QOTW: What's your biggest hobby aside from gaming?

Every week the hosts ofTalkRadarpresent and answer a new "Question of the Week" - a personal inquiry which unearths some of our deepest, and sometimes most sinister, gaming memories. Everyone is encouraged to answer each week's question, so go ahead, tell us your most glorious, nostalgic, or shameful story!

This week's question:

What's your biggest hobby aside from gaming?

After 50 podcasts and 33 questions, it's safe to assume we all play a crapton of games. But what else do you do? What's next on the list for hobbies, interests or passions? What do you do when you finally bore ofjumping on platforms and shooting locks?

Answer this week's question in the comments!

Questions can also be answered in theQOTW forum thread. Our favorite posts this week will be read next week onTalkRadar 51,and appear in the next edition of this article. Listen toTalkRadar 50tomorrow for our answers!

Below are some of our favorite answers from last week's question...

Last week's question:

What was the first game you remember pre-ordering?

Atomicred wrote...
"I'm sad to say Star Wars Force Unleashed, and it was for my Wii. I am never not listening to you guys ever again."

"As the above pictures shows, the crappiness of Star Wars: Force Unleashed on the Wii lead me to getting a 360, so my first pre-order wasn't such a bad thing after all."

Grrsnort wrote...
"The first game I ever pre-ordered was Halo 2. That's not much of a story, but the story comes when I went to go pick it up. Earlier that day, I went by the Gamestop I pre-ordered at to pay the remaining amount. I saw some stereotypical nerd in a lawnchair, swilling Jolt soda, and telling everyone that went inside that Halo 2 was getting a midnight release. He also felt it prudent to mention that he had pre-ordered two copies of that limited edition, one that he could play and one that, presumably, he could **** the shrink wrap off of. That night, I arrive about a half-hour before midnight and this fuctard is blasting the Halo 1 soundtrack out of a boombox. The moment the doors open, this guy bolts inside to get his copies. In his moment of complete nerd breakdown, he comes out with his two copies, triumphantly fist pumping them in the air. Then, some dude walks up to him, punches him in the face and runs off like an Olypmic sprinter with his second copy. Moments like that remind me that I want to be socially accepted"

AntistaHungry4Love wrote...
"I remember standing in line for Street Fighter II when it came out for SNES, and this fat kid behind me (who was eating a taco 9 AM) who was clearly very sick vomited behind me on to the floor. I can still feel the coagulated cheese splashing on my calves."


Above: Imagine this, only more digested and on the back of your legs

"That was the first and only game I pre-ordered until Street Fighter IV with the Fight Sticks. I got the game but the Fight Sticks are nowhere to be found in this damn (fine) country (Canada)."

madeofspam wrote...
"The first one I remember preordering would have to be Mortal Kombat for the SNES. I think I was a freshman in high school and myself and many other of my friends were so pumped up by the Mortal Monday hype. I got the game home and forgot how boring and disappointing it is when your friends don't live close enough to play you. I still remember getting startled when I left the game on to get something to eat and I come back to see Reptile standing on the screen."

MacGyver1138 wrote...
"The first game I remember preordering was the Legen of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Up until that point, I didn't even realize that you could preorder. I had to do it with that game to get the classic gold cartridge. Luckily for me, I also got a t-shirt and a sample CD. The CD was actually pretty sweet, but I wasn't about to flaunt my nerdiness hard enough to wear that shirt in public."

IveMadeAHugeMistake wrote...
"The first and only game i ever pre-ordered was GTA IV, when the game came out i forgot i pre-ordered it & paid more for it at a different store.....awesome!"

"To quote both my name and Arrested Development, I made a huge mistake."

skyline19 wrote...
"My first pre-order is a disgrace, it was WWE RAW 2 on the original xbox, and it sucked crap. I remember lying to myself trying to convince myself it was amazing, I would rather eat my own defecation than play that game again."

TheWoolyMammoth wrote...
"First game I ever pre-ordered was Banjo-Tooie for my parents to pay for as a birthday present. I remember the game store phoning up to say there had been a mix up with the order and that I was unable to receive a copy."

"Upon my parents telling the guy on the phone it was for my birthday he apparently kept apologizing and took down our address. Later that evening a copy was hand delivered to my house... probably the weirdest experience ever for me."

CandiedJester wrote...
I've only pre-ordered two games so far. The first was mercenaries 2. Not because I HAD to have it or was super excited, but just because I kinda wanted it and I happened to be at gamestop like one day before it came out, so I pre-ordered it and had them ship it to me."

"The second was Fallout 3. That one was special. It was MY game. It was everything I could ever ask for..and more. I spent at least 8 months becoming more and more and more excited, obsessing, spending my web page design class basing all my projects on it, doodling BoS symbols in my notebooks, seeing two-headed cows in every pasture we passed in the car.. I had to have it. I pre-ordered it, special edition of course, a few months ahead. It came out on a tuesday, I think, and we had to drive an hour to go get it from the gamestop I ordered it from. I about exploded. Then I skipped school the next day so I could play it. (with my mothers approval. It was that important.) Go ahead. Call me crazy. I don't mind. Anyway, it didn't disappoint. Its still my favorite game of all time, if you can even call it a game. To me, it is much much more than just a game. I cannot express how much love I have for the world of Fallout. Two more days until Broken Steel! Woo!"

May 7, 2009

To see the rest of the stories, check outlast week's QOTW article, and for more podcast related discussion, introduce yourself in theTalkRadar forums.

New episodes of TalkRadar post every Friday afternoon, and can be found on iTunes or as features here on GamesRadar. We archive every TalkRadar episode in theTalkRadar Compendinarium.

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