TR1GG3R MAN's Blog

AceyBongos [Xbox Team Interview]

TR1GG3R MAN: Welcome and thanks for taking the time to answer this interview.
AceyBongos: No problem! It’s always a pleasure to talk about myself  
 

TR1GG3R MAN: What’s the story behind your Gamertag?
AceyBongos: I wish I could say there was a big long story about why I ended up being called AceyBongos but, erm, there isn’t. As far as I can remember when I signed up for Xbox Live on the original Xbox I sat for about 2 hours trying to think up an original GamerTag that I thought would sound funny. I tried a bunch of stuff like Mr Chips (a cult character on an old UK gameshow called Catchphrase), BaconCrisps, Biscuits and Cheese, and other stupid stuff like that. Weirdly, they were all taken! Then I remembered something my friend Hadyn Cooper used to say when we were teenagers in Aberdeen. If something was good he would say it was ‘ace’, but if it was really good he’d say it was ‘aceybongos’! I thought that was a good reason to call myself AceyBongos, plus it reminds me of my home in Scotland and my old friends.
Oh, and by the way, I cap up the A and the B simply because I like the way it looks!
 

TR1GG3R MAN: Well that explains the description on your blog: “What’s better than ace? Aceybongos!”.
How long have you been a member of Xbox Live and of the Xbox Community in general?
AceyBongos: I guess I signed up for Live back in March 2005, mainly to play Pro Evo Soccer online! I’d been a huge fan of Xbox since it launched but since I was a poor games journo I couldn’t afford broadband at home, so had to be happy with offline play to begin with. I used to work on a multi-format games magazine called CVG, then moved onto www.ComputerAndVideoGames.com, so I was always writing about Xbox and I think my boss kind of thought of me as the Xbox boy – it was definitely my favourite console. Then I got the chance to launch the website for the Official Xbox 360 Magazine in the UK (www.oxm.co.uk) and that’s when I think I really became part of the community. All the great additions that the 360 brought to the community like Achievements and GamerScore really caught my imagination, so it’s a real privilege to be working with the Xbox community day in, day out.

TR1GG3R MAN: I agree with you on that: Achievements and Gamerscore really added something to our gaming experience. Tell us a bit about yourself: Who’s the person behind the Gamertag? We want to know everything! Where you’re from, your name, age, education, and anything else you can shoot at us! 
AceyBongos: Yikes – this feels like a job interview! Well, you probably know my name’s Graeme Boyd, I’m 26, and I’m from Aberdeen in Scotland. I’m extremely proud of being Scottish, and I’d love to go back to live there one day. For the moment though, going to the only Scottish pub in London to cheer on Aberdeen FC and the Scotland football team will have to do. I went to university in Aberdeen and studied English and Film Studies, then went to a college in Ohio, USA for a year, then did a postgraduate course in Journalism in Edinburgh. I got a job writing for CVG magazine as soon as I graduated in 2003 and I’ve lived in London for almost 4 years now. In other news, I have a profound weakness for crisps and I like really bad music like Meat Loaf and Dire Straits. How’s that? Do I get the job?

TR1GG3R MAN: Wow that’s impressive! The position is yours!  Do you have any pets?
AceyBongos: Funnily enough I just got my first two pets ever – two cats. They’re both girls, one is called Poppet and the other is called Pickle. Poppet is a bit chubby and more affectionate, whereas Pickle is a right cheeky little bugger. I adopted them from my sister because she moved and couldn’t keep them any more. They’re great, although I hoped they might be a bit more interested in the Xbox. Honestly, when I’m playing Guitar Hero they sit there and look at me like I’m crazy!
 

TR1GG3R MAN: Haha! They look wonderful!
On a separate note, how long have you been working for Microsoft and do you like it so far?  
AceyBongos: I’ve been at Xbox for exactly one year now, and it has been fantastic – although probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done! It was a really big change for me going from basically being my own boss (there was only me and one other guy running www.oxm.co.uk) to working in a huge team with hundreds of people to meet and talk to. The first few months went by so quickly and I never felt like I would catch up! But you get used to it, and it’s probably the most exciting place you could be if you love Xbox. To start with, the weirdest thing for me as an ex-games journalist was sitting in meetings and hearing people talking about amazing top secret stuff. For months my first instinct was to go and write a news story! Obviously, I wouldn’t have kept my job long if I’d done that...

TR1GG3R MAN: Obviously not… What exactly does an Xbox Community Manager do? What is your daily working routine (if there is one)?
AceyBongos: The main purpose of my job is to represent the Xbox community within the European Xbox Marketing team. So, for instance, let’s say we’re planning a big game launch or a big announcement. I make sure that the community is fairly represented in those projects and try to get as much content out to the community as possible. I also report back to the wider Xbox team about what the community is thinking and talking about – that’s why it’s so good when members of the community are honest and open about their views (just so long as those views are thought-throw and pitched in a respectful way) because it means I can really try and make things change. There’s no such thing as a daily working routine here in Xbox – it’s all about getting stuff in where it fits! I’ll usually post some entries on my blog (www.AceyBongos.com) in the quieter times first thing in the morning and again later in the evening, but every day my diary is different (and never enough time for actual gaming!).

TR1GG3R MAN: What does Aceybongos do when he’s off work? What are your other interests and hobbies?
AceyBongos: AceyBongos is never off work... Only joking. Football is probably my biggest interest – I play as much as I can (3 times a week if I’m lucky), I watch the English Premiership as much as possible (I’m neutral – I don’t feel connected enough to any team to support them so I just enjoy watching everyone) and I support Aberdeen FC and Scotland. I also love music and films, but I never seem to find the time to listen to music or watch films!

