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.

Joshua Johnson - Houston, TX

 Who are you?

- Joshua Johnson, though some people call me Solzer. I am a 21 year old black programmer, born and raised in Houston Texas.

What's in your bag?

- I don’t have a bag, I just have the Desktop Setup. Since a programmer doesn’t really bring much with him when going out to do a job, I don’t have anything else to show.

19” Sansui LCD Monitor, 23” Asus LCD Monitor, ATX Mid-Tower Case with a AMD Phenom 2X2 Processor, 4GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, 32-bit Windows Vista Operation System, NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 Video Card

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- I have a lot of favorite games actually, if that’s possible, but of all of them, the one I remember the most fondly is Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

What are you playing right now?

- Right now, The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim and Soul Calibur V

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- Truthfully, not many people or things inspire me to do what I do

What made you want to study game design?

- I wanted to make some games that people would enjoy, since I’ve always enjoyed them.

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

- The Marksman Rifle Replica from Resistance 2

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- THIS IS A LOADED QUESTION

Any last words?

- Welcome to the Champagne life, where trouble is a bubble in a champagne glass, where dreams and reality are one in the same. Don’t act like you don’t know the name. And we gon’ do it like this. Let’s go. J lol

Julie Vasquez - Houston, TX

Who are you?

- My name is Julie Vasquez I am a Native American/ Mexican 24 year old woman living in Houston, TX. I am currently attending Houston Community College System to obtain my A.A.S. in Digital Gaming and Simulation. I have a certificate in Automotive Maintenance and on my way to a Batchelor’s degree in game design. I enjoy hanging out with friends, playing games, drawing, 3d modeling, and just having a good time.

What's in your bag?

- There are many items in there but I will just go down the line: first and for most there is my Laptop, charger, mouse, 2 sketchbooks(big and small), small notebook, 2 small flash drives(4gb), portfolio, digital drawing tablet, headphones, various art supplies in a separate bag.

Favorite game of all time?

- Do I have to name only one? Cause I have a bunch, but I would have to say most favorite of all would be Legend of Zelda hands down lol. Final Fantasy VII would come close to first by a hair and I mean a thinning hair on a bald man’s head, yeah that close. Then it would be Halo series, Metal Gear Solid series, and anything released by Bethesda studios.

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- My father was a game programmer and he was good really good at it, but he didn’t think so and didn’t pursue a career in this industry. He could have been one of the greats known by all I am inspired by that going forward on something he dropped being one of the greats that he could have been. I have been told not to that when I was younger that I couldn’t that I would just fall to the wayside and that motivated me to go even farther. Although I would say that it is just more than that I am not only inspired by that there a number of people who inspire me that were and are still in this industry : Shigeru Miyamoto, Hideo Kojima, and Steve Wozniak have shown me that it is possible to have a unique idea follow through with it achieve it with hard work and determination by doing your best and it could be the biggest thing in the world for decades.

What made you want to study game design?

- Played Super Mario Bros./ Duck Hunt game and wanted to make something fun and engaging but better.

Guilty pleasure of the moment?

- This is a very vague question if it is while I am playing in a game then it would have to be happiness when my team and I achieve absolute victory and the other team rage quits. :P If it is while I am working it would have to be utter joy when I can think of something in the morning draw it out, model it, animate it, put it in an environment that I also created, and play it. If it is for this moment it would have to be guilt for not doing this sooner -J

Any last words?

- Don’t let anyone say that you can’t follow your dreams, and wise words from this young lady I am writing this for "SAVE!!!"

Kervin Arceo - Quezon City, Philippines

 Who are you?

- Kervin Arceo. Born and raised in Quezon City, Philippines and moved to America in 2003. Currently studying Video Game Design in Houston Community College to receive my Bachelor’s Degree (AAS - Associate of Applied Science (?)).

What's in your bag?

- Five Prismacolor Fine Line Markers , HCC pen, two 0.7 mechanical pencils, a casing of 0.7 lead, a big, fat eraser, ASUS brick charger, ASUS G73 laptop, cleaning cloth, Skull Candy headphones, Microsoft Wireless Mouse and mouse pad, red folder with some of my portfolio stuff (that also has a moustache imprint), PSVita, PSP, HCC lanyard, Wacom Bamboo Pen & Touch tablet with pen, and a 250GB external hard drive inside a Filemate hard drive enclosure.

Favorite game(s) of all time?

- The Metal Gear Solid Saga, the Uncharted series, and the Tekken games.

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?

