The Xbox LIVE Community Team talks Games...and stuff

Gamer Spotlight: Mid7night

He's an engineer who designs and flies airplanes for a living, and has been on Xbox LIVE since the days of Halo 2. Meet Mid7night.

trixie360: What’s the story behind your Gamertag?
Mid7night: Back in the days of Halo: Combat Evolved, my handle was Blacknight, but then I started running into more people on the Net with the same name, so I switched to MidKnight. When Xbox LIVE came along, MidKnight was already taken so I stuck a 7 in for the K, partially because I thought it looked kinda like a K, but mostly because it’s my favorite number (and I think Bungie used it once or twice somewhere…)

trixie360: Cer7ainly. Where do you live?
Mid7night: Costa Mesa, California, same place I’ve lived all my life. In fact, my parents pretty much just moved up and down the same street my whole childhood.

Mid7night

trixie360: What do you do for work/school?
Mid7night: I went to college for Mechanical Engineering, and now I work for Boeing Research & Technology as a Configuration Design Engineer. Yes, it IS as awesome as it sounds. Sometimes, I get to design the planes, other times I have to tweak someone else’s design, and sometimes I’m not working on a plane at all! But I basically get to play with model airplanes on the computer all day. Sure, there’s “real work” involved, but in a good way – a challenging way.

trixie360: Sounds amazing. What’s the worst or weirdest job you’ve ever had?
Mid7night: When I was in school, I worked part-time for a mortgage company in their Loan-Locking department. My job was basically to double-check all the applications that got submitted to ensure that all the data was entered correctly into the computer. And when I say ALL, I mean ALL. The company had over 300 loan officers, all with at least five to ten loans in their pipeline every month. Needless to say, there was very little downtime, and it got boring very quickly.

trixie360: How long have you been on Xbox LIVE?
Mid7night: I’ve been on LIVE for about 5 years, basically since Halo 2. I didn’t use to be a big Xbox fan, but I played Halo at a friend’s house once and it hooked me, especially the fact that I could play with friends. Then, when Halo 2 was on the horizon, I sold my entire PS2 collection and accessories to buy an Xbox. Yes, I said it; I bought an Xbox solely to play Halo. At least, it started that way. Thankfully, I found many more fun things to play, which keeps me coming back to the Xbox.

Chalk up another victim to the Halo series.

trixie360: Do you have an archenemy on Xbox LIVE, and if so, who?
Mid7night: Nah, I try my best to keep it friendly.

trixie360: Aw, that’s adorable. What’s your Xbox set up like?
Mid7night: Halo 3 Special Edition 360, 42-inch flatscreen (FINALLY I get to make use of that stupid HDMI cord!), Boston Acoustic speakers dishin’ out the sound waves.

trixie360: What’s the best feature of Xbox LIVE?
Mid7night: The entire integration of it all is awesome, really. I know it sounds kinda vague and lame, but my job is configuring and integrating complex things, so I really appreciate it when complex features are made simple to use. And Xbox LIVE is a great example of a polished user experience.

trixie360: Agreed, those engineers do good work. What is your favorite multiplayer Xbox game?
Mid7night: Up until a few weeks ago it was Halo 3, but then I got my hands on Firefight from Halo 3: ODST, and I don’t know if it’s just the “new” factor but Firefight will be spending a LOT of time spinnin’ on my 360 after it drops.

trixie360: Firefight is good times. What is your favorite single player Xbox game?
Mid7night: That’s a tough one. If you go by what I play most, that’d be Halo 3 (yes, I still go back and play the campaign), but I really enjoyed Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It had an interesting story, fun skill progression, and it was hard enough to be challenging, but not so much that you just want to cry (e.g., the first time you play Halo on Legendary).

