The 'Shroom:Issue LXXXV/Interview
Hello, 'Shroom readers! This month I'm interviewing Brawl Tactics writer, Timmy! I've given up on introductions, so let's get to it!
The Interview
Superchao: Hello, 'Shroom readers! This month, I'm interviewing one of the 'Shroom's two Brawl Tactics writers, Timmy!
Timmy: Hello!
Superchao: Now, might as well start with the basics, as I often do.
Superchao: How'd you find the Mario Wiki, whenever you happened to do so?
Timmy: Alright.
Timmy: I found it back sometime in 2011. My friend from another forum told me about this place, and I wanted another forum to join. His name is Peachy, though I don't think he goes on the site anymore.
Superchao: Hmm, I sadly don't seem to remember this Peachy guy. Was he ever very active, or...?
Timmy: I saw him post here and there, but not very often.
Superchao: guess the site just didn't draw him in the way it did you.
Timmy: I still talk with him regularly though (on Skype and the forum where we met, Mario Party Legacy); we're great friends!
Superchao: That's always good to hear.
Timmy: It's been about 3 and a half years since I knew him.
Superchao: So, what exactly about this site appealed to you? You've been around for 3 years, there's gotta be something.
Timmy: That's actually quite a good question. I mean, at first, I mainly joined for Mafias since it was still fairly new to me at the time and I was still interested. I spent more of my time in the mafia boards.
Superchao: Kinda surprises me, considering I didn't see you in the mafia boards any time recently.
Timmy: Although now, life pretty much caught up to me so I'm not quite as active as I used to be in the mafias, and my skills haven't grown that much anyways.
Timmy: Aside from that... It was the forum I go to for talking about Mario in general, instead of targeting just 1 game or 1 specific series.
Superchao: Even if Mario only gets a couple of boards :V
Timmy: Fair point.
Superchao: Out of curiosity, do you ever venture beyond marioverse and forum games?
Timmy: On occasion, I post in the Entertainment/Media boards, along with the Video Games section and Gaming with Friends.
Timmy: I don't really go into the Off-Subject Discussion or the discussion on the 'Shroom TOO often though.
Superchao: Why do you dodge the discussion with the 'Shroom?
Superchao: Well, more to the point, why mention that in the 'Shroom :V
Timmy: Hm, I guess it's because I don't really have anything too witty to say, and there's also these other roles which don't really involve me. :p
Timmy: I'm the silent type of person, both in real life and online.
Superchao: That doesn't seem to carry over to your sections, though!
Timmy: Haha, fair point! I got a deep love for Brawl (and Nintendo), and so I love expressing myself!
Superchao: Well, considering all the reception you've gotten, I think the readers love you expressing yourself as well.
Timmy: Yeah, I was actually quite surprised to get Section of the Month for my first 2 articles of Brawl Tactics!
Superchao: Can't say ya didn't deserve it, at least.
Superchao: Hell, might as well ask now then. Why'd you sign up for Brawl Tactics in the first place?
Timmy: Well, as I said before, I have a HUGE love for Brawl. Played it from Day 1 (yes, I was 10 when I started playing Brawl), and played competitively starting in June 2012.
Timmy: Playing Brawl competitively has to be one of the best decisions I've made in my life!
Superchao: Why's that?
Timmy: I got to go out more, make great friends, and just continue to be myself, without fear of ridicule.
Timmy: At my school, sadly it's filled with fanboys.
Superchao: The classic tale, then
Timmy: Barely anyone at my school plays Nintendo games, let alone on my level.
Timmy: And... Not to brag or anything, but many people in my Brawl scene consider me as one of, if not, THE best Ness main in Canada!
Superchao: That does seem pretty impressive
Superchao: Internet famous yet? :V
Timmy: Not yet... But I'll get there. :p
Timmy: I plan to do the same for Smash 4!
Superchao: Probably good, considering we've got like a month left for online Brawl
Timmy: Yeah... That's gonna be quite sad day for me. ;~;
Timmy: Most of my practice comes from online, but since no one in my area plays Brawl and the other Smashers are in a different city from where I live... It's gonna suck. :\
Superchao: Sounds like it'll be a problem, indeed.
Superchao: So if I may ask on the note of Brawl, why'd you start maining Ness, anyway?
Timmy: I actually used a LOT of characters (10 characters) back then, from Day 1. But then in 2011, when my Wii could read Brawl again (yes I had that Wii Lens issue too)...
Timmy: Something came over me when I was playing with my brother, and I wanted to try Ness.
Superchao: Oh good, I'm not alone with that issue
Timmy: I loved using him. And it got me out of the "Ness/Lucas are clones" mentality.
Timmy: I will argue with anyone who agrees with that mentality for the record :V
Superchao: What distinguishes them? They do look kind of similar on the surface, you have to admit
Timmy: Yeah I get that some moves share the same animations, but it's only like what, 6 moves they share? Not enough to call them clones.
Timmy: They have a different playstyle too.
Timmy: But really, when I see people saying that they're clones, to me, it's like calling a knife and a scissor the same thing.
Timmy: Sure, some of their things may have the same purpose, but they're used in different ways.
Superchao: Perhaps you could provide an example or two?
Superchao: Not too many, of course; this is Interview, not Brawl Tactics In Disguise
Timmy: Hm... Let's take their PK Fires, for example.
Timmy: They can both shoot horizontally.
Timmy: But Ness' is meant to help him setup a combo/string and juggle his opponent.
Timmy: Lucas' is meant to keep his opponent away. Plus when he does it in mid-air, it still goes perfectly horizontally.
Timmy: Lucas' PK Fire can also be used for recovery purposes, since it gives him a slight push opposite of the direction he fired it.
Timmy: Although we should probably move on from talking about Smash now. :p
Superchao: Okay, no offense, but half of that is stuff I never even think about when playing Brawl. Then again I'm a casual when it comes to it so :V
Superchao: Yeah that might be for the best.
Superchao: Anyhow, was there anyone who you met early on in your wiki career who sticks out as a friend?
Timmy: Hm... I haven't exactly met anyone who I'd really consider as a friend. Just acquaintances. I've never had a problem with anyone either, though.
Timmy: It's kind of embarrassing for me to say that I haven't exactly made a friend when I've been on the forums for about 3 years now. :V
Superchao: Haha, yup.
Timmy: But again, I'm a quiet and shy, yet kind person.
Superchao: You do tend to come off as reserved, in my view.
Timmy: But... I still try to overcome my shyness. And I still want the best for people around me.
Timmy: I always try to do the right thing.
Superchao: Good on you to do that, mate.
Superchao: Well, obviously your favorite game is apparent, so we don't need to cover that one.
Superchao: Any other Mario games you'd say stand out for you personally?
Timmy: My favorite Single Player game is Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Everything about it was quite... magical!
Superchao: Who doesn't like TTYD, though? (Besides Mario4Ever)
Timmy: It was actually the first Paper Mario game I tried. I ended up playing the games out of order. To be fair though, I was born in 1998 and I don't own an N64.
Superchao: Same here, though; PM1 was the last one I played
Superchao: I don't have the excuse of being born in 1998 though :V
Timmy: I played TTYD first, then SPM and then the 1st one. It was fairly hard adapting from TTYD to 64, though.
Superchao: I get you. I kept being thrown off by not having my partners take hits for me
Superchao: What'd you think of SPM and 64, though?
Timmy: SPM was my least favorite of the 3 (I haven't played Sticker Star and do not plan to), but it was still pretty good as its own game. I just prefer the turn based style, since I found there was more strategy to it (such as items, partners, etc.).
Timmy: 64 was also pretty good. I was just a lot more used to TTYD though, since it was (obviously) more developed. Though, I do miss some features of 64... Mainly the Spin Dash. But that doesn't matter too much.
Superchao: RIP the spin dash, I missed you when I switched back to TTYD
Timmy: What I loved in TTYD though, was Superguarding, since I was quite good at doing it. I always had these crazy badge setups (that's not Danger Mario cause that's gamebreaking) and I'd always have at least 3 badges that boost your power.
Superchao: Everyone always put their points in BP except me
Timmy: For both Mario and my partner. So my Mario's jumps did 6 damage each. My friends called me out for hacking though. :V
Superchao: Nah, hacking is when you have 999 HP, ain't it?
Timmy: That's 1 form of hacking. :V
Timmy: Oh, and while SPM is my least favorite of the series, I would much rather have that over Sticker Star.
Superchao: So say most people, again. For good reason, though!
Timmy: Aside from TTYD, I also love Mario Party 6 (it's my favorite Mario Party ever and I have quite the history with it), and other Gamecube games like Mario Kart Double Dash.
Superchao: Oh, what's the history? Might as well tell us, after all.
Timmy: Well, aside from the obvious Brawl, it's my favorite multiplayer game. And it's also the reason why 6 became my "magic/lucky" number.
