Meet the Mob: Chris Davidson

School

Well I'm not sure how well people here know me, so I figured I'd inform you all as to what I'm all about and why I'm here. I'm a senior electrical engineering student from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

General Stuff

I'm an amateur stand-up comedian and do open mic whenever possible. My ideal goal is to be a video game developer and stand-up comedian combo. Unfortunately I'm a shitty programmer and I'm not very funny (Just kidding, I'm a pretty good programmer.)

During a school semester, I spend an enormous amount of time in the lab working on different projects (Currently developing an iPhone app.)

Background

Although I'm living in Amherst while I go to school, I technically live on Cape Cod. I'm a huge fan of the beach, and I'm fortunate to live only 5 minutes away when I'm there for the summer. Almost all of my best friends from home go to the same school as me, so Amherst sort of feels like an extension of home.

I'm pretty good at meeting new people, but I'm lucky to have maintained all of my best friends that I've had since I was a kid. I've still got the same best friend, Brian (He's also an gamer, and overall funnier person than me), that I've had since I was in 4th grade.

My best friend Brian (Right) and Myself (Left) after completing the Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Pizza Burger

My best friend Brian (Right) and myself (Other Right) after completing the Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Pizza Burger (A 5 lb bacon cheese burger with 2 pepperoni pizzas for buns.)

I like to think I'm a weird hybrid between a loner and a socializer. I'm self sufficient and could get by without social contact for quite a long time, in fact I actually enjoy alone time quite a bit (Oh don't worry, that came off exactly as intended), but I've got such amazing friends that it's hard to ignore them (I have to say that because a few of them are reading this).

General Stuff 3

I'm addicted to anime, and I watch a few shows religiously. One Piece is my favorite show of all time, and it has my favorite overall story spanning any entertainment medium. That show is 428 episodes in at the moment, and the plot keeps getting better. Even more awesome it all fits into a coherent and well crafted story that's both heart warming and action packed at the same time. Even if you think anime is stupid, you should watch that show (It's got a slow start, but once you reach the Ussopp story arc, it becomes pretty apparent how awesome that show is.)

I'm also a huge fan of disc golf, and I primarily play when it's warm. It's a tough game, but I'm getting better.

Me (Center) and some of my crew (Not Center).

My favorite bands are Bloodhound Gang, Cake, System of a Down, and Gorillaz. I'm discovering a lot of new music through Last.FM and Pandora though, and I'm currently digging We Are Scientists and Against Me.

Gaming

Gaming is by and large the source of almost all of my free time. I love everything gaming, from the culture to the press to the games themselves. I have a pretty large gaming collection, but I only started archiving it recently and lost about half of it to one thing or another. At the moment the oldest consoles selections on my shelf are the Gamecube and PS2, but I have stacks of NES, SNES, and N64 games back on Cape that I don't bring with me (I don't have a working SNES or NES).

I collect games now, and I've acquired every PS2 game I've ever wanted. I lost about half of my gamecube games, and it is perhaps my deepest regret. I've repurchased a few games to better flesh out the collection, and I'm currently trying to finish my collections for DS, PS3, and Wii until I have all of the games that I want. I keep a list (On CAG) of all of those games, and I can't wait until I'm a rich electrical engineer so that I can buy them all.

To Infinity and Beyond

I'm sure there's more stuff about be than this, but it'll have to do. I guess it's fitting to end with what I'm currently doing and what my goals are. Truth be told, I don't totally fit in because I don't have any actual ambitions to go into games journalism as a profession. I'm comfortable earning a boat load of money by working as an electrical engineer, and gaming on the side. I never get to write anything but lab reports for my major, so this is a fun outlet to keep my writing fresh. My grammar sucks and I'm a terrible writer, but I'm trying to get better.

Where does Bitmob come in? Well, I want to become Internet famous. I'm going to start having my stand-up acts put on Youtube and try to build a following, and I'm going to try and meet and connect with as many people in the video game community and press as possible. I love talking and writing about games, so Bitmob seemed like a natural place to start. I don't see myself ever leaving or halting my writing for this site, and I love it to death. I hope you guys like my stuff, I'll try to make it funnier in the future (Maybe even as funny as Travis McReynolds, but that's a high bar to meet).

Tags: meet the mob, Chris Davidson

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John Ostermiller

December 08, 2009

I haven't laughed so hard at bacon cheeseburgers, pizza, or child abuse in a long time. Not that I laugh about child abuse. ...much.

