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Kungpow's interview by Mr.Q,
formerly posted at BoRGeneration Forum.
Questions are in bold font and Kungpow's
replies are in regular font. |
Personal matters:
- Tell us your real name, age, and which country you come from (you can show a
pic about your city/town if you want to).
My name is Tommy Watson and I'm now 22 from Anderson, South Carolina, USA, known
as the "home turf" of the Clemson Tigers (about 10 mins away from it).
- Do you have any pets? (again, pics won't hurt).
Oh good god! too many! Cats and dogs every where!
- Describe your room!
A wreck right now, like my brain. I have my game systems in one corner and my PC
on the other corner and anything else between my bed and the other two corners
looks like a war zone.
- What would be you everyday common clothes?
Usually a t-shirt sporting some Nintendo icon, Link being my newest addition
bought from the MGC 2006 show, and some "caramel" colored pants, cargo style,
Very comfortable.
- Do you smoke? It kills, you know...
Nope, I know what it does to you and I've seen it first hand. It's not pretty
and it surely will not make you look any better.
- Are you working/studying by now? tell us about it.
Well, as of right now, I'm trying my hardest to keep Yumi together since support
for work on the game sprites haven't been what I wanted (it's just been me
forever) so in the mean time, it's been Sailor Moon for half the day or just a
few hours and Yumi sprites for the rest of the night and I sleep during the day.
I know my "eventual" future will be a computer programmer position at a local
Walgreens warehouse unless I can come through with Yumi because I know gaming is
my homage.
- Girlfriends? Wife? Kids?...Maybe more than 1 wife? Just don't tell them
about this interview!
Right now, I'm currently dating my favorite girl in the world
And very soon, I'm going to pop the question. ^^ That should do for now.
- Describe a regular day from the week for you.
Let's see, sleep til about 2pm work on Sailor Moon or Yumi, eat about 8pm, work
on Sailor Moon or Yumi again and just keep going, listening to a few mp3s or
Rodney Carrington to keep me going and kick the hay about 5 or 6pm just before
day break. I'm trying to work out my sleep schedule so it's a regular day.
- Do you own a car?
Not right now because I really wanna get a 4wd vehicle.
- Some common places you visit on weekends?
Usually have some friends over for gaming and if I can't do that, I might visit
the lake to clear my head or head to Atlanta occasionally, depending on what the
day is like.
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Misc:
- Have you been on a real fight ever? If yes, how was it?
Thank god I haven't but I think I can handle my own.
- Why did you come out with your current nick?
Hmm, well I guess it comes down to me liking the movie Kungpow and just making
sure that I can have that name, I added 12345.
"12345, that's the same combination on my luggage!" - President Screw,
Spaceballs
- Favourite food?
Depends on my "flava" of the day. It's either Pizza, my mom's grand BBQ
sandwiches and Casadea (if my spelling is wrong, forgive me) dip (Nacho cheese
with some ground beef and medium salsa in one, great for a all-gaming night), or
Stir fry. I loooove Chicken Teriyaki. That's probably why I have my "current"
weight gain ^^
- Do you have any other hobbie like BoR? Talk something about it.
Well, I love computers first and foremost and I love art. I guess you can say
that BoR has rekindled my passion for the art side of me. Of course now I'm
learning more and more tricks in spriting and BoR itself and I can surely tell
you if it wasn't for BoR and modders like yourself, MrQ or bWWd or others, I
wouldn't know half of the programs or the abilities I know today. I have a few
loves for video editing, audio mixing and of course digital art and some days I
wish I can actually program, but I know it's hard for me to be "the jack of all
trades" like I wanna be so I think art and thinking of good game ideas is my way
to go. I also play the Saxophone and Jazz is my "thang!" lol
- What kind of music you listen to?
Right now, I'm leaning towards Light Rock and some times Heavy Rock to get over
my Insomnia but I'm also a big fan of J-Rock (Japanese rock) which goes from
Sailor Moon Tunes, Megumi Hayashibara (a vast array of animes) and many others.
- Favourite cartoon/anime ever?
Well, I think depending on what my "current mood" is, that's usually the anime
I'm most interested in. For a time, it was Dragon Ball Z, then Samurai Pizza
Cats and Ed Edd n Eddy. Now of course, I've rekindled my love for Sailor Moon
and it's live action counterpart, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon and Neon Genesis
Evangelion. My "honorable mentions" have to be Camp Lazlo, Billy and Mandy,
Ruronin Kenshin, Yu-gi-oh (Kaiba series, Pegasus Match and Dungeon Dice
Monsters) and on occasion, Negima (from the creator of Love Hina)
- What was the latest movie you see?
Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector (if you like redneck antics, weird
dialogue and a hint of butt crack, then LCG:HI is for you! Totally hilarous)
- Tell the name of the movie you can't wait for.
Star Trek XI! (I'm just curious to see how they bring back Kirk and Spock. I'm a
huuuuuuuge trekkie but if I had to write about it, there wouldn't be much room
for this interview lol)
- Any other not BoR related forum you visit regularly?
Usually Sailor Moon forums to see how fans are liking my input on Sailor Moon
Plus and now Sailor Moon R. On occasion, I go to Senile Team's forums as well
and on occasion, Maxconsole. Not really much else.
- What do you want for this year Christmas?
Wii all the way!
*********************************************
General gaming:
- How old where you the 1st time you got involved with game consoles and which
ones were your favourite games?
As early as 4 years old. My first words was "Mario" and "Duck Hunt" and my mom
tells me stories of how she would hear the following sounds: mario's jumps, the
overworld tune and of course, the click of the Zapper.
- What would be your favourite console of all time?
If you had to go for "the bang for your buck," it'd be the Nintendo 64, or as
I'd like to call it, the little console that could. It was a powerhouse for the
day and especially setting the standard for 3d gameplay and of course, multiplay.
I can't wait to relive those moments with the Wii's virtual console.
- Talk about your tastes about games in general since back then until today.
Well, I was always a "classic" gamer usually leaning towards the Nintendo
releases (Starfox 1, Donkey Kong Country Series, Mario World, Zelda LtTP) and as
the Nintendo 64 came out, it changed slightly since 3D was now a part of my
"gamer vocabulary" but of course my favorite icons were always my favorites
(Mario 64, Starfox 64, Zelda 64 and Majora's Mask) and on occasion, I went to
"the other side" to see some other kinds of gameplay, which lead me to getting
my first Sega Dreamcast. At the time, I took it for granted. Now I look back at
what I did back then (Project Cannibal, which lead to the udder destruction of
my 1st Dreamcast, getting the wrong modchip for an Xbox which destroyed it, and
my "high hopes" mod of DreamGBA (Putting a GBA motherboard into a DC controller
casing for classic Sega titles for a "possible" upgrade to the Game Gear)), I
realize that I have to take better care of my systems cuz you never know when
they might end up like the Sega Dreamcast (holds my 2nd one close to me) ...and
personally, I don't care what people say about people modding the xbox or piracy
for older systems. I did it because I wanted to back up all my classic games and
be able to play them long after they died out or the handware was harder to
find. You can easily replace or backup a hard drive but not classic hardware.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
- What would be your favourite character in a videogame? Why?
Favorite character...you mean the sexiest one right? Inside joke, but ok, I tend
to use Girls in my fighting Games, my sexiest one is Christie from Dead or Alive
3-4 *drools* Sorry Joy! Anyways, my favorite character...it has to be a toss up
between Link and Fox McCloud. Fox reminds me a lot of my father, strong
character, very daring. Link is, of course, a hero for all time, never showing a
weakness and no matter what is thrown at him, he can still kick ass for Hyrule
^^
- Do you have any funny/sad side story about your gaming experience? talk
about it.
Well, it's kind of embarrassing but my right thumb is a little smaller than my
left thumb and my family has made the joke that I got "Nintendo-itis" from
playing those classic games for many years.
- Think about any original soundtrack of a game that you enjoyed the most.
StarFox, Zelda, and the live orchestration of the Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon
game. Koji Kondo has always been one of my favorite composers.
- Tell us a name of a game we OUGHT to play (it can be from any console).
Hmmm, Smash Bros series or Mario Party! If you have a lot of friends, it's lots
of fun!
- Do you like going to arcade games? What's your choice when you go there?
Usually, my "rounds" at an arcade would be of course, going to the first Street
Fighter or Marvel vs series game I can go to and kick some ass with Ryu and
Morrigan or Ryu and Ken depending on the series, and then the occasional racing
game, Mario Kart GP is awesome! (Played it at Fun City on the way back from the
MGC) and just to blow some time, Police 911. I wish I had one of those cabinets
cuz I can get a good work out with that game.
- Any game that you couldn't beat ever without cheating or state saving with
some emu?
Besides Sailor Moon because of it's god-awful collision detection? I think that
game has to be...Neon Genesis Evangelion 64. It's pretty innovative as far as
one on one combat is concerned but some of the mechanics you have to do in that
game is insane (especially the Jet Alone level) Try playing that on the Xbox
emulator...very tough to even run!
- What would be your own special treasure you have about games or consoles?
(for example: I still own my original atari2600 cart about...)