Timmy: But, a good childhood friend of mine came over and brought that game with her. We played it, did a game on Faire Square (we didn't have time to complete it sadly), but man, it was FUN.
Timmy: I love the mini-games, the concept of Orbs (the Yellow and Red ones at least) and I was just mesmerized by Faire Square since you could buy multiple Stars at once. There was also the Day & Night feature I loved.
Superchao: The Day and Night feature doesn't seem to come up much in discussion, honestly...
Timmy: When I saw that Stars were 5 coins each when I played the first time, I was freaking out.
Timmy: I think the Day & Night system was an excellent idea!
Superchao: Why's that, then?
Timmy: I love how it affects the music, the events of the board, some of the mini-game rules and (obviously) the cosmetics.
Timmy: I found things a lot more exciting at night, but I liked the Day as well since it brought DK. Plus I always found the Orbs were 5 coins cheaper than at Night whenever I played. :V
Timmy: Not sure if that applies to anyone else, with Orbs costing 5 coins less at night.
Superchao: Poor DK, resigned to being just a space on the board. How far he fell from his playable character days.
Superchao: I dunno, I think cheapness is always nice...
Timmy: My favorite board... It's hard to choose 1. But mine are E. Gadd's Garage and Faire Square.
Superchao: Why the former? I can guess the latter, hahaha
Timmy: E. Gadd's Garage fits well with me, since I'm a nerdy person. I love Faire Square for the fact you can buy multiple Stars there. I find the events quite exciting there, and I love the Orbs available there too. (Yes I'm that nerdy about MP6 where I know the Orb available on each board =P)
Timmy: Except for Clockwork Castle, where my memory is somewhat hazy on the Orbs available. But I have a good idea about it.
Timmy: Anyways...
Superchao: Seems like we've covered MP6 pretty well, honestly. You mentioned Double Dash, so...
Timmy: Ah yes, this was another game I tried when I went to my childhood friend's house.
Timmy: It was way too fun. But what I remember most... Was the Bob-Omb Blast.
Timmy: That just got hectic. I remember I'd camp on Luigi's Mansion at the roof and ambush my friends from there.
Superchao: Man, I never got to play the multiplayer. T'was sad.
Timmy: There's also 0 courses I dislike in that game at all. I love all of them, even the typical courses!
Timmy: Especially Baby Park. You'd think it's such a simple course, but it gets WAY too crazy in there. Kind of wish it wasn't in MKDS, since I found that game just dull and that course was wasted.
Timmy: Rainbow Road also deserves a mention. I fell in love with the music, and I loved the concept of Stars appearing on the road!
Superchao: Rainbow Road's always had good music, imo.
Superchao: Regardless of version that is... even though I've only played it in two. >_>
Timmy: My go-to kart combo for 50cc/100cc would either be Yoshi + Bowser Jr. or Yoshi + Diddy Kong.
Superchao: Why's that?
Timmy: Well, Yoshi is my favorite character from the Mario series, and I always loved the Bowser Shell and the Giant Banana!
Timmy: Though in 150cc/Mirror, I feel the need to go with a lightweight kart because of Blue Shells being fired.
Superchao: good ol' death on wings
Timmy: Yoshi's Egg isn't so useful there when the opponents can actually keep up with you. Instead, I go with Koopa + Baby Luigi.
Timmy: Koopa for the offensive/defensive with his Triple Shells, and Baby Luigi is useful with his Chain Chomp if I fall behind.
Timmy: I always loved getting the Chain Chomp though... and the music that played when you used it. It felt so satisfying hitting anyone in the way. Though it felt awful if you lost it early.
Superchao: Wait, you can do that?
Timmy: What do you mean? Do what, exactly?
Superchao: Lose the chain chomp, that is
Timmy: Oh, yeah. If you hit a fake box or someone hits you out of it (or some other hazard), the Chain Chomp will be released early. It can also happen if you go too high in the air with it, like from going over a steep hill.
Superchao: I learned something new today :V
Timmy: Although it's still way more fun to use than the Bullet Bill. Not as cheap either.
Superchao: Well, we've probably gone into good detail about Mario games you're fond of...
Superchao: What about other games? Nintendo or non, it matters not
Timmy: Hm... There's also Pokemon that I love (I grew up with Gen 2), but I still love the recent games. Kirby is also another one I grew up with (started with Kirby's Dreamland 3 for the SNES).
Timmy: I'm sort of into Zelda (I love Wind Waker, for some reason I love Toon Link) and I kind of want to get into Starfox since I like Fox's and Wolf's character.
