Since when did Previews Editor mean Intern...?

Well in any case the name is Wesley Ruscher and I'm just one of the fresh new faces to join the Destructoid team in San Francisco... rather soon to join as I'm actually in the process of moving to the Bay Area. ( Who wants to show me around town?)

As of right now, I am still soaking up the beautiful sun of lovely Orange County--born and raised. Where the weather is always perfect and it never rains. In fact the the day I made my trip to S.F. for my interview... it rained. I thought this was still California and not "depression" laden Seattle (editors side note: I actually love it there). I'll be here at least till the beginning of August with Comic Con just around the corner and will be doing my part to bring forth some of the most in-depth coverage for the Destructoid community.

So a little bit about myself or why you should care about what I write

I just recently finished my BA in Communications, with an emphasis in Journalism, at the University of Cal State Fullerton. I used to work at Atlus as tester--which in my experience was a pretty fun, though a highly underpaid job. And before all that, where I got my start in the "Industry", I was a store/area manager for GameStop for about seven years (if you do the math...I'm actually kind of old).

While finishing college should have been the oldest thing on my list of accomplishments--it's not and I am okay with that. Everything happens for a reason--destined or just by dumb luck--and my choices have led me here to Destructoid where I look to take all that I know and bring forth a new era of game "journalism."

While I respect New Journalism--which does have it places, especially in an industry like the video game industry--my goal here is to usher in and era of good old-fashioned muckraking journalism to the biz.There is plenty of news that never sees the light of day in this business, hidden behind the walls of bureaucracy and PR spin. I want to get down and dirty, uncover the cover-ups and help further legitimize this industry in the eyes of the rest of the country.

It's a lofty goal and one that I know will be quite challenging in the face of the industry, but I'm ready for the challenge.

Now for the fun part...

I love video games. They weren't my first passion, (that would be baseball) but they have become the most influential aspect of my life since I hung up my cleats. I'm not too picky when it comes to games either. I love bad games as much as I love the classics. To me games are more than just gameplay. Granted if the controls are wretched I probably not going to play very long, but I can look easily look past a shoddy camera or cumbersome control scheme if the story is intriguing or characters compelling.

I don't really have a favorite game or genre--I've been gaming since the ColecoVision--but I do have a favorite franchise, Lunar and I'm particularly found of the Sega CD iterations. I have no allegiance to any console other than the Genesis, Saturn and Dreamcast. I was and will always be a loyal Sega kid (though they are starting to slowly kill me inside).

Favorite Games by Console:

NES: Punchout, Super Mario 2, Bases Loaded, Zelda, DuckTales, T&C Surf Design
Genesis: Streets of Rage, Sonic 2, Shining Force 2, Ristar, Gunstar Heroes, World Series Baseball
Sega CD: Lunar 1 &2, Sonic CD, Silpheed, Sewer Shark, Popful Mail
SNES: Chrono Trigger, Super Punchout, FF2, Secret of Mana, Mega Man X, Super Metroid
Saturn: Guardian Heroes, Nights, Radiant Silvergun, Panzer Dragoon Zweii and Saga, SF Alpha 2, Dragon Force
GBoy: Pokemon (R & B), Super Mario Land 2, Zelda DX, Pokemon Pinball, Final Fantasy Adv.
PSX: FF9, Rival Schools, FF Tactics, Metal Gear Solid, Wild Arms, Castlevania SOTN
N64: Smash Bros, Paper Mario, Ocarina, Conkers BFD, F-Zero
Dreamcast: Jet Grind Radio, Tech Romancer, Shenmue, Power Stone 2, Ikaruga, Grandia 2, MVC 2
GBA: Castlevania (series), FF Tactics Advance, Mega Man Zero (series)
PS2: Ratchet (series), FFX, Odin's Sphere, Onimusha 3,DMC 1 & 3, God of War 1 & 2, Suikoden III
GameCube: Melee,Tales of Symphonia, Super Mario Sunshine, Eternal Darkness, Wind Waker, RE 4
Xbox: Halo 2, Panzer Dragoon Orta, JSRF, KOTR, Crimson Skies, Beyond Good and Evil
DS:Ace Attorney (series), Castlevania (series), Animal Crossing, Lunar Knights, Kirby Canvas Curse
PSP: Persona 3 Portable ( I worked on it), Jeanne d'Arc, Lumines, Riveria
Wii: Mario Galaxy, Punchout, Twilight Princess, Muramasa, DK Country Returns
360: Bioshock, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, Fallout 3, Enslaved, Deadly Premonition, Dead Space 1 & 2
PS3: Ratchet (series), Uncharted 1 & 2, Valkyria Chronicles, L.A. Noire, 3D Dot, Demons Souls


This list could go on forever... and I'm sure I overlooked many favorites, but there is no way I'm going to list them all or you're going to read them.


Thanks for taking the time to look and feel free to hit me up online anytime.

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