Hiro_Protagonist

[Teeth]

Hey - you're famous!

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=58209

[Lerc]

Yeah, they should write a book about you.

[lakibuk]

Yeah, they should write a book about you.
:-) good one.

[Teeth]

Oh, he's Antagonist isn't he. My mistake.

I'll get my coat.

[Barknee Holden]

Actually, I'm pretty sure Neal Stephenson based Snow Crash on the adventures of J Allard.

[tolik]

I've also noticed it days ago and wanted to post about it, but then I saw it's PROTAGONIST, not ANTAGONIST.

[Hiro_Antagonist]

It's funny... a while back a friend of mine from MS Games told me J Allard uses HiroProtagonist as his xbox live handle.

"Hiro Protagonist" is a character from Snow Crash. J Allard just lifted it directly -- I at least had the forethought to apply a little witty twist to it. ;)

And although I didn't even think about it until later, the story of me coming up with the name is a little recursive:

I used to have a *horrible* online handle. Nobody told me that until I went to a book signing at work (MS) by, of all people, Neal Stephenson, for his then just-released book Cryptonomicon. (J Allard was probably there too, if I had to guess.) I talked to Neal for a couple of minutes, and in the process, he heard my handle and said "You really need to get a new handle." (He was right.) At some point a couple of weeks later, I needed a handle for counter-strike or something, so I sort of made up "Hiro_Antagonist" on the spot as a self-fitting homage to "Hiro Protagonist".

But it didn't consciously occur to me at the time that I was choosing a name that was an homage to a character made by the same guy that told me my old name sucked in the first place.

I think that may very well make me the ultimate fanboy. or something.

So I basically have this name all to myself, except for some guy that occassionally sets up blogs he doesn't use. I figure he'll give up someday and the name will be mine, all mine, mwuhaha.

Oh, and for what it's worth, my XBox Live account is HiroAntagonist, on those rare months I decide to pay for it...

-Hiro_Antagonist

[Dan MacDonald]

Now, you can't post that and then not state your exsisting handle, come on man... spill it! :cool: