Get to Know Your Omeganauts!

Moe Fwacky

Okay, here it is, your 2007 Omeganauts. (I'm adding pictures in, if you want yours here, just post it in this thread):

1. David Davis (Davertron), PAX 2006 Omegathon Runner-up and former Sealab Crewmate

Hometown: Johnson, Vermont
Age: 25
Favorite Game: Counterstrike
Worst Game: “Apparently Tetris. *cries*”
Greatest Gaming Accomplishment: Competing in the 2006 Omegathon!

2. Cynthia Hookway(CynderCyn), CCST Veteran

Hometown: Marshall, Michigan
Age: 24
Favorite Game: Guitar Hero
Worst Game: Mario Kart
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “The first time I played Expert Mode in Guitar Hero I was able to get about a 70,000 score.”

3. Chelsea Stark(zombiebot, chelseabot)

Hometown: Austin, Texas
Age: 23
Favorite Game: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Worst Game: DDR
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “Defeating a Balor with my D&D group, thanks to plenty of natural 20s.”

4. Mike Berard(jdarksun)

Hometown: Reston, Virginia
Age: 27
Favorite Game: Tie between Dead Rising, Planescape: Torment, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and System Shock 2
Worst Game: Star Wars Galaxies
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “It’s a tie between leading the PA WoW Horde guild for nearly a year and leading the PA BF2 clan over the summer of 2005.”

5. Dave Palay(LordThanda), CCST Veteran

Hometown: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Age: 21
Favorite Game: Anything not sports
Worst Game: Anything by Wisdom Tree
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “My computer speakers: Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca-Ca-Carrier has arr - Carri- Carrier - Carrier has arrived.
5 other people in the room: Shit.”

6. Steve Radabaugh (majin23x), CCST Potentiary

Hometown: Thermopolis, Wyoming
Age: 28
Favorite Game: Any RTS
Worst Game: Any sports game
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “I finished the second quest of the original Legend of Zelda in one sitting. I was probably 11 at the time.”

7. Jimbo Matthew Pate (Riggz13)

Hometown: Jacksonville, Arkansas
Age: 23
Favorite Game: Anything Mario Kart
Worst Game: Need for Speed Underground 2
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “The first time I killed an innocent player in Ultima Online.”

8. Ryan Zack (Accalon)

Hometown: Bend, Oregon
Age: 22
Favorite Game: Half-Life
Worst Game: Toe Jam and Earl
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: Beating Zelda: Ocarina of Time with the 3-heart challenge

9. Edward Jones (SabreCat)

Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin
Age: 24
Favorite Game: RPGs!
Worst Game: Battlestar Galactica
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “Ascending in Nethack… eight times.”

10. Vanessa Sierra (Vane518, Lach's girlfriend)

Hometown: Miami, Florida
Age: 22
Favorite Game: Puzzle games
Worst Game: Elf Bowling
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: "Beating all the levels on Sonic the Hedgehog on my Sega Genesis."

11. Ben Gray (MNC Dover)

Hometown: Savannah, Georgia
Age: 31
Favorite Game: A tie between Starcraft and Fire Emblem
Worst Game: Realistic Racers
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “Beating Heavy Barrel in the arcade with only one man.”

12. Brian Lusky (the Reverend, a714generation)

Hometown: Erie, Pennsylvania
Age: 26
Favorite Game: Final Fantasy VI
Worst Game: Anything Madden!
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: Bowling a 300 in Wii Sports

13. Ariel Matthews (bluecanary)

Hometown: Atlanta, Georgia
Age: 28
Favorite Game: Tabletop RPGs!
Worst Game: E.T.
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “That's an even tie between ME finally hitting level 40 in World of Warcraft and getting my wolf mount and my MOM hitting level 40 shortly thereafter. I was so proud. I have a level 40 mom. She has a raptor!”

14. Brittany Marie Aubert (baubert)

Hometown: Bellevue, Washington
Age: 20
Favorite game: Ocarina of time. Favorite genre: Action/Adventure
Worst Game: Superman 64
Best gaming moment: “I made a pretty cool football strategy game called Gridiron Tactics while attending DigiPen.”

15. Tristan Stanley (LogicLB)

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa
Age: 25
Favorite Game: Resident Evil 4
Worst Game: Spider Man 3
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “During Christmas 1995, the second Warcraft was release. I was in sixth grade at the time, and my parents had already established their stance on game evolving war. I was determined to play this game, after playing the first one so much. I had no allowance, but I would receive twenty dollars for a school lunch ticket. It was support to last me for two weeks. I really had no other way of making money as a 13 year old in sixth grade. So for month and a half I went without lunch, keeping all the money hidden away. I rode my bike to local Game Stop in the mall and purchased Warcraft 2 on my own. It was the sweetest game I have ever earned.”

