Name: Caleb

Age: 16

Location: Mississippi, US

How old were you when you got into gaming, and which system did it?
About 3. SNES was my first, I believe.

If different from above, what was the first system you owned?
First system I actually owned myself was a Gameboy Color.

What systems do you currently own?
Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance SP, DS Phat, NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, Wii, and PS2.

What is your favorite system, be it current or retro?
Probably the Gamecube. It was my first "current" console, its controller was molded to fit my hands flawlessly, I invested hundreds, probably thousands of hours into it, and it even doubled as a self-defense weapon. Really, there was nothing to dislike.

A rough estimate of how many games you own?
Roughly 100? Give or take a dozen or so.

What game are you currently playing?
Minecraft, Pokemon Black, and Resident Evil 4 from time to time.

What is your favourite genre, and why?
Either action-adventure or RPG? Pretty standard taste there I guess. I love exploring a wide-open world, being able to go where I want, when I want, and I love that I almost always invest more time into them than any other genre. Tossing 200 hours into an RPG, and knowing that I could still go back and play again without being bored is a great feeling, compared to beating a storyline of a game in 8 hours and feeling like I'll probably not go back to it again. I like getting my money's worth.

What is your favourite game series, and why?
The Legend of Zelda series, I think. Two of my favorite games of all time are in this series, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker. I've spent countless hours on the series as a whole, and with a few exceptions, they all are incredibly fun throughout. Even the much-hated Zelda 2 has its own charm once you get past the fact that it's kind of awful at first. It's incredibly rare that I'm let down by the series, and unlike most other games I play, once I start a Zelda game, I usually devote myself to it until it's finished.

What is your all-time favorite game, and why?
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. It's a very wide-open world with absolutely gorgeous graphics, the gameplay is constantly fun(even the sailing, fuck the haters), and the soundtrack is absolutely stunning. The fact that I mention that speaks mountains, I often don't pay much mind to the soundtrack, my brain just sort of filters it out, but Wind Waker's still sticks with me. It's just amazing.

Who is your favourite developer, and why?
Despite the fact that they turned one of my favorite games into their cash cow, Valve. I guess. They make consistently quality products, they take care of their games, and I think they're the only developer that's yet to make a game I've played without enjoying. Thumbs up to them. Except for the part of them that decided to make TF2 a cash-cow. Middle-fingers up to them.

Give us your most under-rated/under-valued game.
The World Ends With You. It had its flaws, but it was one of the more fun games I've played, had an incredibly cool concept, had some great characters, really sweet sidequests, and the storyline was pretty sweet. But most people I know haven't played it. Guess it's just too...
underground. B)
It's funny because the game takes place in a place called The Underground. It was a pun. You should laugh.

Any platform exclusive you'd like to see make the leap to multiplatform?
I'd really like to be able to play Persona 5 on a console I own, but other than that, I can't think of one off the top of my head.

How about your favorite handheld game?
Pokemon all the way. Most of them.

Any old series you'd like to see revived on current gen platforms?
I'd like to see more 2D Zelda games that actually focus on puzzles more than gimmicks(looking right the fuck at you, Phantom Hourglass), and the classic Mega Man series getting more love would be cool.

Tell us about your most memorable gaming moment, something you're going to tell your grandkids.
Playing Super Smash Bros Brawl with Nintendawg yields a lot of incredibly funny moments. The one that sticks out the most, and has actually received fanart from him, happened when I was Luigi, and he, Olimar. He hits me, sends me flying into a midair wheeled crate that's in the middle of spawning and only half-formed. Me and the crate kind of merge, I guess, cause we become inseperable at this point. The crate, reacting to me "hitting" it, goes sailing back in the direction of the stage for some reason, then I guess it registers that my momentum had me going in the opposite direction, cause Crateweegee then teleports back to the place it spawned and flies off the stage at an incredibly high speed and dies.

Deep thoughts now:
Given the many news reports of people committing horrific acts against other people and then blaming videogames, do you feel that videogames are - in any way, shape or form - responsible for these atrocities, or are there other issues at play?
I don't think video games are responsible for those crimes any more than a scantily dressed woman is responsible for a rape that someone commits upon seeing her. Stupid and trivial things will set off someone with a mental illness, so despite them potentially being a trigger, they aren't to blame, as you can never account for what a mentally ill person will see in things.
And then there are the people who just try to pass the blame off of themselves. These people are squares.

Have you ever found yourself looking at life or the world around you in a different light after playing a videogame, or has a videogame had any influence on how you live your life?
I don't think so. Video games have influenced me emotionally, sure, but I don't think any of them has ever had a truly lasting effect, nothing that's changed my life or anything.

And finally, tell us a strange but true fact about yourself.
My hair and eye color have both changed for no real reason at times. My eyes took on a greenish hue for a couple of weeks a few years back, and my hair changes shades of brown fairly often, it's come pretty close to being red at one point.

Wind Waker fan

I would have thought Caleb would have put something better than what he put for the strange fact.

There is not much else strange about me, aside from the fact that everything I cook turns to metaphorical gold.
It was the first thing I could think of.

Get in my kitchen and make me some gold, woman.

Dude, I can totally identify with the latter. When I let my beard grow out, you can see some reddish-gold areas.

GameCube used as a self-defence