Interview with Mike Quackenbush

Interview with ´Lightning´ Mike Quackenbush

©CHIKARA

Hey Game Treasure readers! As a very special surprise, I had the honor to interview US pro wrestler and founder of CHIKARA Pro Wrestling, ´Lightning´ Mike Quackenbush, about video games! Have fun by reading.

Gordman: Hi Mike, I feel highly honoured to make this interview about video games with you!
At first, let´s go back to the past: What was your first game console and which games did you played on it as a child?
Quack: I had a Super NES that I bought a Famicom converter for, in order to play Japanese wrestling games. I had every wrestling game made for the 16-bit SNES and Famicom. Every single one. There was an All Japan clone here in the US called "Natsume Championship Wrestling" that I loved.

Gordman: Do you own/owned ever a handheld console like the Sega Game Gear, Nintendo´s famous GameBoy or a modern one like Nintendo DS?
Quack: No. I've always been a home console kinda guy.

Gordman: Which consoles do you (still?) own today in total?
Quack: I have an Xbox basically so I can play "Arkham Asylum" and "Arkham City." Somewhere, I still have my Sega Dreamcast and a copy of Fire Pro for it.

Gordman: Do you collect games?
Quack: Not like I once did. I used to hunt down every wrestling game out there, and chip up my systems so I could play the imports, sitting next to my printed out copies of the English translations.

Gordman: Who is your hero?
Quack: In wrestling, my heroes are Jushin Liger, the original Tiger Mask, Owen Hart, the 1-2-3 Kid, Manami Toyota and Johnny Saint.

Gordman: If you look back today: Which games would you recommend to play to video gamers (no matter which console and how new or old the game is)?
Quack: The Fire Pro Wrestling series is really the top of the line. I have never spent as much time playing any single game as I did "Fire Pro 6 Man Scramble."

Gordman: One CHIKARA question: Was it your idea to create this years (2012) show logos in that really cool CHIKARA style (by the way, my fave is Green Ice)?
Quack: All the logos this year evoke influential video games, and the show titles are borrowed from the 1966 Batman television series. We wear our nerdiness on our sleeves at CHIKARA.

Gordman: I still hope that CHIKARA comes one day to my hometown, Germanys capital, Berlin. When it happens, I invite you to play video games at my home. Which games do you like to play then?
Quack: If I come to Berlin to play video games, "Top Gun" seems like a no-brainer to me!

Thank you so much for your precious time Quack. I hope it was the same fun for you as for me.
Special thanks to the whole CHIKARA team, a dream comes true for me with this intervew and I will never forget what you did for me!

Links

CHIKARA Homepage: chikarapro.com