Member of the Month November 2016 (StophJ)

Community Interviews

Found 20 posts - Go to Last Post


Winter is coming and November is the time to prepare your self for the coming of all those leftovers from turkey day..I'm talking about none other than Black Friday! So if you're not prepared then maybe you should take a page from our next gamer because I'm sure he'll be doing just that. Read on and gaze at all the big pictures. (for those of you who like a visual stimulant) I'm sure you'll be plesently surprised and maybe even a little envious. He's extreme at his sports. He's extreme in his gaming. He's extreme with his cars. He's StophJ.



Name:
Stoph Johnson

Where do you live?:
Seattle, WA, United States

What do you do for a living?
I’m currently a Systems Administrator for about 100 businesses in the area. In other words. I’m the nerdy IT guy at your office. Though I am desperately trying to find a different job even if it means throwing away 10 years of career experience to work in a cheese sandwich factory.

Tell me about your Gamertag?
My Gamertag is StophJ which is creatively enough just my name. When I made my account 15 years ago I couldn’t think of a better way to represent myself online than to be myself online. It would be rad if we lived in a world where everyone else felt they could do the same.

When did you start playing?
Pretty sure I was playing “Air, Sea Battle” when I was about 18 months old. My parents would have friends over and play Atari 2600 all the time. Pretty sure my dad brought home one of the first NES’s to show up in Montana in the 80’s duck hunt was one of my earliest real memories.

What's your play style? Ex: booster? Completionist?How often and long do you play?
Casual As Fuck! No really though I think I’m more of a social gamer. At the height of my achievement whoring days it was all about hanging with friends and building solid friendships with some of the coolest people around the world. I’ve met a good majority of my friends list in the real life offline world, so It’s not just voices on a headset. Some stuff happened where I don’t really party up online anymore. Several friendships died hard but all in all I still have a fondness for the Xbox party system and those I still game with on a semi regular basis. Recently I only play a couple hours a day. Still way more than 90% of people I know.

What is your current gaming set up like?
Which one? I’m a single guy in my 30’s Every room in my house is a gaming set up of some sort.
Hell I even have a live enabled 360 in my car

In the main room I have a Sony Projector 140” (screen) hooked to a Pioneer Elite 7.2 amp and an, Xbox One, PS4, 360 and PC.

In the living room there is a 50” UHD TV with an Xbox One, Xbox 360, Xbox, PS3, Sega Genesis, SNES, N64 and NES connected and room too hook anything else up from the retro pile if desired.
In my bedroom I have a simple 40” TV and an Xbox One. I use it mostly for Plex.
The room I play the most in is my home office, where I have a 50” UHD and a 24” PC Monitor, 2 Xbox Ones: one is set up for streaming and one set on a raw HDMI port as a fail over incase the other one craps out on me (always have a spare).

I also have 3 Xbox 360’s actively connected. US, Pal and NTSC-J along with a few back up consoles in the event of failure or boosting. I also have a pretty bad ass gaming PC in here just for the upcoming Xbox Live Anywhere games. I will tell you Forza Motorsport 6: Apex looks AMAZING in 4K.

Tell me a good gaming story or experience? ex: Epic win/fail, marathon, accomplishment, a time you visited a game convention or met someone...or anything.
I actually have a bunch of stories that would qualify for this question but I think my favorite is probably the first time I met “Major Nelson”. It was in 2009 and I ran into him in Seattle at a pre PAX event and I was like hey man I enjoy your blog and the effort you put in to build the community. He asked if I was a big into Xbox and I told him I was the first guy in the state of Washington to get to 100,000 gamerscore, which I thought was kind of cool at the time and his response was; “Ohh, you should probably think about getting a life then.” That pretty well ended the conversation.

