Gamer Spotlight: Ridley Rarzy
He’s particularly fond of the letter “R” and met his lady friend while slaying zombies in Left 4 Dead, Say hello to Ridley Rarzy.
trixie360: What’s the story behind your Gamertag?
Ridley Rarzy: It’s pretty much something I made up that has a lot of R’s in it and I liked the way it sounded. R’s are cool man.
Rob (Ridley Rarzy) and Amanda.
trixie360: Right. Where do you live?
Ridley Rarzy: A little island in Florida called Longboat Key.
trixie360: What do you do for work/school?
Ridley Rarzy: I am currently a fourth-year computer animation major at Ringling College of Art and Design.
trixie360: What’s the worst or weirdest job you’ve ever had?
Ridley Rarzy: I had a construction job for about two weeks. Working in the summer afternoon heat in Florida is not fun to say the least. I would even venture to say that it totally sucked.
trixie360: Sounds like a chain gang. How long have you been on Xbox LIVE®?
Ridley Rarzy: I’ve been on since launch on the original Xbox, over the course of three Gamertags. Since the beginning!
trixie360: Do you have an archenemy on Xbox LIVE, and if so, who?
Ridley Rarzy: Not really an archenemy but my friend N0K and I have always gone back and forth with the most achievements … he’s beating me now by about 1000. CURSES!
trixie360: Gamerscore is the leading cause of Xbox LIVE rivalries. What’s your Xbox setup like? Big screen TV? Dolby sound?
Ridley Rarzy: I’ve got a 36-inch HDTV that has served me well, especially considering I always move it between home and my school dorm.
trixie360: What’s the best feature of Xbox LIVE?
Ridley Rarzy: My favorite would be the party system. It’s just awesome getting all your friends in a party.
Oblivion is his favorite single-player game.
trixie360: What is your favorite multiplayer Xbox game?
Ridley Rarzy: Currently Gears of War® 2 Horde Mode, but also Left 4 Dead. I first met my girlfriend Amanda in Left 4 Dead, too, who I made that awesome Left 2 Die poster for.
trixie360: That poster is rad. What is your favorite single player Xbox game?
Ridley Rarzy: The Elder Scrolls® IV: Oblivion. I mean I do get to play as a Lizardman. SOLD.
trixie360: What do you think is the best game of all time?
Ridley Rarzy: Either the original Perfect Dark or Conker: Live and Reloaded. Long live Tediz!
trixie360: What do you think is the best film of all time?
Ridley Rarzy: Aliens or Shaun of the Dead.
trixie360: What do you think is the best album of all time?
Ridley Rarzy: Alive Or Just Breathing by Killswitch Engage.
trixie360: Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
Ridley Rarzy: I’ve actually never played either. But Rock Band does start with an R, so it gets points for that.
Killswitch Engage is one of his favorite bands.
trixie360: What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard on Xbox LIVE?
Ridley Rarzy: I don’t think there is just one thing … whenever my friends and I get a game going in a party, the stuff we say is so random and weird we can’t stop laughing at it all.
trixie360: What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment?
Ridley Rarzy: Getting the Man vs Tank achievement on Expert in Left 4 Dead was awesome when it happened because as soon as it spawned, it killed everyone else and I was all that was left. The tank can’t handle Francis’s tattoos, that’s why.
trixie360: I roll with Francis too. What’s your favorite TV show?
Ridley Rarzy: I dun’t watch the TVs. But The Office is great.
trixie360: Who is your inner rock star?
Ridley Rarzy: The one with that cool hair. And by hair I mean lack thereof. Ya know, the guy that screams a lot. Yeah, him. That guy.
trixie360: Prince it is. If they made a movie about your life, who should play you?
Ridley Rarzy: I think I would be a good candidate for the role. I can relate to myself quite a bit so I would probably feel natural in the role. If I was unavailable however, I would say Jason Statham. He did play a character called Handsome Rob after all in The Italian Job.
trixie360: What’s your karaoke song?
Ridley Rarzy: Uuuuhhhhhhhhh … what? Probably an instrumental song. That would be good.
trixie360: Favorite cartoon character?
Ridley Rarzy: Wile E. Coyote. He knows what he is doing.
trixie360: A consummate professional. What superpower would you like to have?
Ridley Rarzy: Immortality. The good kind too, where you don’t age. If that doesn’t count, I would have to say telekinesis.
trixie360: If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?
Ridley Rarzy: Me. Oh man, it worked!
trixie360: I guess we found your real superpower then! What celebrity would be the worst roommate?
Ridley Rarzy: All of them.
trixie360: That’d be a big house. How many people are on your Friends List?
Ridley Rarzy: 19. I only play with actual friends. I have no intention of having a giant list with people I don’t even know on it.
trixie360: I feel shot down somehow. Who's your favorite superhero?
Ridley Rarzy: Venom! Oh wait … The Lizard! Oh wait …
trixie360: Hot celeb you’d like to be stranded on a desert island with?
Ridley Rarzy: Pffft … None of them. All I want is my amazing girlfriend Amanda <3
Who doesn’t want to be a Krogan?
trixie360: She can be your Wilson. If you could be any video game character, who would it be?
Ridley Rarzy: Wrex. Giant reptilian alien mercenary. Who lives for centuries. Yes. Or Francis, he hates things. That’s cool.
trixie360: You have trouble with decisions. What’s the worst food you’ve ever eaten?
Ridley Rarzy: That squishy thing that kinda slides around like it’s trying to avoid your teeth when you chew, like some kind of wiggly squishy … thing. It’s gross. It was probably old too.
trixie360: Ew. What’s the first video game you ever played?
Ridley Rarzy: Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo.
trixie360: What’s the last book you read?
Ridley Rarzy: Mass Effect: Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn.
trixie360: Nerd alert! If you could go on tour with any band, which would it be?
Ridley Rarzy: Rammstein.
trixie360: What do you predict will be the “next big thing” in gaming?
Ridley Rarzy: I love what Mass Effect is doing with decisions carrying over between multiple games, it would be cool to see more of that. One pet peeve I have with a lot of games though, is why do I have to be human? Mass Effect would be amazing if you could have chosen to be a Krogan or Turian. Granted, I am aware that would be a large undertaking.
trixie360: That absolutely is cool. What do you think is the best thing about Xbox 360?
Ridley Rarzy: The games. There are so many good games on the platform you don’t even need another system if it weren’t for Smash Bros.
trixie360: What is the Xbox 360 achievement that was hardest to get?
Ridley Rarzy: The one where you had to kill all those bad dudes, but they were all tough, and like NO I don’t think so, and they kill you instead. Then you think, dang, this is hard.
trixie360: I think you’re being facetious. What would you like to be doing in ten years?
Ridley Rarzy: Who knows, working in the games industry, having a family … as long as I’m happy that’s what matters. Hizaa!
Interview by TriXie
