Hello, it's been a while!

Quite a few things have happened since the start of this project, the major one being that I've graduated with my B.A.A.S. in Digital Gaming and Simulation. I am also now a high school teacher trying to spread the video game industry goodness into the youth of our generation.

I think it's working.

In the process, I've decided to try and give new life to this project. Life without college is a huge change for me and the people previously featured here are (obviously) older, wiser, and most likely more successful than they were when their bags were first featured. 

This blog will be updated over the course of the next few weeks or so as I revamp its look (and keep myself from using the default templates any longer than I need to. Yuck.)

To kick off with the new life of this project, I've decided to update my bag. Cheers!

Psst! See my previous bag here.

Who are you?

Eleanor Tayam, high school teacher.

What's in your bag?

Asus X550L, work keys, Microsoft Mouse (Red), Cord/Chargers for cellphone and iPad, Forever XXI owl shaped lip balm, an extra hair tie, Hand Sanitizer, 1TB Western Digital external HDD, #20 dyed nylon cord for rosary making and choking my enemies who try to kill me, emergency poncho & quarters for bus commute, Hall Defense Vitamin C drops, my cell phone, and 2 books: HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites, Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs. Not pictured: purse & related items, (work) iPad Air, laptop charger, my coffee, and the bag,which is a Solo Pro Laptop Backpack for 15.6" Laptops.

Why rosaries?

because I'm Catholic.

Favorite Game of All Time?

anything by Naughty Dog Inc.

What made you want to study game design?

The application of technology. I was never really big on sitting myself down and doing just one thing for the rest of my life. Technology really was freedom for my creativity. 

My dad first bought me our family the first generation Playstation and I don't know, it just kind of hit me that I wanted to design video games. I love reading, I love doing crafts, and I have a huge imagination so all that mixed in with my brain only wanting to learn kinesthetically (by moving, touching, muscle memory, etc.) it just seemed natural to me to design things that were made for interaction.

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

Books. Reading. Literature is a timeless form of entertainment and where a lot of people develop their "inner eye" for imagination.

Oh, and my students. They're a huge motivator.

Guilty Pleasure Game of the moment?

.....League of Legends :D

What have you done lately that is worth remembering?

I successfully used the bus to commute to and from work!

Any last words?

May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor.

John McCalep - Houston, TX

 Who are you?

- John McCalep

What's in your bag?

- My Laptop, My drawing pad, tablet, game design concept foler, drawing pencils and pens, graphic tablet, mouse, cords.

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- All Elder Scrolls titles

What are you playing right now?

- Minecraft, League of Legends, waiting for GW2 J

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- Nikola Tesla

What made you want to study game design?

- It’s a creative and interactive medium in which a person can express their art in a more hands on environment.

Favorite piece of video game memorabilia (t-shirts, props, etc) that you may or may not own?

- Collector Toys

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- Thinking big about my comic.

Any last words?

- Think of others when you do something and don’t take for granite those who help you when no one else would.

Matthew Simon - Alexandria, LA

 Who are you?

- Matthew Simon

What's in your bag?

- Laptop, mouse, wacom tablet, 3d world magazine, 3d artist magazine, Tums

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- Mass Effect franchise

What are you playing right now?

- Mass Effect 3

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- My inspiration is seeing passion from another person.

What made you want to study game design?

- My love for the industry.

Favorite piece of video game memorabilia (t-shirts, props, etc) that you may or may not own?

- Tattoos

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- Learning Spanish

Any last words?

- Can't be anything less than brilliant. So strive to be the best.

Luis Sandoval - Reynosa, Tamaulipas, MX

 Who are you?

- I am Luis Sandoval in the real world, a student @ Houston Community College in the Digital Gaming and Simulation program trying to get my AAS, however, in the online realm I am known as xSageOnex. XBL, PSN, Steam and anywhere else that is usually my handle. If you've ever played a Halo game, or COD, Battlefield, and more recently Ghost Recon, chances are you've been killed by me XD

What's in your bag?

- Contents in bag
Some semesters you will see me carrying a TON of stuff, I’m usually carrying art books, text books, sketchbooks, and notebooks, pens, pencils and all that crazy stuff. This one has been a breeze and I don’t have as many classes to take so this is how my bag is currently looking.

A. The most important thing to me right now, or ever since started attending classes @ HCC, my portable hard drive, containing everything I've ever worked on-finished or not- Never leave home without it.

B. a pair of rinky dinky headphones, what can I say, at least they recreate sound. A must for working on my Audio class assignments.

C. A sammich, yep, I’m usually at campus 10+ hours a day and being on the usual student budget. I can't afford to go eat out every day. I make sure to catch breakfast before I head to school and I usually take along a couple of sammiches to keep me going throughout the day. That and a healthy dose of cigarettes to curb those cravings. Yep, healthy. At least they're low in calories.

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- When Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of Final Fantasy,  Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, come together and weave their magic...the result is Chrono Trigger, for the SNES. I have the best memories of that time but that game took the cake, it had multiple endings and choices that bring BioWare games to shame, and this was more than 15 years ago.

