Mack Interviews #2: Mikoyan

[Macawmoses]

This interview is a little old, but poop kept happening to prevent me from posting. It's a very different style then the first one, so we'll see which you like. Mikoyan is better known as Lat to those of us in the know. Hopefully you enjoy.

[spoiler]
Let's start by you describing how you see yourself: hobbies, likes/dislikes, etc

I enjoy surfing the web (obviously seen in my membership on NSF), reading current news and politics and all of that horsepoop, and studying the military. Other hobbies that extend into irl territory include tennis, tutoring, and sucking in life overall

How did you come to find NSF?

Well, I remember you introducing it to us some time ago on Mount Silver (a decommed chat). Our members had recently parted from NS2 for its stingy administration (which, imo, still is).  A lot of us registered accounts but never really used them, tending to attend our personal chat rather than NSF. Obviously good things die quickly, so Mount Silver exploded.

That it did.

With no decent place to spend my time, I looked to NSF, and recalled that I still had an account. Thus, I became "alive" on this forum.

Particularly the chat.

You can say that, I guess

Mount Silver was sort of built around Pokemon. Is Pokemon a part of your life?

Well, "was" would be the more appropriate term. I entered Pokemon seriously in its 3rd generation, when Netbattle (a popular competitive battling engine much like Shoddy Battle) was in its prime. The metagame then was extremely balanced and novel, unlike the tragedy we have nowadays.

Then Diamond and Pearl come lumbering along:  I tried for a couple of years to orient myself to them but, to put it plainly, they suck. The plot sucks, the Pokemon suck, the metagame sucks. So, I find myself a bit more distanced from the subject now, but I still still admire the designs and the idea. It's just that 4th gen was pretty darn repulsive

Do you see HG/SS as something you will invest in?

I already have; I put $10 down for them.  Anything would be better than the travesty known as DPPt.

Which of the two are you getting?

Both. I know it's a poor investment, as many would be quick to point out. But hey, I would like to relive the past, and escape the bullpooptery that is going on nowadays.

I'm quite excited about the second generation revamp for that very reason: reliving the past. Do you think HG/SS will exceed FR/LG?

I want to say yes, but overall I have to remain ambivalent. HGSS brings lots of new ideas and concepts to the originall game, while FRLG was more loyal to the originals. For instance, the music, which was a large component of both games, is far more remixed in the former, while the latter just translates it to a more modernized synth.

Recent data suggests Platinum was the best selling DS game of 09. What do you think of that?

Who am I to argue with stats? But the sad reality is that no matter how inane the game is, it has the logo, and kids go for the logo.

So you see it as marketing, over it being a good game?

Definitely

Let's change gears slightly: what are you playing now?

I'm reliving Star Fox right now; it blows my mind for how long it's been without it.

64, I trust.

Yeah. Assault, as well.

Favourite quote from 64?

You're putting me in a crux here Mack.

Haha. I know what mine is. In fact, it's said on Macbeth.

Let me guess: Hit the brakes!

You bet! I also love Caiman, from Area 6.

For mine, it's obviously something from Falco (the condescending prick). "Does my ship look ok to you?" It's kind of hard to express in plain text.  But the sound byte is just ridiculous in how mad he sounds.

Sound byte is an interesting point. SF has good music, all in all. Do you have a favourite SF tune?


You're just killing me here.

I want to say Corneria from the original Star Fox but that's overbaked.  Both themes are modelled off of movies (E.T. and Independence Day, respectively).  I gotta say the remixed Meteo. It has such great effects: anticipation, crescendos.

Touching on music, who are some of your favourite artists?

Nothing mainstream.

Welcome to NSFCD.

Hey, thanks. But mainstream as in, the past 30 years.  Because obviously with the "fo shizzles" in current music,  people find escape in the past. Take The Who for instance. The Beatles kinda get to me,  but they don't totally throttle me.  In terms of artists, I'd have to say stuff like Tom Lehrer, an excellent piano satirist from the 1960's.

Is it bad that I have to look in my music folder to figure out what my favorite bands are?

Yes.

ffffffffffffffffff

Let's have one more topic, more or less of your choosing -current events in the world.


Would it be terribly insensitive of me to suggest Iraq, because some forumers live in Canada and other countries, and Iraq is almost a US-exclusive issue.

Well, your views are your views. Sp let's talk Turkey. Or should I say, Iraq?

Haha. Well it kinda surprises me that so many people say "Let's get out; let's stay in."  And yet the majority of the public is relatively uninformed, and make judgments on what the media feeds them rather than what reality shows.

