of stuck and I've been known as Time ever since.
Mini: Lol, oh man, that's great, you guys had to look like tools to the other teams...I bet this was your mascot:
Oh man, sorry - I couldn't help that one - I love that stupid banana. Ok seriously though, obviously you enjoyed CoD4 as you played it on gamebattles, but what would you say is your favorite 360 game?
AJ: I have a couple all time favorites... Multiplayer would have to be Halo 3 because it's something I can do and not care about stats (unlike CoD
) and when I just want to play single player I would have to pick Fallout 3 because that game is just unbelievable and a blast to play.
Mini: Ahh yes, Fallout 3 - I've heard a rumor I might be getting the Game of the Year edition for Christmas, if thats true I will see how good it really is! When you do play Halo 3 or Fallout 3 (do you like threes or something?) what type of gaming setup do you have?
AJ: At home I have a 42in Philips 1080p LCD Tv which I use to do all my gaming on along with a gaming chair and a 2 seat leather couch that I use for friends. I don't sit that far away so I had to buy a chair, lol. As of November I had to move my Xbox to my girlfriend's house because there was no way I would get any of my papers and homework done for school with the gamerscore obsession calling! So right now I play on a 60in LCD Tv which is in my girlfriend's basement. She likes to game with me usually so it works out great. I plan on moving my box back to my house in a couple months when school lets out!
Mini: Ahh yes, school, the thing that keeps you away from gaming.....Well I know we have played a bit together and I have seen your gamerscore go up quite a bit since you have joined the site, but what type of gamer would you consider yourself? Achievement whore, completionist, casual gamer, hardcore gamer, something else entirely?
AJ: Well it first started out when I got my 360 about 2 years ago and I only planned on playing single player games because I had no idea how big the online community was for XBL. Once I used up my free gold trials that every Xbox has I was hooked and had to sign up. For about a year I had no idea how important achievements would become to me when I would play a game but as of joining this site I got hooked on achievements (and SOME) completions because I can't have YOU making me look bad!!! So I've put on roughly 45,000g in about 6-8 months and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. But I digress, I would consider myself an achievement whore definitely with a dash of completionist in there.
Mini: I have no idea what you are talking about, completionist, psssh.... So like many other members who have joined, gamerscore means more to you now than before. Any personal gamerscore goals we should know about? 100k maybe?
AJ: Oh man don't even get me started. But since you asked I guess I'll tell... My gamerscore goal as of this year was to make it to 40,000g, I think I've far surpassed that as of right now and I think that my overall goal would be to reach 100k by next years end. I seem to be running out of waffles lately so people need to hurry along in the Waffle Order!!! Once I get 100,000g I'm sure I won't stop there, as my girlfriend says, "you're just going to want to keep going". So yea, I guess that about sums it up.
Mini: Ok so switching gears for a moment.... So, I have to ask, can I have your car....er I mean how did you get into cars? You have some very nice pics in your profile... (ha ha I said switching gears and talked about a car! Oh the punnage)
AJ: Yea, it's been a long time coming with that car. A very long work in progress indeed. I've had that car for about 6 years now and it started as a pile of crap. My uncle has a bodyshop and I've worked there for about 7 years painting and restoring cars so I guess that's what got me interested in cars. You can have it if you want, by the way, but you'll have to fight Livewire for it because we have an ongoing trade for all of his games... I personally just want My Horse and Me 2 but he's not willing to part with that game yet for some reason. Also, thanks for the compliments about the nice pics in my profile, the car started out red and I added the black stripe to the hood, then I just got bored and painted the whole thing and airbrushed some silver stripes. I like this look better but have a few crazy plans for it if I ever get the money!
Mini: Well if I ever run across a copy of My Horse & Me 2 to trade you I will let you know....I think I have enough time for one more question. That was a nice CS you did with Spider....are you after my job? Or are you still mad about me giving you all the high cards in Gin Rummy?
AJ: Umm I'm not after your job but I am out to get you, you high card givin' bastard!!! For anyone who hasn't played Gin Rummy yet, DON'T; especially not with Mini he's not very considerate! No but in all seriousness I just wanted to get the Community Spotlight up and going again because it was something that I would look forward to every month and when they just stopped it made me sad, so I took things into my own hands and got them rolling again.
Mini: Nothing wrong with that at all, hey look it got us motivated enough to get the CS rolling again didn't it? Well that's it for this month's edition of the Community Spotlight. If you have any other questions for AJ, feel free to post them here as I'm sure he would frame this article and put it on his wall if that were possible - so he'll probably check it consistently and would be glad to answer any questions, especially any questions about the cards I gave him in Gin Rummy!
Mini: First off tell us a bit about yourself.
AJ: Well to get things rolling; my name is AJ (obviously), I live in a suburb of Chicago and have my whole life, and I've been playing video games since I got a new Super Nintendo back in the day. Oh and my girlfriend of over a year a half is on the site as well and her XbA login and gamertag is Kimsu87.
Mini: Note to self: don't hit on Kimsu87.....kidding! I got my wife to join the site as well, I usually hog the computer though so she doesn't post very much. How did you find out about XboxAmerica?
