MaliciousCarp

Welcome to the I/O!

Rich Koz! There's our man!

Awesome to hear your screename origin story!
And now here's a picture of Svengoolie disguised as a normal person!

Hello, this is Mark, the MaliciousCarp - I am coming to you from the Southern 'burbs of the Twin Cities.
My user name (MaliciousCarp) was the first name that xbox live suggested when I was signing up to play Halo 2 on the original XBOX.  (The Direct X Box?).  I found that the name has been available almost everywhere, so I tend to use it whenever I need a user name. (Or just m_carp sometimes)
I had been hearing about Atari.io for years from folks like The No Swear Gamer, The Pie Factory Podcast, The Intellivisionaries Podcast, Arcade USA... however, the thing that finally got me to join was when the Atari Creep mentioned the high score squad here. I like having an excuse to dig out some of my old favorite games and give them a whirl and I really love how accessible the rules are - with Emulators and being allowed and no specific rules about controllers.
The 2600 was my first console, then I went on to the C64 (My brother and I begged my Dad for an NES, but he said that if he was going to spend that much on something that can play games - he was going to get a Computer so that we could at least learn some skills that might help us get a job someday... Now I am a Software QA Engineer and my brother is a network Admin... so dad was right - I guess 😉 ) After the C64 I went with all Sega stuff (GameGear, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast).  I didn't get a chance to revisit the great Nintendo consoles until after I was out of college and could afford to buy some of them.  These days I mostly play arcade style games and a few modern games (My current system is PS4... I was grossly addicted to Monster Hunter World for a while)
Besides video games - I love movies (monster movies, classic horror movies, scifi, and disaster movies...  I do try to catch Svengoolie every Saturday night), Board Games, tinkering with electronics, and making confusing lists that go on and on.

Here is a picture of me modeling the BEST TIE EVER!  It would have been 1995 or so and it is one of the few things that I actually bought from Spencer's Gifts (usually we would just go in there and laugh at the novelty stuff).  This picture was from before I knew how to tie a tie and it shows.

Hello, this is Mark, the MaliciousCarp - I am coming to you from the Southern 'burbs of the Twin Cities.
My user name (MaliciousCarp) was the first name that xbox live suggested when I was signing up to play Halo 2 on the original XBOX.  (The Direct X Box?).  I found that the name has been available almost everywhere, so I tend to use it whenever I need a user name. (Or just m_carp sometimes)
I had been hearing about Atari.io for years from folks like The No Swear Gamer, The Pie Factory Podcast, The Intellivisionaries Podcast, Arcade USA... however, the thing that finally got me to join was when the Atari Creep mentioned the high score squad here. I like having an excuse to dig out some of my old favorite games and give them a whirl and I really love how accessible the rules are - with Emulators and being allowed and no specific rules about controllers.
The 2600 was my first console, then I went on to the C64 (My brother and I begged my Dad for an NES, but he said that if he was going to spend that much on something that can play games - he was going to get a Computer so that we could at least learn some skills that might help us get a job someday... Now I am a Software QA Engineer and my brother is a network Admin... so dad was right - I guess 😉 ) After the C64 I went with all Sega stuff (GameGear, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast).  I didn't get a chance to revisit the great Nintendo consoles until after I was out of college and could afford to buy some of them.  These days I mostly play arcade style games and a few modern games (My current system is PS4... I was grossly addicted to Monster Hunter World for a while)
Besides video games - I love movies (monster movies, classic horror movies, scifi, and disaster movies...  I do try to catch Svengoolie every Saturday night), Board Games, tinkering with electronics, and making confusing lists that go on and on.

Welcome aboard!!

