Last week we got a chance to meet our resident staff DJ, Mikhail Krauser. Now that his party is over, it's time to switch gears and get back to the rest of you non-staff members! We're doing that with a great guy who clearly loves being a part of the site and gaming in general. His name is W Andersson, he's got a beautiful family, and he's here to share his insights and outlook on life. So, without further ado, let's give him the stage.
The Interview
Gamertags almost always tell something about their owners. Tell us about yours.
Well, it's as boring as it seems. It's my name (first name's William). But it's actually a tiny statement in itself. My opinion on gamertags is that the Xbox (and internet) community would be an even better place if people had to use their real names instead of hiding behind fake personas. But I can also see why people want to create their gaming character and I'm fine with that. Also, thanks to the Matrix movies, I get a lot of Mr. Anderson references from fellow players.
W Andersson looking good. He dressed up just for the interview.
Tell us about your gamer pic. Why did you choose that one?
It's a picture of my avatar, which actually looks very much like me, so I adore the little fella very much!
How long have you been gaming? What’s the first game you remember playing and do you have any fond early memories of gaming?
The first game I remember playing... the order is a little bit fuzzy since it was in the early 80's. It was either a mathematical labyrinth on a Commodore Vic 20 or Frogger on an ABC 80. It could also have been playing games on Atari's wooden console at a friend's house. Another early memory is of those small monochrome arcade machines at the local video store that one could rent for a day or two (they looked like small TV sets) which had games like Asteroids and Space Invaders on them. At the age of six or seven I got my first Commodore 64. The coolest game I remember from those days was Who Dares Wins. I would also like to mention the handheld games in that era. Those were fantastic. Me and my friends competed to be the first to get past 999 points and reset the counter in Donkey Kong since the counter only contained 3 figures.
Do others in your family game, or are you a first-generation gamer? What does your family have to say about your gaming?
I remember my two older brothers playing in the 80's on the above mentioned platforms but, except from phone games, no one in my family plays any games today. My parents had no problem with it when I grew up (maybe because they had no idea that I was sitting in my room playing games like Commando Libya). But I'm not a violent guy, I hold a steady job and have a family of my own now, so it didn't do anything to me other than giving me a lifelong hobby. My beloved Caroline is always supporting and she doesn't mind me playing either. Life with a one-year-old and another one due in June makes gaming a nightly activity... if the eyelids are willing to stay open for a couple of hours.
Assuming you’re not a professional gamer, what’s your day job?
This is kind of hard to explain quickly so here goes: I work for the city of Malmoe, in a department which helps unemployed people to get closer to, or to find, employment. In the unit I work, we actually hire people for the sake of them getting a job, not for the work they do (but their work contributes to the community). The main groups we hire is people with various problems, such as former drug and alcohol abuse and/or other work disabilites. They get work experience and support from trained staff during the employment. So, my job? I work in management, and my responsibilities are to work with reports, development, quality and projects. It's not a rock star life, but it's a good job and I like to think that I make a difference for people down on their luck.
If you could be anything in life, what would you be? Is that something you think you’ll ever try to become?
I have a great life and I'm a very lucky man, but one could always dream about being a rock star. I've played and written music my entire life, and to be able to make a living doing that would have been fantastic. For those who are interested, here's an example:
W Andersson in the recording studio.
What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever experienced either in work or out and about?
The Xbox support. It's a very surreal experience trying to communicate with them. I bet that 90 % of the people who contacts them have more knowledge about the console than the people who gets paid for answering. (The Twitter people are a little better at it, but they have no real contact with the rest of the company, so if something is wrong the can't do anything about it).
What part of the world do you live in? If I were to visit, what sights would I have to see?
I live in the most southern part of Sweden. I grew up on the south coast in a small town called Trelleborg. Due to the work commute we now live a bit further north in a small village. As sightseeing goes there's really not much to do or see. It's generally a nice place to be if you're just looking for the atmosphere, but doesn't have any “Colosseum” or “Acropolis” sized sights. It's possible to drive to Copenhagen in Denmark from here (takes about an hour), which is a very nice city to visit.
Tell us about your home life – parents, spouse, children, significant other, animal companions?
I mentioned Caroline earlier, my beloved fiancée. We were supposed to get married last summer, but since we are expecting our second daughter in June we postponed it to 2018. We have a fantastic one year old daughter called Linnéa. She is the happiest child I've ever seen. Right now I'm on paid parental leave so I haven't been to work for three month and won't be for another three. So I generally spend my days at home playing with whatever Linnéa wants, changing diapers and keeping her fed. The rest of my family, my parents and two brothers, still lives in Trelleborg. It's just a 45 minute drive from here so we see each other a lot.
