What's Your Story - Alex

Alex is currently blogging through Leisure Suit Larry for us and is about to become even more prolific with game playthroughs in the near future, with Leisure Suit Larry V and Police Quest III also coming soon.

My home country is… The United States of America. I am a born-and-bred New Englander currently living about 60 miles outside of Boston.


My age is… 34 later this year.

The first adventure game I played was… I think it was Space Quest I on my grandfather’s old Leading Edge computer. My uncle, who is quite a bit younger than my dad, set it up for me and my brother. We were hooked. Police Quest I, King’s Quest III, and yes, Larry I soon followed.

Another Sierra game with a remake coming up here very soon

My favourite adventure game is… This is a tough one. Gun to my head, I say Quest for Glory IV. It does everything almost right. Then again, so does the first Gabriel Knight game. Believe it or not, I didn’t play the first Monkey Island until four or five years ago, but that has to be up there.

Distinguishing them from the shadows of light?

When I’m not playing games I like to… Play with my three-year-old son and my wife, play my guitar or bass or drums, play basketball, write, read, smoke cigars, travel.

I like my games in (a box, digital format)… At this point, digital all the way. I’m running out of space in my house.

The thing I miss about old games is… The charm. There was something about the limitations of the systems back in the day, especially regarding the graphics, that made the developers compensate with design and story choices that really stoked the imagination and made the games come alive. Modern games are pretty rad, though, or so I’ve heard. I don’t have the time or money to invest in them.

The best thing about modern games is… You tell me! I think the most recent game I’ve played has been the Nintendo DS remake of Dragon Quest VI (I’m a sucker for Dragon Quest).

The one TV show I never miss is… I don’t watch much TV at all (I’m a bad American!). In fact, my wife and I cut cable about 5 years ago and survive on Skype, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. My main TV watching is sports, though, my beloved Celtics (basketball), Patriots (football), and Red Sox (baseball). I’m not a huge Bruins (hockey) fan (I’m a bad New Englander!).

If I could see any band live it would be… Well, I would have written Primus (saw twice before their most recent hiatus), Faith No More (have had tickets to see twice, never made it), or Blur (saw once, sans original guitarist), but all three of those bands released albums and are touring with their original lineups. In 2015. Am I back in high school? I suppose other than the usual answers (Beatles, Zeppelin, the Who, etc.), I would have to say the original Mothers of Invention circa 1966-1968, although I would love to see any era Frank Zappa in person. I have been fortunate enough to see his son Dweezil twice play with his Zappa Plays Zappa band, which featured members of Frank’s old groups.

My favourite movie is… Again, gun to my head, I say The Empire Strikes Back, though some days it may be It’s A Wonderful Life (yes, I’m a cornball), The Blues Brothers, or Ghostbusters. I don’t know. I don’t consider myself a “movie person.”

Movie person or not, this is a great choice!

One interesting thing about me is… Everybody thinks I look like somebody else. I have gotten, in no particular order: Harry Potter (because of my glasses), George Clooney, Ty Burrell (Phil on Modern Family), Cary Grant, Bruce Campbell (because of my chin, I guess?) and John Mayer (???), among others. People also tell me I look just like some friend or relative of theirs, but whenever I see a picture or meet the person, I look absolutely nothing like them. This happens all the time.

This is Alex's true form. He just doesn't know it yet.