Brandon Erickson

History

Member for

6 years 16 weeks

Blog

view recent blog entries

Profile

Title(s)

Critic

Brief Bio

Brandon Erickson was born in Loma Linda, California on January 14, 1980 and raised in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. Though he dimly recalls playing the Atari as a child, his interest in gaming really took off when, at age six, he and his older brother donated several days of yard work to their father in exchange for a Nintendo Entertainment System.

Though Brandon would go on to accrue many great achievements outside the world of video games—varsity athlete, all-state jazz guitarist, college chemistry student of the year—he never lost his interest in the hobby. Indeed, at least a small part of his free time has always been devoted to reading about and playing video games.

In 2004, Brandon developed an interest in classic arcade gaming after witnessing a competition at Portland’s Ground Kontrol. Feeling drawn to the no-frills intensity of old-school gaming, he embarked on a quest to conquer the arcade classic Star Wars (Atari, 1983), in the process discovering a preternatural aptitude for competitive gaming.

Since then, Brandon has gained widespread recognition as arguably the greatest Star Wars player of all time. Although most well known for a charity event in which he played Star Wars for over 54 hours on a single quarter, he has also earned praise for winning Portland’s first Guitar Hero tournament.

Brandon graduated from Yale University with a BA in History, and later earned an MA in Counseling Psychology from Lewis & Clark Graduate School. In 2012, he will begin physician training in an MD program, with the plan of becoming a surgeon. Despite his busy life, he maintains an active interest in the artistic, educational, and technological potential of video games.

You can find some of Brandon's old writings on his blog, Mind The Game.

Ten All-Time Favorites Games

Resident Evil 4 (GameCube), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3), Lunar: The Silver Star (Sega CD), Snatcher (Sega CD), Sonic CD (Mega CD), Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis), Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3), Zelda: Majora's Mask (Nintendo 64), Star Wars Arcade (Atari, 1983), Radiant Silvergun (Sega Saturn)

Five Current Favorites Games

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3), Red Dead Redemption (PS3), Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360), Portal 2 (PS3), Shadow of the Colossus HD (PS3)

Favorite Types of Games

RPGs, action/adventure, racing