Hello, everybody! Wynn right here once more. Welcome again to a different Xbox Insider Group interview. In the present day’s chat is with Andrew—a Buyer Expertise Supervisor on the staff who positively has extra Xbox 360 video games than you do.

How’s it going, Andrew?

Ha. Going properly, Wynn. You didn’t need to name me out like that proper from the highest.

If there’s one factor I would like Xbox Insiders to know from this interview, it’s that you’re Xbox 360’s #1 fan and supporter. It’s like that meme. If there are not any extra Xbox 360 followers, then we will know you’ve shed your mortal coil.

I can get behind that.

However earlier than we dive into your seventh gen obsessions, let’s take all of it the way in which again. Give us the backstory. What began your curiosity in video games?

I’ve been enjoying video games my total life, at the same time as a really small baby. I’m courting myself just a little right here, however my first console was an Atari Pong house console.

That’s about as OG as you will get.

Yup! And I’ve been enjoying ever since. All the way in which from Mario to Halo, which is absolutely what acquired me closely into the Xbox ecosystem.

Did you discover your love for the 360 earlier than or after you began right here?

Earlier than. I used to be on that prepare instantly. You bear in mind the Xbox Reside Arcade when it first launched? I used to be sitting on my console each Wednesday getting virtually each single recreation because it got here out. It’s actually my love for the 360 that made me wish to begin working at Xbox. I grew up in rural Ohio, so it wasn’t actually an enormous tech hub.

So how way back did you get employed?

I feel round 13 years in the past or so. Proper firstly of the 2010s I acquired employed to do Twitter Help for Xbox. I used to be a kind of previous brokers the place we’d reply to tweets or DMs with our initials.

Oh wow! I truly did one thing comparable after I was within the retail shops. In the event you clicked “Help” on Outlook Cell in like 2015-2017, you might have talked to me. It’s a more durable job than folks may assume.

Yeah, you speak folks by so many alternative points day by day. You turn out to be a really well-oiled help machine after some time.

Completely. If I attempted arduous sufficient, I may most likely bear in mind a few of the error codes.

Similar right here. I bear in mind many.

So, how lengthy did you probably did work on Help?

Properly, I did the Twitter stuff for about six years. Labored my manner up the ladder earlier than I moved over to a program administration place on the Help Group. Then, I did that for a number of years earlier than shifting to the Insider staff the place I nonetheless kinda do plenty of help. So, actually in some methods, I’m nonetheless Help, however I left the official “Help” group again in 2021.

Is there something you’re at the moment engaged on that you would be able to inform the Xbox Insider neighborhood about?

I’m not engaged on an excessive amount of for Xbox Insider particularly proper now, although I’m all the time attempting to enhance the options we flight by this system. I suppose probably the most attention-grabbing stuff I’m doing—that might even be attention-grabbing to this viewers—is that I’m engaged on all of our legacy Xbox 360 providers.

Okay, that’s sick.

Yeah, I’ve been on that staff for some time now and it’s one thing I’m extraordinarily enthusiastic about. I imagine we now have to do the whole lot we will to finest protect and admire our historical past earlier than we will really transfer into the long run.

I’m totally with you there on that man. I do know I joked about it earlier than, however I wish to let our readers know that you just do have virtually each bodily Xbox 360 disc.

Properly, each North American disc. I don’t have a PAL or JPN 360 but, so I don’t purposefully acquire these in the mean time.

My JPN 360 is accumulating mud, however I’ve a bunch of Visible Novels that I ought to play someday on it. Since we’re speaking about your favourite system, do you’ve got a favourite second in time from engaged on it because you’ve been right here?

Man, I’ve performed so many issues truly for the Xbox 360, however I can’t actually discuss most of them; even on reflection. However I do have certainly one of my most cherished recreation collections objects from working right here.

Let’s hear it.

So, after I began again in 2011, I used to be already pounding my drum about a lot I like the blades on the previous 360 dashboard.

