Featured Member November 2023: guitarzombie

[Splain | 2,571]

Thanks @guitarzombie!

 

Tell us about your username and profile pic!
I'm really terrible with usernames.  Ive never liked any one Ive had, even going back to the AOL days.  So I combined two things I love.  Zombies (Really George Romero's trilogy) and guitar.  Of course my profile pic is my favorite movie of all time Dawn of the Dead, which has been my favorite since 1996.  Anytime I need a logo, or can create something in a game, I use their logo.

Nice, any favorite non-Romero zombie movies?
Oh jeez, that's hard!  I have so many.  I also love cheesy action and B-movies, The first ones that come to mind are Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween, Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Dick Tracy, Commando, Predator.  Since I'm a big MST3k fans, a lot of the episodes I love are movies I would love too.  The Creeping Terror, Manos the Hands of Fate.  For non-MST3k bad movies, Troll 2, The Room, Samurai Cop, etc.  Theres too many.

How many guitars do you have? Which one is your Ol' Reliable?
I think about 14?  The problem is they're all different or rare in some way.  The one I use the most is a PRS Modern Eagle II.

What's your dream guitar?
I have all the guitars I could ever want.  I have some pretty weird and rare ones, including a 90th HAM Ibanez Jem, a Hello Kitty guitar, and A Moridira Hurricane LTD 2.  Thats a guitar one of my favorite guitarists Jason Becker played and they're incredibly rare.  Even the same color!  I got it on ebay for $75 in like 1999.  Ive had offers to sell it but I would never.  I also own an incredibly rare instrument called a "SynthAxe" which is just a midi controller.  They made less than 100.

How did you come across NA/VGS for the first time?
Jeez, I'm trying to remember.  I was ALWAYS a huge fan of Nintendo, but I never got into communities.  I sold all my NES stuff I had as a kid but my friends started buying them back for fun, and I noticed how much better I played on real hardware, instead of the emulator.  So I started buying back games and thought I would buy some weirder ones I knew of that I never had, like Shatterhand.  I probably came across NA doing research on rare/weird games.

What's the most overrated game of all time?
Controversial opinion.  The Legend of Zelda.  I never had it as a kid.  I played and beat it for the first time way later in life.  I thought the game was great but it's incredibly cryptic.  I beat it without any help/guides etc.  But I think all the love for it is pure nostalgia, instead of the actual game.

Most UNDERrated game?
Zombie Nation, easily.  I don't know why people complain about this game.  The music is cool, its visually awesome looking and its pretty easy.  There was a point contest on here and I think some people realized how fun and cool of a game it really was.  When I first saw it in the early 2000s as a rom, I didn't even think it was a real released NES game!

What are your top 5 favorite NES games? GB games?
Maniac Mansion is always #1.  Zombie Nation #2.  The others that come to mind, Dick Tracy, Knight Riders and maybe the original Super Mario Bros.  For Gameboy, its been so long I can't even really remember, so I may be forgetting something.  In some order I remember really liking Hammerin' Harry, Mega Man V, Spuds Adventure, Avenging Spirit and Trip World.  Those are all games I was really impressed by visually and it was almost hard to believe they were GB games.  Yeah I know they are all expensive but those are what I remember.  I actually thought Links Awakening was incredible too, after calling the original Zelda overrated :).

What makes a game "good?"
This one is really tough haha.  I think it depends on the person but for me I think its a mix of originally, how nice it looks and plays, as well as difficulty.  You don't want a game too easy, but not a game you have to memorize every instance of it, like a Battletoads.  I'm trying to think what all the games I love have in common and I can't really think of why haha.  I also love really bad games too, like for NES, Waynes World, Terminator, Swamp Thing, Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.  Maybe I'm not the best person to ask? 

What's the best way to play video games?
Honestly, with friends!  I just hung out with some of my HS friends, we loaded up MAME and found some random arcade roms and laughed for 4 hours.

What's your favorite/least favorite arcade game?
My favorite arcade game is probably Final Fight.  Every time I see it somewhere I MUST beat it.  Other ones are the original Contra and Tekken Tag.  I also loved Lucky and Wild as well as Arm Champs 2 as a kid but you can't really play them the same way in MAME.  Can't go wrong with the original TMNT/Simpsons games either.  But as for money, I've def spent the most with Tekken Tag.  We used to be able to leave school for lunch in High School and there was a pool hall a block away.  I was there every day for lunch as well as on Friday nights.  My record for wins in a row was 42 and the people I was playing against stopped playing me, so I could beat the game, and they could end up playing each other haha.   I don't know if I can think of any arcade games I really hated, but I REALLY hate the SNES port of Pit Fighter, so if its anything like the arcade, Ill choose that one haha.

