The Boonafide Experience

E 34- Justin Havey

• Kyle Warren • Season 1 • Episode 34

Welcome back to another episode, we're back from our break, and have an exciting new guest on the show! He goes by his last name, Havey. He is most commonly known for his reviews of Halo montages back in the Halo 2 and 3 days and is currently a filmmaker at a creative agency. If you're looking for more dialogue on Halo, you've come to the right place, we discuss everything from his story, to his opinions on different Halo's, what Infinite needs to succeed, and he even drops hints at some secret project he's working on with a few members of the Halo community to help boost the exposure of creative talent.

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Good morning, and welcome to the boonafide experience podcast. I'm your host, Kyle, as many of you call me buena, or on social media bonafide gaming gal, it's been a pretty feels like it's been forever since we sat down to record another podcast. Thank you guys so much for your support. Last couple episodes, downloads for the last couple months have been extremely off the charts. So I cannot thank you enough for the support there, you know, had some had some personal challenges, you know, mentally just wasn't in the right in the right space. But you know what, we're back. We're better than ever. And for those of you who are just tuning in, you know, first and foremost, welcome, thanks for taking the time out of your day to even check out this podcast. This is a gaming eSports or gaming content creation and eSports podcast where I gather people from all over the industry, whether it's, you know, organization, owners, competitors, content creators, you know, coaches shoutcasters. And I mean, you know, just my goal is to gather everyone in the industry, bring them on to the show, to share their story to showcase that there is so many ways to be involved in the gaming community, and there's so many ways to make a living doing what you actually love. Speaking of that, our next guest, his name is Justin Havey. He is what I like to call a dinosaur in the halo community. He's back he was he was involved back with the old school Halo forums. We This podcast is mainly centered around Halo. Some of the halo two Halo three some of his career, some of his opinions, roadmap on Infinite you know what our opinions are that what our guesstimates are on that what 343 needs to do. So it's just a it's a it's a very informative podcast, I had a lot of fun getting to meet someone with a completely different profession than I've ever had on the show. And guys, welcome to Episode 34 and let's hop right in. Good afternoon, Justin. How you doing, man? I'm good. How are you? Man? You know I got a I got me a venti large venti Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew. So dough pretty fantastic today. They kick started with a espresso kick, yelling that I just doing a homebrew today, some like Seattle's best coffee, which Kroger sells, oddly enough in Columbus, Ohio, so not too bad. It's got like a hazelnut kick to it. But it's pretty good, bro. I've gotten so spoiled like since like I bought one of those Nespresso machines where where you just literally buy like you if you want single shot, double shot, regular cup like I've gotten way too spoiled. But yeah, now it's a coffee is my one crutch I would say in life. Like if I don't have coffee, I get massive headaches. My parents turned me on to coffee super young. I'm a coffee fanatic at this point. I was probably like 14 when I started drinking coffee. So I was drinking it in high school. Like my parents would drive me to school. And my brothers, they drive me to school and they'd stop and get a McDonald's coffee. And I would uh, I was like, I'm gonna try one of those. And you know, a lot of kids are like, I tried coffee, and it's terrible. Well, the first time I tried coffee, I was like, This is amazing. Like this. I have to have this every second. I'm actually trying to alleviate some of my coffee and take I'm trying to replace it with like, non caffeinated tea, and that kind of stuff. Because I really don't drink soda. Like my it's really water and coffee. Got it. So, you know, I'm like, I'm just I'm just putting in too much caffeine through the day. Where I feel that it's it's it's it's the one thing that like I said, there's some days where I'm really good about it. There's some days run out. But if I don't have coffee by like 12 o'clock, like I have it I have a massive headache. And yes, it's a sign that it's a bit of a problem. Yeah. And they're, they're the type of headache that if you don't get some caffeine in your system soon, like a motor or a Tylenol isn't going to kick that headache, you got to get some caffeine in your system. And so that's when, you know, there's like a little bit of an issue going on, but it's like, the only thing that's gonna fix what I'm feeling right now is the thing I'm trying to cut out of my life. So, I mean, it's, uh, yeah, interesting problem to have. Absolutely been. Well, so just a man, thank you for that. I know. It's been a long time coming. Our schedules have been pretty crazy. These past this past couple months, for sure. Hey, I mean, it's funny how when COVID happened, like I figured, like, I was gonna have a lot more free time. But it turns out it's been the exact opposite. Right? You know, like, so. Thanks for kind of working with me good. Yeah, it was about a month out dude. So welcome to the podcast, man. This is a this isn't eSports and gaming content creation podcasts. I bring on people from all over every every area of the industry, whether it's, you know, an organ donor, a player, you know, producer what, you know, I try to get everyone's story on here. That way, you know people at home and people who don't really understand the gaming industry or think that you have to be a game dev to be in the gaming industry, you can see that there is an opportunity for them if they really want it. You know, so total, kind of give it tell us a little bit about yourself, man. Yeah, I mean, not going into it too far back or rambling for too long. But I'm been playing games since you know, um, the typical story, you know, I was playing Mario on in 64. And, you know, I grew up in West Virginia, Southern West Virginia coalfields. So my upbringing bringing was a little bit different. I think I have two younger brothers where we were we grew up super tight. I think one of the reasons we grew up so close was video games. And I'd say that we like we played video games, but we were really outdoorsy. So we weren't like in we weren't the kids that like 10 years old, we were just grinding on like a ps1 all day. And then the Xbox released Halo one. And we didn't have stable internet where I grew up, it was dial up. So we didn't get an online experience for the first two halos. But Halo changed everything for us, for sure. Especially my middle brother and I were We were old enough to appreciate Halo one played a lot of Halo one light campaign, my parents were super into it. played Halo two played the campaign. And Halo two is when we were playing like one v ones, like just at home split screen, you know, cheating all day. And three boys, you know, young kids, the level of competitiveness was at an all time high. So I feel for my parents. And then Halo three came out. And that's when I would say Halo three changed everything from like mice. Just my life. Honestly, Halo three probably changed my life, I would say that's a good assessment. And it was from multiple kind of layers. So when Halo first started, Halo three came out. NET first started, I jumped right in and realize that you could play I could play a game competitively against someone in Europe, or I could play against someone in South America or in you know, Southeast Asia. And I was like, you know, this is insane. And I can get it they have no idea like the concept of how, like how incredible that actually. And I was like, This is insane. And not only that, but you would lose a game and I'm not sure if I can curse on here, but I go for it. You know, people would immediately get beat and shit talk like like, 13 year old me with people yelling at me who were European. I was like, Yeah, no, let's let's play again, like I'm ready to go again. And it just I was always a competitive kid. So this was like a crazy high for me. I was just like, I've got to have this competition and it really drove me into you know, game battles. MLG that kind of stuff. So my first love with Halo was competitive Halo two competitive from like a LAN standpoint, friends, and then Halo three from an online getting a team together. grinded Halo three competitively for a while, was always searching for that pro spot. You know, I mean, climbing the game battles ladder, we did really well on game battles. But never could like really secure, like a big land win or something like that, to to get us into a big event. came to a bunch of events MLG Columbus, where I'm at now, you know, came up here and and checked it out. And it was awesome. And when I when I started, I was probably a junior in high school when I was like, You know what, this is probably 2008 2009 I was like, I'm not gonna be like a top tier pro Halo. Hmm. You know? Yeah. Yeah. So you know what else is there? And I remember at the time I was part of a place called the halo forum. And at the time was called the halo two forum. And I was on there for shits and giggles I stayed on their off topic section and just kind of messed around with those guys. It was debauchery It was awful. But I was just on there for laughs in a sense of community, right. And I remember watching, I had seen montages like I'd seen Halo two montages with Reed and fury on and those guys and it was the straight rip in montage. And I remember watching and being like, Okay, this feels different to me. This feels like something like I want to make that. And that's when my focus shifted from competitive into into creation. Probably 2008 2009 edited a montage like once a year but was really like at that time, like, trying to learn to edit. And while I was trying to learn to edit, I fell in love with photography, and just the whole creative scene. And then my by like, I had graduated high school in 2010. I went to college, I was like, maybe I don't want to do what I'm at college for analysis in pre med. I was like on a on a very lucrative at a private school had had had it paid for and I was sitting in class and I was like, This is not it. And my parents are gonna kill me. But I think I'm gonna drop out and I think I want to go be a filmmaker and it was all because of Halo and and the editing scene and falling. The only reason I fell in love with editing was because of Halo. And then Halo kind of showed me like, Oh, I can edit. Like I have a skill here. I have a creative eye. My mom has a camera, why can't I just do movies, right? And that's how that transition kind of happened. And then by, you know, I took a year off college. My parents were super cool with it. They were like, yeah, if you want to go do it, go do it. And then I came back to college and decided I should get a degree in a field that I feel like I could kind of fall back on. So I got a degree in advertising and graphic design, still creative. But I was like, but I'm gonna pursue this this, you know, film. Yeah, path in my life. Yeah. The whole time still playing Halo, still loving the game. Other games, you know, came and went. But But I'd say my passion always kind of lived within the halo community. I tried my hardest through college to stay in touch with everyone I'd met. And then probably 2015 I fell off for a little bit because that was like my high point of like, I make a career decision here. Yeah. And yeah, last couple years, I ended up, you know, wiggling my way into the film entertainment business. So I work at a production company and animation studio here in Columbus. I've been here about going on for years. And these once I moved to Columbus, and I knew I had a career I kind of fell back in love with with eSports and gaming. So I had about