AJ: Well it all started around sometime mid February when I was looking for a gamerscore leader board of sorts. I had seen some forums around the internet where people had their gamercards as their sigs and I thought that was pretty cool. I was a little apprehensive about joining such forums because my gamerscore was only about 9,500 at the time and all the other members of the sites had about 50,000 or 60,000 and up. So anyways after going through countless websites I finally stumbled onto Stallion83's personal website/blog and his list of Xbox related websites had Xbox America in it so I thought I'd check it out. After looking around a bit I noticed that people here seemed different than other forum related sites so I thought I'd sign up and maybe become an active member someday... And that's how everything got started
Mini: I always like finding out how people joined the site, and if I remember correctly you used to use your gamertag as your profile name - xxTime. Where in the world did you come up with that gamertag?
AJ: Well I've had a few over the years but this is the one I've stuck with the longest. It's a st00pid story really but 3 friends and I use to game very competitively in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for a website Gamebattles.com. So we thought we would make the dumbest possible gamertags and came up with: XxPenut, XxButer, XxJelly, annnnd XxTime. Ever since then it just kind of stuck and I've been known as Time ever since.
Mini: Lol, oh man, that's great, you guys had to look like tools to the other teams...I bet this was your mascot:
Oh man, sorry - I couldn't help that one - I love that stupid banana. Ok seriously though, obviously you enjoyed CoD4 as you played it on gamebattles, but what would you say is your favorite 360 game?
AJ: I have a couple all time favorites... Multiplayer would have to be Halo 3 because it's something I can do and not care about stats (unlike CoD
) and when I just want to play single player I would have to pick Fallout 3 because that game is just unbelievable and a blast to play.Mini: Ahh yes, Fallout 3 - I've heard a rumor I might be getting the Game of the Year edition for Christmas, if thats true I will see how good it really is! When you do play Halo 3 or Fallout 3 (do you like threes or something?) what type of gaming setup do you have?
AJ: At home I have a 42in Philips 1080p LCD Tv which I use to do all my gaming on along with a gaming chair and a 2 seat leather couch that I use for friends. I don't sit that far away so I had to buy a chair, lol. As of November I had to move my Xbox to my girlfriend's house because there was no way I would get any of my papers and homework done for school with the gamerscore obsession calling! So right now I play on a 60in LCD Tv which is in my girlfriend's basement. She likes to game with me usually so it works out great. I plan on moving my box back to my house in a couple months when school lets out!
Mini: Ahh yes, school, the thing that keeps you away from gaming.....Well I know we have played a bit together and I have seen your gamerscore go up quite a bit since you have joined the site, but what type of gamer would you consider yourself? Achievement whore, completionist, casual gamer, hardcore gamer, something else entirely?
AJ: Well it first started out when I got my 360 about 2 years ago and I only planned on playing single player games because I had no idea how big the online community was for XBL. Once I used up my free gold trials that every Xbox has I was hooked and had to sign up. For about a year I had no idea how important achievements would become to me when I would play a game but as of joining this site I got hooked on achievements (and SOME) completions because I can't have YOU making me look bad!!! So I've put on roughly 45,000g in about 6-8 months and don't plan on stopping anytime soon. But I digress, I would consider myself an achievement whore definitely with a dash of completionist in there.
Mini: I have no idea what you are talking about, completionist, psssh.... So like many other members who have joined, gamerscore means more to you now than before. Any personal gamerscore goals we should know about? 100k maybe?
AJ: Oh man don't even get me started. But since you asked I guess I'll tell... My gamerscore goal as of this year was to make it to 40,000g, I think I've far surpassed that as of right now and I think that my overall goal would be to reach 100k by next years end. I seem to be running out of waffles lately so people need to hurry along in the Waffle Order!!! Once I get 100,000g I'm sure I won't stop there, as my girlfriend says, "you're just going to want to keep going". So yea, I guess that about sums it up.
Mini: Ok so switching gears for a moment.... So, I have to ask, can I have your car....er I mean how did you get into cars? You have some very nice pics in your profile... (ha ha I said switching gears and talked about a car! Oh the punnage)
AJ: Yea, it's been a long time coming with that car. A very long work in progress indeed. I've had that car for about 6 years now and it started as a pile of crap. My uncle has a bodyshop and I've worked there for about 7 years painting and restoring cars so I guess that's what got me interested in cars. You can have it if you want, by the way, but you'll have to fight Livewire for it because we have an ongoing trade for all of his games... I personally just want My Horse and Me 2 but he's not willing to part with that game yet for some reason. Also, thanks for the compliments about the nice pics in my profile, the car started out red and I added the black stripe to the hood, then I just got bored and painted the whole thing and airbrushed some silver stripes. I like this look better but have a few crazy plans for it if I ever get the money!
Mini: Well if I ever run across a copy of My Horse & Me 2 to trade you I will let you know....I think I have enough time for one more question. That was a nice CS you did with Spider....are you after my job? Or are you still mad about me giving you all the high cards in Gin Rummy?
AJ: Umm I'm not after your job but I am out to get you, you high card givin' bastard!!! For anyone who hasn't played Gin Rummy yet, DON'T; especially not with Mini he's not very considerate! No but in all seriousness I just wanted to get the Community Spotlight up and going again because it was something that I would look forward to every month and when they just stopped it made me sad
, so I took things into my own hands and got them rolling again.Mini: Nothing wrong with that at all, hey look it got us motivated enough to get the CS rolling again didn't it? Well that's it for this month's edition of the Community Spotlight. If you have any other questions for AJ, feel free to post them here as I'm sure he would frame this article and put it on his wall if that were possible - so he'll probably check it consistently and would be glad to answer any questions, especially any questions about the cards I gave him in Gin Rummy!
nice interview
