Problem Gamer

About “Problem Gamer” (The Show):

I love video games, sometimes a little too much. “Problem Gamer” is my first stab at hosting a series on video games (if not the best stab, as should be apparent from the videos.) It’s something I want to do, but I’m hoping it will be at least somewhat entertaining and informational for you, too.

It’s just about hardcore gaming as a lifestyle: the games I play wayyy too much, the crappy games I end up buying habitually, and why they keep me coming back for more. It’s mostly supposed to be funny, and a little informative (as in, non-MMO spectrum games, for a change).

There are enough parodies of MMO’s and the people who play them, I’m pretty sure. I honestly don’t give a crap about MMO’s–haven’t touched the things for years. The many, MANY other varieties of habit-forming game don’t get nearly as much attention… not anymore, at least. So, let’s fill some of that void with tales of the odd,  the obscure, and the downright freakishly-adored games that populate gaming lore.

You can help me by leaving some constructive criticism… and maybe a positive comment, too.

About The Problem Gamer (Me):

So, I’m Katie, 27 years old, primary occupation: Gamer. In 2010 I graduated from the University of Western Ontario. I hold a college diploma in Computer Programming (though they call it “Computer Programmer”) which I received in 2005. I’ve held a lot of jobs and don’t know what I “want to do” yet–but I hope to find it both in and outside the hours of 9-5.

On the internet, I have contributed reviews and articles at Siliconera.com, where I helmed the Retro Reviews section for a while; at a blog called “ButtonSmasher”, hosted by Pricegrabber.com, where I wrote for a year; and more currently, at About.com in the “PSP Kids’ Games” blog, which is a fine gig. I used to run a site called “The Sega Gamer’s Guide”, which started on free Tripod servers and moved to a subdomain at Synbios.net, from June 1998 to sometime in 2003 or so; it focused on reviews and game media, spurred by my Sega fangirl-ism. The final design was the sweetest I could imagine in basic HTML, crafted in the classic Sega colour scheme of blue and black.

I got my NES for Christmas in 1989, and it was the start of a beeeyuuuutiful friendship. I can now proudly claim (after a deeeeeep breath) the Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Game Gear, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Boy, Playstation, Sega Saturn, Sega CD, Nintendo 64, Sega Dreamcast, Gamecube, Playstation 2, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP, Wii, Xbox360, 3DS, and Playstation 3 to be among the gaming systems I own (or jointly own), in addition to the PC I’m using to write this.

Hope I’m not missing any….. just kidding, that’s it.

FAQ

Did you code/design/write this site yourself?

Yes! …Well, based on a WordPress CSS template called Sandbox. I overwrote a lot of the default elements to give you the design you see now. The old design in blue and grey was called Andreas04, which I had nothing to do with.

I hope you like the new one better, anyhow!

What kind of hardware do you use for the videos?

The video cam I have now is Kodak Zx1 the Sony Bloggie, a nice little HD pocket camcorder in the under $200 class. The audio is world’s better than the Zx1′s ever was. Depending on the power to your USB ports, such cams may need an external power source–in my case, it’s a Rockband USB Hub. I should upgrade all this at some point, now that I have a job again…

Then there’s a cheap USB mic for narration, a lot of lights (cheap cams don’t perform well in low light!), and of course a computer–an Intel 4 desktop with a 2-core, 2.8gHz CPU and 1 Gig now 2 WHOLE GIGS of RAM, which I was so fortunate as to get from the last place I worked.. free.
I then proceeded to buy a 256MB video card (~US$60), because I wasn’t at all convinced the 96MB integrated video would do the trick (and it was about the best my computer could handle).

I have a Magnavox DVD Recorder for recording game footage, which is just the greatest thing ever (no more emulators)!! These recorders have been discontinued for years–I think mine was made in about 2006. I bought it refurbished about a year ago, and it still performs great. You can get one for under $90  from a surplus store.

Some general facts & references about Problem Gamer, so I don’t have to keep including them in every episode:

• “Kayenmon” Logo design partly inspired by Josh Crawford
• Intro music: “Sabre Dance” from Super Bonk (Hudson, SNES)

A BIG thanks to the developers of the following software, without which the show would not exist:

• Camstudio Screen capture and codec (http://camstudio.org/)
• Audacity Sound editor (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/)
• Virtual Dub Video Post-processing (http://virtualdub.org/)
• Super C (http://www.erightsoft.com)
• ZSNES (zsnes.com)
• ePSXe (epsxe.com)
• Nestopia (http://nestopia.sourceforge.net/)
• Gens32 (http://gens32.emubase.de/)
• StepMania (http://www.stepmania.com)
• WordPress (oh come on, you can find it from here

Special Thanks:

• David Kwon/Kwonstein on YT and part of ArtificialIdiocy on GT
• Casey Robinson/CidMcTab on YT

You guys prove there’s too much good in the world.

Some shout-outs I’d like to give to people who’ve helped me along the way:

• My family, especially Mike
• All the kind staff and g1s at Screwattack.com, especially:
  • DarkLinkDude77 (YT: goldenreciver7 ),
  • Vkmies (YT and SA)
  • Sagat_Belmont
  •  Wandering_Swordsman, and..
  • Silent_Protagonist ♥♥♥
• Tom Raymond and Andrew Lardi of Wapeach

…and a BIG THANKS! to everyone who subscribes to my Youtube channel! I appreciate it.

If I’ve missed anybody, you know who you are. Thanks everyone!

I’ll be adding more to this page as the questions roll in!… or not =P