Exclusive Interview with Andrew Valdez, Winner For PAX East 2010
So I had the pleasure to sit down and talk with Andrew Valdez, also known as ThePaintedCow, for an exclusive interview yesterday to discuss his trip to PAX East 2010, what it was like, what games did he see, and so on. (I am also going to create a video for this interview and I’m going to try my best to upload it by next week)
- What was your reaction when you received the e-mail alerting you that you won a trip to PAX East 2010?
Well, it was funny. I went to work and about an hour early so that I could do some personal business on the internet and I was talking to my friend on the phone and all of a sudden I got an e-mail and the e-mail wasn’t suppose to go out until Thursday, so I was telling my friend maybe I forgot to sign something, because they make you sign some forms and stuff. All of a sudden it just said congratulations and I was like oh my god, oh my god, I’m going to Boston. So it was just like how my reaction was and I had to call everyone I knew.
- What accessories did you bring with you on your trip to help with the long ride?
*Haha*, I actually brought this month’s OXM [magazine] and OXM’s August issue because I knew it had Splinter Cell stuff to read and it was just kind of fun to know that I was going to the destination that I was going to play it and brush up on the story and stuff, but I actually didn’t get to read them because the guy sitting next to me was larger than life. I asked for a window sit because I thought it would be cool, but I actually couldn’t move so… *haha* I watched the Blind Side so it kept me busy, along with my Ipod Touch to play some Plants vs. Zombies.
- Who actually did this contest?
It was a contest that was made up by Inside Xbox and Ubisoft, from what I was told. It was a win-win situation for both of them.
- Was this your first ever trip to a gaming convention?
First ever! In fact, we had a show here last year in Utah called Geek Show and the flyer that was out on the town was like, it had cell phones on it, computers, gaming, and I called five of my best friends here to go up there and we all put down our money and everything and we go in there and it was just like this small room and maybe like this cable provider there and it was like, just a big LAN party. So we all went back and asked for our money back and we had to like dispute with our banks, but we all got our money back. So yes, this is my very first gaming convention.
- What would you say was the best thing you did during your time at PAX East 2010?
I would say having dinner with Andréane [Meunier] and Li [Kuo]. We went to Legal Seafoods and I got to like talk to them about undercover stuff. It was just us, I trusted them, they trusted me and that was like, I would say that was probably more like it was just us, I was out of the spotlight, they were out of the spotlight, the day was ending and we were getting ready to go to the after dinner Frag Dolls’ party. By the way, we were eating the seafood, I had ordered crab legs and the funny thing was Andréane [Meunier], she, excuse me if I say her name wrong — I tear it up all the time I guess, she had never eaten crab legs either and she had always wanted to eat them but she didn’t know how to eat them. So it’s funny, I have never had them either and Li [Kuo] actually had to show us how to eat them and that was really cool and it was fun. So that was just one little extra story for the dinner.
- How was your experience at the Frag Dolls’ party?
That was… that was off the hook because it was an open bar, the frag dolls were awesome, they actually gave me a lot of love. They just thought I was pretty cool, I thought they were cool, it was open bar, I’m from Utah where beer’s 3.2 percent, so it was 6 percent there. One of the guy that produces the Frag Dolls videos, films them, his name’s Derek. Actually his name is employee number one on Facebook, so he was really cool and I think he was like the moment of the night and actually Tart showed up to the party, so that was even cooler, it was like seeing a famous star come in and it was cool that she showed up to the party. But that party was off the hook, it was fun, everyone was dancing, and everyone had a good time. I think I came home with 15 business cards *haha* from that party. So I would say it was successful and it was fun and I think we got home about four o’clock in the morning from that party.
- Were you able to sit down and talk with the Frag Dolls?
Actually, my favorite Frag Doll was Morgan. She’s a beautiful red head. She was really cool because the day of the video shoot, that Friday, I got into town on Thursday and I went out and had a few drinks. Well I actually woke up with a bad hangover and I saw these girls and I was like, one of them have got to have some aspirin and she [Morgan] went through like lengths to get me aspirin and once I popped them in, then I was cool and I was like, let’s roll. So she was cool and Brooklyn was really cool, and I think on her twitter account we actually posted just a photo of us just chilling and stuff, so you might want to check her out on twitter.
- Did you see any cool cosplays that you wanna talk about?