Hello, this is Mark, the MaliciousCarp - I am coming to you from the Southern 'burbs of the Twin Cities.
My user name (MaliciousCarp) was the first name that xbox live suggested when I was signing up to play Halo 2 on the original XBOX.  (The Direct X Box?).  I found that the name has been available almost everywhere, so I tend to use it whenever I need a user name. (Or just m_carp sometimes)
I had been hearing about Atari.io for years from folks like The No Swear Gamer, The Pie Factory Podcast, The Intellivisionaries Podcast, Arcade USA... however, the thing that finally got me to join was when the Atari Creep mentioned the high score squad here. I like having an excuse to dig out some of my old favorite games and give them a whirl and I really love how accessible the rules are - with Emulators and being allowed and no specific rules about controllers.
The 2600 was my first console, then I went on to the C64 (My brother and I begged my Dad for an NES, but he said that if he was going to spend that much on something that can play games - he was going to get a Computer so that we could at least learn some skills that might help us get a job someday... Now I am a Software QA Engineer and my brother is a network Admin... so dad was right - I guess 😉 ) After the C64 I went with all Sega stuff (GameGear, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast).  I didn't get a chance to revisit the great Nintendo consoles until after I was out of college and could afford to buy some of them.  These days I mostly play arcade style games and a few modern games (My current system is PS4... I was grossly addicted to Monster Hunter World for a while)
Besides video games - I love movies (monster movies, classic horror movies, scifi, and disaster movies...  I do try to catch Svengoolie every Saturday night), Board Games, tinkering with electronics, and making confusing lists that go on and on.

Our seasons here are extremely distinct, so the best time to visit really depends on what you are into.  I am personally a fan of Fall because I don't handle heat and humidity very well 🙂... also all of the fall colors are amazing if you make it here during the right window of time.  

Welcome, MC! Happy to have you here.

Welcome!

Are we brothers?  Same interests here.  Plus, my company's HQ is in your area.  Who knows, when this mess finally ends, I may finally make it over there for a visit. I hear the area is very nice in the summer with lots to see and do. 
 
 

Welcome to the forums @MaliciousCarp‼️☺️ I'm thrilled that you decided to come spend some time in the forums after hearing about Atari I/O for so long! BIG thanks to @Atari Creep for getting the word out and letting you know about High Score Squad 🙌 and also to @nosweargamer @dauber @Willie! and others for being a wonderful part of our community and inviting others to do the same. We have a small community of wonderful people here who are kind and welcoming, centered around the interests that bring us all together.
That's what High Score Squad is all about! It's like a wine tasting party or a book of the month club, the entire idea is for us to have an excuse to pull out some of these great games and play them with friends in the forums the same way we would play them growing up with friends on a Saturday afternoon. I like to choose games for High Score Squad that are a nice mix of well-known classics, and more overlooked forgotten favorites. It's nice to go between sampling some under appreciated classics and giving them another look, and playing beloved well-worn classics but finding new ways to play and seeing them in another light, possibly by trying them on insane difficulty settings that even after 30-40 years maybe we've never tried before, like how we play our Ultimate Yars' Challenge for our annual Howard Scott Warshaw Day event.
We have a few other Atari I/O Members who are very active in the forums from the Twin Cities too, who also love classic monster movies and are Svengoolie Chicken Throwers! Hopefully they'll see this and chime in below. Lance's Lab comes to us from "high atop the escarpments of the Twin Cities". 
It's great to have you join us and I hope you enjoy your times in the Atari I/O Forums, it's a nice community with some great people. We meet up in the chatroom Wednesday nights and have other events throughout the year. I think you'll fit right in. If there's anything you need just let me know. WELCOME!! 

I think that I still have a sheet of those loony tunes stamps!  I am fairly sure that I at least have the display one for Bugs that came with the big sticker to frame it.  If I can find them I will post them. 
I am very happy that I still have my Spock tie - I haven't really seen anything like it since.  It is a bit faded, but still great!

This guy is doing a chronology on the 2600 Jeremy Parish style. Thought some of you might be interested.
Here's a link
FYI I am in no way affiliated with this guy, I'm just a fan
 

I think that I still have a sheet of those loony tunes stamps!  I am fairly sure that I at least have the display one for Bugs that came with the big sticker to frame it.  If I can find them I will post them. 
I am very happy that I still have my Spock tie - I haven't really seen anything like it since.  It is a bit faded, but still great!

Here is a picture of me modeling the BEST TIE EVER!  It would have been 1995 or so and it is one of the few things that I actually bought from Spencer's Gifts (usually we would just go in there and laugh at the novelty stuff).  This picture was from before I knew how to tie a tie and it shows.

I grew up in the far north suburbs of the Twin Cities.  Our hometown grocery store was Soderquist's Market.  Otherwise we would go to Rainbow Foods for bigger shopping trips (the chain shut down in 2012 or so) or Cub Foods (They are the big local chain owned by Supervalue)
Occasionally we would go to a Red Owl, which I don't remember much about, but the logo was awesome (way too cool for a grocery store).  Fortunately, Cub Foods started selling Red Owl branded stuff (Since Supervalue also owned Red Owl) so I got this bag!