16. Max Battle III (MT_Max)

Hometown: Kalispell, Montana
Age: 23
Favorite Game: First Person Shooters
Worst Game: Predator 2 (Game Gear)
Greatest Gaming Accomplishment: “Beating Tetris on B-Type 9-5 on original Nes when I was 8.”

17. Josh Wetzel (wetzelcoatl)

Hometown: Moscow, Idaho
Age: 20
Favorite Game: Warcraft III
Worst Game: Unreal Tournament
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “Getting 2nd Place in the Desert Combat Tourney at the first PAX.”

18. Tony Baugh (Tony_B)

Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah
Age: 21
Favorite Game: Can’t decide.
Worst Game: “Cell Phone Games, yet I can't keep myself away from them.”
Greatest Gaming Accomplishment: “Finally beating my bigger brother at Mortal Kombat. From that day on my gaming skills only got better.”

19. Matthew Stone (CK20XX)

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Age: 25
Favorite Game: Bomberman for the Saturn
Worst Game: Fighters/FPS
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: “Getting a legit Mew and winning three badges and a black cap by competing with other trainers and beating the Gym Leader’s Exeggcute, Kabutops and Articuno with my Parasect, Jolteon and Alakazam during the first Pokemon Tour at Chesterfield Mall.”

20. Carlito Reyes (itojetto)

Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Age: 25
Favorite Game: Any Square RPG
Worst Game: Mortal Kombat
Greatest Accomplishment in Gaming: When I was 10, my mentally and certifiably insane cousins used to destroy me time and time again at Mario Kart SNES- I never had a chance. Red shells, green shells, and banana peels were always zooming across the screen, blowing up my balloons and wiping me off the track. I tried different tactics, characters, stages- there was never a glimpse of hope. One day, my cousin Alexander and I played ALL DAY and eventually got into a psychotically competitive “battle mode” for 12 straight hours. Eventually we were well into 800+ wins each- my poor little SNES nearly burst into flames, but it kept pushing on as if it knew my destiny. That day something deep within me snapped (Alexander had horrendous gas and athletes foot, so I may have been empowered by the toxic mix of his methane fumes and foot creams), and I MASTERED Mario Kart! I was unbeatable even with Bowser! GWAHAHHAHHAH!

We're leaving together
But still it's farewell
And maybe we'll come back
To earth, who can tell?

I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?
It's the final countdown...

We're heading for
Venus and still we stand tall
Cause maybe they've seen us and welcome us all
With so many light years to go and things to be found

I'm sure that we'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown...
The final countdown...
It's the final countdown.

edit: also this was brought up on page 2:

jdarksun wrote: »

IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT GOING, YOU NEED TO PUT YOUR PASSPORT REQUEST IN NOW. If you do have an active passport, I strongly suggest you get it expedited. I've already put mine in (I'm going to Belgium the week before), and I'm not positive I'll get it in time.

Let me just repeat that:
If you do not have a passport, and seriously think you have a chance at Tokyo, get your passport papers filed ASAP.

Pseudonym

Actually, Sabe is in Madison, WI. I don't think he has an account here. Should I tell him to sign up and pop his head in here to say hello?

Moe Fwacky

Yes you should

lordthanda

I scared over half the people on the second floor of Borders when I got that phone call. Something along the lines of "Holyshit. HOLYSHITshitnof-ingwaynoshitholycrapshitshit...etc."

davertron

Man, now I'm getting all nervous again...I need to go not think about this!

TrainwreckX

Not awake enough to do it or have a job and can't spend 16 hours a day on the forums like you. You decide.

I was about to do it just now (on my lunch break) before I saw this thread.

Iamnotanumber783

Brian, Eerie PA (he's my brother) is an Omeganaut

Moe Fwacky

8 more to go!


... come on phone, ring!

Tonkka

Moe_Fwacky wrote: »

... come on phone, ring!

DITTO THAT.

Ariel

I got the call a couple of hours ago now, and I'm STILL jittery-- I never win stuff in random drawings, and I was afraid to believe it was real when he said "This is Gabe from Penny Arcade." But he knew my email address...

Then he started making jokes about my name and my father, the King of the Ocean, and I knew it was legit.

I'm an Omeganaut.

I have totally NEVER been this cool before, ever.

baubert

Holy crap. I just got a call from Gabe. I tried to be calm on the phone, because I'm in the lab at school studying for midterms. As soon as I got off the phone I jumped on the table and called everyone I know screaming.

I got to cover the event for gamehelper.com and one of my friends was an omeganaut last year. The odds were totally against me.

This is so cool

Dondums

baubert wrote: »

Holy crap. I just got a call from Gabe. I tried to be calm on the phone, because I'm in the lab at school studying for midterms. As soon as I got off the phone I jumped on the table and called everyone I know screaming.

