Great interview, very black and white-ish. 
Congrats, Mr. Black.
Congrats, Mr. Black.
February CS: Luck o' the Irish Patriot
Interview | February 7, 2011 10:54 pm
By Minioger
Over the last week or two I had the opportunity to chat with one of XBA's newer members (July 2010? Seriously?) Irish Patriot X. He was kind enough to answer some really deep questions that this staff writer came up with and wrote on napkins with crayon....or something like that. Without further ado, here's the debacle that occurred:
Minioger: I'm lame and start out with super easy questions that I don't have to put a lot of thought into....so tell us a bit about yourself:
Irish Patriot: Well my actual name is Brandon Black which some of you already know. I've been playing video games since my grandma bought me my first NES. It's been an amazing ride to see how video games have changed.
Minioger: That's right! You are Mr Black....my last name means White so I'm Mr White! OH this interview is going to ROCK! I can put my questions in black and your answers in white and.....no one will see them unless they highlight it or quote it. DAMN! Err on a related topic... Who is your favorite character from Reservoir Dogs?
Irish Patriot: My favorite character would have to be Mr. White for two reasons. First because I would have done the same thing he did at the end of the movie (if you haven't seen it you need to). Second because Harvey Keitel is a BAMF and played the role perfect.
Minioger: Wow, good answer, Mr White....I think anyone named Mr. White is a BAMF..... Okay back to the topic at hand, so you joined in July 2010, how did you find out about us at XBA?
Irish Patriot: I was on 360a one day and I saw that someone had a gamercard with a state ranking in the forums, so I clicked it and found XBA. I joined and started sifting through the forums and found a close-knit community that I wanted to be a part of.
Minioger: Oh wow, that sounds like a great site, I should join....oh you were talking about XBA! Sweet! So you mentioned before that your grandma got you an NES, how long have you been a gamer, and what have been some of your favorites over the years?
Irish Patriot: I've been a gamer for about 20 years. My dad is the one that got me into gaming. I had an NES but when the SNES came out my dad bought it for me for Christmas and it came with Zelda: A Link to the Past. I played through half that game on Christmas day and was so excited to tell him about it but when I did he already knew everything. He had opened it a week before Christmas and beat the game then re-wrapped it and gave it to me!
It's hard to pick favorite games but Secret of Mana (SNES), Illusion of GAIA (SNES), Tomb Raider (PS1), Final Fantasy VII (PS1), Bioshock (360), and Fallout 3 (360) would be my pick. Oh and I can't forget about Oregon Trail, theres nothing like going to the computer lab back in the day and busting out that huge floppy to shoot some deer!
Minioger: Oregon Trail was the BOMB! Seriously name a game that has a worse way to die: You have just died of dysentery.....Fantastic....Beat that Gears! Did you know they have Oregon Trail on the WP7 phone with achievements? What do you think about the new Windows phone and earning achievements that way, is it just a fad or do you plan to get one in the future?
Irish Patriot: Yeah I heard Oregon Trail was on there and I freaked out! I will definitely get a WP7 in the future, not just for the achievements though. I hear its just an all around great phone. As for earning achievements on a cell phone, I think its far from a fad. I believe Microsoft knows how big achievements are for some folks and they will continue to create innovative ways for us to earn them. I don't think they created the phone just for achievements but it's a huge plus and they know it.
Minioger: You lost me at "not just for the achievements." But yeah I do hope its a great phone if I can pick one up. So you've gamed since Oregon Trail at least, but are there any games coming out this year that you want to get, 360 or otherwise?
Irish Patriot: The game that really grabbed my attention and I'm looking forward to this year is RAGE. It has a Fallout look to it with a touch of Bioshock. It has a wasteland like Fallout and enemies that seem pretty psycho as the splicers do in Bioshock.
Minioger: id Software and Bethesda, hopefully it will be a fantastic game. Okay I've been meaning to ask and I never feel like looking in PureEvil's thread about how people got their gamertag, you know since he stole my thread
, but you aren't like a car bombing member of the IRA are you?Irish Patriot: IRA, haha goodness no! Well the IRISH part in my gamertag is because I'm Irish plain and simple. I chose the PATRIOT part because I have an obsession with John Adams and him being one of the greatest patriots this country has seen (in my opinion) I put patriot in my tag. Here's a quote from him that gets me through the day: "Oh posterity, you will never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope that you will make a good use of it, for if you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it."
Minioger: Wow, that's actually a really cool background for the tag. JA was the first ambassador to Great Britian, what a job that had to be. So what do you do for fun that isn't video games?
Irish Patriot: I really don't have any hobbies besides gaming. I like to watch and play basketball even though I suck at it. I take my son down to our neighborhood basketball court and play him one vs. one all the time. He beats me every time. Hes almost four years old, that's how bad I suck lol. I also like to buy stocks online just for fun. I don't really take it seriously. My best one is actually Take-Two Interactive. I bought it almost a year ago at 8.20 a share and last I checked it's at 13.83.
Minioger: Can't beat a 4 year old at basketball? Maybe I should leave this answer out of the interview, that's pretty bad.....Oh darn, left it in.... Okay so no hobbies besides gaming and spending some time with your kid (good answer by the way). So what sort of job do you do, or do you go to school?
Irish Patriot: I have only had three jobs. I worked at Mcdonalds when I was 15. As soon as I turned 16 I went to work at Walgreens. Started as cashier then photolab manager then I became a pharmacy technician by taking a test and becoming state certified and after that was assistant store manager. After seven years with them I quit and went to work for an HEB store heading their Drug Store/GM department. HEB is kinda like a Walmart but way better. It's family owned and only in Texas and Mexico. As for school I'm finishing my Human Resource degree with University of Phoenix. It's mostly online but there is also a campus where I live.
Minioger: University of Phoenix has like 200 campuses or some ridiculous number like that. Only one of them is in Phoenix. Go figure. Okay so I've been trying to figure out a question that will truly let everyone know what kind of guy you are. I believe I have that question.... What is your favorite jelly bean flavor?
Irish Patriot: The best jelly bean flavor ever is Buttered Popcorn by Jelly Belly. I'm salivating just thinking about it...mmmmmm
Minioger: Drooling means this interview is OVER! But buttered popcorn does really say a lot about your character! Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.
Voting for the March CS starts NOW! Shoot a PM and just try to guess which staff writer will harass the next winner with
Keywords: Community Spotlight, CS, Irish Patriot