- Hideo Kojima, who is responsible for creating the (legendary) Metal Gear Solid Saga. Mr. Kojima has inspired me to be a game designer by the way he designed the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Especially in MGS4, I was so amazed, and still am, at how much time and effort the whole team put into the whole game, and how much stuff was in one level. From the misty, hazy look of Eastern Europe to the unforgiving blizzard storm(s) in Shadow Moses, I just love how much detail was put into the game. Even flashbacks were implemented for hardcore fans!

What made you want to study game design?

- I decided that I wanted to study game design when my parents first took home our very first video game console, the PlayStation (or PSX) back in ’97. Ever since then, I was inspired by different types of games. As years passed, I started becoming aware of the different elements of the games I was playing. I wasn’t just playing games, I was looking at the detail; The graphics, level design, visual and sound effects, BGM, etc.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

- Working with a gaming company, maybe a family, maybe not.

Richard Garcia - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Who are you?- My name is Richard Garcia and I am a student at Houston Community College.  I major in Programming and Game Design.  I was born in San Francisco, California and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  When I’m not living a digital life (which is rare), I can be found rooting for my favorite sports teams (Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, Orlando Magic, and Dallas Mavericks).

What's in your bag?-Various pens, pencils, and sharpies; Laptop First Aid Kit (Windows 7 install DVD, Darik’s Boot and Nuke, Ubuntu CDs, Windows 7 recovery discs); Human First Aid Kit (Hand Sanitizer, Band Aids, Advil, and Quick Heal ointment); Chewing gum; Wireless USB Microsoft Mouse; Apple Airport Express; Phone/iPad/iPod/iPod Touch USB Cable; LAN & USB Cable; A/C Adapter for Laptop; MSI GX-630 Windows 7 Laptop (AMD Athlon X2 64 bit, Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT , 4GB RAM); 650GB HDD; USB hub; Business Cards; Introduction to C++ textbook; Notebook; Scientific Calculator

Favorite game of all time?- NBA Live

What made you want to study game design?- Once upon a time I was playing NBA Live ’98 on my PC.  As someone that wasn’t legally allowed to work yet, my source of income came from my parents (as did my video game purchases).  Long story short, rather than having them buy me each yearly installment of my favorite basketball franchise, I found a community on the Internet called NLSC (NBA Live Series Center).  It is there that I found mod tools to extract and modify the game’s assets to be on par with the new season’s updated rosters and looks.  Little did I know, the studio that made the game (EA Canada) was from my backyard (Burnaby, British Columbia)!

Who, or what, is your biggest inspiration?-  I have several people I look up to for inspiration.  Inside the games industry, Cliffy B.  Outside the industry, I look up to Kevin Rose (Diggnation), Mike Shinoda (Linkin Park), Brian Brushwood (Scam School), and Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library TV).  All these people are ingredients to what I consider to be qualities of an ideal person working in today’s game industry – business, hard working, dedicated, analytical, and a party-goer .

Guilty pleasure of the moment?- I don’t have a guilty pleasure at the moment but from memory – the Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider films are a guilty pleasure of mine.  Whenever the discussion of movies based on video games arises, I always bring up the fact that the Tomb Raider movies are the best there ever will be in terms of movies in this specific genre.  I get the most disgusted look from a lot of people but I stand my ground.  Until somebody can say something better, Tomb Raider is the best in the crop.

What is your favorite video game-related item? (ie. tshirts, props, etc)

- My favorite video-game related item is the Plasma Rifle in Halo: Reach.

Eleanor Tayam - Houston, TX

Who are you?

- Eleanor Tayam, Senior at University of Houston System - Victoria studying to receive her B.A.A.S. in Digital Gaming and Simulation.

What's in your bag?- handy dandy laptop bag my dad gave me, Dell Latitude D630 (with skullcandy sticker pasted on top, lame I know), power brick for the Dell, mini notebook of ideas, cords: iPod, 2 USB (1 short, 1 long), Headphones, micro USB, purple 9LED flashlight, 500GB Seagate hard drive, Prismacolor Fine Line markers, Logitech M315 wireless mouse in Steel Blue :), 2in1 pen from my dad's company (it's a pen AND a highlighter!), my schoolwork flavor of the day of notebooks depending on my classes.

Favorite game of all time?- anything by Naughty Dog, Inc.

What made you want to study game design?- 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. I want to know where the awesomeness first originated and use that for games.

Guilty pleasure of the moment?- Chocolate. Lots of it.

Any last words?- May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor.