b5media

January 16th,2006

Blogger Interview: Jonic Linley

By Rhys Alexander

This week we have the treat of delving into the wild and captivating mind of one Jonic Linley. A true humorist and Renaissance man, he…well, I think his interview speaks for itself! (Plus, he uses the word ‘fortnight’. I love that word.)

Enjoy getting to know Jonic!

First of all: cool name! Now…changing your name in honor of a video game…THAT is devotion! What would you say to ther gamers without the nerve to do this? Are they posers?

Thanks! To be honest I never think about it anymore. Jonic is my name and it always will be now. I’m not sure if more people should name themselves after video game characters, although I guess Samus is a nice name. Link’s not bad either. Then again Q-Bert probably wouldn’t fly quite so well. Jet Set Willy, Knuckles etc. I could go on. A lot of video game characters’ names wouldn’t transpose well over to humans, but then again I guess me being called Sonic would sound a bit stupid. Although I’ve seriously considered it. I think for Sonic’s 15th anniversary I’m going to get myself a middle name. It will be ‘The’.

If you only had one hour left in your entire life to play a video game, which would it be and why?

Well it would have to be a Sonic game wouldn’t it? Can I have Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 plugged into it? They’re technically two games but it was always intended to be the one epic adventure. Although it would probably take longer than an hour to complete what with the Chaos Emeralds and Super Emeralds and everything. Death would just have to wait.

What development in the industry are you most excited about right now?

I’m not sure really… Right now most of the games news is taken up by Microsoft and Sony showboating their respective consoles’ specs, although the Revolution is quietly gaining a lot of fans. I guess I’m most excited about that, particularly the “Virtual Console” thing. I’d love to be able to play all those lovely retro games again. :o

I miss those wonderful 1980s games like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong…so MUCH BETTER than today’s boring games. What inspires your love for games long gone?

It’s a tired argument, but games today aren’t focused enough on how fun a game is. In the days of 8-bit and 16-bit gaming that wasn’t the case. A developer had to work a lot harder to get their game in your hands in exchange for some hard earned, so they made the games more fun to play than many are today, and most of the time they did it without a plot! Look at Sonic for an example. Robotnik’s the bad guy, go get him. That’s it! And we all loved it! I play old games because I know they won’t let me down. Even the bad ones are fun, mainly because they’re bad.

I’m thinking of starting up a category on Re:Retro specifically devoted to looking back at bad video games, it’ll be starting off with a somewhat scathing look at “Back to the Future” on the NES, or as I like to call it “The Inexorable March of Marty McFly”.

What are three words that describe you?

Little. Yellow. Different.

What do you write for b5, and what are your other projects?

Right now I’m working on two blogs that are yet to be launched…It should be ready to go in the next fortnight or so. (Interviewer’s note: I removed the names because I don’t want to spoil the surprise. But trust me, I’ve seen the blogs and they’re fabulous.)

As for other projects I have a personal blog , but as you find with many people who make websites I haven’t finished designing it. It’s mainly an exercise in creating an advanced theme for Wordpress, but I like many designers I hardly ever work on my own site. That’s something I’m going to change this year though.

I’m also helping out my friend’s band Idle Jack & The Big Sleep with things like the website and getting them signed. Have a listen to the samples on the release page of their site. I recommend “The New Parade”, “Hold Me ‘Til I Drown” and “Telescope”.

What’s something that most people would be surprised to find out about you?

I can’t swim. For some reason saying that has the power to silence almost anyone. Oh, and I hate football (soccer), in England that’s a big deal apparently.

What sort of things do you like to do (besides blogging and video games) for fun?

I play the guitar and sing. I also make websites and drink.

Would you be willing to share an embarrassing or humorous story about yourself? (Sim’ was too scared to.) :)

For some reason the only thing that comes to mind is an event when I was a small child. My grandparents and I were enjoying a picnic when a damned bee decided that it was going to ruin our time by chasing me. I figured it was after what I was eating, so in a bid to save my self I threw natural yoghurt all over my grandad’s wax coat. He was very cross.

What inspired your interest in gaming?

I played my first video game when I was seven years old. It was, predictably enough, “Super Mario Brothers” for the NES. I remember liking it, but we weren’t allowed to play it too much, so I wasn’t hooked. That all changed on June 23rd 1991, when a certain blue hedgehog appeared on our screens for the first time. Sonic was the first video game I actually cared about, so it’s pretty safe to say that it was that game got me hooked. In fact I played Sonic 1 just last week (I have three copies)!

Okay…there must be a game you dislike! Maybe we can stir up some controversy among gamers…which game do you hate to play, and why?

There are loads of games I dislike! This is going to annoy some of you. I hate Halo and I think GTA isn’t as good as everyone says it is. Halo, for a start it’s not a great first person shooter, when both Halos were released reviewers jumped all over the fact that the storyline in the single player part of the game was crap. The only thing that saved it was its multiplayer mode. I’ve played a lot of first person shooters, and I can state that Halo’s multiplayer is nothing to write home about. GTA just needs to piss off for a bit.

What’s the main thing you want people to remember about you?

That’s a strange question… I’m not sure… Are you trying to tell me I have a disease or something?

I love the doggie pic on your profile page! Are you an animal fan?

I like animals I guess, although I’m not mental about them or anything… I actually really hate dogs, and I have my reasons! I think I might get a cat some time, and of course I’d get a pet Hedgehog were it not for the fact that they’re not the kind of animals that deal well with captivity.

A musician…awesome! What sort of music do you listen to and play? Do you have a band? If not, what would you call your band if you did have one?

I’ve been in a few bands in the past, but nothing that you’d call serious. I play solo stuff at a local open mic night, but that’s about it. I sometimes write my own songs, and I’m not that bad I guess. Some people actually think I could get signed, but I can’t be bothered with any of that.

I listen to all kinds of music, but there are some things that I just can’t stand. My favorite bands are Eels, Radiohead and Muse but I’ll listen to some Grindcore every now and then, before switching to more acoustic stuff, via some good old fashioned Indie.

Do you agree that rock is dead…or at least that the glory days are over?

Rock isn’t dead, it’s not that good these days. Having said that I absolutely abhor bands like Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden etc. They’re just not heavy enough. Don’t even get me started on Guns and f%*$@#g Roses.

What one subject should there be more blogs about?

If I knew that then I’d be a blogging superstar wouldn’t I? :P I’m not sure… If (future b5 blogs) go well I’m going to pitch some more blog ideas to the higher powers here at b5, but I can’t think of a single thing out there that doesn’t have a blog dedicated to it already.

What do you want people to ‘get’ from your writing?

Beriberi .

Seriously.