a two year hiatus and then you know, wiggled my way back into this crazy little Halo community. So that's kind of the story in a very truncated five minute version. There were a lot of peaks and valleys through that. But that's pretty much the too long didn't read version of that. Yeah, man. And that no, I appreciate that. And I'm sure there's I'm sure there's a there's a couple areas I wanted to you know, I wanted to explore there. I mean, starting like starting like right from the beginning man, like, because very similar to me, are very similar. You like Halo. It was it was a bit for a different reason. But Halo in many ways, especially c just was absolutely. There was there was nothing of its kind. There's nothing even close to the game. Like it was just, it was in that and that and it's funny now that I look back, like games are built for multiplayer now, like games were built for campaign back then you don't. Yeah. And that is a that is a long and treacherous and very challenging campaign. And that was the first time that I had felt that, like, I had found something I truly enjoyed, you know, like in it now. My family still at the same time was very against it. And they stood but it was that it was that one area where I felt like I could truly, you know, become my own have a sense of community. There were so many like minded individuals people bought xboxes for Halo, you know, like PlayStation kit, like there was there was not always console wars bullshit. It was just like, we love the game. You don't mean like, people want PlayStation or Metal Gear Solid and be what Xbox for Halo? And that's just how it was? Yeah. And I mean, Halo two came around and just like it that was the first connected online multiplayer, you know, experience and that was, you know, that was just the first time like, wow, like, like you said, like, I can play with someone in Southeast Asia, or Europe, like and we can connect for some literally millions of miles across the entire world. Yeah. And I think just putting that into perspective, like, I want to help with this perspective of some people, some of the younger audiences that may be watching this or listening to this, because like, that was just so unheard of, like, I'm gonna guess you're probably around my age. I'm around two. I'm 28 you know, and so like, like, we I think we grew up in a very unique time where we had just enough technology to understand the struggle, but we were able to appreciate the boom What happened? Yeah. So yeah, we are the exact same age I turned 28 in two days. So yeah, um, yeah, I don't think I think we could sit here all day and try to explain it and I think anyone under the age of 23 isn't gonna get it. And 23 might even be on that cusp of like, yeah, they probably still get it cuz I'm just thinking of my youngest brother know about this. But it was even even more bizarre experience for me because like I said, I grew up in southern West Virginia coalfields like, it wasn't that we didn't have the money to have high speed internet when I was like, 13 it's that it was not available. It just didn't exist. So we we were able to play on, you know, an occasion and then like I said, when three came out and we we finally got high speed internet. It just blew my mind. It was it was one of those things where people talk about like, trying to think of something that makes it like, like a self driving car like Tesla's right. Or the first time you fly in an airplane, you're like, holy shit, that's the earth. I remember being like, Hello, and someone else on the other end, who didn't sound like me, like a southern West Virginia kid. On the other end, I was like, I've never heard that accent before. Where are you from? And they're like, you know, I'm from Denmark. And it's like, What? What time? Is it that it's two in the morning? It's, it's like

8:

30am? Like, what do you like it was so I don't know, it was almost like, inspiring. Like, you were like, oh, there's something here that's gonna connect everyone to each other, you know, in a different way than just being online, you can actually talk to these people, you can compete against these people. And I think that's where it came in was, not only can you play with people, you can compete, you can you can build a sense of community, you know, and something that was huge with Halo three wasn't just, you know, my middle brother was very, very, very ingrained in the forge community. And those guys, my brother was pretty well known in that scene, and loved Forge. And from that, you know, you had that community of people. And then you had the community of people who would go and play test those maps for these people. And, you know, it was like, I'd get invited from him to be like, hey, come test this map out for us. And then I would meet another 615 people I'd never met before from all around the world who had a similar interest just in forage. And you had all these little, you know, facets of Halo three, and it was just an unbelievable tool to build this community I think, like, I think Halo to set the groundwork for something really special, but I think Halo threes online multiplayer, forge theater mode, I think all of that took things to a completely different level. Without without a doubt. I mean, I'm forever gonna die on the hill of like, my favorite is Halo two, just because that was that was you know, that was that was my game, you know, but I like I can't argue like facts are facts, you know, to me, because that was just say, and especially when you come to the campaign is even down to the campaign like Halo two campaign was great. Halo three campaign was fucking epic. That was like, I got so many more chills in the halo three campaign, the two but you're exactly right. Like forge was revolutionary. I wasn't even involved in these communities. But the level of creativity in the sandbox that Bungie allowed for these people to have it just it was nothing had been done like that before. Yeah. And they had these community spotlights, I remember my brother getting a map called gateway. And