Superchao: How many of these were influenced by Brawl, I must ask
Timmy: Oh, wait. I forgot to mention Earthbound... And Pikmin. Don't know how I forgot those. :V
Superchao: >earthbound
Superchao: what a shocking surprise!
Timmy: Anyways, I had no idea who Ness/Lucas/Olimar/Fox were prior to playing Brawl (well Smash in general, really). So I learned more about the 1st 3, but because Chuggaaconroy did a Let's Play with those guys as the main characters.
Superchao: Reminds me of me again; Samus and Pit for one took me by surprise initially :V
Timmy: As for Fox/Wolf, it's because my friends are great at using them and I always have fun playing the Ness vs. Fox/Wolf match-up. As to why I like the match-up... I'm not sure why, honestly. But I won't ramble about Smash again.
Superchao: So what do you think of Earthbound as its own game?
Timmy: Earthbound... Is quite the emotional rollercoaster. It's full of smiles and tears. (Thumbs up if you get the reference ;p)
Superchao: Wasn't that Mother 3's slogan, anyway? "Strange, funny, and heartrending?"
Timmy: Smiles and Tears was a song in Earthbound. I don't even remember a slogan for Mother 3. :p
Timmy: While I do prefer Ness in Smash, in the Earthbound series, Mother 3 is my favorite.
Timmy: Mother 3 felt much more emotional to me... Plus I didn't get as lost my 1st time playing. In Earthbound, I still need a guide to this day to try to figure out how to progress, and it has the most annoying status ailments ever.
Superchao: Annoying status aliments? Like what, then?
Timmy: I didn't like how you had to use a specific level of PSI Healing just to get rid of particular status ailments. There were also some very annoying ones (Mushroomized) that could not be healed with items or PSI Healing at all.
Superchao: At least it's not instadeath! ...is it?
Timmy: And then the enemies spam the same moves that inflict status ailments.
Timmy: No, but it was still rather annoying. Luckily Mother 3 simplified the status healing.
Timmy: Although there was this one boss who could make you diamondized, which is essentially the same thing as death. He kept spamming it and I got upset.
Superchao: That does sound quite irritating.
Superchao: On a different game note, what appeals to you about Pikmin? And how many have you played for that matter? :V
Timmy: Well, I got into it thanks to Chuggaaconroy. Not sure exactly how it appeals to me, but I guess I just found it fun to command these adorable soldiers to fight enemies and bringing back stuff.
Timmy: I've played Pikmin 1 on the Wii, and Pikmin 2 I had for the Gamecube.
Timmy: (I don't know why this ended up happening :V)
Superchao: Pikmin 2's been quite the good game. I should replay it sometime...
Timmy: Yeah, I actually liked the caves. And also those broken as hell Purple Pikmin.
Superchao: Alas, they were dropped in Pikmin 3. I'll miss them.
Timmy: Same here. And also that Submerged Castle from Pikmin 2. I remember it would give me so much trouble when I did a no Pikmin death run.
Superchao: I was less concerned about no death run and more just getting through it
Timmy: It didn't help that the game only let you bring Blues into the dungeon. And all hazards were present.
Superchao: That was what the Bulbmin were for tho
Timmy: Those random Bomb Rocks falling would make me jump from fear.
Timmy: And let's not forget the Waterwraith. It would be so much trouble trying to bring treasures back to the ship.
Superchao: The Waterwraith was why I made sure to get all treasures at once my first time through :V
Timmy: Exactly. I also try to make sure that when I do the Submerged Castle, I do it to bring me over the 10 000 Pokos required to pass the 1st half of the game. :V
Superchao: Well, we've definitely examined your Nintendo-related vidya interests. What about non-Nintendo?
Superchao: If you even have any non-Nintendo, that is.
Timmy: Hm, as for my non-Nintendo interests, I also grew up with a PS2. I played a few some Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, and ATV: Offroad Fury 2.
Timmy: I never actually got to complete Crash Bandicoot (it was Crash Bash, and Crash Bandicoot 3 for PS1) or Jak & Daxter as a child. And now our PS2 wires are missing. :V
Timmy: My Jak & Daxter disc also got corrupted (there were a ton of scratches), and so error messages would keep popping up at one point. It was rather upsetting.
Superchao: What about the ATV game? Did you at least manage to finish that?
Timmy: I think my brother and I used the cheat codes to unlock everything :V
Superchao: wow shameful i'm so disappointed
Timmy: Even then, I played it more with my brother to goof around.
