This post is part of the "Inside PlayStation Universe" series. You can view Steven Willliamson’s earlier contribution here. If you feel like reading about Steven Chaffin, there’s that too. He’s cool, we guess.
Today we’re looking at Kyle Prahl, a University of Minnesota student who probably spends more time writing and editing for PSU than studying. It’s OK–college is easy! Inspired by all the love and camaraderie in PSU’s own community forums, Kyle joined the site shortly after E3 2012. He doesn’t own a car. He wishes there was a sushi restaurant closer to his apartment. What else do you want to know?
Name: Kyle Prahl
Title: U.S. Managing Editor
What games have you been playing this week?
This past week has been all about playing and reviewing Saints Row IV. I can’t say too much about the game–stay tuned for our review on August 14–except to say that, if you love Saints Row: The Third, or inFAMOUS, or Prototype, or having fun, or Mass Effect (huh?), you should probably buy this game.
Of course, I’ve been making great use of my Vita all summer, and especially this week. You see, on commutes to and from my summer internship at a PR agency, I’ve been burning through Hotline Miami, Pixeljunk Monsters, Velocity Ultra, and even PSone Classics like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. This week, and for the foreseeable future, it’s all about Final Fantasy VI. As a self-described JRPG fan, I regret to admit that I haven’t found time to finish a lot of the legendary classics in the genre. I’m serious about fully experiencing the best of the best (including FF VI and Chrono Trigger), so my Vita will get plenty of use even before Remote Play on PS4 comes along.
What news story caught your eye on PSU in the last seven days?
In a week that wasn’t exactly rife with compelling news, I was excited to see another trailer for Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX. I’m so utterly ecstatic about that game’s release that I don’t care if each trailer is just old footage from a game I’ve played literally dozens of times already. In my mind, the fact that Disney (and yeah, these are DEFINITELY Disney trailers, not Square Enix trailers) is willing to pump out such rehashed promotional material means they have more confidence/interest in the Kingdom Hearts franchise moving forward than I thought. This is no doubt due to Kingdom Hearts III’s development and the conversations that must be taking place around it. Kingdom Hearts II was something of a merchandise sleeper hit for both companies, and I’d bet Disney is hedging its bets for a major Kingdom Hearts marketing push in the next two or three years, starting today with HD 1.5 ReMIX.
What do you do when you’re not editing for PSU?
During the summer, I work as an account assistant for a big public relations agency here in the Twin Cities. It’s a blast–I’ve met cool people, worked on really cool accounts, and enjoyed lots of free food and snacks (it’s not hard to please me). That keeps me extremely busy, so I don’t have as much time for writing and editing in the summer as I do during, say, the school year (which starts in three weeks!). I can’t wait for September–the game releases are going to come hard and fast every week until PS4 launches on [REDACTED].
Fun story: I bought Animal Crossing: New Leaf because I wanted to start putting more time into my long-dormant 3DS (which I bought exclusively for Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance). My girlfriend started playing it first, and with Animal Crossing, that means I’m screwed–can’t make a new town with completely erasing the game data! Or buying another SD card, which I did, so now I’m just waiting for the game to release its hooks on her life and soul.
C’est la vie.