I say my favorite cosplay, there were a couple of them, I love the Team Fortress team, that’s a fun game and they were cool and they loved my tattoo when I walked by and they were all “ohh so you’re the guy..” so we took a photo and it actually came out good and I was really scared because my camera some time misses. So they were cool, the hunter was cool. There was a witch there and if you like walked by her she would like get freaked out. So, I would say my favorite one was the Gears of War guy, the Cole train. Which I posted a video on Youtube, a 20 second video, it’s kind of funny for how long it is, but it’s cool.
- What games were you able to see and check out during your time at PAX East 2010?
The first game I got to play was obviously the Splinter Cell, Hunter mode. But besides that I had to wait in line for a couple of hours just to play Red Dead Redemption, although it was well worth the wait. In fact, I’m a huge fan of Red Dead Revolver and anything that Rockstar does. I’m like a Rockstar-Ubisoft guy. I think everything they put out is awesome. Also the Halo series and Gears of Wars, but, The Red Dead was really cool and it had a really cool booth, but I didn’t like the fact that you had to wait in line for so long, there was no waiting in the Splinter Cell and the Prince of Persia booths, and there were beautiful Frag Dolls there to assist you. The reason why the Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia booths were so successful because when you played the games you only needed to play a few minutes of them and you already knew they were going to kick ass.
- Which game did you want to play the most?
I would have to say the Splinter Cell because they told me I was the first person to play Hunter mode in the community, so out of all of us, yeah the demo came out but I got to play the Hunter mode and I got to play with the beautiful Andréane [Meunier] and that was really fun. It was very exciting and very hard at the same time too. It is a stealthy game, I like it to be quiet, but you can hear me at the same time and I was trying to impress her, because I am really good at these games, we have the same style. I would go, like, aim at a light, knocking it out. She would just be like a split second before me or she would go and try to kill a guy in front and I would just go to the back. We were kind of like racing, but we had the same style and gameplay, so that was cool. The only thing I wish we could have done was the two co-op kill, where you can do it together and so it was just really hard, having these headphones on and stuff and I kind of like hearing the sound. I was only rocking the pistol, she was rocking the pistol, frag grenades and stuff. I like to just go in with the Silencer and try to get done. The hunter mode is fun and if you have a co-op buddy out there you trust, it’s just gonna be amazing.
- Could you give us any details that you learned from Splinter Cell: Conviction?
Be patient. In the map that I played there was a gunner and Andréane [Meunier], she said, “don’t use that”, because once you alert somebody, I don’t know if there’s a timer or not — I don’t really remember. But I know it actually kicks in ten more people, and they can come from anywhere. We got all the way to nine together, where we only had one person left, then I think I actually just poked my head out being nosy and stuff. But I promise you that it’s going to be a lot of fun to do because when you pass a level, you actually move on to another level where there’s weapon stashes and you get reloaded and it automatically reloads all your frags and stuff.
- What was the best thing that Ubisoft had to offer?
They had a rocking booth. I think they had the most attention because the Frag Dolls were up on stage and they did the Red Steel 2, Just Dance, and Prince of Persia demos, which was amazing. I got to play those games, but this one [Prince of Persia] was like, way different. Like the whole freeze of the water situation and stuff and obviously the Splinter Cell game was amazing.
- What was the best thing any other company had to offer?
I wanna say that I want to give props to All Points Bulletin, that was a neat game. I don’t play PC games, but that was a really cool game that they had there. Not by Ubisoft, but by EA, but that was a neat game. I was kind of shocked at where it was at in PAX, it was like hidden off to the side. And Shank, have you heard of that game? That game will probably be my favorite arcade title this summer. So that was really cool and the guy that made it was in the dashboard at PAX, and I believe it’s in the photo with me and Andréane [Meunier] playing a game, but the video isn’t about us, but they used our pic, I think he’s actually in that interview.
- Could you name a few developers and people you had the pleasure in meeting during your time at PAX East 2010?
I actually met Li [Kuo], he’s the community manager for Ubisoft, there was Gabe, I don’t know how to pronounce his last name, but he was so cool. He is actually the community manager for Prince of Persia, he was just really cool and I didn’t get to hang out with him long enough and I regret not hanging out, and I missed his panel because Li [Kuo]’s phone and my phone just won’t acting right in Boston, and I never been to a panel but I was so drained and tired, but I still would have went just to support Gabe, because Gabe, he just said nothing but nice things. You didn’t hear any like bad language from these guys, they were so professional, but yet, they were so freaking fun. If they don’t become developer of the year, Andréane [Meunier] and Ubisoft , when they produce the videos and developer diaries, they don’t have to do that, but they do it because they wanna explain everything and she [Andréane] had a big schedule, I’m surprised she didn’t pull her hair out, like the other day, she was talking to journalists left and right. I wanna give props to Tom, I don’t know his last name but Tom is like the head, head of marketing for Ubisoft. That guy is the man.