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was great fun.

trixie360: I told you that in confidence! What do you think is the best game of all time?
Mid7night: My favorite thing to play, by far, is the flight simulator X-Plane. And it’s not just because I’m a pilot and I love flying, it’s because I can make my own planes, share them and test them all on my laptop. It’s awesome, you can make ANYTHING. I’ve even made one that is now included in the default library of aircraft when you buy the game! It’s called the XM8-Sparrow, and it’s undoubtedly my favorite thing to fly because it takes off vertically and goes really fast. Which reminds me of the FIRST thing I made for X-Plane: the Longsword from Halo (it also takes off vertically and goes really fast … are we seeing a pattern here?). That’s actually what got me even more interested in bringing Halo and X-Plane together; recreating the ships from Halo to fly (and drive) in X-Plane. I started with the Longsword, and went on to recreate the Pelican, Phantom, Scorpion, Warthog, UNSC Cruiser, Covenant Carrier, Hornet, and the Frigate In Amber Clad. Yes, I’m a little fanatic about Halo and X-Plane, but come on, haven’t you always wanted to take a longsword and go tearing through the Grand Canyon?! Or practice dropping Scorpions in your very own Pelican?!

trixie360: I do now! What do you think is the best film of all time?
Mid7night: I don’t know about “best film,” but one of my all time favorites is Short Circuit. It’s chock-full of hilarious quotable lines, and has a great message to boot: Life is precious and unexpected. Oh yeah, and my wife’s ringtone on my phone is a clip from the movie too.

trixie360: What do you think is the best album of all time?
Mid7night: Growing up I listened to a wide variety of music, but one that really stands out in my memory is Messenger by Edwin McCain. I had just learned to play the guitar, and spent a LOT of time practicing pretty much every song on that album. He’s obviously most famous for “I’ll Be” but “Prayer to St. Peter” is still my favorite.

trixie360: Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
Mid7night: Neither. I play real guitar, and therefore SUCK at both of those games.

trixie360: What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard on Xbox LIVE?
Mid7night: “Ohmygosh, it’s Tony Stark!!” (said after the person saw a picture of me at the ODST Truck Tour).

“Wait, THAT’S Tony Stark.”

trixie360: AKA The Funvee. What is your greatest Xbox LIVE moment?
Mid7night: Probably when I first signed on to the Halo 3 beta with my Bungie Friends & Family code. I felt a little special, if only for a second. ;-) The funny part is that I didn’t even realize I had a F&F code until almost a week into the beta run! Ah, those were some good games … before the dark times …

trixie360: What’s your favorite TV show?
Mid7night: Friends, definitely. I love to laugh and that show is full of it. And because it was one of the first things my wife and I found in common when we were dating. :)

trixie360: Who is your inner rock star?
Mid7night: Rock star? Well, this is going to sound weird, but I was raised on Country and Classical music, listened to Alternative in my teens, and also enjoy Broadway shows … so if there was a combination of Brad Paisley, Three Doors Down, and Michael Crawford, that’d be me.

trixie360: If they made a movie about your life, who should play you?
Mid7night: If you ask my wife, she can’t seem to decide between Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman, and Robert Downey, Jr. But I’ve gotta go with Nathan Fillion, partially because I love his humor, but mostly because he’s just plain awesome. BAM! (stl)

trixie360: Oh my. What’s your karaoke song?
Mid7night: “The Music of the Night.” It’s beautiful, moving, delicate, and powerful all at the same time.

trixie360: Favorite cartoon character?
Mid7night: The Road Runner. Yeah, he runs fast, yadda yadda … but c’mon, the dude NEVER gets caught! He’s like the luckiest character EVER. It’s as if someone crossed Master Chief with The Flash. Now there’s a combination that screams awesome (sauce).

trixie360: Speeding with no consequence, sounds good. What superpower would you like to have?
Mid7night: Flying! I mean, who wouldn’t want to fly?!? Actually, pilots run in my family. My grandpa taught me to fly, so flying truly free has always been my number one fantasy.

trixie360: If you could trade places with anyone for one day, who would it be?
Mid7night: I would love to trade places with someone who designs and models vehicles and objects at Bungie. That would be a fun day. ;-D

trixie360: What celebrity would be the worst roommate?
Mid7night: The worst celebrity roommate I can think of would be Omarosa from The Apprentice. That woman just did not know how to chill!