Linnéa is already playing with video games at the age of 1!
If you had to pick a spirit animal that represents you, what would it be and why?
I'm not a cat person at all, but I would pick a generic household cat. I like to mozy around at home, and lie around in the sunbeams that comes in through the windows.
What is your favourite aspect of gaming, or being a gamer? What keeps you playing?
When I've read former community interviews I've always pondered a lot around this question. I actually don't know. I'm a bit bored with most game series and I'm used to be disappointed. But I do love to game, and always find myself starting new ones. I think it comes down to the search for that next fantastic game experience, the needle in the haystack. And then there's the achievements of course!
Let’s talk about emotional impact in video games. Has a game ever filled you with rage? What happened and what did you do?
On the flip side, has a game ever made you cry?
Outside of games, what are your other media habits? Do you have favourite books, TV series, movies or podcasts?
Favorite book/s:
I loved the book(s) Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy. Nowadays I tend to read biographies, mainly by famous rock stars, like Nikki Sixx's The Heroin Diaries.
Favorite Movie:
The Shawshank Redemption is a cheap answer, but it really is one of the best movies ever made. I also love The Blues Brothers.
Favorite TV Series:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer! Many people frown when I say this, but the whole thing about it is the stab at their on genre. It's a comedy posing as a serious half-bad vampire show. Otherwise I don't have time to follow series since I often prioritize gaming when I have my own time. I really like to watch car shows though, like Top Gear for example. I have a superficial love of cars, which means I know absolutely nothing about pistons or spark plugs, but I do love a nice looking one. I just got myself a new 5-series BMW, which I'm very proud of.
This vehicle is used by W Andersson as transportation to and from places he travels.
Podcasts:
I sometimes listen to the podcasts on this site, but that's all really. This is also a priority thing. The only time I have to spare, to listen to something, is in my car. Since I love music I try to listen to some good tunes while driving. Best driving album? Who's Next by The Who!
Is there a book, movie or TV show thatyou'd really like to see adapted into a game? I'll accept ones that have tried and failed, but only if you tell me how you'd fix it!
Memento pops into my head. I loved that movie and it could be made into a great action/adventure puzzler.
What about music? Is it something that makes an impact in your daily life or simply something you use for enjoyment on occasion?
I grew up listening to rock and metal like Kiss, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Metallica etc. and I still do to this day. My favorite band of all time is Pearl Jam and that reflects a lot of the music I write. Life would be nothing without music. It has always been my therapist and my outlet.
If all video games disappeared in the world, what would you do? How would you spend your time? What hobbies would you pick up?
I would emerge myself a lot more in my LEGO Star Wars collection. I don't have the time now to hunt down the rare sets like I used to. By the way. Building a LEGO set while sipping on a nice whisky is the best way to clear ones head.
LEGOs? Tell us more. How did you get into them and do you have any pictures?
I'm sorry to say that the LEGO Star Wars collection is in boxes due to a renovation so a photo would be rather boring. My friend actually bought a LEGO set a couple of years ago. The inner child in me couldn't resist so I did the same thing. I bought a Tie-fighter set, built it and realized it was a fun way to relax. So I bought another set... and another... then all of a sudden I was bidding at auctions. The pride in my collection is the Ultimate Collectors Series Star Destroyer.
For those of you who are curious, he did provide a video showing the set being built (unfortunately it is not his video though!)
What’s the best thing you’ve ever done that you thought you wouldn’t like?
I've always had the strong opinion that whisky was something that tasted horrible. This meant that I didn't taste the stuff for many years. Then one evening, while at a work conference, a guy said to me (when I politely turned down his offering of a glass of whisky) that it wasn't possible to be at a conference without having a whisky. Since this guy was an important work connection I accepted a drink and behold, it tasted fantastic. So now I have a collection of nice whiskys at home and enjoy a drink or two every now and then.
A gentleman's collection, to be sure.
What is the nicest place you’d never want to go? What makes it great and why wouldn’t you want to go there?
Australia. It seems fantastic but I have a serious case of arachnophobia and they've got the creepiest fauna down there.
What’s your favorite game of all time on any console? What makes it special?
I love the Myst series, with Riven, the second one, being the best. As I can recall, only the third one in the series was released for consoles. Puzzle and riddle games like these are my favorite games and the difficulty is what makes them special. Today they are a dying breed and those that are created are made too easy. 7th Guest and 11th Hour are also examples of great games!
If some evil spell allowed you to own only a single game for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why?
