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Names: Tanya and Lawrence

Status: Married

Which one of you games? Both

What system(s) do you own? Wii

How often do you game? A few times a month

Fave game to play with others? Bowling and Tennis

Fave game to play with each other? Bowling

Currently playing? Lawrence is using Wii FIT for Yoga

You have one child…how old is she and does she play games? She is almost 3

What kind of games does she like to play? Tennis and bowling (as much as she can for her age)

Do you play together as a family? YES

Are there any concerns that you have as parents regarding video games and your daughter?
I have seen my 8 year old niece and 10 year old nephew go from being super active with the Wii when they first received the Wii as a gift to sitting and playing the game.  They also go outside and do their regular active playtime less.  I know this is a parental issue but the system doesn’t help.  It causes a lot of discipline challenges that were not there before.  My concern is that I may be up against these challenges also by introducing the games to my daughter this early.  On the other side I can also establish boundaries early that will make regulating the time gaming easier.

Would you consider purchasing an Xbox or PS3 now that they have introduced a more family gaming experience with Kinect and Move respectively? Maybe later when Zoë is older.

What do you like about gaming with Tanya? [left blank]

What do you like about gaming with Lawrence?
The excitement of playing and laughing.  Lawrence has a busy lifestyle it’s hard for him to get out of the house after work; it’s nice to get out the Wii and just play.

What DON’T you like about gaming with Tanya? [left blank]

What DON’T you like about gaming with Lawrence?
When Lawrence (and it’s been a while) gets into his Tiger Woods golfing game, you can’t even talk to him.

What has been your most memorable gaming experience?
When we invite people to come over and play as a group.

What has been your most frustrating gaming experience?
When the remotes aren’t working well. (I’m sure it’s a user problem more than a Wii problem)

Fave game of all time?
At this time we don’t have a great variety of games. I haven’t found one yet but if I have to choose it’s Tennis.

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Names: Leah Davis and Adam Jones

Status: Married

Which one of you games?
Adam: Both
Leah: Both

How often do you game?
Adam: About 3-4 times per week
Leah: On average, once a week.

Do you prefer to play online multiplayer or locally?
Adam: locally
Leah: Locally

Do you prefer competitive or cooperative multiplayer?
Adam: Cooperative, but I do like to occasionally kill my team members lol
Leah: I am the sorest loser ever and for the most part I am not the greatest gamer so cooperative.

Fave game to play with others?
Adam: Gears of War
Leah: Rock Band 2

Fave game to play with each other?
Adam: Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings on the Wii
Leah: I am going to have to agree with Adam on this one. We would take turns trying to get through the levels. It was awesome figuring out the puzzles and helping each other out.

Currently playing?
Adam: Rock band 2, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Gears of War
Leah: Rock Band 2

Do you consider yourself to be a hardcore or a casual gamer?
Adam: Casual
Leah: Definitely casual

What do you like about gaming with Leah?
Adam: That she sucks and I’m better ha ha

What do you like about gaming with Adam?
Leah: That he does the stuff in games that I suck at so we can get through levels. And his fabulous singing voice on Rock Band 2.

What DON’T you like about gaming with Leah?
Adam: She gets frustrated really quickly

What DON’T you like about gaming with Adam?
Leah: That he thinks he knows everything about all the games we play and he hogs the microphone in Rock Band 2 LOL

What has been your most memorable gaming experience?
Adam: Playing Wii bowling with Norm and April and watching Leah bowl a glass right off the table ha ha ha good spare!!
Leah: It is a tie between drinking and playing Beatles Rock Band with Adam, Norm, April, Macaroo and Seth in California and singing Whatcha, whatch, whatcha want (Beastie Boys) really loudly, at my Rock band Birthday party when the cops showed up. Talk about perfect timing. I’m just glad it wasn’t F*** the police by NWA hahaha

What has been your most frustrating gaming experience?
Adam: When Leah was freaking out about fighting the room full of Nazis on the next to last level in Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings. She almost started crying.
Leah: Freaking out about fighting the room of Nazis in Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings and actually crying (thanks for trying to be polite Adam but I am going to out myself on this one, I broke down). Cool thing is though, that I was the one who ended up beating the level so my tears were not in vain.

