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.