Superchao: It does sound more like a funtimes game than a progressional game, to be fair.
Superchao: Hmm, looks like that about wraps up video games. Any other fictional media you wanna talk about? Say, TV shows or movies.
Timmy: Hm, I'm not too into movies (I find them rather long, boring, not interactive and I find I have better things to do). I have a decent interest in TV shows and anime though!
Timmy: I also have a liking to some fan-made series that use Smash Bros., such as Smash King or School of Smash; basically stuff that you would see on the Machinima Youtube channel.
Superchao: For a second I thought you meant sprite animations :V
Timmy: A few TV shows that stick out to me though, are MLP: FiM (yes I'm a brony :V), 8 Simple Rules and iCarly.
Timmy: As for anime, I LOVE Sailor Moon, Lucky Star, Nichijou, Pokemon (well, the old ones at least; Hoenn and before) and I used to watch Naruto (but couldn't keep up with it).
Superchao: I'm curious what you like about the shows you cited, either the anime or the shows from over here.
Timmy: Hm, MLP:FiM I was influenced by my online friends to watch it, and I found it adorable... 8 Simple Rules and iCarly I grew up watching. I found them quite funny, especially 8 Simple Rules!
Timmy: And this is the one exception to movies, but I actually found Equestria Girls decent and wasn't as bad as some of the MLP:FiM fans said.
Superchao: Well growing up watching is one way to get into shows! ...Not always though.
Superchao: Sometimes you don't appreciate them until later...
Superchao: How about the anime?
Timmy: I grew up watching Sailor Moon too (my mom and siblings watched it too so it passed onto me), but only got into it again a few months ago. I was curious about Lucky Star since my friends talked about it, and same with Nichijou, and I just found it so hilarious.
Superchao: did TFP and company convince you to rewatch it
Timmy: Nah, I actually decided to watch it again because when I started this school year, my friend from school mentioned it and I thought NO ONE else around me knew that show. So I started to watch it again.
Timmy: I watched the English version first and spent some months watching the whole series (except Season 5 since there was no official English dub to it). I'm rewatching it again in Japanese and currently rewatching Season 3.
Timmy: My favorite character has to be Ami/Sailor Mercury though.
Timmy: She's like me, in a sense that I'm kind and innocent. I also love her attacks and how they look, especially her Shine Aqua Illusion!
Superchao: Hahahha, nice. But yeah, other people bringing up things is certainly one way to rewatch them.
Superchao: Hmm, well... How about other hobbies? Ones that shockingly don't relate to fictional stuff. Any of those?
Timmy: Hm, I'm rather nerdy, so most of my stuff is rather technology related, like (obviously) gaming, making Powerpoint banners (such as my Earthbound signature on the forums), etc. I'm unfortunately not athletic either due to asthma issues, but I still try to go out from time to time!
Timmy: I do enjoy dancing at parties though. I also have another side of me that likes to rant about my struggles that I tend to deal with, like at school or with family.
Superchao: Well, lack of ability for sports is unfortunate. But it's not like that's the be-all and end-all of everything.
Superchao: Dancing was unexpected though, honestly.
Timmy: To be honest I didn't expect myself to be quite the dancer either. I just remember dancing at school like 2 years ago, and turned out I was rather... coordinated. People were quite impressed, and so was I!
Timmy: I actually forgot to mention this about sports; I'm decent at dodgeball. I can't exactly catch, but I'm not an easy target to hit. I can also be somewhat sneaky since people don't notice me with a ball, and I can get them out. :V
Superchao: I used to be good at dodgeball! It's been many years since I played, though, so I can't tell you how good I'd be now lol
Superchao: As for the dancing, it's always nice to discover something you're unexpectedly good at.
Timmy: And not that this is really a sport, but I'm pretty good at chess as well!
Timmy: I grew up playing chess in elementary school as well. It's been rather long since I last played so I may have lost some of my capability, but I'm still fairly good.
Superchao: Same here, I used to be on a chess team even.
Superchao: It's helpful that you don't have to run around and all that :V
Timmy: Yeah, thinking & logic is where I shine.
Superchao: Well, this is probably completely expected at this point, but it's also kinda obligatory.
Superchao: Is this the last question?
Timmy: Yep, that wraps up all about me!
Superchao: Well, that was quick. Thanks for being here.
Timmy: It was my pleasure!
Conclusion
I don't really have anything to say that hasn't been said in the interview, which you should go read if you didn't. Honestly I don't know why I bother doing these.
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