Written by Todd Friedman on . Posted in Trading Card Spotlight
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Jeff Lee, who is displayed on card number 2119, from the Superstars of 2015 Collection. Jeff is also featured on trading card 2374. Jeff is an extraordinary talented artist in the video game community, most known of course, as designing the character Q*bert. Other arcade games on which he has displayed his artistic creativity are Mad Planets, Krull and Three Stooges. In 2012, Lee illustrated the children's book "The Train to Christmas Town", written by Peggy Ellis. You can see Jeff’s artistic talent by going to the following website: https://www.jeffreyplee.com/ .
What was the first game you developed and what was your impression?
The first video game I had a hand in developing (other than just providing the artwork) was “Q*bert”. Early on in the development we had a feeling we were on to something. And our hopes were realized by the critical and popular success of the game.
Written by Todd Friedman on . Posted in Trading Card Spotlight
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Patrick Wyrick who currently is displayed on card number 2219, from the Superstars of 2015 Collection. Patrick “Indigo Ferret”, has been competing in Esports for years. He has a long resume of tournaments and 1st place finishes throughout his career with the capstone being drafted to a professional gaming team, Dallas Venom, in 2007 which was a part of the Championship Gaming Series. Some of his 1st place finishes include Hydro Thunder Championship in Las Vegas, World Cyber Games in California, and NASCAR Silicon Motor Speedway in Dallas. Most recently took 1st in 2015 at the Game on Expo in Mesa, AZ. Patrick will never stop gaming as he still competes at gaming events that he is interested in. He has traveled the states and has played more tournaments than most gamers, a true Esports competitor.
Do you remember your first video game / arcade you played and what do you remember about it?
I remember going to Noah’s Arcade at the La Mirada Mall in Southern California when I was under ten. It was mostly pinball games then with a few arcade machines like Space Invaders and Fire Truck. I also have early memories of playing Combat and Football on the Atari 2600 with my older brother at a friend’s house. The first console I owned was an Atari 2600 that I won from a Burger King promotion in the early 1980s.
Written by Todd Friedman on . Posted in Trading Card Spotlight
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Shawne Vinson who currently is displayed on card number 440, from the Superstars of 2013 Collection. He is also featured on cards 1076, 2412, and 3200. Shawne, who is known as the “Nintendo Master of Sacramento, can be seen in the 2016 Edition of Guinness Book of World Records – Gamers Edition. With many world record scores on the Twin Galaxies scoreboard, Shawne is always motivated to break more records and be the best gamer in his hometown. He just beat the two hard mini shooting games, which no one has ever completed, Swan Shooter and Night Strike. It's called the Furu Furu Park and it's on Wii. One of his games he is currently working on setting records for are the puzzle games, such as Super Bust-A-Move. You can see Shawne on his YouTube Channel "ShawneTheGreatGamer". You can also find out more about Shawne on his video adventure story of his gaming career and culture. "Shawne Vinson's Video Game Journeys".
What are your opinions about today’s generation of video games? How do you compare them to older, classic games?
I was performing a world record for highest scores and winning streaks. I will able to determine my destiny for my video game journey, and I’m going to try for the video game world tournaments, and championships I know I can do my best gaming from now on. As for older classic games, in the 90’s and 2000’s, some games were targeted at Game Crazy Store from Hollywood Video and even EB Games. In the past it had a preowned price and the MVP was a service offered by GameCrazy which provided customers with a 10% discount on used games and accessories as well as a 10% increase in video game trade-in value.
Written by Todd Friedman on . Posted in Trading Card Spotlight
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Stephen Boyer who is displayed on card number 15, from the Superstars of 2011 Collection. Stephen is also on cards 500, 1413, 1656, 2204, 2264. Stephen is a former Twin Galaxies referee and worked closely with Walter Day with his time there. He has been playing games since the mid 1970’s and has had many high scores on Arcade as well as MAME. Some of these games include Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. Stephen was seen at Freeplay Florida in 2014 with many other world record holder gamers. Currently he has been trying for Mario Bros. records in a multi-player setting with gaming partner Steven Kleisath.
Did you ever think when you were younger you would be on a video game trading card?
Heck no! I grew up collecting Garbage Pail Kids cards along with football and some baseball cards. However, I never even thought I would hold any kind of arcade world record score besides being on multiple Twin Galaxies player cards.
Written by Todd Friedman on . Posted in Trading Card Spotlight
Our next Trading Card Spotlight features Mike Iarossi who currently is displayed on card number 175, from the Superstars of 2011 Collection. Mike is the winner of the Powerfest 1994 Nintendo World Championships. Not only did Mike win the statue displayed on the card cover, but he also took home a Ford Mustang.Mike is a huge gaming competitor as he streams his gaming online on Twitch. Some of his go to games are Borderlands and Dark Souls series as well as Path of Exile and Tetris. One of his goals in life is to have fun and continue gaming as long as he can.
Do you prefer PC or Console gaming and why?
PC gaming easily these days. I just prefer mouse and keyboard to a controller for most things. Obviously, some games are made for controllers and work better there but even then, I would rather play those on my PC. Part of that is ease of access. I would rather not have to switch to a console to play something. I like all my games to be in one place. I still, own a Switch and a PS4 for exclusives that I can't get on the PC but that’s all I really play on them anymore and it's far less often these days than it used to be.
