Nick the Gent over at the very awesome Deconstructing Video Games very kindly nominated us last week for a Leibster Award – a neat little version of a blogging chain letter where you talk a little about yourself and then nominate other blogs you are a fan of to encourage your readers to check them out too.

The rules (in brief) are to answer 11 questions from the person who nominated you, then nominate up to 11 other blogs you like who you’ll ask 11 of your own questions. I feel a bit bad about asking other bloggers to keep it going (they are much better at this than I) so I will only list a few of my current fave blogs at the end that I encourage you to check out – they really are awesome too.

Here goes! 😊

1) Favorite video game – and why?

I think you opened with the hardest question of them all! 😉

For an all time pick I would probably would have to say Dungeon Master on the Atari ST as it totally blew my mind at the time to see a real time RPG that made the pseudo 3D game world a key part of the gameplay. As a kid it was the closest thing to being there. As an adult I can’t help but admire how much that game got right almost 20 years ago.

2) Star Wars or Star Trek?

Star Wars will always be my first love as it was one of the first movies I ever obsessed about as a kid (and still do) but I will admit to growing up and learning to enjoy what Star Trek brings to the table A LOT.

3) James Bond or Jason Bourne?

Bond, James Bond.

4) Favourite food?

Probably the good old hamburger. At the moment I’m trying to figure out how to make the best home version I can possibly do so every time I see an article online with tips I devour it as much as the burgers themselves!

5) If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?

Maybe around Hobart in Tasmania – Grocs and Kit used to live down that way and my wife and I have marvelled at how nice it is down there. It’s quiet, green, pretty, occasionally cold but has WAY faster Internet. That’s all that really matters, isn’t it?

6) What did you want to be when you grew up?

A pilot – it was the closest I could be to being a Luke Skywalker type though now with Elite: Dangerous I get to be more of the Han Solo type. In the real world I ended up as a software developer so I may have missed my dreams but it is something I turned out to be pretty decent at.

7) Why did you start blogging?

I’d originally started my blogging on LiveJournal (remember that?) years ago making obscure posts from the third person but ended up at an impasse where I couldn’t find the motivation to continue writing that way. It was then I saw how far WordPress had come and thought I’d give it a shot and began to blog more about things I like. Content on here was a lot more random back then but I had always enjoyed writing and blogging was a avenue for that.

I had also tried my hand at some reviews on community and gaming websites but those didn’t really work out for me so thought I’d spend more time here and get a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t. My current employer (a not-for-profit organisation) uses the web and social media extensively so I try to take what I learn from work and play to help both.

When Grocs began writing here too it gave the blog a significant boost and helped me to focus on making something that was no longer just for my own benefit but for everyone involved which has been a positive experience in itself.

8) How did you come up with the name of your blog?

A lot of things I do in my free time end up being later in the evening when everyone is asleep. Whether it be gaming, writing or in some cases coding, I was finding that I got a lot more done late at night. Even now I tend to reserve some of my more dedicated gaming sessions to that post midnight period.

So it’s about me being a bit of a night owl in more than just name and the blog being a product from one of my late night sessions a few years ago. Turns out I’m not the only one staying up late! 😉

9) What do you enjoy most about blogging?

That it democratises the written word in such a way that ANYONE with Internet access can create something that can be shared around the world. Finding that people from the opposite end of the Earth can read something from your blog the instant it is published AND let you know what they think of it immediately is a pretty amazing thing.

10) What is your favourite article that you’ve written?

Probably any of those where I’ve spent some time talking about the “greatest games” would count but a good example is the one about Dungeon Master (mentioned earlier) that brought back a lot of memories and I surprised myself with what came rushing back to me as I wrote. Might not be the best thing I’ve done but I enjoyed writing about it. 😊

11) What is the most important life lesson you’ve ever learned?

Look after yourself, your family and your friends first… everything else can wait. Even blogging.

If I were to nominate, these are the blogs that have been keeping me occupied lately and are highly recommended:

• Drakulus @ drakulus.com
• stopXwhispering @ Retro Video Gaming
• Sega Dude @ Retro Megabit
• Jordan/Eddie @ Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)
• Particlebit @ Particlebit
• Gareth Rhodes @ Gareth Rhodes Film Reviews
• Creative Rhino @ What Rhino Said

Everyone enjoy your weekends!