What misconceptions do you see?

They're attacking the wrong political figures. For example, George Bush is commonly blamed for the entire issue, and Barack Obama is also taking some heat about both that and Afghanistan.  What nobody realizes is that neither of the two are truly responsible. A guy named Paul Bremer (who I seriously doubt anyone knows) is practically responsible for all of this.

For instance, after the US army occupied the country, he disbanded the Iraqi army without pay.  Now, the idea itself is stupid: these men have families to feed; they're the breadwinners. Then, you take their money away from them. You do this to men who know how to use guns and bombs...What's going to happen?

They obviously revolt against these bastards who look like they want to starve their children. What makes this problem worse is that  al-Qaeda, a strong militant organization within Iraq right now, has reams of money, so it wouldn't hurt them to say "I'll give you $1000 and this bomb, and all you have to do is bury it in the middle of the road."

Therefore, the insurgency comes rolling through the country and completely destroys most US attempts of reconstruction. The people feel dishonored and trashed.  And after Bremer does all of this, he just leaves the country, giving out lectures for 50 grand a pop.

Iraq is one of our longest wars, to date, and if we leave now, and the leave the nation in its current position, it will turn into a breeding ground for terrorists.

Do you think the current economic crisis is at all related?

A lot of independent studies indicate that this war, with lost oil revenues, manufacturing, etc. has cost the US at least $1 trillion. That's like... How many Iraqis are there in Iraq now?

It's enough to do some serious restructuring there...


God how many 0s are in a trillion? It's hard to imagine.

... and have leftover for the average American to benefit

Yes. If we were to divide that 1 trillion, we could give each Iraqi 40,000 dollars.  To put that in perspective, their GDP per capita is $3700.

Their standard of living would be improved greatly, with no cost of American life.

I wouldn't say that, though the life lost would be greatly diminished. There will always be a small faction out to get the "oppressor" and, to use Ayatollah rhetoric, "the Great Satan." But we would probably be out by now.

Seeing as this is [at the time of writing] Superhero week at NSFCD, if you could have one superpower, what would it be?

No you can't do this to me.  I can either go for wishywashy peace powers or powers that would destroy the sun.
Which do you suggest?

Let's go for whichever is more fun.

Ok the latter then. Dang I wish I invested more in comic books, because I am running dry.

Fire, flight, time travel,  increase your penis size for no more than 4 hours.

Don't belittle my idiocy ;_;  But seriously I would go for something lame like an OHKO rifle.  How strange would it be to shoot a pistol at an aircraft carrier, and see the whole thing go down.

Haha. If that's not stereotypical, I don't know what is.

Haha.

Do you have any final comments for NSFCD?

I'm hoping to stay here for awhile. Err  (it wouldn't be tactful to mention forum drama would it)...?  [Ed's note: in short, grow the intercourse  up and don't let drama run the site.]

So uh, final comments for NSFCD. Far, far better than NS2.  Despite what my interviewer thinks :P

Much thanks! And that was NSFCD's favourite (and only) legendary Pokemon. Love him. Loathe him. He's here to stay. He's a smart cookie, so feel free to start a debate with Mikoyan. He does bite, though.[/spoiler]

[Silverhawk79]

As always, an excellent interview from Mack. Very interesting read, to say the least.

[…]

I enjoyed reading through this.

And seeing this makes me think "oh yeah you were doing interviews"

[SkyMyl]

Holy crap why is this up I don't remember you doing interviews
...well, I enjoyed it. He's too biased to say so.

[Thirdkoopa]

Awesome interview Mack; Just took quite a while but I can understand what with your internet issues. I'd for sure like to see more in the future. Also nifty to see another SF Fan who also likes assault...Though I'm not gonna lie, I kinda got a good chuckle at the part "4th gen trainwreck" since this is nintendo + pokemon + 7th generation of systems we're talking about but I've never truthfully played any fully for myself. Nothing against his opinions on that.

I also must say I really like how you're doing less noticed users on the forum. First Syntax, now Mikoyan. Makes me wonder what's next...

me next please? :3

[Red]

I completely forgot you were doing these. Do them more often.

And the interview was really good too.

[Shujinco2]

Interviews?

I miss Thunderhero4 :(

[Zero]

tldr

[Eizweir]

Very interesting read.  It's great when these interviews happen in forums because it makes the users more than just a username and an avatar.  Very well done.

Interviews?

I miss Thunderhero4 :(

xD  Those were the times...