Meet the Reader: NemesisND1derboy

This week, we see our second audio interview, this time featuring an Irish chap who goes by the screen name NemesisND1derboy, but is really called Phill. We hope you enjoy it, as it gives Mike someone to talk to, which is always nice… He likes to talk to people occasionally.

Meet the Reader – NemesisND1derboy by TSAMTR

Hi there, this is Bunimomike, and this is my second turn doing the Meet the Reader interview. I had the unique pleasure of interviewing TheLoneSteven last time, and this sunny Sunday evening I have NemesisND1derboy. Do I have that right?

Yes, you do.

Phill, you and I obviously have our podcast together, so many will know us from there. For those that don’t, though, lets dive in with some very basic questions first. How old are you?

I’m 19 as of two weeks ago, when this goes live.

And you are over in Ireland, as in Republic of, but where in Ireland are you?

At the moment I’m in Ratoath in County Meath, which is just north of Dublin, but I’m originally from Dublin.

So are you in a far quieter area where you are now?

Oh yeah, it was a quaint village when I arrived, but it’s starting to grow into a bustling town now. There’s about 10,000 people around, but I hate everyone here, so…

I’m pretty sure you’ve got enough hate for 10,000 people, with plenty to spare. Your username, I can never remember how you’re supposed to pronounce it, so just call you Nemesis, where did it come from?

I’m a big fan of Tenacious D, and they’ve got a song called Wonderboy, but it was supposed to be NemesisAndWonderboy, but PSN has a limit on ridiculous usernames, so I could only get NemesisND1derboy. Then Twitter has even more of a restriction, so you drop the ‘D’ and get NemesisN1derboy there.

That all makes sense. You’re pretty vocal on TSA, which is great, but obviously you’ve not been gaming since the moment you were hatched. I think you actually wrote a lovely article about how you got into gaming, could you just briefly summarise it for anyone that’s not read it?

Well, when I was quite a bit younger, my sister had leukaemia and was in hospital quite a lot. So when we weren’t allowed into her room, I’d go down to the hospital’s play room where they had a Sega Mega Drive, and I’d play on that.

Turns out that my dad had a Mega Drive too, which I could play sometimes at home. So at the hospital I was just playing Street Fighter II, although I didn’t have a clue what to do. I still don’t. At home I would play Terminator and Sonic, and things like that.

Eventually I got a PlayStation 1 with Spyro the Dragon, and that’s where it all really started.

After Spyro the Dragon and the games you just mentioned, did you ever fancy playing anything good? Sorry, that’s a bit harsh on Sonic. I mean, that’s sort of indicative of your age, as well. You hadn’t really dived into grown up games yet?

Well except for Terminator on the Mega Drive, which I was playing when I was about 7 or 8!

Oh, fair point.

The game that really solidified my becoming a gamer was Final Fantasy VIII. That was the one that really got me into it, and I’ve been a big Final Fantasy fan ever since.

Did that teach you a few lessons that games could be more than a simple platformer, or simple shooter?

In a way, but I started playing that when I was about 8 years old. Playing a JRPG at 8 years old, I didn’t really comprehend the differences between games that I can now. It wasn’t something that came into my mind “Oh, this is a great experience.” I was just playing an RPG, having fun and killing things, which made me happy.

Yeah, I’ve just realised the futility of my question. That’ll be our crap question for the evening. Final Fantasy and RPGs have obviously stuck with you, but are there any genres you feel you’re grown out of?

Funnily enough, I’m not a big fan of platformers. I mean, I’ve really enjoyed Limbo, but on the whole they don’t sit well with me unless they’re something unique. I can’t play the generic old Mario games.

I can’t really go back and play Sonic games even. I can play it more than Mario, because it’s where I started, but generic platformers just don’t jive with me much these days. Whereas, I’m more into my RPGs, FPSs…

Yeah, it sounds like you’re enjoying games that are a bit more meaty. Lets bring it along to TSA for a moment, and ask how long you’ve been at TSA now?

Oh, it’s July now, so maybe a year in a month or two?

So you actually joined quite a bit after me. It’s actually weird to hear you say that, because you’re so much a part of the furniture. You feel like a longer standing member.

It’s just about putting yourself out there, and making yourself look and feel like someone who’s at home there. That’s one of the things I love about TSA is the community. They’ve got great writers, but the community is the heart of TSA, and that’s why I felt able to put myself out there more than other places.

Like with the NuTSAck Podcast, I just felt TSA needed a podcast, as the OMM one hadn’t started up yet. I just wanted to talk to the people and interact with them, with some of the more prominent community members.

I’ve come a long way since I joined TSA, and I’ve really enjoyed my time here.

For me, TSA does have a community that allows us to talk about anything we want to, really. It’s lovely to see you warm to it in such a short period of time.

I came here through a link to an article on one of the Playstation blogs, I think. I enjoyed what I saw and visited every now and again, but now it’s like TSA is a regular, daily part of my life.

Oh, my profile page says I joined in April 2010.