Better Know a Podcaster

Each "Better Know a Podcaster" post details a member of the Rapid Fire team.

Hello, I'm Karl call sign DumbparameciuM. I'm one of the two hosts of the Rapid Fire Podcast.

I've been a gamer for as long as I can remember. I'm just old enough to consider myself a member of the DOS 1.0 generation. Old enough to remember our 2600 baud modem. Old enough to remember how much of a relief Norton Commander was. My favorite games back in the day were shmups. I'd spend hours playing and replaying the original FPS games - Wolf3D, Doom and Doom 2, All the Duke Nukems. Even games like Heretic, Hexen, and Descent.

As I got older, my tastes expanded. I was soon a rabid Sega supporter - I owned both a Genesis and a Mega Drive. Favourites at the time included G-Loc, Road Rash, Sonic 2(of course), and Michael Jacksons Moonwalker. (The last one is an actual game. Check it out, it's one of the most hilarious things you'll ever come across). After being introduced to the Metal Slug series (at the now closed Sega World) I became a huge Neo-Geo fanboy, but could never afford a cabinet or even one of their handhelds.

It wasn't long before I was back to the PC though, spending lots of time with the new generation of 3d FPS games - I can still remember the first time I played Quake, which just blew my mind. Likewise with UT. The crazy speed just blew my mind. Only a few short years later, I joined the LAN scene, and found my element. I miss those days, and I'm always pestering the clan to have more of them.

Ever since, my main gaming focus has been competitive FPS. I prefer deathmatch over anything else, but that seems to be getting less common these days. I'm currently going through a Counter Strike renaissance.

What I've written here is only a very small selection of games I've played. I'd list everything, but that would be boring and obnoxious (and who really cares that I've put approximately three hundred hours into Creatures 2: Deluxe anyway).

Karl is a highly opinionated host and reporter for the Rapid Fire Podcast. He is currently attending Uni, and working towards his lifetime dream of becoming a Games Developer.