TR1GG3R MAN: Let’s get to the gaming subject: Do you consider yourself a hardcore gamer or a casual gamer?
AceyBongos: I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently. I think I’m somewhere in between. I wouldn’t class myself as hardcore because I don’t take gaming seriously enough, but I’m not casual because I play a lot and can get quite wrapped up in my favourite games. I definitely think Achievements and GamerScore have made me more of a completionist though – I strive to do things and keep playing games after I would normally have switched them off just to get that last 5GP.

TR1GG3R MAN: Tell us: How much time does a compeltionist like you spend playing Xbox?
AceyBongos: Not as much as I would like! With work, commuting and other boring life stuff I often find it’s time to go to bed and I haven’t been able to play at all. I hate that feeling of waking up in the morning and knowing I’m not going to be able to play at all that day. But I usually manage to get in about 6-8 hours on a weekend, and little bits here and there during the week. Of course, if I’m playing something I really like I’ll end up staying awake until 4am just like every other gamer!

TR1GG3R MAN: Same here, work takes up most of my time but I catch up during weekends. What’s your favourite Xbox and Xbox 360 game and why?
AceyBongos: Obviously as a huge football fan Pro Evolution Soccer has always been top of my list, especially over Xbox Live. But I’m also hugely into driving games. Test Drive Unlimited had me hooked for months (I think it displays the best use of gradual Achievements in any Xbox 360 game I’ve ever seen) and I absolutely loved Project Gotham Racing at launch. Right now, however, it’s all about Forza Motorsport 2. I was really lucky to get a copy 2 weeks before it launched in Europe and I am absolutely addicted – it’s kept me up to 2am every night this week so I’m so tired at work! I also picked up a wireless wheel to go with it and it’s just a superb experience, both online and offline. The livery editor is ace too. You should see some of my Aberdeen Football Club-themed cars...

TR1GG3R MAN: … Sure thing! I’ll be waiting for your car gift! I may be wrong, but a while back I remember reading on your Blog that you couldn’t wait to get home to try out some new Marketplace downloadable content. Question is... don’t you have an Xbox 360 connected to Xbox Live in your office?
AceyBongos: Now that’s a sore subject... We do have a number of Xboxes connected up in the office and some people genuinely need them to carry out their day-to-day work, but unfortunately I’m not really classed as one of those people. I think the feeling among some people is that having a console on the desk would be too much temptation. However, we’re looking at making some changes in the office and I’m definitely going to push to have a console on there.
If nothing else, it does make me look forward to getting home more 

TR1GG3R MAN: This is a topic that shows up on the forums from time to time: Why are the European Xbox.com sites not updated as much as the US Xbox.com site? Is Xbox working on a solution to this problem?
AceyBongos: This is a really good question and I wish I had a good answer for you. I can tell you that the whole Xbox.com team is aware of this and that we really want to please our audience with the content on the site. We’re looking at ways of doing this in the next year and I really hope you’ll see a difference. One thing I’m definitely going to concentrate on is updating the Community section on Xbox.com in Europe.

TR1GG3R MAN: Ok, we’re counting on it so make us proud!  I also read your post following Major Nelson’s Blogcast about ideas for new European Xbox Competitions. I don’t have any original ideas in mind right now, but maybe a competition that is not based on Gamerscore would be nice. Also, I’ll take advantage of this topic to talk about integrating the Xbox.com users with certain events, promotions and giveaways. This is something that originates from the Halo 3 Beta codes giveaway: codes which were distributed to certain XCN sites, which then distributed them to the Community through some sort of competition. Correct? Well basically I had some users asking: "Why would Microsoft only give these codes to fansites and forget about us: users of its own official forums? Not that we want them all for us, but why didn’t they make a giveaway competition on Xbox.com too?". What’s up with that and do you think that including Xbox.com forum users in such events in the future will be possible? 
AceyBongos: I think that’s a superb idea. I’m aware that I should really be on the forums more often to hear that kind of feedback so I’m going to try and do that much more. Hopefully I’ll get an okay welcome...

TR1GG3R MAN: Don’t worry, of course you’ll get a warm welcome!
Changing subject, have you ever been to Italy? And more in general, which countries did you have the pleasure to visit so far? Out of them, which one amazed you the most and why?
AceyBongos: Unfortunately I have never been to Italy, but it’s at the top of my list. I think it looks like an absolutely stunning country with passionate people and amazing culture. I’m also a big fan of Italian football – some say it’s more boring than the English Premiership but I love the depth of the tactics – and I also have a strange fascination with the history of the Roman Empire, so I think I’d get a real kick out of seeing some historic sites. 
As for other countries, I’ve been quite lucky and traveled quite a lot with work. I’ve been to the USA loads (and lived there for a year) so I really enjoy going back, especially to New York and Los Angeles. Everyone tells me how great San Francisco is but I went once to visit EA and didn’t think the city was all that great. I’ve also been to Canada (very friendly – the people are much more like British people than the Americans are), France (love Paris, love the French language), Sweden (gorgeous – and it’s true what they say about Swedish women!), and Ireland (great - like Scotland but funnier). My favourite place to visit, however, is Spain. When we went to X06 last year in Barcelona I stayed for a few days after the event and totally fell in love with the city. It helps that I love the Spanish language and the food too, of course! 

TR1GG3R MAN: Thanks for your time Acey! One last thing, could you say “Ciao Italia!” for our audience? 
AceyBongos: Of course, but you’ll have to excuse my pronunciation... Chow Italyah!

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