Perhaps you noticed that last week the Member Herding blog took a break. I carefully camouflaged my tardiness with a clever blog about the special edition of Robot In The Corner or something like that.

Anyway, this week's edition of Member Herding proves that this really is a community inspired product. I didn't really know anything about this person; and while they are an active and longtime member of the forum community, they're not really a frequent blogger.

Honestly, there was a single point that resulted in this person being selected. There was a blog posted by this person that addressed the current state of the community. The post intrigued me enough that I wanted to give this person an opportunity to be spotlighted.

So, I picked him. And "him" is none other than...

GIO Name: Iceman (DStubbs)

GIO Rank: Power Member - Level 10

Gaming Experience (Years playing): I've been playing games since I was six. First system was an NES my cousins handed down to me. Came with three games, Blades of Steel, an amazing hockey game, RC Pro Am, and the Mario Bros/Duck Hunt combo pack.

Last Game Completed: Dead Space 2

Currently Playing: Really an assortment of things. Dead Space 2 obviously. Some other games, Burnout: Paradise, Lost Planet 2, Red Dead Redemption. I'm usually always online playing with some bros I know here on GI and we just play whatever.

Origin of GIO Profile Name: DSTUBBS is a nickname that comes from my real name. My full name is Derek Stubstad. "D"erek "Stubs"tad. There ya go. I'm in that club of people who can do a cool nickname like that.

Five Randomly Generated Questions + 3 Bonus questions

1. You have, without doubt, the barest profile of anyone I have ever checked out on Game Informer (which makes asking questions somewhat challenging I might add). Give us five adjectives that describe you either in real life or your online personality. If you were to pick a video game character that represents you, who would it be?

Yeah I know my profile stinks. It's on my to do list. But yeah I've been an active user here coming up on five years. I always keep coming back because no matter the changes that have gone on here the community has always been interesting and unique. And like I've mentioned I made some really good friends here. GIO has kind of become a second home to me. If you ever played with me online I'm pretty relaxed. I always got jokes. That part of me translates over here on the site. I want to be easy to have a chat with but when it matters I try to be direct and to the point. It's all about having respect for your peers.

And if I had to pick a character to represent me, you know what, I'll pick my Mass Effect character. Stubbs Shepard, intergalactic bada**. Deal with it.

[SAINT: Hah, I didn't really say it "sucked" just that it was bare. Some people like that. I actually like looking at people's profiles. It's amazing what you can learn about a person...even when they post nothing. Stubbs Shepard, eh? Well, he was a pretty awesome dude.]

2. I have no idea how old you are or if you are even from the arcade era, but assuming you are, and you could own any coin operated cabinet style arcade game to put in your house, what game would it be?

Well as for how old I am, I turn 23 in a month.

As for what arcade machine I would choose, I'd take good ole Time Crisis. Good times had going to the arcade in the mall and playing that with friends.

[SAINT: AGREE! I actually wrote a blog about the arcade shooters. They are the best, always draw a crowd and are a ton of fun. If I didn't take one of the legendary games like Donkey Kong or Pac Man, I'd grab a shooter like Time Crisis. Good call.]

3. A popular question I'm keen on right now...as far as new releases go, is this the biggest year in video game releases? What game are you most looking forward to? What game scheduled for release this year do you think will get bumped back to 2012?

It really is shaping up to be a big year. What do you got? Gears 3, Portal 2, Skyrim, Uncharted 3, and now Battlefield 3. Not to mention we just got Dead Space 2. I can go all day running off names of blockbuster hits we'll see this year. But there is one game that stands out from the rest. L.A Noire will be my G.O.T.Y. Everything about this game has absolutely wowed me so far. We've all seen the tech demo showing off its facial animation, I've never seen anything like that. The fact one of the elements of the game is you will need to read the faces of your suspects to gather evidence is awesome. And this game has the tech that allows it. And Rockstar hasn't let me down since State of Emergency.

*shivers at the thought of that game*

I trust everything they do. Folks ask why they haven't showed any gameplay. I'm expecting it's going to be open world. Rockstar and open world. You do the math. I don't need to see any gameplay to know this will be another instant classic.