I got to cover the event for gamehelper.com and one of my friends was an omeganaut last year. The odds were totally against me.

This is so cool

Just? Like, within the past ten minutes?
Regardless, congrats! Good luck. Make a montage.

baubert

More like around noon, but I finally calmed down enough to type :P

zombiebot

Heh, I told Gabe that I wanted to jump up and scream, but my office was full of non-geeks and they'd think I was crazy.

Instead I ran down to the parking lot and yelled my head off.

MNC Dover

I was eating lunch at Wild Wings when I got the call. "Restricted Name" Who the hell is this? Glad I answered. Any idea when they post up the games for individual rounds?

Quethal

Whooo, congrats everyone!!! Hey, coming from a former Omeganaut, I have some great advice for you all.

BUY AND PRACTICE DICELAND

I am assuming that they're keeping it, and if so, seriously. There is a lot of luck that determines that game, so the skill you can learn will give you a HUGE edge. Last year, of the 20 of us, only 3 of us had any experience with the game. I had practiced it a lot and swept my table, so really, I recommend to all of you that you buy it and practice. It's a fun game as well!

Edit: In fact, as Pooro isn't here (he's the one who won last year), until he or other ex-omeganauts show up, feel free to ask me about being an Omeganaut! I got to the second to last round, so I can offer quite a bit of advice to all of you new, nervous 'Nauts

majin23x

Quethal wrote: »

Whooo, congrats everyone!!! Hey, coming from a former Omeganaut, I have some great advice for you all.

BUY AND PRACTICE DICELAND

I am assuming that they're keeping it, and if so, seriously. There is a lot of luck that determines that game, so the skill you can learn will give you a HUGE edge. Last year, of the 20 of us, only 3 of us had any experience with the game. I had practiced it a lot and swept my table, so really, I recommend to all of you that you buy it and practice. It's a fun game as well!

SHHHHHH!!!!
don't tell them that!

Quethal

Too bad, I'm an equal opportunity advantage spoiler =P

MNC Dover

Yeah, I'm the most worried about the table top games, as I don't play them at all. As far as last year, do you remember having a lot of time to practice/train for the games? What games gave you the hardest time? How big of a factor is luck? Was there a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on? Sorry for all the questions so suddenly.

padmeamanda

Hmm... ??'s on 15-20? Does that mean 6 people aren't decided yet or just haven't been contacted? Curious.

In any case, grats to those who will be competing! Go practice now!

I will be rooting for all of my gamer sisters of course.

BigRed

it means they havent posted on the forums yet :P

Moe Fwacky

padmeamanda wrote: »

Hmm... ??'s on 15-20? Does that mean 6 people aren't decided yet or just haven't been contacted? Curious.

In any case, grats to those who will be competing! Go practice now!

I will be rooting for all of my gamer sisters of course.

We don't know if they've been contacted or not, but they haven't made their presence known yet if they have.

Quethal

That's perfectly alright, questions are great

I spent most of my time between rounds practicing for the next game, however most of my training went on in the weeks before PAX. Basically, I looked at it as my full-time job. I was competing for a 20 or 30 thousand dollar car. So while you have some time to practice between rounds (if you choose to do so), there is also time to hang around with people. Again, though, plan on practicing mostly until then. In fact, even though the game list isn't up yet, there are some games you can probably make a good educated guess about *cough*guitarheroII*cough* Or they may surprise you and get the 80's version out there.

As for being worried about the table top game, there's only one, and it's likely to be Diceland again. It's a great choice, honestly. Just buy it (they've done only the original each year, though I would advice buying all three sets, they're cheap and fun), and play it a bunch. Make sure you practice with tournament rules.

The game that gave me the hardest time, well, I guess is the game at which I lost =P But, besides that one, probably Geometry Wars, which I would guess is because that game can vary quite a bit based on enemy spawns. However, the guitar hero round freaked out most everyone else, but I've been on stage before so I was happy to be up in front of everyone. So, consider if being in front of a big crowd makes you nervous, or makes you feel confident.

Luck is a factor in any game. The key is to get as much skill as possible to overcome the luck factor.

There really wasn't too much behind the scenes stuff. Luckily, we were all kind to each other. No drugging of drinks or anything =P A lot of camaraderie. I was busy practicing most of the time between rounds, or sleeping, though I did do a fair share of just hanging out as well.

Ask me more!

padmeamanda

Aha, secret competitors... they should totally bring in a monkey to compete and see how well the monkey does.

majin23x

If you're putting pictures up, steal mine from my myspace. http://www.myspace.com/stevenpaulr

Moe Fwacky

Are you the one on the right or the left?

Quethal

Diceland, likely.

There won't be two FPS games, so, Round 2 and 3, nah. I'm not sure which one, though I am guessing an Unreal Tournament variety.