I'll never forget this, because I was so jealous. I was like, I kind of helped bring you into this halo scene, and you're just reaping the benefits of like, I was just like, I've not made a montage, that viewership that your map is getting right now. Like he had like 40,000 downloads, and it was on like, when you logged into Halo, you could go over to that, like community spotlight thing. And it was there. And I was like, you have a map on the game. Like people can download your map. And it made me so angry. But But I agree, it was just it was so revolutionary in so many ways. And I'm totally on board with anyone who wants to die on the halo two Hill. I think Halo two is one of the greatest games ever created. I and I think back in wish that I could have had more online experience with Halo two. Not even from an appreciation standpoint, it's just Halo three is my favorite game of all time because of everything it provided me. Yeah. And I will argue all day, it gave me a career in something that I never thought I would actually be able to attain. So yeah, I mean, I think at least the first three halos just opened up the whole new world of gaming and eSports It led the way in so many, in so many ways from an Esports perspective to so. Yeah, I think but I think we're we're touching on something really good here like Halo. I mean, I'm I know Halo better than any other community, but it's like gaming in general. We tend to like gatekeeper certain titles and gatekeeper the community to like certain people where it's like, oh, you're not a real Halo fan. If you were able for fans like yeah, off, dude. Like no, like, if you're, if you enjoy just a forge in Halo three, you are a halo fan like, yeah, this is an inclusive community that we got, like, I think that's one of the problems with Halo is that like, there's such this split in this divide of like, what's a real Halo fan? What's not? Yeah, well, I mean, the halo world is huge, right? Like, and, like, just outside of games. Look at the lore. Look at the books, you know what I mean? Like, there's Halo Wars that exists. I mean, it's, it's a thing where I don't think people really understand it. It's unlike most other games because of all of that. Like there's more material out there to consume than just the games. It's Everything goes well, there's going to be a halo television series that I know is being filmed right now. And has a very exciting cast, and has some very exciting producers on it. So it's like, you know, these things, think of all the live action content that these to put out, like Forward Unto Dawn and all that was incredible. Like, blues, like, like, yeah, and you didn't even have to ever play Halo to appreciate that. And I agree with you, I think in that moment, you can become a halo fan. And, you know, this is the age old debate that has been going on since Halo Reach came out of, you know, fuck you, if you don't like anything after if you'd like anything after three. And and it's, it's, it's funny, because I was I mean, I'll die on that hill. I do think Halo three and Halo two are superior games. And that's a person, but that's personal preference, right? I mean, that is a an objective position that I take. But when someone comes to me and goes, Halo five is better. I'm like, I don't agree. But that's cool. Like, I'm just I'm just happy that someone's still playing the game. Because I think that's the bigger issue is I think that the divide is just I wouldn't say it's more harmful than good, because I think it opens up a lot of really good discussions. And it you know, it does provide some form of, well, what's wrong with the game right now? Why is it in the state it's in? Because we're not Halo three anymore. We're not Halo two, we're not a team. We're not a s tier a tier one esport anymore. So why, and what can they do? And you know, if that means, hey, we need mechanics from Halo to you know, we need mechanics from Halo Reach. That's cool. Let's argue that but I think when we're talking about you know, let's let's continue for 10 straight years arguing whether Taylor releases as good as three and look, let's not forget, it's a different publisher, like like, it's not even the developer is not the same anymore. It's not a Bungie game. And it's a different time. You look at all the games that are out there, like look at look at you look at apex, you look at call duty you look. I mean, you look at all these, like games have sped up. And like from an entertainment perspective, like I used to love watching the halo two Halo three tournaments back in the day out. That was like watching some of those old final boss clips and like watch them while she like literally get up and spit on the face of these other kids like on these CRT TVs. That is nostalgic for me. But I think one of the problems is people's people passing their opinions as facts. Like it's okay to have opinions. It's okay to have this. But you know what I mean? Like the game has changed and video games in general have changed entertainment has changed because the span of your average 15 year old. it's uh it's so funny. Yeah, I mean, evolution is gonna happen. Yeah, you know what? My Apex I'm the slightest Call of Duty. I really enjoyed those games. I'm I'm not a fortnight guy. I was I missed that boat. I'm glad I missed that boat. Because I still I look at it. I'm like, What the hell is this? Um, you know, valorant is probably my most played game right now. And it's a tactical shooter. It's slow. So I look at that and I go, Hmm, I am playing slow burn game. Maybe slow burn can still work. It's it's, but I think that's just my competitive energy. Because that's what I'm, I'm good at. That's what I'm used to. And I go to Overwatch with my brother. And I'm like, Oh my god, this is sensory overload. You know, I love Overwatch. But I'm like, I don't see. I just don't see how this survives. And Halo doesn't I think it's because there's just a fundamental issue with the community a little bit. I think that you're never I let me let me roll back a little, I think