My name's Lauren "L337Lauren" Berggren ::cough cough:: I mean Bleszinski because I married Cliff Bleszinski in 2012! I have played games since I was 5, went to college for computer animation/game design, worked at id Software, traveled to many many gaming conventions.
Here is a summary of my life
I grew up in the hot state of Louisiana in a town called Mandeville. No-one seems to know where that is, but it's right outside the New Orleans area. I've started gaming around age 5. Having a twin brother, anything he did or whatever games/toys he received, I wanted to play with it too. We got a hand-me-down NES for our birthday and then we were hooked ever since. From console to console video games kept growing on me. I've always considered myself a gamer, though I did always have barbie doll and G.I. Joe along side me as I strived to find that last hidden 1up Bug in the Lion King SNES game! Around age 10-12 I got into computer gaming with the games Monster Truck Madness, Tarzan, The Oregon Trail, Army Men Online, and many other games my parents would get us. I honestly didn't realize that girls in the gaming world were a rarity at that time until around age 14, when I started going to a local lan center to play with friends. That's where I began becoming competitive with games. Throughout the years I've competed in games such as Counter-Strike, Guitar Hero, Quakelive, Day of Defeat, Dead or Alive 4, & other titles for various competitions.
After graduating high school I went to college for Computer Animation & Game Design at ITT Technical Institute. During that time I worked as an Assistant Manager for EBGames/Gamestop for 3 years. The job was just perfect for me at the time because without spending a dime, I could constantly rent out any game for free and get a taste of it! It also kept me up to date with all games and consoles that were coming out. In 2008 I moved to Mesquite, Texas to work at id Software as a Production Assistant/Build Manager. Total dream job for any gamer! I worked on creating and monitoring a build system for the games Rage and other unannounced projects. After working there for a little over a year I had some personal life changes and ended up moving to Raleigh, NC and currently playing games for a living while traveling to events all year with my husband Cliff Bleszinski.
Things I like to do
In no certain order, here are things I enjoy in life!
Hanging out with my co-op buddy for life (Cliffyb), keeping in touch with my family, playing motha fraking Video Games, dabbling with web design & scripting from time to time, rocking out to good music, drowning tator tots with ketchup, chilling with my rl and internet friends, running on the beach at night, co-oping in games, candy mmm skittlesss, sugar free Redbull, sushi, cows are my favorite animals (besides dogs), the color pink, even though I’m an adult.. give me crayons and a coloring book and I will have no self choice but to color away, traveling, graphic novels, going to the gym, young adult books, game/nerd conventions, destroying noobs, rainy days (yeah nap time made easy!), eat me some lots o' crawfish, Astro Gaming headsets
FAVORITES:
- MUSIC Kings of Leon, LMFAO, Katy Perry, Hollywood Undead, Avril Lavigne, Ke$ha, 3OH3!, Lady Gaga, Boys Like Girls, Evanescence, Cobra Starship, Paramore, Mikey Avalon, My Chemical Romance, Fall out Boy, No Use For A Name, Chevelle, Jane’s Addiction, Apartment 26, Nickelback, Radiohead, Jay-Z, Nelly’s old stuff, Linkin Park, Trice, Taproot, Toadies
- TV SHOWS 24 (I love my Jack Bauer power hours!), Gilmore Girls, Family Guy, Weeds, Breaking Bad, 30 Rock, Arrested Development, Moonlight, Southpark, Iron Chef, Dexter, The Shield, Myth Busters, Caprica, Scrubs, Game of Thrones, Girls, Shameless, House of Lies, Kroll Show, Josh.0, South Park, Walking Dead, It's Always Sunny in Philly, Sons of Anarchy, Banshee, Attack on Titan, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly
- MOVIES Kick-Ass, Iron Man 1 & 2, Avatar, The Lion King, American History X, Office Space, Monster’s Inc, Arthur, Harry Potters, Lord of the Rings, Troy, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Life Time movies can be solid sometimes, Gothika, The Longest Yard, Just Married, X-Men 2, Kiki’s Delivery Service, The Sand Lot, Pirates of the Caribbean, Radio, The Iron Giant, American Beauty, Veronica Mars, The Dark Crystal, Legend, The Island, Funny Games, Devil's Backbone, I Saw the Devil, Demolition Man, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, Lego Movie, Airplane, Naked Gun,
- COMICS/BOOKS The Preacher, The Walking Dead, The Boys, Chew, Girls, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World, Hunger Games, Locke & Key, Marvel Zombies, Divergent, Game of Thrones, Wool
- QUOTATIONS "It's better to have friends than enemies." - My mom
"You're on a need to know basis MISSY." - Cliff - "Get in position and wait for my go." - Counter-Strike
"I won't go far, if the apocalypse comes... beep me." - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Things that I don't like
Everyone dislikes things, right?
When people have their tags hanging out their shirts, cracked doors, splinters (who doesn’t hate them?!), ROACHES, vents in bathroom ceilings, lag in online gaming, websites with bright yellow backgrounds, when the internet just doesn’t want to work (“unable to connect”?! COME ON!), iPhone issues, haters & fakers, the word “molecular”, pig lips, when people spell WoW as W.o.W., blue toilet water, cold toilet seats, black toilets, getting spawn killed in a game, having to avoid aggresive homeless people
MY GAMING RIGS
MY MAIN DESKTOP PC SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Digital Storm
Processor: Intel Core i7 4930K 3.4GHz (Unlocked CPU for Extreme Overclocking) (Six-Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Rampage IV Extreme X79 (Intel X79 Chipset) (Features USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gb/s)
System Memory: 16GB DDR3 1866MHz Corsair Dominator Platinum DHX (Extreme-Performance)
Power Supply: 1050W Corsair Pro Silver 1050HX (Dual/Triple/Quad SLI Compatible)
Main Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce TITAN BLACK
2nd Graphics Card (dedicated to physx): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB (EVGA Superclocked ACX Cooler Edition)
Extreme Cooling: H20: HydroLux
Internal Lighting: Purple
Boost Processor: Stage 2: Overclock CPU 4.5GHz to 4.8GHz
OS: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (64-Bit Edition) with Start8!
Headphones: Astro A40s (purple)
Keyboard: Logitech G710+
Mouse: Logitech
Mousepad: XL Steelseries (black)
Monitors: BENQ 24 inch (2ms) x2
MY SECONDARY DESKTOP PC SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: Myself
Case: White Phantom
Power Supply: 1000w
OS: Windows 7
Motherboard: MSI
CPU: AMD FX™-8120 8-core 3.10 GHz
Memory: 4GB Corsair XMS2 Dominator DDR2
Hard Drive: 1TB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680
Sound Card: Nvidia High Definition
Headphones: Pink Astro Gaming A40's
Monitor: two 24” ASUS @ 2ms
Mouse: Logitech MX518
Mousepad: Large SteelSeries
Keyboard: Pink Logitech G11
RETIRED GAMING PC
Manufacturer: Myself
Operating System: Windows Vista
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
(with Water cooling!)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Monitor: 19" Viewsonic VX1940w 2ms
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio output
Headphones: Astro Gaming A40's colored PINK!
Keyboard: Logitech G11
Mouse: Logitech MX518
Mouse Surface: 15'' x 11 Pure Pwnage pad
TRAVEL LAPTOP SPECIFICATIONS
Manufacturer: RAZER (BLADE)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-4702HQ Quad Core + Processor with Hyper Threading + 2.2GHz / 3.2GHz (Base/Turbo)
Chipset: Mobile Intel® PCHM 8 series chipset, HM87
Memory: 8GB onboard memory (DDR3L-1600MHz)
Graphics and Video: Intel® HD4600 + NVIDIA® GeForce® + GTX 765M (2GB GDDR5 VRAM, Optimus™ Technology)
Display: 14.0" HD+ 16:9 Ratio, 1600x900, with LED backlight
Storage: 128GB / 256GB / 512GB SATA III SSD
Power: Compact 150W Power Adapter + Built-in 70Wh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery
Size and Weight: Width 13.6” / 345mm + Depth 9.3" / 235mm + Height 0.66"/ 16.8mm + Weight 4.1 lbs / 1.88kg
OS: Windows 8.1 (64-bit)
Mouse: Logitech MX510 (borderlands)
Mousepad: Razer travel size
Headset: Astro A30 (fuzzy pink ears)
Here is some of my collection of my games I've owned: listed by platform
Atari: Pong, Frogger and 20 others...
NES: Super Mario Bros., Dr. Mario, 50+ others...
SNES: Looney Toons, Zombi's Ate my Neighbors, The Lion King and 50+ others..
N64: Zelda: Ocarina of Time Zelda: Majora's Mask, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Snap, Perfect Dark , Yoshi's Story, Wave Race 64, Super Smash Bros., Mario Party, Star Fox 64 , Mario Kart 64
Dreamcast: Fishing! My only game on there ha.
GameCube: Luigi's Mansion, Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime 2 Echoes, Super Smash Bros., Monkey Ball Adventure, Soul Calibur II, Super Monkey Ball 2, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario PaLegend of Zelda, Wii Sports, Elebits, Rayman Wii, Avatar, Monkey Ball: BB
Wii: Super Mario Bros Wii, Trauma Center: SO, Trauma Team, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wii Sports, Mario Kart, Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, Cooking Mama, Elebits, Mario Strikers, Metroid Prime 3, Resident Evil 4, Paper Mario, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Donkey Kong Returns, Mickey's Adventure, etc...