Who is the better gamer and why?
Adam: I am because I don’t worked up as easily as Leah does.
Leah: Adam is because I am clumsy as hell and my dexterity sucks, which is why I am better at games that the action resembles the actual action, like playing Bass, drums or singing on Rock Band 2. And playing most of the Wii games.

What is your system of choice and why?
Adam: Xbox 360 because it comes out with better games and a lot of the load screens are shorter.
Leah: Xbox 360 because it seems easier to use and I like the set up for online gaming.

Fave game of all time?
Adam: Tekken Tag
Leah: Rock Band 2 (soon to be Rock Band 3) though my very first fav game was Centipede in the arcade.

What do your gamertags mean?
Adam: Well, I was drunk one night and decided that my head looked like a spider and wanted to glue googly eyes on my forehead, hence Spiderhead was born.
Leah: Dill Hole, derived from crazy Leah language. Don’t know where it came from and can’t really explain what it means but my friends know and that’s all that really matters, I guess.

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Names: Joshua and Kay Burnham
Status: Married

Which one of you games?
Both

How often do you game?
Weekly

You have 2 kids…how old are they and do they game?
They are 9 and 11 and both are gamers. Both game more than we do.

If yes, what system(s) do they like to play?
WII, DS, Xbox 360

What is their favorite game?
Any Pokemon game

What steps do you take as (gaming) parents regarding mature content in games?
We make sure that we play any game that is rated mature before allowing them to either play or watch us play it. Some we deem OK, others they won’t get to play/watch until they are older.

What are they currently playing?
Spore Hero

Do you prefer to play online multiplayer or locally?
Locally

Do you prefer competitive or cooperative multiplayer?
Both, depends on the game and our mood.

Fave game to play with others?
Halo and Star Wars Battlefront

Fave game to play with each other?
Fairytale Fights

Currently playing?
Bioshock, Gears of War, Thrillville Off the Rails, Wii Fit

Do you consider yourself to be a hardcore or a casual gamer?
Casual

What do you like about gaming with Kay?
That we can play together or at least she doesn’t make me turn off my games when she gets home from work.

What do you like about gaming with Josh?
He helps me with the more difficult puzzles or tasks in a game so that I don’t get as frustrated.

What DON’T you like about gaming with Kay?
I switch games a lot during a gaming session and if I’m playing with her I generally have to stick to one game the entire time.

What DON’T you like about gaming with Josh?
He tends to go barreling through the games while I like to explore more.

What has been your most memorable gaming experience?
The day that our son finally could beat us at the games on his own.

What has been your most frustrating gaming experience?
Playing Guitar Hero for the first time and failing miserably, only to have our son pick up the Guitar and play a perfect round. (Of, course he had been playing the game for a number of years with his mother)

Who is the better gamer and why?
Josh, he has better hand eye coordination

What is your system of choice and why?
Xbox 360 cost and the Halo and ViVa Pinata games series.

Fave game of all time?
Oddworld Abe’s Odyssey

What do your gamertags mean?
Josh just uses his name (well most of the time he actually uses my gamertag), mine is my nickname, Kat, combined with my favorite state of being, laughing. ☺

Duration: approx 45 mins; File size: approx 42 MB

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Names: Norman Major III & April Carlson
Status: Married (to each other) since 11/19/2006; together since April 2000.
Which one of you games: Both of us!!

How often do you game?
Norm: A lot but not as much as you might think.  I go through phases where I play games for extended periods of time, but I can also go a while without playing a single game.

April: I game every chance I get…either by myself, with Norm, or with a friend online.

Do you prefer to play online multiplayer or locally?
Norm: Locally.  I prefer the in-person interaction and knowing the person that I am playing with and their skill level.

April: Generally, when I play a game with someone I prefer that we play locally.  There’s nothing like playing a game with a friend and being in the same room together.  If I do play online, I generally do so with people that I know, either in person or via the Internet.  I rarely just jump into an online match but I do on occasion.  I guess I’m old school that way, I just prefer to play with people that I know.  I have participated in game nights, like the Gears of War 2 night with Gaming Angels, and that was a lot of fun and I played with a lot of good gamers – good shots and good sports.

Do you prefer competitive or cooperative multiplayer?
Norm: Co-operative, although a good Halo deathmatch is always in order.

