Let’s introduce you more to the awesome group, Horrible Night, by allowing another streamer answer my interview questions. So then maybe you all would like to go and meet them yourselves. The group is full of really nice guys.
- What is your Twitch name? beatgrindradio
- Is there a special reason you chose that name? It’s a long-standing online handle from my late high school days, inspired by my fandom of the Jet Set Radio series. Titled Jet Grind Radio in North America, Beat is the name of the goggles-wearing skater on the case art.
- Why did you become a Twitch Streamer? As Twitch became more popular and I got back into PC gaming after getting married and buying my first house, I took the passion from working with my fellow gamers on the Horrible Night website and gave it a try. It helped that the barrier to entry to streaming was within my reach too, even without having the most powerful of computers.
- Why did you choose to stream for Twitch? Twitch was the main hub for gaming around the time I started, well before YouTube’s gaming focus. Horrible Night was also already using Twitch for our live shows and game nights and had a small audience of faithfuls.
- How long have you been a streamer? It’s been about 4 years since I first joined others for multiplayer game night streams. The next year, I began to stream PC games on my own.
- Do you only stream or do you have another job? If you are comfortable in telling my readers, what is your other job? I’ve had other jobs while streaming as a hobby. I’m a developer (aka programmer) at a small web consulting company.
- What are your favorite games to play? If I were a full-time streamer, I’d be of the variety type as I have a wide range of gaming tastes. Lately, I’m really into roguelikes (Spelunky was one of my early streaming games), card-battle games like Hearthstone, and RPGs
- What are your favorite games to stream? I enjoy streaming my first impressions of new games I either buy at launch or pick up from sales. Something about the initial experience with a game and learning the ins and outs is always fun for me, even if the game itself doesn’t hold my interest in the long run.
- Do you have any games that you would like to recommend to my readers to play and why? I’m gonna mention two games that surprised me in the last couple of years and topped my Game of the Year lists: Undertale and Stardew Valley. Both games have their own unique charms and tackle the idea that a quality modern game can be fun and challenging without being excessively violent.
- Was it hard to talk to your viewers when you first became a streamer? How long before you became at ease with streaming? It actually wasn’t that difficult for me and, if anything, has likely helped me improve my social skills in general. Finding something you’re passionate about creates a confidence when it comes to holding a discussion and being able to react to questions and conversation at your own pace takes a lot of the pressure off. It helped that I was a part of a crew that played games together too.
- Would you like to tell my readers anything else about yourself or your channel on Twitch? I believe that gaming should be about positive experiences and unique stories that happen almost every day. If my voice has helped one person who was having a rough time to find joy and laugh, then I’ve considered it all worthwhile. I might never stream full-time, but I’ll keep squeezing the moments in while I can!
Again, please check him and the others out at twitch.tv/horriblenight. It’s fun watching them play games or do their podcasts.