Do you have a special shout out to anyone in particular in the gaming community?
GreggJ1952 My real life dad and Madden punching bag. Though I think for my birthday present last year he beat me by about 30. Still don’t know how that happen. Expired9, My original co-op partner back in the NES days. Smrnov, the real king of gamerscore (getting it done with an adult job!) DudeWithTheFace, my co-op side kick and funniest and craziest dude I know. McTennisD my oldest Xbox generated friendship, 9 years and 2000 miles now he’s basically my neighbor. Xerostomia, one of the most loyal and reliable friends and boosting partners a guy could have. Webb XBA, Supreme ruler of Xboxachievements.com and genuinely one of the coolest dudes on the planet. NiteJokester, Xtantss, those guys will be my xbox homies ‘til the end someday we’ll find a time and place to meet up and party. YazFromAlcatraz one of the craziest dudes you’ll ever meet on live or otherwise. And all the Xbox homies I lost along the way. Other than those two dudes. Fuck those dudes. No I’m not going to name them.

What's your favorite game genre?
Is Madden a genre? I don’t’ know it’s really hard to choose any one genre. I’m super ADHD so I bounce from one thing to the other constantly, probably why I never complete games. I really love games like Tropico and CivRev. I love Battlefield and Battlefront. Far Cry 3 was a masterpiece. Rockband is great. Really the experience and who you are playing with makes all the difference. I think the true answer may be Music games because though I am not great at them the promote inviting everyone you know over, getting tipsy and making an ass of yourself. Really there’s nothing better.

What’s your favorite game on 360?ONE?Of all time (any system)
Madden NFL 2010 on 360really not even a debate for me. On One it’s probably Tiatnfall currently but this race is far from over. All time is really hard to choose but my immediate thought goes to Need For Speed Underground 2. I beat the whole game multiple times with a 240sx just like the one I was driving in real life. Sad no Need for Speed has come close to duplicating the greatness that that game was.

What is your worst game and Why?
Any and every “fighting game” I hate them. I find nothing about them enjoyable. Should probably go see a psychiatrist as I keep buying them anyway.

If you were a Video Game or game character who and why?
Commander Sheppard. I know it’s a super generic answer but he’s the most like the dude I would want to be. Mostly because his decisions are driven by me. I was having a hard time thinking of an answer to this question but that made the most sense and also, my two cars are themed and named after the Mass Effect Rengade/Paragon system. My Race car is Renegade Black and Red with star logo, power to destroy and complete disregard for the law. My daily driver is the Paragon black with blue accents and the hawk logos, safe and sane completely street legal.

Are you looking forward to any new releases?
Dead Rising 4 and South Park TFbtW mostly. Mass Effect: Andromeda, Ghost Recon Wildlands. The list goes on for a while I just assume I’ll just play everything at somepoint. Ohh and CRACKDOWN 3!!!

What else do you do besides gaming?
I’m a bit of a Nissan Enthusiast. I currently have 2 Mid 90’s 300zx’s and a down payment on a 1998 Nissan Skyline from Japan. As I mentioned in the favorite games section my first love was my Nissan 240sx that was run over by an Oldsmobile back in the original Xbox days, but I have recently picked another one up to replace it!




I also really enjoy board sports when my old man knees will let me do such things. I used to Wakeboard and Snowboard competitively so I miss doing those things everyday like it was a really awesome job.


Do you collect or not so much?
I’d say a little bit. I currently have roughly 1,050 Xbox 360 games on Physical disc as well as almost every Xbox One title released to date worldwide.

All of the Special edition consoles I can get my hands on from Xbox One (Currently own 6 with 2 preorders on the way) to about 8 NeoGeo Pocket colors in various colors of the rainbow. Add countless “retro games” playstation exclusives and every console released stateside in the last 30 years I’d say I have a small collection laying around the house somewhere.


What's your favorite feature on GTN?
Stat’s personal stats are rad. I really like being able to sort by games I haven’t played. I know that’s got to be a weird thought to most of you but it’s essentially my shopping list.

What would you tell people about GTN if you were trying to get them to join?
It’s a sweet alternative to that other achievement tracking site. You should be like me and leave there to join the good side of the force!

Is there anything you would like added to the site?
More robust friend features. A better way to chat in the feed without it feeling broken up. I guess just more ways to start a conversation outside of the forums.

