Nickname: Starks
Real Name: Andrew Starkey
Xbox Live: DB Starks
Occupation: White Collar Monkey
City/State: Sydney, New South Wales
I’m fairly sure that my character and personality is reflected in the way I play my games. Never satisfied with coming 2nd, or for that matter 2nd last, the competitive streak I’ve taken in life is reflected in the way I treat my games. Since as long as I can remember, I’ve always played a game to try and ‘clock’ it, and the hours I’ve spent mastering various Warcraft II strategies, or trying to work out how to beat the a dominating Chinese empire in Civ 2 on Deity, or perfecting my BR in Halo borders on the ridiculous. Indeed, it’s only now that I’m starting to get older that I have begun to enjoy my games for the entertainment that they bring. Although competitive, I am pretty easy going, and enjoy a good laugh.
In any case, when I’m not trying to shave that extra second off a lap in PGR3, I like to spend my time reading, working on a particular novel that I don’t think I’ll ever quite finish, learning how to play the guitar (Despite popular belief, Guitar Hero does NOT mean you can play XXY by Rush just because you did it on Hard) and listening to music. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m also a die hard St George Dragons supporter, a Christian and love spending a Saturday night with mates either grabbing dinner, going to live bands or just chilling at a mates house for a few amber beverages and some burnt meat.
What is your most memorable gaming experience?
Too many to mention. Winning my first Halo 4v4 comp with some very close clan mates is a definate highlight. However, winning a Call of Duty 3 tournament at Game1, when 3 of our 4 team had never played it before was pretty sweet.
Where would you be found on a typical Friday night?
Helping out my local church Youth Group, then heading to Game On Interactive for some LAN-ing goodness, or to a mates house for a few drinks and to catch up.
What is your favourite movie?
Serenity
What is your favourite food?
I love pasta in Winters. A good steak and salad during Summer.
What is your favourite drink?
At work - Coffee.
At home - Coffee.
Out and about - Coffee.
My favourite poisons are Reche's off tap and Vodka Red Bulls.
What are your favourite 5 games of all time, and why?
- Halo series : I can't specifically nail down Combat Evolved (Although I love it to bits, especially the NTSC version) or Halo 2 as they've both been pretty big parts of my gaming life. So I wussed out and just said Halo series as I can't split them. I just love the single player (Despite peoples belief, I think it's a solid storyline that doesn't detract from the main feature of the game - Shooting things), the multiplayer is unbelievably complex and entertaining, and the friends I've met through the game is something I'm very grateful of.
- Civilisation II : I still remember sitting and playing this game for hours upon hours upon hours upon hours until my eyes would bleed and I was physically made to go to bed. Addictive, taught me lots about history, and was always something you could sit down to play and enjoy.
- Mario Kart 64 : People will shoot me for suggesting this one, but since I didn't own a SNES I'm justified in my decision. I loved the maps, I loved the fun, I loved the controller, I loved knocking Yoshi off the cliff on Yoshi's valley. One of the Mario franchises best work.
- Project Gotham : Probably the same as Halo in this regard, as I played, own and love all 3 games. My personal favourite was the original, however. Just the way the cars raced, the graphics (For the time), the sounds of the cars - There's nothing like flying down a map in the Porche Carrera and listening to it scream.
- Unreal Tournament GOTYE 99 : One of, if not the best, FPS's of all time. Quake 2 was up there, but Q2 also required a lot of mod downloads for bots etc; UT came with it all in the GOTYE and I loved every minute of it. I remember just playing, and playing and playing it over the net and I couldn't get enough of it. Popping off 5 headshots in a row and hearing M-O-N-S-T-E-R KILL never gets old.
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