What are the best/worst trends you see in modern gaming?
I honestly don't play a lot of modern games.  I would say I have only played maybe 40 games that have been released after 2000?  That includes those 8bit inspired games like Cyber shadow.  The only things I can think of are grindy achievements, and playing online with people.  The only 'new' game I've played since Doom Eternal was Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and its purely a multiplayer game.  People are annoying with tea bagging, or playing like they're in some e-sports competition with their teams using head sets, crush your team of randoms and then tell you how trash you are.  Its frustrating.

What do you do when you're not playing games?
Now that I have all the NES/GB games I really want, I've spent more time with guitar stuff.  I've written some books on a particular guitar player and do videos about him, teaching how his songs are played.  They're pretty tough, especially since how he plays is very unconventional, so I do a lot of transcribing.  Its more like detective work, or figuring out a puzzle.  I also have been going to a lot of zombie conventions after meeting someone who's a talent agent for a lot of actors from those movies.  Its incredible to talk to and know some of these people that to me, are huge celebrities.  The little girl from Night of the Living Dead (Kyra Schon) just followed me on instagram haha.  Wild.

Who's the guitarist you've been writing about?
Allan Holdsworth.  He's a jazz guy.

How do you store your games?
I only do cart only.  So I store my high end stuff on a shelf.  Anything else I have in a drawer.  My Gameboy stuff I have in one of those folders that hold trading cards.  I forgot where I heard about that but I thought it was a great idea!  I have some other games (GBA/N64) but they're very few and just strewn about haha.

Where do you live?
Long Island.  Love NYC.

Does anyone actually say "fuhgeddaboudit?"
Not that I know of.  Thats more of a Brooklyn thing.

Favorite movie/book/album/TV show/pizza topping?
I already talked about my favorite movie.  As for book, I hate reading, so I can't say.  Even though I've written a couple.  My favorite TV show will always be MST3k.  As an italian from NYC I have VERY strong feelings about pizza toppings.  With that I'm a hardcore traditionalist, and when I'm at a pizza place, its always regular.  BUT, if I get Dominos which I did with my friends yesterday, I usually get extra cheese and sausage.

Is there a "best" pizza place in NYC?
I haven't tried them ALL, but for me ABSOLUTELY.  Branchinellis out east on Long Island, in Hauppauge.  When I was in HS, my friend Skip and I would always get a Sicilian from a place Ginos, it was our favorite.  Years later when he moved away, he called me and said there was a place better than Ginos.  I was skeptical but I had it and it blew me away.  I rant about it all the time and every person I've taken there or has had it on my recommendation realized I wasn't kidding!

Any other "must eats" from your neck of NYC?
Bagels, Bacon Egg and Cheese sandwiches, pretty much anything from a deli.  NYC is blessed with having incredible food so practically anything is good.

[Splain | 2,571]

June 2022: Estil
July 2022: RH
August 2022: Brickman
September 2022: Code Monkey
October 2022: OptOut
November 2022: Lynda Monica
December 2022: a3quit4s
January 2023: Mr. Wunderful
February 2023: G-Type
March 2023:  Link
April 2023: Tabonga
May 2023: Renmauzo
June 2023: Sumez
July 2023: DarkTone
August 2023: Fox

September 2023: TDIRunner

October 2023: DefaultGen

[DefaultGen | 5,413]

41 minutes ago, Splain said:

What makes a game "good?"

You don't want a game too easy, but not a game you have to memorize every instance of it, like a Battletoads

Excuse me, this website is for Clinger Winger warriors who want to memorize stupid old video games

[Splain | 2,571]

I looked up the SynthAxe and now I want one. There's also some pretty bonkers Holdsworth stuff on SynthAxe.

[guitarzombie | 924]

Its flattering to be asked, I just dont know why anyone would want to read about my nonsense haha.

[guitarzombie | 924]

32 minutes ago, DefaultGen said:

Excuse me, this website is for Clinger Winger warriors who want to memorize stupid old video games

You know me, I like a good challenge.  We all know how 'overrated' some games difficulties are, like Contra/Castlevania and some others like Silver Surfer, which I love arent nearly as bad as people say.  But theres a small category of games that basically require a disgusting amount of time/memorization to complete that the balance of fun/response to the challenges is dwarfed by the idea of playing thru to a point, getting a LITTLE bit farther, and having to memorize a sequence, to do it all over again.  Ikari Warriors, Battletoads, SHMUPS like Star Force all come to mind.

