26 year old William Harmon resides in San Jose, California and owns a small game development studio currently titled Digital Pocket Studios.  In his free time Will enjoys reading Science (physics and Biology), Sci-Fi and Fantasy books. Will also enjoys gaming a lot and is currently playing X-COM and Ni No Kuni. He also has a Shiba Inu, and he’s pretty damn adorable.

How long have videogames been a part of your life, and what were some of the first games you played?

Since I was about 5? I think it was ’91, but the first games we got were the NES with the Super Mario Bros. / Duckhunt combo, along with Excite Bike.  There are a number of different games that punctuate different periods of my life. Mario was huge throughout my younger years, but kind of tapered off after Mario 64. As I said, I’m a big RPG fan, and that started with Final Fantasy 7, though I would really say that the quintessential RPG, for me, would have to be Final Fantasy Tactics or Chrono Trigger. The N64 years, were a lot of Golden Eye with my brothers, or Mario Kart.

What is your favorite part of being a part of The Game Fanatics?

It would be easy to say that the time I’ve spent helping organize stuff for the expo teams (like PAX and what not) or getting to scope out all the new review copies would be a HUGE perk. I mean, what gamer doesn’t love getting in-depth access to new content? Really though, that’s not the best part. The best part is having the other writers to talk to. I got into this because I take gaming seriously enough that I think it’s worth talking about and sharing my thoughts on. The best part about TGF is not only having an avenue for getting my thoughts out there, but having a community of people who will respond.

Are there any characters that you channel in everyday life, or just look up to in general?

I guess I’ll go with Kamina (Gurren Lagann). Be uncompromising in your pursuit of what you think is right? Yeah that sounds pretty good.

What games are you most excited for this year?

Well I’m not sure if it’s going to make the 2013 cut off, but Dark Souls 2. The Souls games have been the best titles this generation, beyond a doubt. The narrative of the first Dark Souls was incredibly well done, and a direct sequel is exciting for a number of reasons.

Do you think you’ll ever be ‘too old’ for video games?

No. Not only do I think that’s a bit of a misnomer, but I am forever 15.  Games have always been made more for adults than they have for children, so the question would be more applicable in reverse: asking if someone were “too young for video games”. Again, however, I’m going be a kid forever I think. I may live in my own house, own my own company, and manage a stock portfolio, but I hate wearing pants on the weekends, consider “otterpops and cartoons” a proper breakfast, and refer to people who work at the grocery store as “surface dwellers” (a la Futurama). Don’t get me wrong, I can talk about federal policy, or foreign affairs if need be, but left to my own devices, I’ll probably end up calling someone garbage if they express favoritism towards the “wrong” generation 1 Pokemon starter.