shawn erickson

Shawn began playing video games on a Magnavox Odyssey2 at age 5. At age 7, the Odyssey2 was upgraded with The Voice speech synthesis unit, and later a Quest for the Rings keyboard overlay. At age 9, Shawn was introduced to the Nintendo Entertainment System. Excessive gaming and reading about gaming led to an interest in game design. Around the age of 12, Shawn was advised by friend Sam Woodhams that video games could be created on a home computer. Within months, but not because of video games, Shawn?s mother bought a Tandy 1000 from the college at which she taught. Shawn learned the DOS programming language in his time between gaming, and soon began to lay out a sequel to Nintendo?s Metroid with friend Matt Thompson. Within months, the duo began production of Metroid 2 by composing simple tunes programmed in DOS, but quickly gave up after reading about just what it takes to create an 8-bit video game. With the added free time, Shawn was able to commit even more time and focus to gaming.

When the Super Nintendo Entertainment System was introduced in 1991, Shawn and his brother were told that ?we don?t need another game system in the house? by their parents. To their utter shock and amazement, an SNES awaited the brothers on Christmas morning. The following Christmas, Shawn and his brother began a tradition of buying games for each other, then opening and playing the games before Christmas, then re-wrapping for Christmas morning. This marked the beginning of the Erickson Brothers? Golden Age of Gaming.

Shawn had been working part-time jobs since the age of 13 to fund much of his gaming, and was able to buy a Playstation at age 18 when it was released. Several upgrades took place after his post-graduation trip to the Bahamas, including the Playstation mouse; arcade joypad, Ernie Ball sticker, and newly available Dolby 5.1 surround system. Though working steadily at the time, Shawn had to wait for over a year before he could afford to buy the Playstation 2 when it was released in 2000.

Shawn gamed well into the mid-2000?s, but eventually his interest in cutting-edge technology was exhausted, and he returned to the emulated classic gaming of MAME32, NES, and SNES. This marks the beginning of his Minimalist period. Systems owned: three Magnavox Odyssey 2 systems (plus Voice box), an Atari 2600, two NES front-loading consoles, one NES top-loading console, an SNES, a Sega Genesis, an N64, a PS1 and PS2. Emulated systems include most major game consoles up to PS1, plus over 500 arcade ROMS available in one way or another.

Shawn is currently finishing his degree in Graphic Design so he can buy an Xbox 360 and an HDTV, then move into a big house with lots of stuff. Thus will begin his Maximumist phase. Until then, he wants to devote as much time as possible to Kid Id Records and new adventures in sound and art.