GTN on Facebook
My apologies that I'm getting this one posted so late in the evening.. but at least let me be the first to say WOW as one collector to another. Game wise I think you and I are pretty close to the same numbers, but I'm willing to bet you have more on the X1 then I at the moment and I don't really do Special edition console or other consoles anymore.. I'm just going exclusively Xbox on that, I didn't see the Star Wars console though... slacker...lol. BTW can I say you're a little more than an enthusiast when it comes to your Nissans, more like mad man! Great read and thank you for your time in sending me the pictures.
My apologies that I'm getting this one posted so late in the evening.. but at least let me be the first to say WOW as one collector to another. Game wise I think you and I are pretty close to the same numbers, but I'm willing to bet you have more on the X1 then I at the moment and I don't really do Special edition console or other consoles anymore.. I'm just going exclusively Xbox on that, I didn't see the Star Wars console though... slacker...lol. BTW can I say you're a little more than an enthusiast when it comes to your Nissans, more like mad man! Great read and thank you for your time in sending me the pictures.
Originally Posted by B8TINGU
Lol, thanks for the chance to be part of the member of the month. and just incase you are really doubting it... there are plenty of other special editions laying around here. just don't have a home for them all yet

Congrats StophJ! That is one hell of a collection.
Originally Posted by B8TINGU
This is what I am jealous of, those controllers.
Congrats on making MotM. And that collection.......just WOW. Perhaps now I can finally convince my wife I actually don't own that many games at all Smile
Welcome to the MotM club Stoph, and awesome setup - I am super jealous.
Lol, thanks for the chance to be part of the member of the month. and just incase you are really doubting it... there are plenty of other special editions laying around here. just don't have a home for them all yet

Originally Posted by StophJ
Wasn't really doubting you, just giving you a hard time... Smile
Wasn't really doubting you, just giving you a hard time... Smile
Originally Posted by B8TINGU
Details on the 360 in car build? If I have to get an SUV or truck for my next vehicle (not a sports car) then I am totally adding a video game console to it.
Congrats Stoph! I remember being 30 and having more money than kids. Good times.
Cool interview. Where did you get those little stands that are holding the xbox one controllers ? I've never seen them before.
Cool interview. Where did you get those little stands that are holding the xbox one controllers ? I've never seen them before.
Originally Posted by MrGompers
http://www.controllergear.com/produc...troller-stand/

http://www.controllergear.com/produc...ox-one-stands/
WOW
That collection...that collection hot damn I thought I had a lot of games, and that gaming set up well to quote Ric Flair WWWOOOOO I love it man just love it.
Good read, great job in being the new MoTM.
Wow, good read and very nice collection. Congrats!
Details on the 360 in car build? If I have to get an SUV or truck for my next vehicle (not a sports car) then I am totally adding a video game console to it.
Originally Posted by LordChabelo13
As far as details on the car set up there are a few ways to go. though it is Highly impractical. When I started working on the Idea I had a 360 with a broken disc drive. as I wouldn't want discs to spin while driving anyway I though it would be a great idea to mount it under the seat of my car where I had previously had a PS2 slim. The PS2 was easier to manage as it had a simple DC converter and not the whole crazy external power brick.

I originally just installed a power inverter that turned on and off with a switch but that left two big ugly bricks that had to be connected and were in plain site. I eventually cannibalized a 360 power brick and got some voltage regulators and set the bastardized 360 shell to wire directly to the car battery using the same Remote power as the amplifiers and parking brake bypass. It works really well and takes up a minimal amount of space.

This upcoming summer as I spend a lot more time at car meets and shows. there is a good chance I will just stream from an Xbox One S to the Microsoft Surface that controls my ECU and gauges. using my cell phone as a router to facilitate the "LAN": streaming.

-------------------------------

Non car related response. Thanks to everyone who took a few minutes of there day to read this. feel free to send me a friend request on the site or on Xbox if you ever want to get together and play some games.
Welcome to the MoftM club. Love the cars, would love to see a picture of the Skyline when you get it. And I'm impressed by your collection :-)
Originally Posted by futiles
Amazon has them, too. Black Xbox One stand is on sale for $5. Included in same day shipping for Amazon Prime members in supported areas.

https://smile.amazon.com/Controller-...ontroller+Gear

I ordered 2 black ones tonight to put my order over $35 to get delivery tomorrow on another item.

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