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Brett Bates

Hey, I've actually met a video game developer/stand-up comedian. The combo is possible, and if done right, it works! Also, Lance better thank you for writing one of these. He was just whining about the lack of new ones on Twitter!

Bryan Glynn

A bacon cheeseburger pizza sandwich. You win.

Brian Shirk

Those are some awesome goals, and that looks like a tasty sandwich. Hopefully game development and being a stand-up comedian will work out for you. I wanted to be a game developer back along with my best friend back in the day, but he bailed on me, and I later gave up the plan. It can definitely happen with enough dedication though, and it sounds like you do a lot of programming already, so I'm sure you're off to a good start. It sounds like your campus is pretty wild like mine was and about the same size too.

Lance Darnell

This was great, and considering how active you are on Bitmob Chris, IT"S ABOUT TIME!!!! I really enjoyed the video. And what Brett labeled as whining, was more encouragement!!! Right, Brett? ;) I noticed no 360 games on that impressive shelf, but then I saw Mass Effect for the PC. If you do not have a 360, what games which you cannot get on PC do you want to play the most?

Aaron Rivers

All this drinking talk is making me a little...competitive. I formally challenge you Mr. Davidson come PAX. It is in Boston so you have no excuses. Plus, if you remember my meet the mob I weigh a whooping 130 pounds so you got a fight on your hands.

Chris Davidson

@Lance We actually have 3 360s at my house, but none of them are mine. When something of mine breaks, I go into an uncontrollable bacon and beer fueled rage that usually ends in disaster. Therefore I can't put myself and those around me at risk by getting an Xbox 360 that's guaranteed to red ring at some point. The software and community seem great, but there's something at the core of me that won't let me purchase something that is destined to die a short death. I'm also personally scarred because of a personal experience I had when I was little kid. It's what I like to call the hamster analogy. When I was a little kid, I had two hamsters, chip and dale, and they lived 11 years. Why? Because they had a warranty on them as my parents claimed. Every time one of them died, my parents would say he broke, and send him back to the pet store to fix him. They would then trick me by buying an identical hamster and say it was all better. Once I was old enough, I eventually figured it out, and I can guarantee you it was a terrible way to start a 17th birthday. I'm sure I'd enjoy a 360 as much as a hamster (Which is a lot, I fucking loved those hamsters, RIP Chip 1, Chip 2, Chip 3, Dale 1, Dale 2, Dale 3, and Dale 4), but I'd rather have a dog since they tend to live longer than 10 years. I play 360 all the time though because we have 3, but 2 of them red ringed within 24 hours of each other, so we're down to one now. I really want to play Crackdown, Fable 2, Dead Rising, Banjo Kazooie, and Shadow Complex for 360. Those games all look awesome, but my roommates are more the Modern Warfare 2 and Halo only crowds, so convincing them on some of those games might be tough. We also don't have Live.

@Aaron I am planning on going to PAX East this year, and I accept your challenge. This could very well result in death.

Brian Petro-Roy

Holy crap, Chris - I immediately recognized your DG picture as the first hole at Burgess Park! My wife's aunt has a summer home in Harwich Port, and last time we were there I made sure to head out to Burgess and play a couple of rounds (shot a 63 and a 59, btw). Once spring hits, you & I will definitely have to figure out a time to play together. If you're still at school, places like Buffumville or Pyramids/Maple Hill are right between us, and it's pretty much the same thing for Borderland in Easton when you're back on the Cape.

Matt Giguere

MA represent! Since your from the Cape, have you ever been to the Beachcomber in Wellfleet?

Chris "Cosmo" Ross

Funny, informative, and a good read. Thanks for sharing! Also, I really want a bite of that sandwich.

@Brian Marshall Street has some awesome courses! I play there all the time in the spring. Burgess is about a 5 min drive from me when I'm home, so I play there almost every day during the summer. It's good for a free course. We should definitely find time to play! @Matt Sorry I haven't been there, I almost never go to welfleet, it's so far from civilization. I'm near Hyannis, so Welfleet is like an hour drive and I rarely have a reason to head out that way. It's a bar right? I'll check it out next time I find myself down that way. @Cosmo It was amazing, it's really easy to make too, if you've got 4 hours and 40 dollars to kill then it's totally worth it. That thing fed me for a week, and I only took half of it.

Nick Gates

Hey, MA as well. My stepmother's mom lives in Amherst... so yeah. Nice to meet you.

December 09, 2009

@Nick It looks like we have a lot more East coast people than I thought, hell we have a lot of Massachusetts people. We should totally do a Bitmob meet up before PAX East if possible. Anyone interested?