[Link | 2,714]

7 hours ago, guitarzombie said:

Its flattering to be asked, I just dont know why anyone would want to read about my nonsense haha.

Same. But so what. We enjoy it regardless. I would edit mine if I could though. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by Link

[Brickman | 3,994]

Great read. I like these because they add a bit of personality behind the people posting. You get to know people  

[Splain | 2,571]

20 minutes ago, Link said:

Same. But so what. We enjoy it regardless. I would edit mine if I could though. 

Yeah it would be good if people could edit their own interviews somehow, if you want to change something just let me know

[Link | 2,714]

4 minutes ago, Splain said:

Yeah it would be good if people could edit their own interviews somehow, if you want to change something just let me know

I just would have been more succinct in some parts.

[a3quit4s | 4,103]

Heyyy I was just visiting my in laws over in Nesconset over the thanksgiving holiday! Definitely had to check out Retro Source in Farmingville and Game On in Miller Place and Smithtown. Retro Source is incredible if you haven’t been 

[guitarzombie | 924]

1 hour ago, a3quit4s said:

Heyyy I was just visiting my in laws over in Nesconset over the thanksgiving holiday! Definitely had to check out Retro Source in Farmingville and Game On in Miller Place and Smithtown. Retro Source is incredible if you haven’t been 

Ah yes Game On!  They're pretty expensive, but their games were incredibly clean.  I forgot the owners name, its been years,  Haven't been to any stores in a LONG time but I was not familiar with Retro Source.  My spot was usually VGTP.

1 hour ago, Link said:

I just would have been more succinct in some parts.

I kept that in mind.  I didn't want to write a novel.

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

1 minute ago, guitarzombie said:

I didn't want to write a novel.

Oh boy, Mine'll be a doozie if I ever get picked for one of these

[Splain | 2,571]

55 minutes ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Oh boy, Mine'll be a doozie if I ever get picked for one of these

Noted. We'll just give you like 2 questions

[Brickman | 3,994]

1 hour ago, Splain said:

Noted. We'll just give you like 2 questions

What’s your username and where do you live 

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

35 minutes ago, Brickman said:

What’s your username and where do you live 

[T-Pac | 7,560]

12 hours ago, Link said:

I just would have been more succinct in some parts.

10 hours ago, guitarzombie said:

I kept that in mind.  I didn't want to write a novel.

I was about to come in here and say I wished these interviews were longer, though!**

@guitarzombie I wanna hear more about zombie conventions and guitar tutorials and how your favorite NES games are all the obscure ones that nobody else ever mentions!

 

**even for @ZeldaFreak - it might take a few days to finish reading your answers, but it would be worth it lol.

[T-Pac]

[a3quit4s | 4,103]

I just went back and read mine cause I felt like reed was asking me questions for like a week straight haha

[guitarzombie | 924]

29 minutes ago, T-Pac said:

I was about to come in here and say I wished these interviews were longer, though!**

@guitarzombie I wanna hear more about zombie conventions and guitar tutorials and how your favorite NES games are all the obscure ones that nobody else ever mentions!

 

**even for @ZeldaFreak - it might take a few days to finish reading your answers, but it would be worth it lol.

[T-Pac]

Haha thanks.  If other people actually care, I'll add to it here in a post.

D'oh I just realized I forgot to mention "Kid Dracula" for Gameboy as one of the games that really impressed me!  How could I forget, sheesh.

Edited November 29, 2023 by guitarzombie

[Reed Rothchild | 9,548]

12 hours ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Oh boy, Mine'll be a doozie if I ever get picked for one of these

We'll get to staff someday

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

Another great interview! I always enjoy reading these.

[DarkTone | 986]

Great job!

[ZeldaFreak | 3,600]

On 11/29/2023 at 10:35 AM, Reed Rothchild said:

We'll get to staff someday

Actually, that gives me an idea, at some point you should interview Splain and have Splain interview you. Those would be a fun couple of ones to read, haha.

[Brickman | 3,994]

1 hour ago, ZeldaFreak said:

Actually, that gives me an idea, at some point you should interview Splain and have Splain interview you. Those would be a fun couple of ones to read, haha.

No I have dibs on Reed. He has at least 200 questions to answer 

[twiztor | 851]

i'm afraid if i get picked for one of these that it would be boring to read. so many successful, interesting people on here! 

@guitarzombie good read. thanks! how do you feel about Romero's zombie flicks AFTER the trilogy?