infinite. I think I think 343 has to put every egg they've ever thought about in this basket with infinite because I do think this is the final chapter of Halo if they don't nail it. I really do. And it sucks to say that and people can disagree with that. But if you just look at it from an objective statistical standpoint, the game has been on a decline for about a decade and it's something needs to be injected into it bloodstream to make it work. And so I am open to them doing whatever the hell they think they need to do to make it happen. Because I want to see Halo survive I want to see it thrive. I want to see it become an esport again a top esport that's my main I want to see I want to see at the top almost die and then have a second coming of it. You don't mean like that's I wish I had the same we share the same goal. And you know, they're they're Halo fans everywhere. There are people who people know Halo and I was talking to a friend about this the other day cuz I know Taco Bell released that promo with in conjunction with the new Xbox and you know masterchief is like the centerpiece and everyone's making fun of it because they're like, well, it's not launching with the Xbox anymore. So this is kind of a waste of money from Taco Bell, but it's like, millions of people watch that. And they were like, Yeah, but it's Chief, like you put Xbox, and Microsoft up on the board, you're gonna have masterchief face right next to it. It's just like, everyone knows who he is. And everyone knows what Halo is. So I don't think Halo is dead. But I think this could be the game that kills Halo. And that's how I've been kind of describing it. I think people know of Halo, I think people are just waiting for something good out of Halo, something massive out of Halo. And, you know, I'm Fingers crossed, man, I really hope they can pull it off I have, I have to have confidence in them, you just kind of have to, and whether that's blind faith, or not, whatever, um, I want it to succeed. So I want them to succeed. Well, but it's just like putting faith in the creators that create content for the community, like, you know, you don't know if every creator you support is going to make it like you just like you want them to make it because you believe in their work. And it's like, you have to have an element of that. And it's like, you can't, we can't like have these like absolutes where it's like, we have to see this and then we'll support it's like No, man, like they're building something great. You're building something phenomenal, you know, and like, let's let's let's see this through and like, like, gas them up the way they need to be just like we gas each other up in the community. Yeah, I mean, like, totally. Yeah. So I mean, I want to hop into some of your like, some of your some of your work, you know, like, what was your you know, I love I love the banter. By the way. I feel like any Halo any podcast or have someone in the halo community, I'm like, that's it that is a necessary. You know, what was your first like, what was your first montage that you put out? Oh, man, I mean, there were a lot of like, the amount I have more unreleased than I ever had released by far. And it's funny I don't think I ever became known for as like, the halo montage editor, I became known as the guy who really understood montage. And like, had a insane history and knowledge of montages. And the history montage was I really loved the education standpoint of like how to build out an edit. And so that's where, back in the day my montage reviews came in. And that was probably the thing I became most well known for in the halo community was reviewing and critiquing montage. And I think because I didn't do it in like a pretentious way. It was just genuine, like live reaction feedback, like how those channels are blowing up right now on YouTube like that. I always Yeah, I mean, it it that I was doing that in like 2009. And I think people just really appreciated that, like, look at it. And I was honest, I was honest with them. And then as I became an editor in real life, I think people started to take what I was saying a little more. I don't want to say like, blindly following what I was saying, but they took it with a little more. You know, faith in what I was saying was actually true. Weight held more weight. Totally, it held more weight. And I think that, you know the words I was saying people were like, Okay, that makes sense. I see what you're saying. And that's something I brought back again, just because I love doing those. The montage community is always going to be first in my heart. Always, and it doesn't matter the game. That'll just be what at you know, eSports is a close second, but but the creation of montage scene is always going to be the people that I hold, hold really close to my heart. Some of my best friends ever were made in that scene. And so I really do think that most of what I'm known for is that and it's hilarious because I grew up to be an editor, and a cinematographer. So I grew up to do the thing I really didn't become known for in Halo. But I would say my first montage was, it was definitely a halo three, edit. And it was definitely just my brothers and I's game footage shot on a camera didn't even have a capture card. Like my parents like Sony HDV handycam or something and then somehow got that into Windows Movie Maker and cut it up. And then I remember my second one was called it was my brother's my first probably 10 were just my brothers and I and I remember when I got the dazzle capture card, I was like, it's over. This is this is, yeah, I'm gonna quit everything I'm doing and just make montages. But I'd say I made a handful of those with my brothers. And then I made one for a guy named strange, straight donkey. And that was up for about a year and it was received pretty well. And then he like kind of dipped out of the gaming scene and people do this and he just didn't want any trace of his existence online. So that went with him. The trailers still live somewhere I saw I saw it pop up like probably