I'm thinking Guitar Hero: 80's, or, if they can swing it, rock band, but that may be too difficult. You'd need to do it either in round 2, when you have 16 people, or round 4, with 8 people, and either way I think it'd be too cumbersome.

Yeah, there will be a Wii game in there likely, though I'm not sure which one.

Also probably a DS game, though again I'm not sure which.

Street Fighter would be great, but that may be too obvious. Maybe a more obscure, yet awesome fighting game? They have very poignantly (I believe) avoided straight up fighting games the past few years, which is probably a good decision. It'd be fun, but too straightforward.

SabreCat

Yo! I got the call today at 1:08 my time... much the same reaction as the others. "'Private Call,' man what?" ... followed by a startlingly bland (owing to my being too stupefied for wit) 48-second conversation with Gabe.

I got basically no work done for the rest of the day. o.o In too much a state of daydreamy shock.

Now I have to get in shape for this thing! I'm way too casual a gamer as it stands, tch. I intend to train up on a regimen of parkour and meditation... and oh, yeah, games too, right. People seem to assume Diceland and Guitar Hero, though I'd almost expect the PA crew to shake it up a bit. I'll just play whatever I get my hands on, I guess! Maybe I can get some more hardcore gamers in Madison to coach me?

Moe, there's a pic of me from last year's PAX at http://pics.livejournal.com/sabrecat/pic/00008by3/g5 ... or would you rather I provided a cut-down image?

Hrm, when I started going by "Sabe" it struck me that it's rather similar to "Gabe." Now that's actually going to be an issue, sorta... o.O

Quethal

Well, while we can't be sure about the specific games they choose, it'll likely be this, not in this order:

A tabletop game

A music game

An FPS

I think they've had a portable game each year, though I'm not sure

A racing game has been a constant, though I'm not sure if they'll continue it (are there any new, good ones this year?)

a714generation

Hey, This is Brian from Erie, PA! Just wanted to confirm what my bro has already posted--that I am indeed an Omeganaut. Here's a pic for the thread:




I was totally sure that someone was playing a cruel joke on me when Gabe called--

Gabe: "Hey, this is Gabe from Penny Arcade."

Me: "It is?"

Anyway, it's just an honor to be selected. I'm so ecstatic to be taking part in this competition, something I never though I'd have the chance to do. As an Omeganaut rookie I realize I'm in for an uphill battle, but I'm looking forward to the challenge and can't wait for my shot at TGS and Omeglory!

Let the training commence!

Accalon

I've been in a daze all day and about every 10 mintues a just stop .... "I'm an Omeganaut, holy crap!"

Anway, I've got a picture that you can crop down.

http://a786.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/20/l_768183997a13204cffbf7204e57ab101.jpg

It seems like there's going to be a bit more competition this year, as already most everyones shown a lot of drive to start practicing now! I can't wait to meet all you fellow Omeganauts and I'm really looking forward to that first time on stage and hearing everyone cheer for me.... because I know they will.. oh yes... I'm that good. (am I already talking smack? I swear is all in good fun)

baubert

You can grab a picture from my myspace also: http://www.myspace.com/looperinhyrule

I'm Brittany btw. I only signed up on the forums to see if any news was posted about the other omeganauts. Glad I did

Hirocon

baubert, I am totally rooting for you. DigiPen programmers FTW!

baubert

Sam Robinson, an omeganaut from last year, is also a DigiPen programmer. Unfortunately, he didn't make it past the Quake round last year. Now everyone is expecting me to do better, since he only had two days of practice.

People may not know, but once you get to DigiPen, you sign your life away and you don't play a whole lot of games anymore because you spend so much time working on them. I've got a lot of work ahead of me

Accalon

I'm trying to think what the Wii game would be, because it only makes sense they would throw that in there.

What about a game like Excite Truck or Monster 4x4? only problem is it's only 2 player and that wouldn't be very good for a racing round.

Only other Wii game I could possibly see playing is something like Monkey Ball or MAYBE Soccer?

Moe Fwacky

Wii Sports, Bowling

lordthanda

Oh god no. Bowling would destroy me.
However, Bowling takes for friggin ever, so I tend to doubt it.
Have there been any RTS's in the 'thon?

Still in a state of shock and delerium over here, but Good Luck to all my fellow 'nauts

lordthanda

Oh, and on a side note:
about 30 minutes after I got the call, I called my local game store. They will have dice land in by wed, no later than 2:45.
Bwhahahahaha

Moe Fwacky

Did you tell them why you needed it?

lordthanda

I'm going to spring it on him when I get the game. He didn't know anything about PAX, this gives him a day or two to find out about it.

Accalon

Nice timing lordthanda! I just placed my order for Diceland myself... the sooner I can get a feel for it the better.

Wii sports? Maybe... I just figured they would go with something not as .. basic? Wii Tennis would be good.