Written by Evan McCaffrey  on April 08, 2010

Interview: This is not a test.

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Gaming Target: When did you find out you were going to be on the show, and how did they reveal to you that you were a finalist?

Doc: First they called me, and was like "We would like you to come to Hollywood and meet the producers. We're putting together a show, and we're going to pick from the people we just picked who's going to be on the show." And I was just like "Oh awesome!" I was raised in southern California, so if anything I just got to go home for a while. So I was like, it's a win-win situation. So I went down there, went through multiple interviews. It was a very segregated process, because they didn't want you talking to other people who could be potential contestants. Only at the end, when you were taken two by two to your final interview, were you actually going to see anybody who was actually going to get on the show. I was paired up with Barmy, who got voted out on the first show.

Gaming Target: So when you first got to the house, and got to talk and meet the players, did you size them up and try to figure out whom your biggest competition was?

Doc: At first, you're taken back by the loft itself, it just had everything, it was like a gamers' paradise. But I made friends with Cyrus right off the bat; we have played all sorts of ridiculous studio games that people had never heard of. I knew exactly who Star was right off the bat. I could tell by the way other people were interacting; they had zero idea who she was. And Barmy, his body mechanics and the way he carries himself, he was outside the group, orbiting, looking in. The fact that he was doing that, I knew there was something more to that guy than he was telling.

Gaming Target: How did you know Star was a ranked player for Guitar Hero? Did you research any of the contestants before you came on the show?

Doc: Well I had watched the other gaming show she was on, and I had seen some videos online. Then when I heard there was going to be a world ranked female Guitar Hero player, I was like "I'm so ready to challenge this person." I was thinking, 'this can't be the same person. The second we got to the loft, I was like "I SO KNOW THIS PERSON!"

Gaming Target: Did you get a chance to play her in Guitar Hero?

Doc: Nope, No I did not. I've seen her videos online, she's got some mad skills.



Gaming Target: When you were playing this game, you and Cyrus and some others tried to make some sort of alliance. Do you think that in this game, for this kind of show, that helped or hurt you at all?

I don't think it helped or hurt us, because we knew we weren't going to be voting each other off. But there were still a lot of unknowns about the show. We didn't know whom the panels were, how the elimination was going to go down. And the alliance was basically trying to find a group within the group to help carry us within the competition. It always helps to know someone has got your back when something is going on. That was the point of it, was to have someone to lean on and carry you through.

Gaming Target: Well, when you were eliminated, your teammates were obviously pulling for you. They were trying to get Star out of there and keep you. Do you think that Star should have been voted out instead of you?

Doc: Oh absolutely, dude! Star has been in the bottom few multiple times. That's not something you can deny. All you have to do is press rewind. In had literally bottomed out my first time on that. When you land on the bottom so many times, you just have to go.

Gaming Target: You had mentioned (on the show) that you felt the judges were targeting you for elimination. Do you still think that's what went on?

Doc: I can't speculate on what the judges were thinking. But the only thing I can say, from my limited point of view, is HELL YEAH! I think they wanted everyone to come at it with this intense seriousness. There were people that were really, really overly intense about it. But I come from a line of work where we eat intensity for breakfast. But this is just gaming. It is the equivalent of sitting down and doing a four-way game, with a bunch of my buddies in my living room, making jokes about your momma, which every gamer does. So to me it wasn't a big deal, a joke here and there is what happens when you're gaming. The judges had a completely different view on it.

Gaming Target: So you were saying you had a girlfriend. Did you have a girlfriend on the show?

Doc: Yes, I had a girlfriend on the show.

Gaming Target: Because you seemed pretty upset when Luge left. What were your thoughts when she got sent home?

Doc: That was single-handedly the worst choice on the show, even above keeping Star as long as they did.

Gaming Target: They edited it in a way in which it seemed you guys had a little crush on each other.

Doc: Yeah, I mean we became really close. She had a boyfriend, I had a girlfriend. But it wasn't like that. We just became really close good friends. I came to respect her as a person and as a gamer. That's why I was really pissed when she left the show. At one point I even asked to be traded out, I said СIf I leave will you bring her back?' They said no.

Gaming Target: Really? Wow, that would have made good TV, they should have kept that in. Would you like to explain you concoction, Beerios?

Doc: (Laughs) Beerios? Oh my god. There isn't a day that goes by I don't hear about Beerios. Beerios for me, when I first heard about it, was the military. It was the way the guys would get up the morning, get something in their stomach, subside the hangover a little but, drain a little nasal dilation, and get some nutrients in their system, so they ate Beerios.

Gaming Target: Did it catch on; did anybody else partake in your breakfast feast?

Doc: Yes they did. That was deleted by the editing. It seems I rolled straight out of bed and right to beer. There was a time difference there. The loser of the next competition was going to have to eat something; Will and I were sitting on the couch and we're like, "Dude, Beerios." People were like, "What's Beerios?" And I was like "Let me demonstrate." And they were like "Heck yeah! The loser is going to eat that." Well as you know, it was the communication challenge. When we got back, Goof, ate beerios with goldfish, M&M's, rice crispy treat, and a hot pocket. And Nauseous came over, took a bite and almost puked! (Laughs) So Nauseous and Goof, unknown to most of the world, have partaken in beerios.

Gaming Target: So you were on PlayStation Home recently. What did most people want to know about?

Doc: About Luge. At first it was like Beerios, and then it was like Luge.

Gaming Target: Do you guys still keep in touch?

Doc: Oh yeah, she beefs on people in Modern Warfare 2. She cannot be held down. I get on there at least once a week with her, then I'll slide over to MAG with Amped and Cyrus.

Gaming Target: So what games are you playing now, outside of Modern Warfare 2, and MAG?

Doc: Dante's Inferno and Heavy Rain. Dante's Inferno because I'm a big God of War fan.

Gaming Target: So have you played God of War III yet?

Doc: I'm not going to lie, I got God of War III the first night, had the Pandora edition. Came home, played through the first stage. Went to bed, got up, went to work, came home and played Modern Warfare.

Gaming Target: Oh man, so you haven't beat it yet?

Doc: No, and Nauseous is on me all the time.

Gaming Target: So you're doing this backwards, most people played Dante's Inferno to get a taste before God of War 3. You got a taste of God of War 3 then went to Dante's Inferno.

Doc: Yeah (Laughs)

Gaming Target: I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule.

Doc: I appreciate you man.

The season finale of "The Tester" will be available to download from the PlayStation Store starting today.