- Out of everyone you met, who would you say your favorite person was and why?
Oh man, it’s a toss up between Andréane [Meunier], she would talk to me not like a fan, but a friend. There were things that we had connections about, like, when we were at dinner, I mentioned Hotel Dusk and she was like, “oh I forgot to play that game and I have it”, and so it reminded her to beat that game and obviously the crab at dinner, and there was one more thing we had a connection, but it was just cool to know that someone else in this world likes what I like. You know, some times when you buy a game and you go to a game store and you think like it’s just you, but there’s other people out there that like what you like and also Li [Kuo] was way cool because I learned a lot from him, just for the fact that he actually helped through the community manager of Endwar — So he got to live in Shanghai for two years and it was really neat to hear about that. So it’s a tie between Li [Kuo] and Andréane [Meunier], but Andréane [Meunier] has the advantage.
- Could you describe PAX East 2010 for anyone who has never been there?
I would say if you ever go, you need to go early and pack water, because water machines and water fountains were never near you at the time that you want them or you will be at the place where you want it and it’s not there. If it’s one item you look for, go for that first. I was sweating in the whole scarf, the PAX East scarf thing. I had to wait, like, an hour and a half just for that and I actually got an inperfect one, but I don’t even know what was so inperfect about it, other than it was perfect for me. Actually, when they were filming me, I actually got to walk through the whole sea of people. There were so many people there before it opened, it was like four hours before. I might even post a video on Youtube about the little section where I just showed up, I was like, wow I can’t believe how many people are here. It’s really fun, the cosplay is fun, you don’t see that stuff every day. So, just wear good shoes, bring some cologne because it does get funky in there because there’s a lot of gamers in there *haha*, but other than that it’s fun, it was like nerd heaven. That’s all I can say, it felt good to be with my own peers and when you are in line, somebody plays what you play or knows what your playing or whatever.
- Was it easy to move around with over 70,000 people the whole weekend at PAX East 2010?
There were certain parts inside the convention that, like the Fallout guy, any time he was somewhere there were people around him. So if he actually stopped at a part where there wasn’t much room to go left or right, then you kind of had to wait, but other than that I really didn’t see a problem going through lines except if you wanted to go up to the panels, then those were full. But other than that, I navigated pretty good and I’m kind of one of those fast walkers and my mind’s like “I’m going here and going there”, you know — I know my destination.
- What cool souvenirs were you able to take home from PAX East 2010?
Oh, I would say in the top three it would be my PAX East scarf, because I was sweating and they actually had signs saying how many people were left and I was counting the people in line and it was worth it. I did get the only Splinter Cell beanie, which was rad. I actually got that from Tom, the head marketing guy for Ubisoft, who is the man. You hear this here first but, he had actually sent me up to his room and he had one more special gift to give me and I posted it on twitter and I don’t think a lot of people understood what it was, but he gave me a stone and there were only 20 of them made and IGN had broke theirs, thinking there was a special message in it, but the message was on the stone, saying 04/13/2010. Meaning that it was set in stone, because they [Ubisoft] had kept moving the game back. So that was really cool, I even pulled that out at the IGN party. That is what’s amazing about Twitter, if you are a really good follower and you are around certain spots, you can do cool things. It was cool because I went to the IGN party and was actually looking to meet Jessica Chobot, but I guess she was in Florida. So I met Scott, from IGN who I guess was the main guy there and I bust it [the rock] out and he was just like, “we broke ours” and he even bought me a beer, so that was cool. We even tweeted a picture in my time line of me and him holding my blue moon that he bought me. So that was really cool and then also, there was another little Twitter, Markman23 from MadCatz was giving away Street Fighter Controller key-chains, and I knew this a week ago because he posted a picture saying “hey, if you see me, ask me for one of these Street Fighter Controller key-chains.” It was the actual arcade stick, but it was a little key-chain. I remember me and Li [Kuo] were at the Splinter Cell booth and he’s like, “are you hungry?” and I was like, “yeah, let’s eat.” Then all of a sudden I look at my phone because it had free wifi and Markman23 from MadCatz had posted, “hey, I’m at the chow, come see me” and we went all the way over there and we were looking for this dude and all of a sudden we found him and he hooked us both up. So I think even Li [Kuo] now knows Twitter works because look of what happened with us two. So I’m going to say the rock was number one, which is only 19 of them now. I would say the Splinter Cell beanie was number two, because there were none others given out but Prince of Persia beanies when you preordered the game and the scarf.