April: I generally prefer cooperative play.  That’s not to say that I don’t enjoy competition.  I actually prefer competitive co-op – where you play the game as a team but I’ll generally try to get a lot of the pick-ups or money and achievements, of course.  Most co-op games now share gold and items with the other teammates so it’s less competitive now, but with games like Gauntlet Dark Legacy or Baldur’s Gate…watch out…I will so totally steal all the gold and items I can find.  I do, of course, share, if the game allows for it (like in Baldur’s Gate.)

Favorite game to play with others:
Norm: Probably Rock Band.

April: I guess I’d have to say Halo 3.  I mean it’s the game that Norm and I along with our friend, Bob, play together on a regular basis.  We have our own custom Slayer match set up and we sit and kick each other’s asses for several hours at a time, at least once a month or so.  Oh yah, and of course, Rock Band.

Favorite game to play with each other:
Norm: I like the Halo series and Resident Evil 5, also Mario Kart is a blast, although we haven’t played that very often.  But I would have to say my favorite has been The Beatles Rock Band.

April: Hmmmmm….that depends…we actually play a lot of games together.  If it has a co-op mode, we’ve probably played it at least once.  If I had to choose just one, it would be Rock Band (and that’s really a ton of games, since I will lump all the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games into that).  That’s probably the most consistent game we currently play together.  Runner ups would be Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2, House of the Dead (Wii and standard arcade versions), Resident Evil 5, and all the Halo games.  What can I say, we like to play together.

Currently playing:
Norm: Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Halo: Combat Evolved, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and Price of Persia (360).

April: Right now I’m playing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) & Borderlands (360).  My fallback game for the last year has been Fallout 3, although, I just completed the main quest of the game.  I will also play Fable 2 on occasion.

Do you consider yourself to be a hardcore or a casual gamer?
Norm: A little bit of both. It depends on the day that you catch me and if that makes me a casual gamer, so be it.  But we own more games than most people will ever own in a lifetime and it that makes me hardcore, so be it.

April: The definition of Hardcore vs. Casual has been and always will be a debate amongst gamers forever.  Everyone really has their own definition of hardcore and casual.  I would put myself in the Hardcore category since I pretty much live, eat, and breathe games.  Together, Norm and I have over 20 game systems – all of which are hooked up and ready to play.  I give almost every genre a try, even if I am not a fan.  I recently opened up to strategy games and I’m dabbling in the sports genre.  Not ready to make that commitment but if a game is worth playing, I’ll try it out regardless of genre.

What do you like about gaming with April?
I love gaming and I love April and I love that I can put the two of them together.  Not a lot of husbands get to do that, so I don’t take it for granted.

What do you like about gaming with Norm?
I like being able to share something that I really love with Norm.  He loves it too which makes it that much better.  If I had to name one thing, it would be that he never LETS me win.  When I beat him at something, I know it’s because I was just better and not because he went easy on me.  That’s very satisfying.  I return the gesture and never go easy on him.  If I lose, I occasionally will say it was because I let him win…but only because it makes him mad.  It’s all just a part of my strategy.

What DON’T you like about gaming with April?
I guess if I had to choose something, it would be when she’s in the mood to play a game and I’m not.  Also, she’s way better than me at trivia so trivia games can be frustrating at times.

What DON’T you like about gaming with Norm?
Hmmmm…there are a couple of them.  He can get really frustrated especially if the point spread is ridiculous, like it tends to be in trivia types of games.  I’m sorry, but I kick righteous ASS in most trivia games and that really makes him pissy and I don’t enjoy those moments.  (In his defense, I can get a little cocky…so I guess it evens out.)  The other thing I hate is when I am having a hard time with a portion of a game – stuck or can’t execute a combo or something like that – and he says, can I try?  NO.  No you can’t try.  I hate that…mostly because when I get frustrated I can’t really function and if he were to get it on the first try, I would explode.

What has been your most memorable gaming experience?
Norm: Playing Super Metroid for the first time, staying up all night with my best friend, Rich.

April: Hmmm…most memorable?  Probably the first Valentine’s Day and playing Perfect Dark on the N64.  Runner up to that would have to be when we were in San Francisco for our honeymoon.  We got married on the Wii’s release date and even had the Wii set up at our wedding.  We took it with us on our honeymoon and we had to get an adapter for it to play it on the hotel’s TV. We were staying in Japantown and decided to take the bus.  When the bus stopped and people were getting off, someone pushed an old man out and he fell out of the bus, hitting his head on the concrete.  I was appalled that people just kept on going.  The bus driver called for an ambulance and we decided to wait until the ambulance arrived.  The man didn’t speak English and he hit his head really hard – I heard it.  We waited, along with the bus driver – who routed people to the next bus.  When the ambulance finally arrived and took the man away, we were ready to go and the bus driver asked us where we were headed.  We boarded the bus and got a private bus ride to Powell Street, free of charge!  We found a Radio Shack, found our adapter, got lunch, and headed back to the hotel to play some new Zelda.  That was pretty memorable!

