My name is Anthony Armstrong and I’m 27 years old. I’ve been an avid gamer for most of my life, and I never plan on stopping. Next to video games, my biggest passion is writing. I’ve spent the last year recreationally covering news updates on the video game industry, reviewing games and movies, and reflecting on the titles that have had the biggest impact throughout my entire life. Outside of blogging, I tend to focus on original narratives including: short stories, novels, and screenplays. I am currently in the editing phase of an screenplay/play focusing on a sociopath who experiences a haunting that drives him to insanity. In line with this I’m also an avid reader. My favorite books include the Harry Potter Series, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo series, Console Wars, Blood Sweat & Pixels, The Walking Dead, Identity Crisis, and a metric ton of Batman graphic novels!

I’m a huge music buff, my favorite genres being: metalcore, djent, progressive metal, death metal, classical, video game music, Japanese alternative, and an indie band every now and again. I’ve been a huge fan of Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, and DIR EN GREY since I was a teen. In recent years I’ve picked up a few favorites including: Pierce the Veil, Periphery, Ice Nine Kills, Arctic Monkeys, and Alesana. I should also mention that my favorite musicals are Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables.

I was born and raised in New Orleans. I went to Archbishop Shaw high school. I attended Tulane University for college, where I majored in Communication and minored in English. During this time I also played guitar and sang for a local metalcore band called: Eye For An Eye. After college I worked in internet marketing for two and a half years. Oddly enough, I’m now employed at Tulane University in the Fundraising Marketing department. Last year I got engaged to the love of my life and best friend in the world, and we’re getting married in July of 2018. We just bought a house together and we are living in Gretna, Louisiana with our cat and new puppy (Binx and Rynn).

I can comfortably say that I’ve been hooked on video games for most of my life. When I was four years old my Mama bought me a Super Nintendo Entertainment System from a garage sale. It was in perfect condition and only came with one game: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I won’t fabricate and try to claim that I was some sort of child prodigy…because I wasn’t. But I knew from the second I fired it up on the CRT in my living room, that it was the best thing I had ever seen. Fast forward 23 years and I still hold the same appeal to gaming. I mostly go for role-playing, action/adventure, action RPG, simulation, horror, platforming, and survival. I’ll follow the crowd into a few competitive shooters from time to time, but I’m not a consistently competitive gamer. I apparently enjoy punishing myself with difficult single player/co-op games though.

If I had to name my most important games I would start with Kingdom Hearts. I was 12 the first time I loaded up Kingdom Hearts on my Playstation 2. I remember being kept to a strict playtime every day, because it was during my end of year exams. Every single day at school I couldn’t wait to get home just to play another hour. It was agonizing to make progress that slowly in something that had gotten its hooks so deeply into my skin. After exams I was set free and spent nearly all of my time exploring every inch of that game. After beating it, I started over and beat it again. Next to that would have to be The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. I had played a few Zelda titles before that, but I remember this being the crown jewel of video games at the time. It was the first time I had ever experienced a feeling of escape. Nothing else mattered, I just wanted to spend more time in Hyrule. Countless other games have grabbed me by the hand and taken me to levels I didn’t know existed. Between Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid 2, Animal Crossing, Dragon Quest 8, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Resident Evil 4, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Persona 5, Warcraft III, and Dark Souls 3, it would be hard to pick a runner up. Check out my articles if any of the above genres and games sound like your cup of tea!