Now for the non-related questions…
- What is your Gamertag and what’s the story behind it?
My gamertag, actually, the first tag I wanted to use was saucy and the reason why was when I would go to a LAN party to play the first Halo, the game would project a name for you and so I didn’t like donut, so I kept changing, so all of a sudden saucy came out and so every time I melee someone because I sucked at Halo when it first came out, I would always say saucy through the headset. So when I signed up for Xbox Live, I remember Burnout three was coming out and someone had already had it. So I’m thinking and thinking and I used to DJ and when I DJ’ed I had the love for techno music. Techno is my favorite music in the world and there was an artist named Scooter and he would shout random stuff in a song and there was this song, I think it’s called Nessaja or something like that and it starts out where he yells out three am and when I used to DJ I would get home at three am. Then he would yell out the painted cow, so I was like, you know what, I’m going to try this, I bet no one listens to this. I have been going on for six years and for anyone who knows who has thepaintedcow.com to tell them to let me have that website because it’s just a coming soon World of Warcraft website. *haha* So it kind of kills me that I don’t want to do it .org or .net or whatever, I want thepaintedcow.com. I want that site.
- What do you do when you’re not playing games?
A lot of the times I hang out with my friends and most of the time I’m using Netflix. Netflix has taken over, in fact I probably have a low gamerscore because of Netflix. I love movies and I love watching Lost, Chuck, and anything that’s action-funny-comedy. Chuck is a cool show because they always put games like Call of Duty and Gears of War in it and I think that’s neat that they do that stuff.
- How long have you been on Xbox LIVE and what’s your favorite feature?
My favorite feature now is the avatar, because I look just like my avatar and I love my avatar even more because of the PAX East hoodie that I got straight from Major Nelson. He actually gave it to me when he was interviewing me, you guys didn’t see that but I actually gave him a shot glass that said it was from Utah, and he was kind of making fun of the shot glass because Utah is known for “not a drinking state” and stuff so he was excited and gave me a code to download the hoodie and that was really cool. So I like that avatar feature now and in a few months I should have a six on Xbox Live.
- A friend of mine, Nick Bridge, would like to know what it was like to meet the developers of these games?
It’s cool because they’re not stuck up. They are there to sell their product, but let alone like, even though I won the contest, I got even more into it. Andréane [Meunier] kind of showed me what a bug was like and stuff from her phone because she was kind of still working up in Montreal kind of through her phone. Their trying to get the PC game out and it’s suppose to be amazing, so that was really neat. They really try really hard with putting in so much time and effort into these games to make them perfect for when they come out. There is no issues and I think Splinter Cell: Conviction is going to be amazing from the geck-go and will be no problems and let’s hope that they make downloadable content, you know. Let’s hope they do something extra because I love downloadable content and it’s what I look forward to in games.
- What would you say your favorite gaming company would be?
I’m going to say Ubisoft and the reason why is I love the Splinter Cell games. They were different but I also love Ghost Recon. I remember when Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter came out, they had missions where sixteen of your friends online could compete together and pass five levels. That is nice, I don’t like where some games you only have two or three friends, which kind of sucks because you are like picking and choosing and would have to sign offline to not make the other person mad. But that was really cool about Ghost Recon. I remember seeing the Rainbow Six trailer where the Asian dude gets out of the helicopter and pulls out the sniper rifle and stuff and that was a really fun game. I think those games are fun because you have a chance to play with the Frag Dolls, because I know they play all those games. So that’s pretty cool. I remember playing with the Frag Dolls a long time ago but they probably didn’t know who I was back then, but I remember seeing their gamertags. But next to that, I would go with Epic. Epic is awesome with Gears of War, hands down. I think I got my girl into gaming, being able to chain saw people. I was tossed up with getting the Ubisoft logo on me [the tattoo] or the Third Echelon. So rumor had it that the developers thought it would be pretty neat if I got the Third Echelon, but my deal was to go Third Echelon in the first place, but the Ubisoft logo was second in there because anytime you watch the new games, you will see the Ubisoft logo swirl with different colors. Like, if you download the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo, the Ubisoft logo is red. So yeah, I would say Ubisoft is number one, not because I won the trip but because I think they do make the best games on the planet and they have the best marketing tools, like following Gabe, Li, or Kim. Sometimes they will even respond back to you and I think that’s cool They work really hard and they know they have the best games in the business. So it’s got to be fun and easy for them.
