• Posted January 7th, 2013 at 08:54 EDT by Dane Smith
• 0 Comments

Welcome to the Lasombra Files, PSU’s weekly hit program. Follow the story of Lasombra and V as they try to stay alive in Shadow City, unraveling its secrets, while at the same time shining the spotlight on Trophy hunters around the world and in our community.



I come to in a hospital room whiter than a virginal bride dress on a wedding day, with a raging headache as if someone cracked my skull open with a lead pipe. In the corner of the room is the police woman from the bar, looking angry and like she was going to go old-school interrogation on me. She notices I am awake and tosses a folder in my face, not caring that I’m wounded and in a hospital in Episode 13: Two Files, One Folder. Opening the folder I see a picture that makes me laugh. “Good joke, Lieutenant, Captain, uh whatever rank you are. Your tech guys are good. Except for the dye job, why would you have a picture of me kicking myself in the face?” She didn’t get the joke or was not amused, as I look over the picture again and see it was the warehouse I was being held prisoner.

Name: Jake Carter
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Occupation: Military
Country: USA

Disclaimer: This interview is reproduced as written by the interviewee. Pictures copyright of their artist/photographer/owner.

Lasombra: When did you start gaming?

PaperKup: When I was a wee lad. I started with the Atari 2600 when I was about 4 then the NES. God bless Nintendo.


Lasombra: How did you choose your PSN name?

PaperKup: I really just used my last name but changed a few letters. Kind of simple.


Lasombra: What motivated you to become a Trophy hunter? What was your initial spark?

PaperKup: Initially I had no idea what they were at first but when I was going for the Burnout Paradise plat, one Trophy was killing me. So I went searching for anything that would help me. PS3trophies.com is what grew my motivation to go after more.


Lasombra: Are you a Trophy hunter, platinum hunter, or a specific hunter? (Example: All GoW game hunter)

PaperKup: I think I'm partially all 3. When the GOW Origin Collection came out, I had to finish those up as I had all 3 from before and the same with Dark Souls. I had Demon's Souls finished so naturally I had to complete Dark Souls. I love getting Trophies. Platinums are awesome but getting a whole series complete makes it worthwhile.


Lasombra: How many hours do you dedicate to Trophy hunting?

PaperKup: Well, being a dad of two, I am limited on my gaming. I usually will put about an hour or two before I go to work in the morning and probably a few hours on the weekends.


Lasombra: What motivates you to go for that next Trophy? How do you stay motivated after a long gaming session, particularly with grinding Trophies?

PaperKup: The people on PS3trophies.com generally motivate me especially Compalicious and Broken. Also, I hate to be one or two Trophies away from a plat and just sitting there like MW3. It is so close I just need a little motivation on that one.


Lasombra: Have you ever gone through any burnout from your sessions?

PaperKup: Daily, especially if I'm stuck on a Trophy or in-game somewhere. But I just either pop in a new game or take a break.


Lasombra: What is your proudest platinum? Why? Was it your hardest?

PaperKup: My proudest has to be the triple Demons Souls plats. But I couldn't have done it without the help of Hitman, Nero and DJ(helyx). And by hardest, the first time around it was, but by second and third plat it's a lot easier.


Lasombra: Do you have a Trophy goal for the year? If so, how far are you along in it?

PaperKup: I believe I had my sights set on 3500 total Trophies and I'm making a pretty good dent in it. I know I was aiming for 40 plats and I will soon have it with Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4.


Lasombra: Do you believe gamers should be allowed to make Trophy hunting teams? Why or why not?

PaperKup: As far as boosting goes, knock your socks off. But when it comes down to Trophy sharing or hacking, then it becomes a problem. I work hard for my platinums, and when I come to see that some jackass has hacked it, I feel like my plat isn't worth anything.


Lasombra: Do you think Sony should create a world database with every user’s PSN Trophy info for all to see? Why or why not?