Well, I definitely have to say that games have brought a great deal of love into
my life because there are quests that you will always remember or getting that
one sacred item that you spent hours on getting or of course, trying to revive
the games that you've loved so many years ago with BoR. Games will always be
like movies, only games will put you in the "movies" and make you the star.
***********************************************
Openbor scene related:
- How long have you been in the BoR scene?
It'll be 3 years in February.
- What was the main reason you had for joining the scene?
Well, I loved how BoR was customizable. I'd just started learning how to make
sprites compatible for it and I thought, why not, I'll do it. I did an ok job
for Nintendo vs. Sega but I thought that I set my goals too high for my
abilities and with some help from others from the scene, I kept getting better
and better and of course now with at least 3 complete titles under my belt, you
can see my transformation from "noobie" into BoR vet. Finally, I know what the
heck I'm doing ^^
- What would be your main inspiration while modding?
Well, right now, it's basically to look outside the box because, no offense to
any of you, but BoR will never get the kind of "love" that other homebrews will
get if we keep throwing mugen edits or rips into it. Like Rmedtx, we've got to
bring BoR out and show just how original we can really make these mods. Of
course, there are a few mods that 'breaks the mold' which brings us to the next
question.
- Do you have any BoR mods that have a special spot in your list o favourite
ones?
Definitely the Hyper Final Fight series, Battletoads, Crisis Evil series (you're
welcome HarlemHero ^.^), Hatchet Ninjaz and Strider X. These mods should be the
standard for any mods released.
- Talk about your best BoR moments if you have some
My first and best BoR moment thus far is of course going to Wisconsin to show
off BoR to the masses at the Midwest Gaming Classic (MGC) and of course, getting
to shake the hand of Dan Loosen. My other one has to be my reputation as "the
crazy modder." ...and finally bringing my favorite anime battle to life!
Sailor Moon fighting Beryl Metallia from the "Classic" Sailor Moon anime
series, finally brought to the beat em up realm in Sailor Moon Plus
- What would be according to your thoughts your biggest asset in your BoR
personal history (like per say, "the best thing I've ever done is this
mod/code/animation/etc.)?
Well, like I said before, I liked to think outside the box. Ed Edd n Eddy was a
perfect example of that. Even I didn't think it'd make it as a bor mod, but with
some very funny sprite edits, throwing in the greatest of BoR at the time, and
of course spending a few months on the dialogue of the game itself, personally I
still think it's one of my better mods. Cutscenes in that game was definitely
key and I think that's what my "greatest trait" is as far as BoR is concerned
and of course, I think that's what I'm best known for.
- Something funny that happened to you while modding?
TYPOS DRIVE YOU CRAZZZZZY!!!! ^^
- What would be your favourite Openbor feature (current version)?
I know it's a bit trivial but I love the burn or shock animations. Finally, I
can finally say BURN BABY BURN!
- Usagi getting burned in Sailor Moon R
- Do you have any special goal to achieve in the future related to the scene?
(it can be a mod, code, ideas, etc)
1) Release Yumi Samurai Warrior, even if my risks are even higher now
2) Hopefully release one more original mod
3) In my spare time, complete my goal of making all 5 Sailor Moon games in the
series.
- Name 3 features you would love to see in Openbor in the future (not telling
they're going to be for real someday, just express yourself heh).
1) Victory Pose (like Alien vs Predator or even Sailor Moon)
2) Free roaming scroll (Contra or Castlevania gameplay)
3) Customization of the lifebars (maybe using GIFs for life(you can define it
with "life.txt" and specify your code there and each GIF could be a section of
life and using the placement code you can place the lifebar stuff where you want
it. SamuraiX definitely hit a nail on the head when you can edit the placement
of the name, score and life.)
3b) Disabiling Name and/or score
*****************************************
- If you have something to say to someone or about something, this is it!
To all my fans/friends of the BoR scene, howdy and a special thank you to Kirby,
Samuraix, AlecDC, King Herb, Vicviper, CybelsoulX, Xenon and MrQ for their help
in my BoR "development" and of course, making BoR much much better than it was 3
years ago. You guys have made it worth while.
and Mr.Q, here is your guest cameo in Sailor Moon R.
I tried my best to edit a sprite I found in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. I
thought it looked pretty good from the back.
- Fell free to post a pic about yourself if you want to and say a nice "goodbye
c ya later and stay tunned"
Who knows what the future will bring but I'm glad that
BoR has been a part of my life. It's had its ups and downs
but it's never gotten me down and it'll always have a great
place in my heart. Thank you all for the experience and
thank you Mr.Q for conducting the interview. Best wishes to
you all. |