I generally never play a game more than once (unless the achievements demands it). Therefore this would be gaming hell for me. I would probably choose a game where you can compete against your own scores and times, like a racing game or something.
Any games you regret putting on your gamertag?
Since I'm a completionist I regret putting the games with broken or discontinued achievements on my tag. I think there's like five or six of them. I do not mind the games I haven't completed because I don't have the skill or stamina, because those ones are on me. Then there are the 0gs games, which is another question entirely. I'm not ashamed of putting games like
Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Burning Earth and
Hannah Montana: The Movie on my tag. Those games are required if you want to compete.
Do you have any particular gaming pet peeves?
Many.
- Multiplayer glued on to a single player game
- Game modes that is not in line with the original game (friggin' Nazi Zombies)
- Achievements not rewarded to player 2 in co-op games
- Old games not included in the new achievements app
- Boss battles are often stupid and ruins great games (
Quantum Break is a good example)
What upcoming game are you most looking forward to?
I'm curious about what they will do with the next installment in the Assassin's Creed series. The setup in these games are the most brilliant I've ever seen. They can basically do whatever they want and still keep it in the same game universe. Please just don't make it “Assassin's Creed Casino Adventures”, “Assassin's Creed Pub Games” or “Assassin's Creed Candy Soda Mega Saga”.
What games have you been playing recently? What do you think of them?
I just completed
OXENFREE. I bought it because I read an
ICYMI: Oxenfree article here on TA about it going under the radar. It was very good and actually had replayability. Before that I played
Subject 13 which also was to my liking, except for the helmet... Got stuck trying to find that one for a long time.
The latest AAA titles I've played are
Just Cause 3 and
Battlefield 1. Both delivered just as expected. Great games but I'm utterly bored with them.
What game are you most proud of completing? Why?
I completed
Battlefield Hardline without boosting. It took me a year to do it and I didn't even like the multiplayer very much. But, I'm a completionist. I'm also very proud of the fact that I went back to
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom many years after I started it and completed it without joining some other person's game.
For those who don't know, completing Hardline requires getting 40,000 kills in multiplayer thanks to a title update. Seriously...
What single Xbox achievement are you most proud of? Why?
Playing through “Through the Fire and Flames" on Expert took a lot of practice.
In a slightly different vein, do you have a favorite achievement? One perhaps that you just really enjoyed attaining?
Supplier of the death in
Sniper: Ghost Warrior. The multiplayer on this game was dead on arrival. I had the most fantastic boosting sessions attaining this one. I have never laughed more on gaming sessions as I did on those. Those sessions lead to me being friends with
Makker, who was the one that made me join TA.
If you found yourself dropped into a video game, which video game character would you most want to have your back?
Any game characters you would like seen thrown into video game hell?
The Nazi Zombies in
Call of Duty. I get that a lot of people like this game mode. But I hate horde modes and I got so mad at
Call of Duty: World at War Achievements when they released DLCs with the stuff and added achievements. I didn't buy a realistic war shooter to face hordes of zombies. Then I bought
Call of Duty: Black Ops knowing that they included zombie mode determined to learn how to love it. It didn't work and I've never played all
Call of Duty game since. So now I have two of them stuck with achievements left on my gamercard. If there's anyone out there who can grab my hand and lead me through them, please feel free to contact me and help me out!
Apart from infinite lives, what gameplay feature do you wish you could make use of in real life?
Ever had any bad experiences online? How did you handle it?
Just the “YOU SHOT ME AND I'M BETTER THAN YOU SO YOU MUST BE CHEATIN'! I'LL F**KING REPORT YOU!” kids. Most people are cool.
If you could have a multiplayer session with anyone in the world, whom would you choose? Why?
Eddie Vedder. We'd play some couch co-op, have some drinks and then play some guitar.
What other consoles do you own? What are your favorites on those platforms?
I'm an Xbox guy. Got my Windows phone, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. I have an iPhone as a work phone if that counts? Did
Wordament (iOS) on it. I think I have a N64 in a closet somewhere. Me and my friends used to play
Mario Party a lot. That game is so unfair and always punishes the best player. Hilarious!
Have you ever had a game you really looked forward to that you were disappointed in when it finally arrived? Tell us about it.
Just about all of them really. No game is ever as good as it looks pre-release. The one that stands out is
Battlefield 3. I played BF2 and racked up over 1500h game time and absolutely loved every minute of it. It was perfect. BF3 wasn't.
Do you play games without achievements? Has the existence of achievements changed the way you play games?
I don't play games without achievements anymore. Achievements changed everything. It was the one thing I had been waiting for. I love to complete games, but hated the emptiness afterwards. Now every game serves a higher purpose!
