User:Hardcoregamer99

Hardcoregamer99 is the screen name of a high school student in Fairbanks, Alaska who is extremely interested and involved in video gaming and the gaming community. His remarkably gaming skills have earned him many prestigious titles, including 1st place winner of over thirty local and state-wide video game competitions including games such as Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Gears of War, Starcraft, Warcraft II, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero III, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Rock Band, Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty 4. He is currently in a popular group of three other gamers who have earned many other prestigious titles in similar competitions. The group creates local competitions, machinima videos and songs.

Ironically, the four-man gamer group has partially resisted the hardcore gamer stereotype. Three members of the group are avid and successful soccer players, while the two are well-respected members of their high school football team. One of the soccer players is a wrestler, frequently ranking in the top 5 in local school competitions. All four of them take multiple advanced classes together, have an average GPA of 4.2 and all work out regularly to avoid common "Gamer Physique".

Hardcoregamer99 is the shortest of the four group members, at 5 feet, 11 inches tall. Hardcoregamer99 is Isaac Vanlen's screen name in many chatrooms and forums, however his screen name and gamertag in the XBox Live and MMORPG Community is always different.

Early Life
Born in 1992, Vanlen grew up with a fascination with practically anything related to science-fiction. Star Wars was one of his favorite movie series', and he purchased many Lego Star Wars sets as a young child.

At the age of 12, Vanlen visited Europe with a group of other students in his community. However he was armed with only four disposable cameras and many of his photos either ended up ruined because of poor camera capability. His parents remain callously uncaring of their decision to give him disposable cameras on such a major trip. In Europe however, Vanlen was able to sneak out at night and visit many of the local night clubs. He developed an interest in Dance, Disco, Trance, Rave and Techno music. Despite having a wide taste in music, Vanlen is remarkably picky about which individual songs he likes, claiming that many songs in his favorite genres are "nothing more than the results of an inexperienced and unimaginative DJ mindlessly whacking away at his controls until his bleeding ears force him to stop producing such vile abortions to the electronic music genre". Meeting a like-minded Italian women named Natali Portaceschy, Vanlen fell in love. The two were secluded and romantic for the remainder of Vanlen's stay in Europe until his departure to New Jersey in late April 2004. Keeping in touch with Natali for the next year, Vanlen developed his skills in gaming while working out with his three gamer friends.

The Car Crash
On May 12, 2005, Vanlen was hit by a car while bike-riding with his American girlfriend, Stephanie Nadasway. In a strange twist, the person operating the vehicle was his fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Montigue. While recovering, Vanlen discovered that his Italian romance had moved to Romania and was unable to continue communication. The next week, Nadasway came to his hospital bed and ended their relationship.

At his discharge from the hospital on July 26, 2005, Vanlen suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and depression for the next two years. On March 26, 2007, his 15th birthday, Vanlen's father expressed his disgust at Vanlen's behavior and lifestyle. From that moment on, Vanlen and his father grew distant, and soon his father came to hate him. The rift between the two men caused much stress at his house and Vanlen ceased from gaming for several months, dropped out of school and attempted suicide.

Family Affairs
In December 2007, Vanlen recovered from this deep depression and came to terms with his father, scorning him for being cruel and uncaring. His father, being incapable of handling emotion, was infuriated. Vanlen left the house, laughing in disgust at his fathers unprovoked and unstable condition, knowing that he could do nothing to change him.

In early 2008, Vanlen was allowed to move back into his house, where he took up gaming again with a fiery dedication. He entered competitions and tests, winning over 5,000 USD from his winnings within two months. Impressing his father, Vanlen was encouraged to continue his hobby. Currently, Vanlen and his gaming group are successfully passing school and generating an average of 600 USD a month from local competitions and team-gaming activities.

Gamertag and Gaming History
Vanlen's gamertag is Izaac7719, although as of November 2, 2008, his XBox 360 console suffered from the E71 error and displayed the Red Ring of Death. Currently, he is unable to play on XBox Live but enjoys playing the second expansion to the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King, which is produced and distributed by Blizzard Entertainment, a company that Vanlen wishes to work for in the future.

Current Life
Currently, Vanlen lives at home and plans to graduate in 2010 ranked between 25 and 40 in his class of 432 (as of current records 11/30/08). His XBox 360 is not repaired or replaced, but a new one is expected to come in, surprisingly, at Christmas.