Meet the Reader: HoboCastro

Stefan L 30 Comments

The member formerly known as m268139231223b, or something like that. Now he’s a pseudo-revolutionary that lurks on twitter. Say hello to HoboCastro.

[drop2]

Right, well we’ll start in the usual place. Who are you, how old are you and where do you come from?

Mark Livesey, 31 years old and I’m from the beautiful City of Chester.

Chester… Chester… That sounds familiar… Nope, can’t remember. Ah well. Where does your rather revolutionary username come from?

My user name, HoboCastro came from my appearance and my political allegiances. I went with Castro because Stalin was a bit of a nob.

Well, it could have been Trotsky? Then again, he had the ol’ pickaxe to the head treatment… Maybe Lenin instead?

Could have, but Cuba sounds a nicer place to holiday than Soviet Russia.

Rum vs. Vodka, really, isn’t it?

Oops. I drink Vodka, so I should change that.

I guess the Cubans might let you off the hook. Didn’t you previously go by something like m3813b?

Yep, m61726b is my TSA account name and my PSN, HoboCastro is my user name. A quick explanation, 6d:61:72:6b are the HEX values of my name, mark. PSN IDs have to start with a letter, thus 6d became ‘m’. Nerd-overload!

Total nerd-gasm! Please do tell us, how did you first get into gaming?

I started with the Commodore 64 and moved between PC and console gaming up until my missus bought me a PS3! In that time I’ve played pretty much every system.

Awesome. So, you’ve been through all the Nintendo and Sega consoles, PS1, etc. etc.? Do you have a particular favourite system and manufacturer?

My favourite system because of how much I got out of it was the original Xbox. My favourite for games was either PS1 of N64. Both had great exclusive games.

What was it in particular about the Xbox? The dawn of a real online gaming infrastructure? Halo 2?

I never played online with it. I used PC’s for that playing Quake and Battlefield 2. I got so much from it because of its media capabilities, playing DVDs and ripping music.

I get you now. Yes, the HDD built in, and the XBMC software modding that spawned from it were pretty comprehensive. Some people still have the Xbox in their media hubs.

Though in terms of games, it’s the generation before, the PS1 and N64. So what’s your favourite game of all time?

Easy. Gran Turismo 2. My brother and I spent hours on it. Tweaking setups, doing endurance and getting every gold in licenses. Mario 64 is a close second.

I’m sure plenty would agree with you on that. Are you still a fan with Gran Turismo 5?

Very much so but as with many I was a bit disappointed on release. I think the racing sim has changed throughout gaming with other games coming out. GT5 seemed to be a sim for the sake of realism. Other games like NFS Shift had incorporated a more arcade feel and change sims to being more fun than serious.

That’s part of why lots of people have a place for Forza in their gaming collections now. Do you have a 360 to play that with?

Yes. As a family gift for Christmas we got a 360 with Kinect. Although I’m yet to play any exclusives, other than the Kinect games.

Haha, well I’m sure that you should give it a go. Is there much fun to be had with the Kinect, in your opinion?

Definitely. I can’t dance so trying to is hilarious. Also, downloadable games like Fruit Ninja and Hole in the Wall are brilliant. I think it was brave of Microsoft to ditch hand-operated controls and I’m happy they did and it has succeeded.

Good good. One of my favourite questions each week is asking what the worst or most embarrassing game you’ve ever played is? Maybe even a guilty pleasure you have?

If I think a game is bad after the first chapter, I’ll give up on it so it hard to chose one. I did play Leisure Suit Larry on PC in the old days. It was funny but quite terrible too.

Hehe. I actually kind of want to play that game one day. What games are you most looking forward to in the coming year? Are there plans with regards to the Vita?

Sniper Elite 2, I’m really looking forward to that sense of relief when the bullet can kicks in and I know I’ve made the shot.

I’m not getting a Vita and not just because of the costs. I can’t see any games on it I couldn’t miss out on playing. I bought an import PSP on release in the hope of playing GTPSP on it and it took years, in the end I only played LBPSP. I could see that being the same with Vita.

So a kind of wait and see deal? That’s fair enough. I know many people are planning to wait for at least a full model revision to a slimmer thing…

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30 Comments

  1. Nice article and nice to meet you HoboCastro da nerdgasmer! :D

  2. Replacing my name with Adam? You tw@ts.
    ;)

    • :) You got a couple of mentions. Stop whining you slag.

  3. Nice chap and often enjoyable tweets. Get yourself back online and on bf3, we seem to be pretty active on that of late.

    • Yeah, I’d like him in my squad on BF3. Last meet was really good fun!

    • I can’t wait to get back online. Missed out on loads of games. Would have loved to play Driver SF and Space Marine online too.

  4. Nice to meet you again you filthy Hobo. ;)

    I think your daughter may start complaining about your PC soon if you don’t upgrade it to the very latest. ;)

    I’m surprised that you didn’t mention the porn incident. Twas a funny conversation on twitter. XD

    I think i may have caused Tef to buy a soft toy so he can hug it in fear whenever i send him a round up. ;)

    • Tis very funny reading Teflon’s reactions to your emails. I have idea what this “porn” is you talk about.

      • I’m assuming you mean no idea. ;) You once said that someone had left porn on the work PC.

      • Ah, yes. Fortunately they have got better at hiding it.

      • I really hope they weren’t in charge of the speical sauce when they were looking at it. ;-)

  5. Nice to read about you :) It’s a shame your a Man City supporter though :P

  6. Nice to know more about you mb. Look forward to seeing you back online.
    ps. If he doesn’t punch Suarez, i’d gladly step up. Saturdays no handshake was out of order, as was initial incident.
    Suarez & Terry, should both be out of a job.

    • Some people deserve a slap. Suarez has a face I would get tired of punching.

  7. Are you mildly confused in your photo !

    • Yes. And mildly asleep.

      • You have that wonderful “I don’t remember burying that body there” look to you.

        *tips hat* Good day to you! :-) Lovely MtR although the name-nerd-gasm thing was a sad moment for all normal folk. ;-)

      • Oh hello stranger .

  8. Actually, I’ll have to dig that patio up again.

    My initial idea of that user name was with it being personal I would need to change it. That didn’t work.

  9. You look so different in that pic to your normal dp! Nice interview!

    • Yeah, it’s not a great picture but that’s normal how I look. I don’t have a lot of pictures of myself.

      The interview reminded me how many games I’ve played. It was enlightening.

  10. Nice to meet you and great interview!

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