Meet the Reader: ProjectJAY

After last week’s interview with Solid Steven, it’s time to reel things back to reality. This week, we have a returnee to TSA, after a several month long absence. Meet ProjectJAY:

So, as always, we’ll start off at the beginning. Who are you, how old are you, and where do you come from?

My name is Jack Yorston and I recently turned 19. I’m currently at home in Aberdeenshire, but I’m usually found in Edinburgh “studying” at university. Oh, and I can trump Manor’s shoe size with size 13 feet.

Well you know what they say about people with big shoes. They’ve either got big feet, or they work in a circus.

Nah, I’m just freakish.

Speaking of which, is your screen name actually the government codename that was used for your creation? Or does it come from somewhere else?

I so wish that was its true origin!

Actually, it came about purely because my old screen name wasn’t available when I signed up to PSN. I really didn’t want something elongated by numbers, no offence. I eventually decided I wanted something with my initials in it, so that’s obviously where the Jay part comes from. Makes it easier for friends to recognise me.

As for the ‘Project’ I guess I thought it rolled off the tongue. It has a bit of a sci-fi ring to it, and I’m a sucker for that kind of thing.

Part of me was hoping it was the name of your Homer Jay Simpson tribute band.

Sadly, that particular project didn’t reach the audience we intended. Still chasing that platinum album, though.

Good luck with that! When did you get your first experience with gaming?

Well, stuff like the NES and the C64 was a bit before my time, so my first real gaming experience was LEGO Rock Raiders on PC, I guess. I was mad about LEGO at that age, I just ate the game up and can still remember losing my cool whenever an Ice Monster showed up. Pun very much intended.

I like a good pun.

Who doesn’t? After I exhausted the LEGO catalogue on PC I had my first experience with the original PlayStation. My next door neighbour invited me round to try his, and after I played a little game called Crash Bandicoot I couldn’t go back to LEGO! I wanted one so badly, but then I learned that the PlayStation 2 was on the way, so I did what every kid my age who wanted a games console did: save up!

I’ll never forget Boxing Day 2001 when I finally unwrapped a brand-spanking new PS2 with a copy of Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. From that day forth, the word ‘PlayStation’ pretty much became synonymous with the word ‘video game’ for me. I’ve branched out onto other consoles these days, but I was born a Sony fanboy, and I’ll die a Sony fanboy!

What would you say was the game or franchise that really epitomises the PS2 and its era for you?

Ooh, that’s a tricky one.

I think every interviewee has said that to at least one of my questions!

Well, my parents didn’t like me playing the more mature games like Metal Gear Solid, or even beat em ups like Tekken. So in the early days I had to make do with the more wholesome side of the PS2’s library. For me it was all about four people. Their names were Jak, Daxter, Ratchet and Clank. The whole battle for platforming dominance in those days got me and my friends excited the most. Personally, I think Ratchet & Clank came out on top in the end. I never got tired of those games! It was like Crash Bandicoot times ten.

Do you still love your Platformers? Have you kept up with Ratchet & Clank on the PS3?

Oh, most definitely! I’m a little off-put by Ratchet & Clank‘s new focus on co-op, I don’t think that’ll turn out well, but Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time were fantastic! I loved Clank’s time-based puzzles, I haven’t scratched my head like that since the original Portal.

I could have done with a game just of those time puzzles. Make it happen! Not you, I’m sort of talking at Insomniac if they’re reading this.

I might know a guy who knows a guy… Maybe we could just spam their Twitter account.

Being stuck at the family oriented end of the gaming spectrum for so long, I’m sure you played a few clankers (Ha!) in your time. What’s the least good game you’ve played?

Well, I discovered game reviews not long after I bought my PS2, so I developed some high standards, I never really let anything outrageously bad slip through the net. Even stuff like the Monsters Inc. game I bought when I was a kid I have good things to say about!

There was a game on PS3 that really disappointed me, and I know half of TSA is going to rise up against me for this. It was Burnout Paradise.

Oh, that’s a controversial opinion for sure.

Burnout Revenge on PS2 was my favourite racing game EVER and Paradise‘s shift to the open world brought a whole heap of problems with it that I just couldn’t forgive. Such as not including a restart button at the game’s launch. That said, the online play was just enough to redeem it, I had no complaints there.

It got a sizeable revamp with the extensive patching, did it get any better for you a year down the line?

Oh yeah, its very different now to how it used to be. Personally I thought the Big Surf expansion was better than the original game, but the bikes were hit and miss. The fact that the rider would disappear every time you crashed was a bit jarring.

You’ve only just returned to the online world after a 9 month exile. What happened to you?

University happened! My halls of residence wouldn’t support online console gaming, but I was ok with that, as it gave me a chance to catch up on some of my single-player games. What wasn’t OK was when my PS3 finally decided to catch the YLOD in January. I was a little pissed!

It had lasted almost three years, to be fair, and luckily, I’d recently bought a 360 off my friend, so that tided me over. It felt weird playing Halo Reach and not touching its multiplayer, though. It did also mean I kind of bypassed the whole PSN hack debacle, which was a minor relief, other than the whole credit card info leak thing.

What did you take away from all this? Have you missed the online much, now that you’re back?

I discovered that I didn’t miss multiplayer as much as I thought I would, I missed the discounts on the PS Store more! But I did miss certain multiplayer games, like Warhawk, Uncharted, ModNation Racers, LittleBigPlanet. Those were my favourites.