In the latest edition of our Meet The Gamer series, we chat with James Valls. James is the Senior Producer at Rebellion. He is currently working on Rebellion’s first virtual reality project, Battlezone! In the interview, James talks about his love of gaming and his predictions for the future of gaming.
What is your Gamertag and the reason for choosing it?
Mousehat. I use it for most of my accounts, easier to remember than my awkward Spanish name.
What is your favourite genre/s of game and why?
I can’t say I have a favourite genre. I spend a lot of time on first person shooters like Rainbow Six Siege and Halo 5, but I also enjoy playing narrative driven games such as Uncharted, Quantum Break, Tomb Raider, etc. I love getting immersed in those worlds.
What is your favourite game so far? (Doesn’t need to be an Xbox title!)
Tricky question, I have some of my best and earliest memories of playing video games from Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. I had many sleepless nights trying to solve the crazy puzzles in that game. But I think The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is probably my favourite, perhaps not the most accomplished Zelda game from a gameplay perspective but it oozes charm. It’s a stunning game to look at (even to today’s standard) and I never get tired of playing it. Oh, and Metal Gear Solid 3, best Metal Gear game and easily in my top three games ever!
What is your most memorable gaming moment?
This one is easy, playing the final mission of Halo in co-op mode with a friend, just exhilarating.
Which achievement has been the most frustrating to obtain? How long did it take you?
I’m probably one of the few people out there that doesn’t care for achievements that much.
What is your gamerscore and how long has it taken you to get it?
I have around 38K. Having a quick glance at my profile will shamefully reveal I play pretty much every game that comes out but I rarely finish them! They have to be pretty special for me to finish them. I purchased the Xbox 360 on day one so yeah, a bit crap, right?
What is your gaming guilty pleasure?
I have many. I seem to enjoy quite a few games that were poorly reviewed at the time. I don’t personally consider them as guilty pleasures as I really enjoy playing them and I admire that in most cases they were trying to do something different but might not have fully succeeded.
I’m a big fan of both Kane and Lynch games, Too Human (all great games to play co-op with a friend) and Alpha Protocol, massive fan! I really hope Microsoft brings them to the Xbox One backward compatibility program soon. Obsidian, we need an Alpha Protocol sequel for Xbox One please!
If you could pick a video game character, who would you be and why?
Master Chief! He has awesome armour, is an overall badass guy and you get to hang around with Cortana. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind flying a Pelican either!
If you could pick a location, from any game, to visit, where would it be and why?
The Citadel from Mass Effect – you get to hang around with all sorts of alien races, IN SPACE. Or maybe drive my Mako on the surface of the moon, yeah that would be awesome! (Also a trilogy of games that Microsoft should bring to backward compatibility)
Finally, where do you see gaming heading in the next decade?
I think there’s going to be a massive boom in VR and AR later on. There are already incredible experiences to be had in these areas and I can’t see it slowing down. I’m really excited about HoloLens – completely wireless and self contained, no need for any cables, there’s a lot of potential there. I’m looking forward to HoloLens 2 with a wider field of view.
I would also love to see my home console become a streaming hub where I can play all my media on any device I have, wherever I am, sort of like a blend of a Plex server and a personal Gaikai type of service. Let me play my Scorpio games on my mobile when I go on holidays.
Special thanks to Mousehat for taking the time to answer our questions. Keep an eye on the website and Twitter for information on how you can be featured in the next Meet the Gamer.
Mike is a games journalist, host of 1080Players Gaming Radio. They contributed 62 articles to ICXM between 2015–2016, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: operates 1080Players Gaming Radio on the Boost Radio Network; ICXM published cross-content from his outlet.