Recently though I have to pick the Uncharted series and Mass Effect series as my favorites as well.

What are you playing right now?

- Ghost Recon Future Soldier, just finished Mass Effect 3...regardless what all the internet whiners think...awesome ending to that trilogy. Wouldn't have had it any other way.

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- Inspiration comes from the video games and the developers alike. Shigeru Miyamoto, bringing us games that continue to define Nintendo to this day. Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear Solid, need I say more? Also brought us the vastly underrated and almost forgotten Zone of the Enders series. To games like Uncharted, Shadow of the Colossus, Mass Effect. Everything I play at some point or another has inspired me to chase after my dream and make some games.

What made you want to study game design?

- I've always had a passion for art. I've always loved video games. Combine those two and it’s only natural for me to go down this route. I figured why limit myself to only playing games when I can make them.

Favorite piece of video game memorabilia (t-shirts, props, etc) that you may or may not own?

- That I own. Uncharted 3 collector’s edition, comes with belt buckle, Sir Francis Drake's ring necklace. Nathan Drake action figure.

Also these nice Pacman plushies. I have Pacman, Pinky, and a scared ghost. You can see how large they are when you compare the size of my hand to them.

That I do NOT own but wish I had..see this link----> here 

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- Love listening to Taylor Swift when I'm in the car or at home alone. I can’t help it she has a very nice voice, and her music is catchy and cheery, lol. Screw the people who say she can’t sing or she isn’t "country" pffft!

Any last words?

- Blargh?

Michael Lavallies - Houston, TX

  

 Who are you?

- My name is Michael Lavallies. I once thought I knew who I was, but as I travel down life's road of pursuit I figured that it’s all about the journey. I don’t know who I am but I do know what I am at the moment. And as life creates opportunities I will continue to explore their possibilities.

What's in your bag?

- In my rugged brown skull candy bag resides: 1 echo smart pen so I may record the spur of the moment ideas and occasional lectures for future, My adequate laptop, A pair of head phones for those secret conversations or the moments you can’t help but drown out the world, the accessories required for powering said laptop, Eleanor's Sketchbook which houses her old works and some of my ideas, loose change, my dying portable hard-drive, my wallet(empty), leaflets, un-discarded food wrappings, and can’t forget the Dust Bunnies.

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- One game I can’t help to have at the top of my list would have to be Perfect Dark for N64, although Golden Eye N64 dragged me in to the world, because I kept me in.

What are you playing right now?

- While writing this I couldn't have been playing anything but I understand the question and my answer would have to be Minecraft. Simply it’s Minecraft, the crazy randomly generated building block survival game with all its unlimited possibilities. The bar is continually raised each time someone builds something new.

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- My biggest "who" inspiration has to be Markus Persson. Until he came into the scene, it was the Houser Brothers. All of them proved roughly the same thing that it can be done even with people as close as your brother. IT can be done. Something I will live with forever. If you can think it then one way or another it can be done. My biggest "what" inspiration would have to be Friendship and the never ending joy of sharing the wealth of success with those who helped you get there.

What made you want to study game design?

- The cliché' as old as time, is the wanting to know how things worked; Games being no different. Something a creative as a game has to have a process and it’s something I really wanted to know how to do. I thank Richard Garcia for leading me to DGS and Dustin Price for increasing my interest in the Game design process at a young age and Reni for her welcoming Fold she let me in to, and to my BFF Adriana for answering the call. The Game design world isn’t that really scary anymore.

Favorite piece of video game memorabilia (t-shirts, props, etc) that you may or may not own?

- It would have to be my still working N64. It wasn’t my first system but it was the system that set everything in motion.

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- Although it’s old my guilty pleasure is My Gameboy and Pokémon. I can play it but once I start I feel guilty about it and even knowing that I enjoy it none the less.

Any last words?

- I may not know exactly where my life is going right now but I can tell you this, no matter how many bumps I hit, no matter how many plans go wrong and no matter how long it takes my life will end up where I want it. We guide our future based on the moves we make. I will make mistakes, but I’m only human.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

- In 5 years I hope to be a part of something that has the potential to be big. I have my goals and all I need to do is layout the plans to reach them. I am starting over from scratch. It will be different this time.

Gabriel Lamas - Houston, TX

 Who are you?

- Gabriel Lamas, Senior at Houston Community College – Southwest studying to receive his Associate of Applied Science in Digital Gaming and Simulation.

What's in your bag?

- An Expedition Traveling Bag, a HP Pavilion dv7 Laptop (w/ laptop charger and battery), My portfolio, x4 Number 2 pencils, 2 Sketchbooks (x1 “9 inx12 in”, x1 ”5.5 inx8.5 in”), a 1TB Western Digital External Hardrive, a Pencil bag (a pack of 4 Fine Line Markers, Blending Stumps and Tortillons, an assorted bag of mechanical and 2B, 6B pencils, and a metal sharpener, and a PrismaColor set of 12 Pencils(F - 9B)), one Wacom Bamboo Graphics Tablet, 3 folders (two black and one red), both Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood mini art booklets, a small case of 0.5 mechanical pencil lead, one white eraser, one kneaded eraser, two Hi-Polymer Plastic Erasers, two sets of business cards, one wireless mouse, 3 chargers (cell phone, Digital Camera, Sony Walkman), an OfficeMax tablet, a bag of 4 batteries (x2 AA, x2 AAA), and “The Animator’s Survival Kit” by Richard Williams.

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- Either Super Mario Bros. 3 or Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening (I seriously can’t decide!!!)

What are you playing right now?

- New Super Mario Bros, Resident Evil: Revelations, Kid Icarus: Uprising, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- My Parents (They go through life WHILE taking care of my little brother and me!), pretty much any historical figure who worked hard, even if at a particular craft (Leonardo Da Vinci, M.C Escher, and Walt Disney quickly come to mind), Shigeru Miyamoto (without him making SMB3 I probably would not be interested in this industry in the first place), Alex Alvarez (Founder of The Gnomon  School of Visual Effects, and the guy that put us Production Artists on the map for (further) education…’nuff said) and anyone to GRADUATE FROM The Gnomon School of Visual Effects (These artist take 3D art to a WHOLE.’NOTHER. LEVEL).

What made you want to study game design?

- In an instant when I was continuously losing in the very first level of Super Mario Bros. 3, I thought to myself “I wanna do this!” What I mean by that is doing Game Design in addition to Animation.

Favorite piece of video game memorabilia (tshirts, props, etc) that you may or may not own?

- Pretty much ANYTHING that Nintendo makes on their own and my Ezio Auditore statue that came with the Assassin’s Creed II Collector’s Edition (that thing looks like it should be placed near a doormat to scare people off….XD).

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- Sweets and Soda (It all tastes so good!!!)

Any last words?

- Follow your dreams. Work your butt off….EVERYDAY! You may just be human, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take your craft beyond your limits. No one can tell you can succeed and make into the industry…no one in this world deserves that honor. Have a clear mind and stay level-headed, but remember to enjoy and love what you do, and you will succeed sooner than you think.

Levi Southerlan - Battle Creek, MI

 Who are you?

- My name is Leviticus Southerlan and I am a 25 year-old, white male who is perpetually pursuing extraneous college degrees that I will never use. I am currently enrolled in University of Houston’s Digital Media program.

What's in your bag?

- My 17-Inch Belkin Messenger Bag (Jet/Cabernet) contains the following items: 1 custom built IBuyPower laptop complete with power adapter,  1 Wacom Intuos 3 tablet with matching pen, 1 8Gb Microcenter flash drive, 1 MicroSD card-reader with 4 Gb MicroSD card, 2 fingerless gloves (grey), 1 custom printed Dharma Initiative mouse pad, 1 Western Digital hard drive (1Tb) with USB 2.0 cable, 1 Logitech M510 laser mouse, 6 Nintendo DS games (Titles Include: Okamiden, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Korg DS 10 Synthesizer, Pokemon: Soul Silver, Dementium: The Ward, and Dementium 2), 1 pair Klipsch Image ONE Headphones, 1 rollerball Click-pen with grip, 3 0.7 mm  Bic mechanical pencils with grip, 3 0.5 mm Bic mechanical pencils without grip, 1 pair, prescription sunglasses, 1 R2D2 edition Motorola Droid 2.

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- Bioshock or Gladius.

What are you playing right now?

- Mass Effect 3 (X360), Modern Warfare 3 (X360), Gladius (Xbox), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (X360), Team Fortress 2 (PC)

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- Mostly I’m inspired by the stuff that happens to me on a daily basis. My mind tends to wander and I come up with certain ideas and mechanics based on the exceedingly normal circumstances around me. As far as artists, Doug TenNapel continuously impresses me with everything he puts out and inspires me to strive to get better at my own craft. Several musical artists also inspire me through their songs, the most prevalent being Five Iron Frenzy, Explosions in the Sky, mewithoutYou and Tom Waits.

What made you want to study game design?

- I got kicked out of a university and was forced to start over. Gaming was on the list of majors so I went for it.

Favorite piece of video game memorabilia (tshirts, props, etc) that you may or may not own?

- I have framed copies of maps from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They’re fully matted behind glass and contained in an intricately crafted, real-wood frame. They are probably the nicest thing I own. They’re also super heavy.

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- I spend way too much time developing this post-apocalyptic, turn-based, tabletop RPG with class, weapon and skill systems. I’ve sunk way too much time into it and I doubt it will ever see the light of day but it’s been really fun to tinker around with the mechanics and classes. Also, I get giddy when it comes to Game of Thrones.

Any last words?

- Can you imagine if there was a frog with a scorpion on its back and both just filled with hate? Then you get the lethality of a scorpion with the mobility of a frog. Also, the frog is excreting some sort of hallucinogen so the scorpion is just freaking out. Also, the frog has a really high credit score so he’s able to get a house. Also, the scorpion knows American Sign Language so he can talk to deaf people. That’d be scary.