Creator Interview - Lightspeedstream
We got the opportunity to sit down with Matthias. aka Lightspeedstream, a fellow Mass Effect enthusiast super fan, and Twitch Streamer. We first met LIghtspeed years ago over our mutual love of Mass Effect on our Mass Effect Infinite Gi Channel. Since then he has been a repeat Guest on Infinite Summer and State of Gaming. He regularly streams at twitch.tv/lightspeedstream and typically streams the Mass Effect games. You can see him guest in our latest episode of State of Gaming, and read his interview below.
(Matthias guests in Episode 2 of State of Gaming Season 1)
Lightspeedstream Interview:
Gi: Tell us a little about you, your history, and your journey into streaming.
LS: I always love to watch movies, build with Lego, and play video games. My first gaming system was a Game Boy Color, and then I got the Nintendo 64, and it just grew from there. Then I wanted to play more story driven games, and that is when I got the Xbox 360 to play games like Halo. When I went to PAX West in 2011 BioWare had a special booth of Mass Effect 3. At this time I was not familiar with Mass Effect, so on the last day of PAX to the last minute I was the last third person to get in on the demo. After playing the demo of Mass Effect 3 I was like holy shit why have I never hear of this game, so when PAX ended I went to the closes Game Stop store and picked of the first two games of Mass Effect. At the time I was going to school for filmmaking because that is what I really wanted to do at the time. I did make some short films and it was a lot of fun to do, but however it was very hard to find a job and make a living off of it. Then I saw online how people were making videos of video games and live stream about them, and I thought this is really cool. At that time you needed some equipment like a capture card and a few other things, and I did not have the money for it. That is when they made the announcement of the PlayStation 4 and I looked into it and found out you can live stream off of it. This was my starting point of live streaming. At this point in time I could not play the original trilogy of Mass Effect, so I was experimenting live stream and making video from other games like Star Wars Battlefront 2, Infamous Second Son, Titanfall 2, and Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order. When Mass Effect Legendary Edition came out for the PlayStation 4 I was very excited to go back to this universe and do live streams of it.
Gi: "As a primary Mass Effect streamer and fan, could you share your most memorable in-game moment from the series and explain why it had such an impact on you?"
LS: There are many moments in the games that are memorable, but the one that sticks out to me is when we board Tali’s ship on the Flotilla. Before boarding Tali needed to give a code to get on the ship and the quote she gives is a reflection of her journey. “After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began.” -Tali
Gi: Collectors Items are big part of you. "Considering your extensive game collection, ? Are there any rare or unique items you're particularly proud of?”
LS: The one you know of is my Mass Effect 3 Collector’s Edition with most of the autographs. That did took me couple of years to do. The other collector’s edition that I have are Horizon Forbidden West, The Last of Us Part 2, and Guardians of the Galaxy and I’m very happy that I have these. Now the one big collector item that I have is the big Lego set of BD-1 from Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. My sister got this for me as a Christmas present, and I have it on my desk it is very cool.
Gi: "Mass Effect has a rich lore and diverse characters. Which character's story arc do you find the most intriguing, and how do you incorporate discussions about their development into your streams?”
LS: There so many to choose from that it is very hard to pick. The one I think about is Legion and Tali and there relationship between each other. How I look at it is two completely different people who have to work together and how that carries over into Mass Effect 3.
Gi: "With Mass Effect receiving various remaster and new releases, what's your take on the changes made to the series over time? How do you balance nostalgia with a fresh experience for your audience? What are your thoughts on Andromeda’s place in the fandom?
LS: With the release of the legendary edition most of the changes was done in Mass Effect one which were fixes and a better HUD, and for me I like the changes because it did not take away the same experience that I had in the past playing. The other thing I like about is they include all of the story DLC in the remastered version. In the past I did not get a chance to play them. I’m streaming Mass Effect Andromeda and all the bugs and animation fixes look very good playing on a PlayStation 5. However it is really not talked about that much, and when it is most of it is in a negative light.
Gi: "Being a Mass Effect enthusiast, you must have a deep understanding of the game mechanics. How do you effectively convey complex gameplay strategies or mechanics to your viewers while keeping the content engaging and accessible?”
LS: Most of the time I like to run and gun and use the omni blade to take out the enemy. The other thing that I have notice if you use two of the same characters in your squad they performed better in compact. Future streams I’m going to mix things up and try out new things.
Gi: "What do you hope to see most in the next Mass Effect?"
LS: In the next Mass Effect game I would like to do is play as different species like a quarian, turian, or asari etc. The reason why is it will bring something new to the game and we can dive deep into other species world and culture. The other thing I would like to see is the continuation from Mass Effect 3 and how the galaxy have changed. That might set the bar too high, but we will see on what they have come up with.