I feel in the event you pay attention arduous sufficient, that’s a refrain of voices from our neighborhood shouting out in settlement proper now.

Haha. I nonetheless assume it’s the best console working system of all time. However yeah, I used to be actually enthusiastic about telling everybody I may how a lot I cherished that OS. Quick ahead to round 2017-2018, I had simply transferred over to a brand new CSS position, and I used to be speaking about my love for the blades with my new staff. Properly, a long-tenured teammate confirmed up at my workplace a couple of week later. Seems, he labored on the {hardware} staff, and he had an previous 360 that also had the blades dashboard on it saved in his archives. He gifted it to me and now It’s certainly one of my favourite issues I personal. A real gem in my assortment meaning lots to me personally.

I like that a lot. I might give a not-insignificant portion of a paycheck to determine what all we now have buried in places of work round campus. So many cool programs hidden away.

Yeah man. Some folks have held onto some actually cool stuff for the whole 20-year run.

Okay, let’s transfer on to a few of the extra rapid-fire stuff.

What’s a recreation that’s had the largest impression on you all through the years?

Hmm. I’m unsure I can choose only one. However there’s an evolution in my tastes and my curiosity within the medium over time. Like Pong was my intro to video games and I assumed it was fairly cool, however the first Tremendous Mario Bros. is after I knew I used to be going to be enjoying them for the remainder of my life.

It’s arduous to understate simply how revolutionary it was to have performed that in that point interval.

Precisely. It paved the way in which for a lot. Even rising up my favourite recreation, and possibly nonetheless my favourite recreation of all time is Tremendous Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. I might play that recreation again and again and over. I by no means get bored with it. If I transfer extra into my grownup life, I feel that those that impacted me probably the most are Portal and Braid. Portal as a result of it taught me to really take pleasure in tales in video games, and Braid as a result of it was the primary actually difficult puzzle recreation I performed. It unlocked design-language in my thoughts that I simply didn’t have beforehand.

You’re choosing simply banger after banger. I’m shocked by the Portal choose although. Not as a result of it’s not an incredible recreation, however I do know you’re what I wish to name a “mechanical purist” in relation to video games.

Oh yeah. I actually can’t stand textual content in my video games. RPGs are my least-favorite style ever. I simply wish to play the sport. However the way in which Portal gave me the mechanical depth, but in addition saved me within the over-arching story from second to second gave me a greater appreciation for narrative in video games.

As somebody who most likely has extra RPGs in my assortment than another style, my knuckles is perhaps altering colours, however I respect your opinion.

Let’s transfer on to music although. Favourite albums of all time?

I’ve twenty-one data framed and held on the wall of my front room which are the perfect music ever pressed. However for the sake of brevity, I’ll go along with Illmatic by Nas and The Undisputed Fact by Brother Ali.

I may have by no means in one million years have guessed these solutions.

Haha. You count on the everyday like Aerosmith or Nirvana? Nah, most of what I take heed to is rap and hip-hop from the 80s by the 2010s.

Actually, I’m unsure what I anticipated, however it wasn’t these.

So, now I’m curious. How does a white man from rural Ohio get into this fashion of music?

I noticed the video for Struggle the Energy on MTV after I was seven years previous. It was speedy. Flav drew me in, and Chuck taught me classes. From there it was a wrap. Rakim, EPMD, LL, De La Soul; you title it, I used to be listening to it. I positively acquired made enjoyable of for liking this sort of music rising up within the space the place I got here from. It wasn’t actually till 2Pac blew up that folks began getting just a little extra into it. However even then, I’d attempt to present somebody the brand new Tribe Referred to as Quest report and so they’d name it wack as a result of it was nonetheless too completely different from the hip-hop that was discovering wider success on the time.

