Hey, what’s up? This is BreakmanX. AKA Matthew Nyquist. I was mentored in producing working for Fred Roos (The Godfather Part II, Star Wars) and sound by Dane Davis (The Matrix, Suicide Squad) after getting my MFA in film and TV production from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. I am currently in pre-production for the feature film I am directing, Eyes Open. You can see some of my film work on IMDb. I am also a tenured associate professor in film at Washburn University and the Founding Executive Director of The WIFI Film Festival. I love playing guitar and drums as well as writing music.
But, Video Games? That’s why youre here. That’s why I am here. I fell deeply in love Video Games sometime around 1986 when I was three, and have been obsessed ever since.
I can distinctly remember the first time I saw Super Mario Bros. A moment, for most, that would be thrown away in the vast zip file of one’s brain. That moment changed my entire life. Now, I’d seen the Atari and played it on a few occasions, but it was this game that really grabbed my attention and punched me in the face. This game was different.
I would say that it was this moment that turned me into a gamer. Before that I had simply been someone who played games on occasion. From that very moment on I constantly hunted for Video Game news and was always anticipating the next big release. Video Games pushed me forward in many ways. Both in the more traditionally thought of realms of hand-eye coordination, but they also propelled me forward intellectually. Text heavy games, like Ninja Gaiden, inspired me to learn how to read at an early age.
As I progressed through life, Video Games were always something on the forefront of my mind. I did many papers on them, including myfinal paper for undergrad at KU, and read many books on the subject. Like Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy VII really made me rethink what Ithought of video games. The story in Final Fantasy VII touched me, and my group of friends, in ways that could rival the most intense feelings I’d felt in life or through any other medium (movies, music, or books),and this feeling really made me understand that Video Games are an artform. Any art form goes through early periods of simplicity and disrespect, and Video Games are no exception. As time went on I foughtfor this notion, and gradually the rest of the world became more insway with my views.
For years the talk of violence in video games also mirrors the great art forms that are now established. Shakespeare said it best (paraphrased), artists do not create nature, they simply hold it up to a mirror for the worldto see. Art is about emotion. Art is about being human. Art is about being alive. And so are Video Games.
I see Video Games as a new art form earning mass respect, but still with a long way to go. I play Video Games for thesa me reason I listen to music or watch films; to experience the emotion that the artist designed for me. I play Video Games for their artisticvalue whether it is in the gameplay, graphics, sound, story, or all the above. Games are not something that people grow out of, games are something to be loved and cherished forever.
I have had a website related to my avatar, BreakmanX, since1996, but it wasn’t until September of 2002 that things really got intofull swing. I decided to ask one of my best friends, Richie, to do a radio show with me where we’d just talk about games. I have absolutely no idea why I decided to do so, but it sounded like a fun idea even if we didn’t think anyone would listen. We recorded a show, and were pretty proud of it, and put it on a ShoutCast stream to see if anyone would listen. To our surprise we had three listeners that week despite not having any advertising whatsoever. It took us another month to get another show going, and a week after that we decided to go live and invite my best friend since Kindergarten (Shadow) to join the party. The show quickly became one of my favorite things to do, and we gathered listeners quickly. By the end of May we had interviewed the Penny Arcade Guys, interviewed a programmer for Halo 2, making plans to go visit Microsoft and Bungie, and also making plans togo to E3 in 2004. Right after the Halo 2 interview, my long time girlfriend and I suddenly went our separate ways. I was never really the same after that, and this is what Eyes Open is based on.
We did the show weekly all the way until I moved to Los Angeles in August of 2008, but I couldn’t stay away for long. I returned in 2009 with a new site called Padinga and a ton of new excellent crew members. Working in Hollywood took most of my time, but we still made a bunch of great content here. I moved back to Kansas in 2013, and did some more shows with Q and a few fun guests, but ultimately decided to move on. The most amazing thing happened, and I suddenly and unexpectedly reconnected with the love of my life (again what Eyes Open is based on). We got married that summer, and life has been amazing ever since. Working on Eyes Open had me revisit a lot of BreakmanX.com memories, and even reconnect with some of the staff members. Some really good friends most of all. This gave me the spark to try the show again. So, here we go, in 2025 The Game Show returns.
We’ve had many former hosts, VdgmasterX, Jack Burt0n, Shadow, RurouniQ, Eric Robbins, CptCluster, JenJen and WeezerJedi, but now feature a lineup of Maul, Darria, and Hammer. I have many great memories from the show, and look forward to making many more. After all these years I still love saying, “Hey, what’s up!” Ultimately, my favorite things about BreakmanX.com are my cohosts and the community we gathered over the years. Even the lurkers… I’m really proud of the site, and I’m curious to see what happens in this current iteration.
Favorite Games:
Final Fantasy VII (and the entire series of Final Fantasy)
Most Nintendo First Party Stuff (Mario, Zelda, Metroid etc)
Radiant Silvergun
Castlevania (Moreso SOTN and before, but also the new ones to a lesser extent)
RPGs, especially Ps1-era Square games (FFTactics, Chrono Cross, etc)
Mega Man Series (Original and X up to X7 mainly, but the Z and ZX series are ok)
Panzer Dragoon (Even Orta was awesome)
Contra series (1 – 3, Shattered Soldier, and IV DS)
Eternal Darkness
Mike Tyson’s Punch Out
Virtua Tennis
Soul Calibur
Sonic 1-3, Adventure 1&2, Mania, and Shadow X
Control
Devil May Cry
Dr. Mario (wife and I play for hours every Friday)
Resident Evil series
Little Samson
A ton more…
I basically love all games of all genres, old and new. I have a setup with a NES/Famicom AV (NESRGB), SNES (Voultar 2chip mod), Genesis (3BP) (w/ CD and 32x), PC-Engine (Turbonanza) (w/ CD), Ps1 (Xstation), N64 (Voultar RGB), Sega Saturn (MODE), Dreamcast (MODE), Ps2 (OPL), Gamecube (GCLoader), Xbox (Softmod), Xbox 360, Ps3, Wii, Xbox Series X, WiiU (Softmod), Ps4, and PS5. I have some more like the Atari 2600 etc, but these are the ones I have setup into the Retrotink 4k ready to play at a moment’s notice. I love to collect consoles and games, but use flash carts a lot for ease. I really love playing on original hardware, and most of these are my childhood systems.
Its not hard to see that I am a huge geek with regard to games,but I also am a huge geek in respect to other things. I try to grow and learn all I can about everything that interests me. I’ve built PCs since 2000, and still love it. I love to play and listen to music. My favorite bands being Tool, NIN, and PerfectCircle. My favorite movies are StarWars, Jaws, American Beauty, Halloween, Collateral, JFK. Raiders of the Lost Ark, Poltergeist, Ghostbusters, and a million other movies it would take me years to list. I also love comicbooks, especially Marvel, and have collected them since around 1991 or1992. I also love to sit down and read a book about anything that interests me.