two or three years ago. So it still exists somewhere. And then a couple of Small Halo three projects. And then probably the last one I cut back in the day was called outlaws and it was for the an editing contest. I'm working on two right now I'm working on one for marksmen and one for I'm actually not supposed to say who the other person is, he would, he would murder me Actually, I almost said it. Um, but, um, there's other content happening right now. And then, the other thing that I've been teasing for months that I've been working on with a group of some of the most talented people I know on the planet. I can't give too many details on here. But it's something I've wanted to do since I was probably 15. I am lucky enough to be in a life standpoint, financial standpoint, job standpoint where I can pull the trigger on this, it's probably the biggest leap I've ever taken on anything in my life. And it does revolve around eSports and gaming, and Halo is going to be a center point for it. I am putting some eggs in the halo basket. And so hopefully within the next like two weeks, we're going to be releasing what that project actually is. But I can't say a major point of that project is creators, streamers. leveraging those people within the halo community who I respect so much, because I'm with you, I think that you know, creators are I think creators are the backbone of any community now today because of the Creator stop creating, no one's gonna get eyes on any content. And so I think that we're really focusing on on creators and, and that type of thing. So little bit of a little bit of spoil there, but I can't drop too much info just because I feel like I would get absolutely killed if I said more than that. But just know that I'm really excited for it more information to come soon on that. And it's without question, the biggest thing I've ever done within the gaming scene. So really excited for that. And yeah, it is definitely Halo related to and I was like, you gotta gotta throw us a little bit of a vote here. Yeah, it's Halo related. So, yeah, I mean, um, outside of that, I think that I think that people right now, I think from a creation standpoint, I think people are really trying to just get their content out. And I do feel like there's some stifling in the community of that. I think just like the halo three versus New Age Halo debate, you know, there's those same things happening in the content scene as well. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Hundred percent I mean, now but the some of the cool news that came that came just a few days, or it was yesterday or a couple days ago. Is frosty, coming back from the godsey you know, amazing. Yeah, I mean, to tell you the truth, man, like the amount of the amount of times he was streaming Halo five, like during the offseason, like there's no way he's not like, he's a he's not a cod kid. Like he went he competed cashed out, you know, I mean, like, he didn't want to that's what's crazy, is he's a multi game champion. It's just unreal to me. Well, it's a one shot that's what was he a champion and frosty not shotzi Oh, frosty. Yeah. Yeah. So, so frosty is back in the you know, back in the halo community, but he's back on sentinels. So right. Yeah. Yeah. So he, um, I think he is, like, prodigy level Halo player. Like, I really do, I think. I think that squads just insane. I appreciate sentinels. So that's a point that, you know, I would love to make is, I'm glad to see some of these bigger orgs still putting some backing into Halo. And I think when infinite really does get a release date, I think you're gonna see more big orgs I really do think you're gonna see big orgs come to the forefront. I think eSports engine is going to have a lot to do with that. I know. I know. They're catching, you know, they're putting their eggs in the halo basket. And they want to help promote and hold events. So I think with the old guard of MLG mixed with Microsoft just dumping so much money into Halo, you're gonna see some big words at least test the water of Halo eSports and competitive and I think him coming back it's a huge testament to that for sure. Because like like to me to me sentinels have like, as is my complete speculation. There's no actual facts to back this up. It's like if Rossi was if for now that frosty is back on the sandals like there's no way the Sentinels don't have some intel on Halo infinite. I think they have I would think I'm sorry, go ahead. There's no way he would sign if it was just like yeah, we don't kind of know what's going on and it may be in February. Maybe it you There's no way that there's no information like there is some shit. That's enough. Yeah, I mean, there has to be right. I think I think all the big orgs No, I think every big org, or at least the shareholders of these orgs were informed by Microsoft like, Hey, here's our, you know, three months, six months, one year plan. Hopefully you can work with this right now. Yeah, well, I mean, I think having like, I think you're exactly the nail on the head, like having the old MLG Atomy at the head of Esports engine, like, you know, that I didn't even know to tell you truth. Like, I was one of those Halo fans that just like played the game. And I didn't really I wasn't really involved in the community until just a couple years ago. So I actually didn't know about Adam until I listened to him on hexus podcast, you know, and I'm like, holy shit, this guy. And then I and then like, months after that, it was like, yeah, we're partnering with him like this is it's a fucking rad dude. Yep. Yeah, I mean, I think just that backing is so huge. And, you know, their belief in in 343. And Microsoft and Halo is a game and as a viable eSports huge. Yeah, because it hasn't been for the longest time. You know, so. It's, it's just fantastic. So you know, and then you look at things like snipe down moving to TSM. You know, that's, that's massive. He's blown up an apex scene, like, you just got to wonder like, Okay, how long is it snipe down gonna come back to him? Or it? Has he