What has been your most frustrating experience?
Norm: A particular game of You Don’t Know Jack where I was losing so badly that April couldn’t help but to really rub it in to the point where I had to stop playing.

April: I have a lot of those (mostly due to game mechanics, though)!  I guess my frustrating experiences would be when people think I can’t play or don’t know anything about games because I’m a female.  It doesn’t happen often – I get more shocked reactions from people now.  But most people that know me, know that I LOVE gaming.

Who is the better gamer and why?
Norm: I am but it’s getting closer everyday.  I’ve been playing video games religiously since I received the Intellivision and so my skills are a bit more honed at this point.  But that could change, we’ll see.

April: That’s a tough one…well…I guess technically, Norm is.  If I had to answer this question five years ago, the answer would definitely be Norm.  But in the last few years, I’ve definitely improved in my gaming abilities.  I’ve been able to go back and play games that I originally had a lot of trouble with and get through them a lot easier.
Norm generally excels in a game over time while I generally pick up games a lot quicker.  In the long run, Norm will come out ahead of me.  That’s not in all games but in a lot of them.  I’ve gotten a lot better and keep on getting better….so it’s only a matter of time!  I remember there was a time when I thought I’d never be able to play Guitar Hero/Rock Band on Expert…and now that’s generally all I play.  If I stick with it, I generally do better.  It’s not always so competitive though…we’ll shit talk each other but I still think that we have evened out in the last few years or so.  It a much more even playing field these days.  I pwn him playing Target Fun on the Atari 2600 though! 

What is your system of choice and why?
Norm: If we’re talking overall, I would pick the N64 because some of the greatest games in my opinion were created for this system, such as Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Rogue Squadron, etc.  If we are talking current gen, I would have to say the Wii.  I enjoy the motion controls but most importantly, it’s the Nintendo brand of games and their philosophy of gaming that I’m tuned into.

April: Definitely the 360.  I think that it’s the all around best console in terms of ease of use and accessibility.  This is made obvious by Netflix the upcoming Facebook and Twitter updates coming this month to XBL.  I have a lot of trouble keeping my PS3 connected to the Internet – I’m sure that’s not the PS3′s fault necessarily, but it’s pretty frustrating.  I think that the 360′s Achievement system is also the most cohesive.  I don’t care what any gamer says, but most of us judge other gamers based on their gamer score and that’s directly from the 360.  I still enjoy the PS3 and the Wii but I spent most of my time with my Xbox.

Favorite game of all time?
Norm: Super Metroid.

April: Honestly, I hate this question.  LOL.  Hate it.  I generally don’t have ONE favorite as opposed to a top five or ten favorites.  I can narrow it down to two games. The first, I’d have to say is Pac Man – the Atari 2600 version.  It was one of the first video games that I played ever and it has always stuck with me.  I remember playing the game for hours at a time when I was a kid.  My second favorite game is Spy Hunter.  If there was a Spy Hunter machine in the room, you’d had better make way for the 8 year old me.  I played the crap out of that game.  My parents used to put on dances for teens in the summer when we lived in Arizona and they had an arcade set up there with – you guessed it – Spy Hunter.  My mom was the token keeper so to keep me occupied, she’d give me a handful of tokens and I would sit and play Spy Hunter until I was out.  Everyone there knew that if I was on the machine not to bother me.  The free tokens I handed out helped keep them away and I even had a boy who would make sure I didn’t get bothered while playing!

What do your Gamertags mean?
Norm: Mine is pretty straightforward. It’s my name and I am a third (Norman Major III), hence the 3.

April: Mine is GMRx2, which stands for Gamer times 2. Originally when we got the 360 we didn’t want to shell out the cash for two Gold memberships. I started playing the 360 more and Norm doesn’t care about achievements so I had him create a Silver membership and I kept GMRx2. I probably should change it but it kind of a sweet tag and I like it. Especially when I tell the story behind it.