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I started gaming on an atari console in middle school – I played Space Invaders, Asteroids, Adventure, and Combat. I returned to gaming in the mid 1990s, when I was teaching writing here at Stanford. At that point, I tried Myst (gave me a headache), dove into Doom (got disgusted), and then moved to Lara Croft (got tired of watching her bounce). I settled on Sims and SimCity for a bit – but then returned to gaming a few years ago full force by diving into Elder Scrolls IV. I’m always experimenting with different genres, whether that be mobile games like Angry Birds or Shadow Cities or exploring virtual worlds, like Second Life, but I’m most drawn to single-player role playing games like the Mass Effect series, Fallout 3, and Bioshock. Over time, I’ve come to realize that I’m drawn to RPGs for the same reason that I was originally drawn to Victorian Literature (which I have a PhD in): a love of character and story. Name: Christine Alfano Born: New York Academic focus: Writing, Rhetoric, Gaming, Digital Culture, Visual Culture Type of gamer: Intermediate level, recreational. WASD gamer Year started gaming: 1982 (Atari) Game(s) of choice: Skyrim/Elder Scrolls games, Fallout 3, Mass Effect series, Dragon Age series, BioShock, Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds Avatar name: Skyrim: Kara (pictured: Level 35); Dragon Age Origins: Shay (Level 14); Fallout 3: Jenna (Level 26 – so far)