George Ettinger - George@GamerAndy.com

In brief, I was co-founder of the Flowers For Jack project, the experiment to see if pretty things and properly-written letters would make Jack Thompson angry.  Apparently, they do.

I'm a scruffy, mediocre college student from Grand Blanc, Michigan, with an unhealthy obsession with America's anti-youth fear and bias. My constantly-shifting studies are hopping around writing, film editing, and currently electrical wiring. I'm a born-again health freak and am fighting to counteract the effects of my flash-in-the-pan FFJ popularity keeping me computer-bound for a week. Damn you, publicity, damn you.

Though its toned down since my Film Student days, I'm still a movie nut. I won't attempt to list examples here, but my dvd shelf is probably near its weight limit.

Despite the accusedly pompous nature of how I write and what I write about, I'm a gamer, plain and simple, through-and-through. Thought not a fanboy to any particular console, my PS2 gets a lot more attention than anything else.

All-time Favorite Games:
A) I am a slave to all things Metal Gear. I keep buying each volume, each reiteration, I wrote a horribly lengthy series plot guide for gameFAQs, and my first (but hopefully not last) tattoo speaks volumes for my MGS addiction. MGS, I feel, is the future of captivating interactive cinema, and the story it tells can affect you on far too many levels.

B) I will buy whatever Free Radical Design puts out there. Not just for the quality, but because they need the sales if they ever want to reach mainstream :( Timesplitters 3 is multi AND single-player God (sadly not so on PS2 online, though) and Second Sight is an absolutely brilliant, inspired, and underrated. Best twist ever.

C) Xenogears owned ages 12-16 of my life. I still have a large place for it in my heart.

D) I can't help but love the Resident Evil series.

E) Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the ultimate Sonic game.  Lock-on Sonic and Knuckles to Sonic 3 to form this grammatically-bizarre ubergame.  I was a Sonic fanboy growing up, and am now a certified Sonic Team Hater. Maybe next-gen will change my opinion...

POST-E3 CORRECTION: Next-Gen Sonic has in fact reinforced my opinion.  Sonic is dead.  Utterly, miserably, fond-childhood-memories-crushingly dead.

F) Skies of Arcadia. Play it.

G) I never really cared about GTA, although Vice City was kinda fun... but San Andreas is one of the most amazing games I have ever played. I can't deny this.

First Gaming Memory:
Age 5, playing Sonic the Hedgehog at the house of some kid I can't remember. I had my share of NES experiences and all that, but playing Sonic 1 then and there, and getting my ass kicked by the special stage, made me want a console of my own. I grew up a Genesis man, through and through.

Favorite Genre:
I have no idea. I'm thinking about everything I've played just recently and third-person action/platforming kinda stands out. RE4, Prince of Persia, GTA:SA, Second Sight, Beyond Good & Evil, Wind Waker, etc. I don't know if that's a genre, but it fits.

Pet Peeve:
Irrational gamers, from threat-writing psychos to closed-minded fanboys. Fanboys, go to hell. All consoles have their benefits and flaws, and just because I gripe (often) about the 360 doesn't mean I'm a Sony fanboy. I want a Gamecube badly (here's hoping for next paycheck) and I really wouldn't mind an Xbox. But you two-dimensional, anti-everything-else tards are what's wrong with all creative industries.

Movies and games alike, I can't stand people who take polar opinions on ANYTHING. Life and opinion are all grey areas. Use your damn brain and make real decisions. Stupidity is not a shortcut, its still just stupidity.

Reason for Writing for GamerAndy.com
I rekindled my love of writing, and moreover gamer-oriented writing, thanks to the FFJ project, and Andy was there to back me up through it. He was kind enough to invite me here and I was smart enough to accept. I never took writing seriously until I realized it was words, not just actions, that were helping push FFJ along. Now I hope to see what kind of audience I'm really speaking to.

There. That's more than you ever wanted to know. I'm pretty new to GA but I'm enjoying it here. I hope to get past the overly-serious stages of getting my column on its feet and find a place for all the humor that I feel is inherent to gaming culture.

Pixelantes, unite.