like, paid his own path? You know, to me, yeah, I mean, I think it's, it's really interesting, because you have, you know, Halo has produced some mega stars, I would argue they produce the biggest mega star ever in gaming. But I don't think they've produced the mega stars today, like other games have. And I think we have our handful of people. And it's such a shame, because I think that, you know, while she ROI lunch box, you know, all of those guys pistola have star potential, and they were stars back in the old days, but the star level started now, like, recognizable on the street star level? Probably not. You'd have to be a hardcore fan to know them. But then you have people like, like snipe down. And yeah, I don't know. I i think i think that you get to a certain point in your career, where it's like, what seems more lucrative to you? From a legacy and financial standpoint, it's like I don't, I'd say TSM probably gave him a pretty lofty contract. I'm good for him, dude. I mean, I'm pumped for him. Anytime I see a halo. Anyone in the halo scene move on to, quote unquote, bigger and better things. I'm like, dude, that's so badass to see. We got everyone's got to eat. And it's like, at the same time, it's like they're in eSports competitive. They're not a halo competitor. Like if you win, right, when you open the doors from Halo to eSports in general, like that opens up the opportunity field tenfold? You know? Yeah. Yeah. And it's a it's a much different world when Halo was just like the dominant tier one esport. Like now you have like, like, 200 300 $400,000 like contracts? Like, that's just fucking insane. Yeah. So to see Rhoda do that. I mean, you know, it's funny. I always like whenever I see when I see an opportunity, I took a picture with him when I was at South by Southwest. And I was on I was on the Lux gaming concentration team at the time. And so I had my Lux jersey on and took a picture with snipe down just to make it annoying enough to where I could remember when young men so you So you mentioned like you mentioned your the main game you play is valid right now, you know, so that, like, are you? Are you mainly just streaming that? Are you producing content for like, what are you kind of what are you doing? I think it's my release right now. I think it's my competitive release, I was streaming valorant a lot. I haven't really have the time to stream as much because to your point I think COVID has maybe made my job more intense, like my nine to five maybe isn't always nine to five now. And so with that mixed with I do some freelance work mixed with this huge project we've been working on streamings kind of taken a backseat. I'd say creation in general is kind of taken a backseat trying to stay on the on the social media grind, which is always just insanity to me. I'm just like, God, I didn't post. I gotta get a pony. Let me do a poll or something. I don't know. It's just like, exhausting. After a while. I'm like Jesus, man. Kudos to everyone who can grind it so heavily. Plus balance everything else in life. I think that's the big thing like by if I was lucky enough to just I say lucky enough, but I love my job to just grind Halo content streaming. Yeah, it wouldn't be as big of a deal. But then you mix that in with like your nine to five and other side projects. You do. In life and family and you know, foster dog, it's like, Oh, dude, this is, oh, it's 11pm I need to go to sleep. Like I didn't do anything. But I would say valorant is my competitive release because I've, you know, I've been playing Master Chief Collection. That's my nostalgic kick. Like, and from there. I do agree with people like when I'm playing Halo three competitively. It feels good. I feel good. I'm like, I'm, I'm ripping. And then I'm but I'm like, This isn't like this isn't getting me like, amped my adrenaline's not up. I'm just having fun, and I've got a big smile on my face while I'm playing. Because I'm like, I'm playing Halo three in 2020. I'm playing Halo two in 2020. PC, and yeah, it's like, that's awesome. And then valent just gets me my blood going a little bit. So I'd say it's my like competitive game release right now, which I've noticed since about 2007 I've always had to have one for a while it was Overwatch for a while it was Apex the the battle royale stuff really doesn't do it for me Apex did for a little bit interesting about it was an interesting take on BRS enough that I was like, okay, like, I can strategy my way through these wins. And it's not just gun skill. And then I think valorant strategy aspect is what it kind of reminds me of Halo. Like, it wasn't just gun skill in Halo, it was so much more than that. It was deconstructing the game, it was a little bit of psychology. It was map control and understanding call outs and all of that. And I think valorant takes that Ben takes a little bit of Overwatch his ability element and just kind of flips everything on its head. So yeah, I'd say it's more of a competitive outlet than it is anything else right now. Got it. And I know you had a actually where I found you was on one of the podcasts where you had mugsy on? Yeah. So are you still producing for the podcast? Or was that? Okay? Tell me a little bit about that. Yeah, the podcast is good. It's one of those things where it's like, yes, the podcast is going to happen, the montage reviews are still going to happen. They're being lumped into this bigger project. So if people want to try to deconstruct what that means they can, there's going to be a bunch of content being created. Hopefully, beginning of December, lots of content is going to be created the podcast as part of that, montage reviews. I'm gonna get back a stream schedule. But right now I'm working towards the goal of just getting what I'm talking about out there to people. And then hopefully, everything comes back. But I love doing the podcast. I thought that was really fun. I thought he was a great first guest super, super happy that he was, uh, was cool with coming on. I've known him forever. Forever, like a lot of these