“Wow, she is so cool Dad, she is a rockstar! You have to ask her for an interview!” So spoke Retro James after I showed him one of her Twitch broadcasts. I happily obliged, she happily accepted, and so she is today’s guest, here on our blog, for the “we are gamers” series.
A versatile person, with a flair for engaging gamers at all levels, she can stream for hours and still keep you glued to your screen. Time to get to know her better: come on Ellis, the floor is yours…
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1. Welcome Ellis and a big “thank you” for accepting my invitation to be interviewed for the blog. For a starter, please introduce yourself to RGL’s readers.
Hi! I am Ellis, or as my Twitch username, EllisTheWise. I am a variety streamer from the Netherlands. I started Twitch last January (2021) after a friend recommended it to me. I have always been a huge nerd for a lot of things but I never imagined to feel so welcomed in the Twitch community.
In my daily life I work as a game developer, 3D artist, and light installation artist. I also teach these things at the local Art Academy. I have got some funky hobbies like kickboxing and medicinal herbology, and I like to ferment things (which includes making my own booze).
2. What was the first video game you ever played?
Oh… Hmm, that must have been a children’s game… it was either “Freddy Fish” or “Word Rescue“. WR was actually pretty difficult since my first language is not English.
3. What about the first gaming system you ever owned?
I think that was a Windows 95, it was an old desktop from my dad. I loved the s*** out of that thing and ultimately destroyed it from the inside out after I discovered the nonsensical folders in the “system32” folder were not useless files that I could delete 🙂 . My dad was clueless as to what could have happened.
4. Were you an arcade gamer? If you were, what about your favorite titles back in the 90s/2000s?
The only thing we used to have in the house, was a pinball machine. I have no idea what kind of machine it was, it was my dad’s, but to this day I have got a spot for pinball machines in my heart. I also at some point played some Pac-Man on an arcade machine but we did not have many where I am from.
5. I am going to name a few video game genres: please tell me your favorite retro title for each of them:
A) Adventure
Tomb Raider II and III (PC, windows 95, windows 98)
B) Platform
Oh, another fan of Mylo…
Crystal Caves (PC, windows 3.1)
C) Puzzle Games
Supaplex (PC, windows 3.1)
D) Role-playing games
Castle of the Winds. (PC, windows 3.1)
E) Racing Games
Mario Kart, obviously! (Super Nintendo)
F) Soccer/Football
Oof, I have got to say I am not fond of soccer, so I got none.
G) Sports Games
One of the greatest Chess games of all time. An absolute must-play for any Chess enthusiast who also loves gaming…
Does Battle Chess count as Sports?
H) Any other games whose genre I did not mention?
Well, Doom is definitely my favorite shooter. But it is a bit more than a shooter, in my opinion! And I have got a very warm place in my heart for all sorts of text-based games.
6. While growing up, what gaming system did you have the most fun with? Are you still a regular gamer?
“Now you’re playing with power; PORTABLE power!” And so it was that our vacations were immediately better, lol…
I have been a great fan of PC games since that was the platform I was the most familiar with, but on vacation my Game Boy was glued to my hands! I do not play the Game Boy anymore but I use my phone from time to time to port gameboy games or play other titles. I actually play the most on PC. If it were not for my carpal tunnel, I would game a lot more!
7. What is your relationship with the online gaming world? Do you play online with your friends/family members/random gamers?
I have a couple of friends that like to play games. I have got a ridiculous amount of hours in Ark Survival (Steam counts them) and Elder Scrolls Online, but I prefer lower-paced games better, like Minecraft. I have got one amazing friend who likes exactly the same things as I do, we are gaming siblings and play together a lot.
8. What are your finest memories related to video games?
I agree Ellis, Doom is more than a shooter and also more than a game… Doom is Doom!
I remember being definitely under 10 years old when my dad wired up a local LAN connection and played multiplayer Doom with me. It left mental scars, but I became a huge fan of Doom, haha.
I did not have a very good connection with most people my age during my teens, so often I would play video games at home. They give still give me a very nice feeling of safety and I can still seek refuge in them. I also have a lot of fond memories of playing Mario games on SNES and Gamecube with friends, those games are so much fun with others!
9. What prompted you to start a Twitch channel?
My best friend told me to do it, and I kind of caved after a few weeks of nagging, haha. Sometimes other people know better what I like than me.
10. What is the goal of EllisTheWise?
Ellis’s Twitch account: EllisTheWise
I hope to establish myself as a solid streamer in this world! I love creating a community, making people feel at home, and chat about the nerdiest things (I have little nerdy friends, so Twitch opened that world wide up for me).
On the other hand, I hope to be able to keep combining this with my current job, since I truly love making video games and I would be sad to not be able to do that anymore.
11. Last but not least: any future plans or secret wishes?
I desperately want to travel to Canada to learn all about rural life there. I want to learn to shoot (gun / bow and arrow), prepare my own food, gather my own food, and all that stuff. It has been in planning already for a long time, but Covid cut that one off very swiftly.
Then, in the near future, I would love to buy a large house with a couple of friends and live in a sort of community (yes, that does sound a bit like a cult, but I promise you it is not the case, haha!). And it would be great if that house stands in nature, but we will see. 🙂