Xbox: Halo, Halo 2, Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, Ghost Recon 2, Need for Speed Underground, Destroy all Humans, Mortal Kombat: Deception, Fable, Tony Hawk's Underground, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Counter-Strike, etc...
Xbox 360: Gears of War 1 & 2, Mass Effect 1 & 2, Bioshock 1 & 2, Fallout 3, Halo 3 & ODST, Brutal Legend, Batman Arkham Asylum, Limbo, 50 Cent: BOtS, Toy Soilders, Transformers WFC, Red Dead Redemption, Superman Returns, Bolt, Splinter Cell Convinction, Dragon Age: Origins, Assassin's Creed 1 & 2, Street Fighter 4, Lost Planet 1 & 2, DJ Hero, Dead Space, Tetris Splash, Rise of the Argonaunts, Boogie Bunnies, Battle Field Bad Company 1 & 2, Winterbottom, Trials HD, Bayonetta, Dead or Alive 4, Darksiders, Modern Warfare 2, UT3, Wet, Halo Wars, Fable 2, Borderlands, Peggle, The Beatles RB, Civilization Revolution, Yosumin, Resident Evil 5, Ghost Busters, Banjo-Kazooie, Kung Fu Panda, Forza Moter Sport 2 & 3, Guitar Hero 5, Red Faction Guerilla, Sacred 2 Fallen Angle, Saints Row 1 & 2, Wolfenstein, Shadow Complex, Prototype, NHL 08, DDR Universe 3, Left 4 Dead 1 & 2, Blue Dragon, TMNT Arcade, Skate, Paper Boy, Tenchu Z, UNO, Ninja Gaiden 2, ET: Quake Wars, FEAR, Shadow Run, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, F4 ROTSS, Beautiful Katamari, MOH Airborne, Fuzion Frenzy 2, Phantisy Star Universe, Just Cause, Enchanted Arms, The God Father, Test Drive Unlimited, LOTR BFME II, Ninety-nine Nights, NFS Most Wanted, Hitman: Blood Money, Comdemned 1 & 2, Top Spin 2,TC GRAW, Viva Pinata, Call of Duty 2 & 4, all Guitar Heros, Rockbands, Rainbow Six: Vegas 1 & 2, Oblivian, Crackdown, Dead Rising, Lego Star Wars 1 & 2, Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Tomb Raider:Legend, Alice, Gears of War 3, Bastion, Trenched, Comic Jumper, Kinect Dance Central, other Kinect launch titles, Deus Ex, LA Noire, Dead Island, etc... the list keeps growing! I buy basically every new title now a days.
XBOX ONE: Peggle 2, Dead Rising 3, RYSE
PS2: Guitar Hero 2, Guitar Hero, Nintendo DS, Final Fantasy III, Animal Crossing DS, Kirby Squeak Squad, Yoshi's Island DS, Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, New Super Mario Bros., Super Mario 64 DS, Cooking Mama, Brain Age, Tetris DS
PS3: God of War 2 & 3, Heavy Rain, Demon's Souls, Resistance, Untold Legends 3, Metal Gear Solid 4, Assassians Creed, Army of Two, Infamous, Uncharted 1 & 2, etc. I buy only new titles for the PS3 if it's not on the 360. Achievements > Trophies!
PS4: Second Son, Metal Gear 5, Watch Dogs, Battlefield 4, Wolfenstein: The New Order
PSVita: Tearaway, Lego Batman 2, PaRappa the Rapper
Game Boy Advance: Zelda: The Minish Cap, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario Bros. 3, Wario Ware and others...
DS: Zelda A Link Between Worlds, Bravely Default, Henry's Hatsworth, Tetris DS, Diner Dash, Zelda: Hour Glass, Mario Kart, Trauma Center, Super Mario Bros., Pokemon White & Black. and others...
PC: The Elder Scrolls online, Influent:Japanese, RUST, Unreal 2k4 & UT3, F.E.A.R. Extraction Point, Far Cry, Battlefield 2142, Vanguard, Counter-Strike 1.6 & Source, EverQuest II, World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Vanguard, Age of Conan, Allods, Worms & Gunbound, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Half Life & bunch of Steam games, Quake Live, Quake 4, Call of Duty 4, Painkiller, DOOM 3, Stalker, Hammerwatch, Titanfall, Lili: Child of Geos, Garry's Mod, Minimum, The Witcher, Dota 2, Diablo III, Divekick, Daylight, DayZ, Broken Age, CS:GO, Everquest Landmark, Starcraft 3, Project Spark