guys, you know, I hit him up and they're like, Hey, man, haven't talked to you in nine years. Like, yeah, What's up, dude? You bet. But yeah, podcasts are definitely gonna happen again. I think just need some time for them. Yeah, yeah, no, it's cool magazine. That was actually, you know, I'd seen him around the community. But that was the first time I'd actually heard a little bit of his story, you know, and then I saw him was production period, which I wait, when they were like breaking down like Ryan news clips, I can't remember the very first one they did was like that the production level of that was just phenomenal. Yeah. I don't know how much that cost, how much time went into that. But that was, that is what he needed. Like, that was a breath of fresh air. I completely agree. And I told him that I was like, those are the things that I think the halo community needs. It's great for user creation, like you, you're creating this podcast, or if I want to do a, a montage, or, you know, if someone else wants to do a breakdown of a trailer, but like the team within HCS and the team behind Halo, they need to be pumping out some content to because more eyes are going to be on the content they pump out. They have a wider reach than we do as creators, at least a lot of us. And it's like when you pump out really, really, really crisp and clean. Beautifully done. I mean that those that series is really, really well done. And mugsy is a legend so I don't really expect much less, you know, I mean, that is what he does. Yeah, I think they need to be doing that more often. And I say that and he's gonna roll his eyes and be like, Dude, that took me two months. But you know, I think that's what we need. I saw his tweet on that. He says like, he's like, Damn, man. Like, I like I This was such a masterpiece, but like, I hate that I put this much into it, because now I have to get better from that. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because I was that was absolutely credible. Yeah, it's great. Yeah. But I mean, kind of want to kind of want to wrap things up, man, you know, like you mentioned mentioned a little bit about like, like where you're going, you got some things in the work that part of it is compiling a lot of community content, working with some probably some pretty big players. If I imagine You know, rolling off podcasts rolling out some streams and like, Where are where are you the most active? And where can people find you? Yeah, I would say right now, it's currently Twitter. If you want, if you have any interest in what I'm doing moving forward, it would be Twitter. That's where we're going to really hit the ground running on what we're working on. Hopefully, big players. I mean, there's some, there's a lot of conversations going on around the community right now about what we're doing. So hopefully, we can really secure some of that. And, you know, our goal with this is just to provide prop up the halo community. I mean, I mean, that's first and foremost, what I want to do whether we spread out to other games or not, I'm not sure but, you know, Halo is what got me here. So I want to I want to get back a little bit and I want to be able to provide something to creators because I think there are some crazy talented creators in the halo scene that are vastly undervalued, and underappreciated. But yeah, Twitter, all of my social handles are ha v3 Why? And then I think I've got my YouTube linked up to my Twitter so you can find my YouTube there my twitches. So I want havy across the board, anyone I will pay I will pay legitimate money like I will pay the my Instagram account and the Twitter account are both inactive. They haven't been active since for like six years. Twitter won't give them to me. Okay, Instagram won't give it to me. the only the only social channel I've ever been able to get my name is on Twitch, which is great. Which is just HIV y. It's my last name. Please, so I'm begging you. If someone watches this, give me those handles. I've asked I've been doing this campaign for like six years, all I need is a blue checkmark. And then they'll probably give it to me. So someone give me a checkmark or someone by those names. I will give you money. But I need those names. I may I may do a little paid advertisement on this podcast so you can get your name. I appreciate it. Bro. I'ma call you. I hate you hate. It was a pleasure having you on here, man. Thanks for your time. And we'll go ahead and sign off it. Awesome. Thank you so much, man. I appreciate it. Have a great day. You too. Yeah, thank you so much for tuning into another week of the bonafide experience podcast. If you did get some value, and you're new here and you have not subscribed and liked this podcast already. I don't know why you're not doing that. I would really appreciate it if you did. More importantly, I would love if you shared this to someone who feel who you feel that would benefit from hearing an episode like this. hearing different perspectives is what this podcast is all about. help make gaming a more inclusive community and help turn the stigma around around what get who gamers are, what we look like what we do, and to help really build this craft into something that's mainstream. If you enjoy gaming content, speaking of gaming, if you enjoy gaming content I do stream at on Twitch on Tuesdays and Thursdays I'm currently streaming Call of Duty Warzone and, and we'll be streaming a lot of call duty black ops when that drops under the betas. Not this weekend, but next weekend for PC. So excuse me, I'll be grinding that. And if you want to follow me on social media, I it is at bonafide gaming on on Twitter and on Instagram. Um, if you want to follow the podcasts a little bit up to date with my gaming content. I do share some motivational content there as well. So I would greatly appreciate it until next week. Y'all have a fantastic day. You have a fancy whatever part of the day you're in whether it's the morning evenings, I hope it's a fantastic one. Let's have a great weekend. I'll see you next week.