PaperKup: Well, we have sites out there that kind of do that with Trophy cards. You simply can load up your own Trophies onto the card and voila, instant access. So there really would be no difference if Sony does something similar.


Lasombra: What tips do you have for someone trying to reach the next level and going after a difficult platinum?

PaperKup: Play easy platinum games if you want to jump up quick with platinums and your Trophy count. If you're not into being the Trophy whorish type, using the guides on here are next to the best thing you can do if you are stuck with that POS Trophy you've been working on for days.


Lasombra: Regardless of the system, what pre-Trophy game would you auto-buy if it was released on the PS3 with Trophy support?

PaperKup: Fatal Frame on PS2 and XBOX without a doubt. This game had the scare factor to scare anyone. I love this game from the moment I laid hands on it.


Lasombra: Are there a lot of gamers in the military? How do they get to game while on a deployment in the country or overseas?

PaperKup: There are a ton of gamers in the military, especially the younger soldiers that come in. It is a past time that we soldiers have to keep our sanity when we get deployed. As far as how they get to game while on deployment or overseas, we still have a mini store that still sells us merchandise that we are able to buy in order to game. It helps kill the time and keeps our sanity in check.


Lasombra: Being a parent, and also in the military, what's your view on the violence in gaming debate? For example, do you think games should be controlled like pornography, tobacco, and alcohol?

PaperKup: I think its hogwash. Violence in gaming doesn't fuel the hatred toward other people. It doesn't make people kill other people. People do that. Controlling gaming will be the stupidest thing to ever be done. It will just be one more thing that the government controls. Gaming should be left alone to the consumers.


Lasombra: What do you think of FPS's like Call of Duty? Do they accurately represent the military, or is it all fantasy and made up from the imagination of the creators?

PaperKup: I love most of the FPSs out there. Call of Duty is one of my favorites. Great story, great visuals and just an overall great franchise. Do they accurately represent the military? To an extent, yes. To the weapons, vehicles locations, they couldn't be more accurate. As for the stories go, I think they are a little farfetched. Just comes from the imagination of the creators. There are only a few games out there like, Medal of Honor and Battlefield 3 that came really close.


Lasombra: Why did you triple plat Demon's Souls? What motivated you to get Trophies for a game you beat so many times, and already had?

PaperKup: I get that question a lot, and I bet a lot of other people like Nero, Hitman, Helyx and Linux, get the same question asked also. I got the triple plat cause I loved the game enough to get all three regions. Yes, Trophies did influence it a bit, but I truly loved playing the game enough to play it three times. Also, having guys like this that I posted above to help motivate getting through all three times, really helped out a lot.


Lasombra: Having platted the same game from different regions, what do you think of people's opinion that it's just as whorish as playing Hannah Montana, and your exploiting a Trophy loophole?

PaperKup: Ahhh, "Trophy whore." What a stupid thing that came about. Whatever happened to playing the game just to play it? Maybe people love Trophies enough that they will play anything. Who knows, the people that have the Hannah Montana plat maybe have a young daughter that likes to play it? I know I have some plats on my profile that my daughter loved to play and helped me out. So for people that use that term, use it loosely. There maybe people out there that just overall love to play all games that come out. Exploiting a Trophy loophole, maybe, but that is just how the devs released the game with three Trophy lists. But whatever, I play what I want to play. If people have a problem and want to label me a Trophy whore, then so be it. I AM A GAMER!!


“So you are telling me I have a twin, and not only that but one that wants to kill me? Oh, wait, let me go and get my complete edition of the Twilight Zone while we have this conversation to make it have even a modicum of sense” Still not amused she takes the folder from me and flips through it before handing me a piece of paper marked classified and titled ‘Omni Project’. Reading it was like reading a bad science fiction novel, detailing alternate worlds. But it still didn’t explain why we were being targeted in Episode 14: The AV Club. “My alternate world twin is looking to kill me. What is this? The One? If we all die then he’ll become omnipotent? Where is Jet Li when you need him?”

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