I like when folks go actually deep into their musical leanings. I largely listened to no matter my dad was listening to rising up. It wasn’t till highschool that I acquired into my very own music tastes. A lot of “scene” music. Publish-hardcore, metalcore, and so forth. Something on Rise or Victory or Sumerian. I’ve a lot of that period of music.

I’ve a ton of CDs. Like, most likely over 5 thousand of them again house in Ohio organized by launch date. I knew nearly the whole lot there was within the hip hop world from the 80s till 2010. However there have been like 10 completely different albums dropping day by day and I couldn’t sustain anymore.

5 THOUSAND?!

Yeah man. I spent like all of my cash as a child on CDs. I bear in mind this one time I skipped a college area journey to stroll to the report retailer and get the brand new Ghostface album.

That was the period earlier than Spotify and the whole lot. How did you even discover that a lot music?

Within the mid to late 90s, a rapper named Large L acquired me actually into the underground scene and I’d take heed to radio from all over the place. 888hiphop.com, PhillaFlavaDrop.com, Rhymesayers.internet, I used to be tremendous into these items. I’d go watch battles and see folks earlier than they blew up. It was only a world I used to be totally immersed in.

Dude, I wish to spend one other hour speaking about all of this, however we gotta wrap up quickly. Particularly since this subsequent query I tailor made for you.

Do you’ve got any TV reveals that you just all the time have on within the background?

Ha! Okay, you bought me. Sure, I’ve most likely had 4-5 episodes of Buddies enjoying on my TV day by day for so long as the present has been off-air. Properly, that and South Park.

Manner again after I initially had the thought for these, the explanation this query got here up is we had like three conferences collectively in someday and there was all the time a present on within the background of your digicam. I’m positively not a “can simply take heed to it” type of man, so I assumed it’d be enjoyable to see everybody on the staff.

Actually, I may most likely recite a number of of my favourite episodes.

Now that’s leisure. We may possibly cost for that.

Okay, shifting away from media, do you’ve got any hobbies exterior of the home?

I’m actually into sports activities. I took trip days to look at the start of March Insanity. I watch plenty of school soccer as properly.

Wait. I do know this one. O-H!

I’m Ohio State’s worst enemy.

Whelp! That backfired. Haha.

Yeah, I’m a Michigan fan.

Even higher! You had an incredible 12 months.

For the primary time in my lifetime, sure. I used to be ecstatic.

Some other groups you take pleasure in? I received’t threat guessing the Bengals, the Reds, or another Oihio-based sports activities entity.

Good! As a result of I’m all about groups not from my state. Payments, Tar Heels, Penguins, Celts, Pirates. Can’t say I’ve an excessive amount of hometown delight there.

Oh. I additionally actually take pleasure in MMA. I get a bunch of buddies collectively and we watch all of the PPVs.

As an Atlanta sports activities fan, I typically want I hadn’t grown up with my hometown groups.

All proper, properly we’re out of time. Any remaining ideas for our Xbox Insiders?

That is going to return to that concept of preserving historical past. If there’s a important level in what I’m doing, it’s that I concentrate on historical past over the long run. I would like in 60 years folks to nonetheless be capable to entry their video games library, and like hand down their Gamertag to their grandkids or no matter. That’s my ultimate dream state. My video games assortment is probably the most invaluable factor I personal aside from my home, and I do know that lots of people make investments their time, cash, and power into these ecosystems. I wish to do the whole lot I can to make sure we’re respecting that funding and enabling folks to maintain enjoying lengthy after we’ve turned to mud.

That’s highly effective stuff man. Extremely acknowledged.

Andrew, thanks a lot for taking the time to speak with everybody as we speak. It’s been nice!

Thanks for setting this up, Wynn. Till subsequent time!

Xbox Insiders, make sure you be looking out for extra content material all all through February together with extra interviews from the staff, a visit down reminiscence lane, and a lot extra. All of our tenth Anniversary content material will be discovered on our Hub Web page.

Till subsequent time! Wynn/