Hello, this is Mark, the MaliciousCarp - I am coming to you from the Southern 'burbs of the Twin Cities.
My user name (MaliciousCarp) was the first name that xbox live suggested when I was signing up to play Halo 2 on the original XBOX.  (The Direct X Box?).  I found that the name has been available almost everywhere, so I tend to use it whenever I need a user name. (Or just m_carp sometimes)
I had been hearing about Atari.io for years from folks like The No Swear Gamer, The Pie Factory Podcast, The Intellivisionaries Podcast, Arcade USA... however, the thing that finally got me to join was when the Atari Creep mentioned the high score squad here. I like having an excuse to dig out some of my old favorite games and give them a whirl and I really love how accessible the rules are - with Emulators and being allowed and no specific rules about controllers.
The 2600 was my first console, then I went on to the C64 (My brother and I begged my Dad for an NES, but he said that if he was going to spend that much on something that can play games - he was going to get a Computer so that we could at least learn some skills that might help us get a job someday... Now I am a Software QA Engineer and my brother is a network Admin... so dad was right - I guess 😉 ) After the C64 I went with all Sega stuff (GameGear, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast).  I didn't get a chance to revisit the great Nintendo consoles until after I was out of college and could afford to buy some of them.  These days I mostly play arcade style games and a few modern games (My current system is PS4... I was grossly addicted to Monster Hunter World for a while)
Besides video games - I love movies (monster movies, classic horror movies, scifi, and disaster movies...  I do try to catch Svengoolie every Saturday night), Board Games, tinkering with electronics, and making confusing lists that go on and on.

I think this is the first time that I've seen a Star Trek tie 👍 I have a couple of Looney Tunes ties that USPS sold many many years ago.

Hello, this is Mark, the MaliciousCarp - I am coming to you from the Southern 'burbs of the Twin Cities.
My user name (MaliciousCarp) was the first name that xbox live suggested when I was signing up to play Halo 2 on the original XBOX.  (The Direct X Box?).  I found that the name has been available almost everywhere, so I tend to use it whenever I need a user name. (Or just m_carp sometimes)
I had been hearing about Atari.io for years from folks like The No Swear Gamer, The Pie Factory Podcast, The Intellivisionaries Podcast, Arcade USA... however, the thing that finally got me to join was when the Atari Creep mentioned the high score squad here. I like having an excuse to dig out some of my old favorite games and give them a whirl and I really love how accessible the rules are - with Emulators and being allowed and no specific rules about controllers.
The 2600 was my first console, then I went on to the C64 (My brother and I begged my Dad for an NES, but he said that if he was going to spend that much on something that can play games - he was going to get a Computer so that we could at least learn some skills that might help us get a job someday... Now I am a Software QA Engineer and my brother is a network Admin... so dad was right - I guess 😉 ) After the C64 I went with all Sega stuff (GameGear, Genesis, Sega CD, Saturn, Dreamcast).  I didn't get a chance to revisit the great Nintendo consoles until after I was out of college and could afford to buy some of them.  These days I mostly play arcade style games and a few modern games (My current system is PS4... I was grossly addicted to Monster Hunter World for a while)
Besides video games - I love movies (monster movies, classic horror movies, scifi, and disaster movies...  I do try to catch Svengoolie every Saturday night), Board Games, tinkering with electronics, and making confusing lists that go on and on.

Here is a picture of me modeling the BEST TIE EVER!  It would have been 1995 or so and it is one of the few things that I actually bought from Spencer's Gifts (usually we would just go in there and laugh at the novelty stuff).  This picture was from before I knew how to tie a tie and it shows.

Here is a picture of me modeling the BEST TIE EVER!  It would have been 1995 or so and it is one of the few things that I actually bought from Spencer's Gifts (usually we would just go in there and laugh at the novelty stuff).  This picture was from before I knew how to tie a tie and it shows.

I don't have many photos of me back in the day because I've always have been and still am the one behind the camera 📷 🙂 Regardless, finding silly photos of me is a bit of a challenge. Here's one from early 2017 just before I left Amazon. It's was considered a huge get for the company to add HBO as a channel on Prime Video. The throne was making the rounds and people got in line to take a photo. Here's me trying to strike the King Conan pose.
 

We have a tremendous group of YouTubers in Atari I/O and @Atari Creep is one of the best‼️ He's great to follow daily for news updates and livestreams. Glad to see you're watching.