Tell us about your gaming set-up.
Nice leather couch, 55” TV with the Xboxes underneath. It's just the normal living room setup. There's no need for a computer close by anymore for guides and such. I use the Xbox One for that.
W Andersson clearly does not shop at IKEA.
How do you use TA? Tracking, walkthroughs, solutions, sessions?
Yes, yes, yes and yes. When I write in my blog that no one ever reads I always end with “Thanks TA for doing exactly what Microsoft should be doing within the Xbox system.” Especially now when they've excluded old phone games from appearing in the achievement lists on the One and WP. Keep up the good work!
How has your gaming changed or evolved since coming to TA?
Mainly the boosting sessions. I normally only boost things where the servers are dead. I would never have completed those games without this fantastic community. Best example. When they were about to close down
Phantasy Star Universe there was session after session created by guys who just dragged people through the thing without self gain. Just amazing!
I also read just about every article, check out all games before I buy them. The site helps me to do educated choices when selecting new games.
What do you like and dislike most about the site?
I don't dislike anything really. I love the TA hoodie I bought also. Best damn hoodie ever!
How did you learn about TA? Have you signed up any friends to the website?
Makker referred me to the site during a boosting session as I mentioned earlier. I can't drag any of my IRL friends to the site, because I've only got one friend who plays Xbox games and he couldn't care less about those things that are supplied by this site. I'm 41 years old and most of my friends moved on from playing on consoles.
Have you made friends here?
Yes! Not as many as I would have liked though. Family life has put a halt in joining long term committed boosting sessions. I really would like to do
Seriously sometime. I really dislike
Gears of War but I have it on my Gamertag so it would have been fun to complete it.
Why do you choose TA over other gaming sites?
The only site I use except for this one is XBA. TA has it beat in every way, except for the achievement guide, where all the achievement solutions to come up in a long list, and you can hide the ones that are completed. Maybe TA could do a hybrid of this and show all the top solutions to a game in a list?
Do you have any goals as a gamer that TA helps you track? Like being a completionist or topping a leaderboard?
I have a 97.82% completion (just this second) and 396 games completed. Last time I checked I was number 10 in Sweden on the gamerscore list. It's fun to track my position, but I can't compete for the top spots since family and work takes up a lot of time, as they should! I like to complete games, that's my thing. I'll never reach 100 % completion but that's ok.
Have you participated in any TA competitions like Leap Frog, UHH or GTASC? How did you fare and would you want to see if you can do better?
No, but I probably would have if I had more time. Those things are great and I often read about them on the site. Friendly competition is always fun!
You should enter! It's super fun even if you know you won't win.
Lightning Round
Favorite Xbox game?
Favorite non-Xbox game?
Riven
Favorite classic game?
Fool's Errand
Favorite free to play game?
Don't have one.
Least favorite game?
Any Command & Conquer title.
Favorite game developer?
Cyan Worlds
Favorite game weapon?
The Spark (Lightning gun) in Just Cause 3.
Most hated game enemy?
CoD Nazi Zombies.
Favorite game character?
Guybrush Threepwood (Monkey Island)
Favorite game sidekick?
Favorite game ending?
Oxenfree was great. It really ties in what the game's all about. It even made me search for other people's theories about it.
Most hated game ending?
Best boss battle?
Game that deserves a remake, remaster or sequel?
Alien: Isolation deserves a sequel. Hands down the best Xbox One game out there.
Favorite game environment?
Alien: Isolation. It keeps you on the edge of the couch.
Favorite game music?
The song Mr Death at the end of the game
11th Hour.
Honorable mention to the 80's ballad in the credits of
King's Quest VI:
Game that shouldn’t have had a sequel?
Mass Effect 3. It was a trilogy and it was great. I don't think that
Mass Effect: Andromeda will add to the series in a good way. I really, really hope that I'm wrong!
Non-Xbox game you’d love to have achievements in?
Like a broken record I'll say the Myst series.
End of Lightning Round
Final Thoughts
Is there anything in particular you want the TA community to know about you?
As probably some of you out there know, I'm a guy who's always willing to help out if I can. This is especially true in this community, because so many people here selflessly helps out when someone is in need of assistance on a game.
Any shout-outs you want to make before we go?
Shoutout to
Makker for referring me to the site and to all the people I've had the pleasure to have sessions with (and to the staff of TA of course).
The TA Community Interview will be posted every two weeks if we have enough nominations! If you have a friend you'd like to nominate to be interviewed, or if you'd like to nominate yourself, please send a PM to
kintaris. You’re more likely to be picked if you’re well-written, interesting, funny or have a passion for collecting LEGO's!