- What do you think of the new features in Splinter Cell: Conviction?
I love the mark and execute. I think that’s the best feature in the game. I’m a stealthy dude and I remember in the old Splinter Cell games picking up a body and hiding it in the corner and getting ready to sneak up behind someone else. At least in this game now, you get rewarded for that. So I do like that feature and if you are in a bind, the mark and execute feature can help get you out of the bind and I like that fact. I actually like the fact that in this game you don’t actually have to hide the bodies because Sam Fisher is like, “I’m going to kill everyone in this room because I’m going to capture that killer of Sarah’s.” They are reinventing the games and I like that. When we were playing Hunter mode, me and Andréane [Meunier], you have like this store and I remember when we were playing she was like, “well aren’t you going to get any frags or bombs” and she looked over at the screen and I was going to the wardrobe *haha* and she started laughing and said “well, sometimes you got to shop.” You know, and I like the fact that there were other outfits and stuff. Any fans out there, I didn’t know this either but, when you sign up on Splinter Cell: Conviction, I think if you visit the site and sign in or become a member, they send you a code for an in-game outfit. So I have that saved as a top e-mail so every time I go online, I see that and I’m not losing that. So, there’s a little hint there.
- Any other things you’d like to say before we end this interview?
I think the new Ghost Recon is going to be awesome and I know UbiKimi, if you follow her on Twitter, she’s always posting updates on what’s going on and she’s really rad. She’s actually cool because she loves UFC, so when I was in my hotel room, we didn’t have anything like that in the room and so, she would read me the results of the matches. So got to give some love to UbiKimi down there in North Carolina. Follow her and she’s gonna give you the up to date info for when the beta comes out. Shout outs to the Frag Dolls, hopefully they posted some pictures up from PAX, but I think they did. Check out their Facebook, follow them on Twitter, and all of them are separately on Twitter too. You can find them at Ubisoft.com, I’m sure there’s a link there, I can most guarantee that there is. Follow Li [Kuo] on Twitter, Gabe on Twitter, we are all connected so it’s not that hard to find them. I do thank them and there’s actually a video that I threw out there saying thank you to Ubisoft crew because they actually made me feel like a rockstar. So the two shirts that I made to wear out there to PAX, I autographed the shirts and gave them to Li [Kuo] and Gabe, because they made me feel like a rockstar and as a star I thought I should give them my autograph too. So that was kind of cool and actually deep inside the Ubisoft building there is a journal that I wrote out to them and it was a big fat journal but only wrote twenty pages, but through out the other pages I would write secret messages and in fact, when they got home from their trip I got messages from two of them that said they loved the journal and they thought the Easter eggs were freaking funny. So that’s cool, but that’s kind of exclusive for Ubisoft, that’s in their building and the only way to see that is if you sneak in there, and I’m sure it’s heavily guarded by Sam Fisher. I would just like to give a big shout-out to Ubisoft, because I wouldn’t have this big stone in my room and I would say to preorder the game and get your exclusive shotgun, it’s going to be fun and if anyone wants to play with me, just send me a friend request and let me know that they heard me from your interview. I actually can’t wait to play with my friends and even some of my friends that saw me on Inside Xbox came in and preordered the game, so that was kind of cool. It’s going to be cool because with Double Agent, I only had so many people that wanted to play it. So I think it’s going to be cool to play with the newer graphics and the better controls. So any fans out there, pick it up. I played Hunter mode, it’s for real. I’m actually playing the demo while I’m having this interview here, so that’s how awesome it is. *haha* As for contests, always enter them. Anyone can win.
I would even like to say thank you for the interview and sharing it with your viewers and I think that’s awesome. You have a cool website, I have read the reviews up there and I agree with almost everything on there, it’s awesome.
Thank you Andrew for taking the time to sit down with me at TechParadise.net for this exclusive interview. I hope to speak with you again in the near future.
Here are some useful links of things we discussed and shared during this interview:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ThePaintedCow1
http://twitter.com/ThePaintedCow
http://www.facebook.com/ThePaintedCow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Arcade_Expo
http://shankgame.com/art/pax-shank-gameplay-video/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APB_%28video_game%29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng9X6aL_N_A
http://twitter.com/majornelson
http://twitter.com/UbiMultipass
http://twitter.com/TreitandTrue
* I will also be adding photos from PAX East 2010 when I re-size the them. *
http://twitter.com/ThePaintedCow
http://www.facebook.com/ThePaintedCow
This article was written by Michael Young