trixie360: At least she’d be clan. Hopefully. How many people are on your Friends List?
Mid7night: 44. I’m trying to get it up to 47 though, y’know, prime numbers an’ all that … <O>

trixie360: Level up! Who’s your favorite superhero?
Mid7night: Superman! Not just ‘cause he can fly and stuff, but what he stands for really shaped me as a kid. Whenever I saw something unfair, I would get really angry and frustrated, especially if I couldn’t do anything to fix it. Growing up I obviously knew life isn’t always fair, but if no one ever tries to make it so, it’ll never get any closer.

trixie360: I wonder if we’d have superpowers on Krypton. Hot celeb you’d like to be stranded with on a desert island?
Mid7night: My wife is hot (and she could kick the arse of pretty much all the hot celebs I can think of). Can we just pretend she’s a celebrity so I don’t have to sleep on the balcony? I don’t like sleeping on the balcony.

trixie360: Wife it is. If you could be any video game character, who would it be?
Mid7night: I’ve gone back and forth on that. At first, I thought Master Chief. But then I thought about all the holes I’d put in the flimsy floor where I work (seeing how he weighs a ton), and that’s just not a great idea. So I’m going to double-down on Superman for this one. I would save so much time and money not having to drive, not to mention all the great places I could take my wife on vacation.

Flying, righting injustice, and fuel-efficient.

trixie360: What’s the worst food you’ve ever eaten?
Mid7night: Probably caviar. I tried it once, and that was one time too many. That stuff’s nasty. I don’t understand why people pay so much money to eat something that tastes so awful. Seriously, mix together five pounds of salt and one pound of those little tapioca balls and you’ve got pretty much the same thing. :-S

trixie360: What was that, sorry, I was polishing my monocle. What’s the first video game you ever played?
Mid7night: I actually remember playing Pong on my friend’s Dad’s Atari, but that was followed quickly by Super Mario Bros. I never owned it myself, but that’s what friends are for! That was back when “multiplayer” meant, “I’ll play level one, and we’ll alternate from there…”

trixie360: What’s the last book you read?
Mid7night: Popular Mechanics … what? Not a book? Oh, ok, the last serious book I read was The Cole Protocol by Tobias Buckell.

trixie360: If you could go on tour with any band, which would it be?
Mid7night: I think I would have liked to go on tour with Garth Brooks, back in the day. Whether or not you like country, he always put on a great show, but the closest I ever got was listening to his concerts live on the radio…while my roommates threw things at me trying to make me turn it off! :-D

trixie360: What do you predict will be the “next big thing” in gaming?
Mid7night: I’m guessing it’ll have something to do with integrated voice control. Motion-tracking control interfaces are nice, but they’re quite a ways off from being practical and effective in my opinion, and they’ll have a steeper learning curve once introduced. But for the kind of gaming that is going on RIGHT NOW, there’s one major tool that NO ONE is using, your voice. If you could give verbal commands in a game—whether you have a squad, sidekick, wingman, or minions—it would dramatically increase your overall effectiveness, and add a level of immersion that’s sadly missing right now.

trixie360: What do you think is the best thing about Xbox 360?
Mid7night: The reason I bought it in the first place: the ability to play with a lot of my friends. When I owned another system, I was very surprised to find that the same games that were four-player on Xbox were only two-player on mine. First of all, that just didn’t make any sense, but then I got frustrated. And now with the expansion of Xbox LIVE allowing you to play with even more people, it’s much better. It’s a great party machine.

trixie360: What is the Xbox 360 Achievement that was hardest to get?
Mid7night: So far, Vidmaster Challenge: Annual in Halo 3 was the toughest for me, mostly because it involves other people. You can’t just try it over and over by yourself. Anyone can screw it up. Overall though, the truly hardest one is one I haven’t got yet, Killing Frenzy. I’m just not that great in free-for-all, so that one will likely elude me for quite a while.

trixie360: What would you like to be doing in ten years?
Mid7night: Work-wise, I hope to have a few patents under my belt, and maybe some of the airplanes I helped design will actually jump from my screen into the “real world.” Home-wise, my wife and I will finally have some kids and an actual house, and we’ll be world-famous ballroom dancers (didn’t I mention I dance ballroom with my wife?). Play-wise, I’ll still be making planes in X-Plane and probably still playing Halo with my buddies, provided the discs last that long and there’s still consoles around to play ‘em!

Interview by TriXie