And judging what games will be pushed back is a tough call. Especially this early into 2011. I can throw some names out there but I'd rather not.

[SAINT: I've talked about L.A. Noire before. I'm still on the fence. Don't get me wrong, I think it is going to be epic. An instant hit much like RDR, but I'm not a big fan of that time frame so I don't know if I'll get it for that reason. I can't blame you for not wanting to offer up some names. Hah, we don't want to curse them before their release date. Battlefield 3, 'nuf said.]

4.  I found your blog "Who Needs Training, I was Born for This" quite entertaining; specifically the part on Isaac from Dead Space. Dead Space is a fantastic game and part of that is because Isaac is such a special character. Share your thoughts on the game - the highs and lows and why it's without doubt the greatest sci-fi horror game on the market.

I believe what makes Dead Space 2 great is it doesn't try to do too much. It's not a revolutionary game by any means. It takes a winning formula with it's over the shoulder gameplay. There's a reason some call it Resident Evil 4 in space, and masters it. Take that and add it's frightening atmosphere and intriguing story and you have yourself an amazing game. It does all the little things right as well. From how awesome Isaac's suit looks to the appearance of the necromorphs, it hits the right key every time. It seems some games try to force it when it comes to trying to do something different. That doesn't have to be the case. Take a proven formula and build around that. I wish more games would take Visceral's example. Not saying developers shouldn't venture out and try new things but if you don't have a concrete idea then don't bother.

[SAINT: Hmm. Interesting. I haven't played DS2 yet. I'm working my way through DS at the moment. I would guess they're similar. I'm going to write about it when I finish it. I know it's an older game but I don't care. There are some things I just have to say about it. It's that good.]

5. You ever see those old time photos where friends and family dress up in cowboy clothes? Now imagine if you will, you're John Marston from Red Dead Redemption. Using Game Informer Staff and/or GIO Members, assign roles for some of the other RDR's characters. (See this link for a list)

Ha it's actually funny you ask this because as you can tell some guys here and myself have done that with Top Gun. But here's who I would choose for RDR characters. There's a lot so I'll just do some of them

John Marston: Myself of course.

Leigh Johnson: Smackey

Landon Ricketts: Fever Ray

Abraham Reyes: Treestump

Luisa Fortuna: Annette

Seth: Mray901

Irish: Sean Lowrey

Nigel West Dickens: Demon Ragnarok

[SAINT: Hah Hah. Good picks. I especially like the Nigel - Demon connection. I could see that. And I did notice your Top Gun connection but was afraid to inquire. More of that intriguing nature, I'm sure.]

BONUS Questions x 3:

Born4this asks, "I see that you've played a lot of zombie games on Xbox 360. Which zombie game is your favorite and why? What are your thoughts on Undead Labs' open-world zombie-survival XBLA game? Personally, I've wanted an open-world zombie-survival game for a long time, but since this is a downloadable title and not a full retail game, I'm not feeling very optimistic this particular game will be able to scratch my itch.

Here's something you should know about me. I love zombies. Movies, games, comics, you name it. Favorite zombie game I have to go with the obvious choice and say Left 4 Dead. So many good times doing expert runs with my friends, spending hours on end playing that. As for Undead Lab's Class3 I'm stoked to see what they have. I'm not all too worried about it being an arcade download. I've heard rumors there are actually at work on a full game and this might be a trial to see how things go. That makes alot of sense. An open-world zombie game has always been a dream of mine and the fact that somebody is taking a stab at it makes me very happy. I believe Undead Labs will find success.

[SAINT: An Undead open-world zombie game...well, that sounds kind of like a variant of Fall Out, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Keep your eye out, you never know.]

Born4this asks, "Is there any particular book/comic book/movie/TV show that you'd like to see translated into a video game? If so, which one and why? For me, I'd really like to see Axe Cop become a video game. I think the Axe Cop universe is perfect for a side-scrolling beat-'em-up or open-world sandbox game. I really enjoyed the Simpson's Arcade game, and I also enjoyed the Simpson's Hit & Run on PS2. I think I'd enjoy an Axe Cop game in these genres even more (though the Simpson's Arcade game is certainly a classic.) Oh, and speaking of open-world survival games... how awesome would an I am Legend or 28 Days Later game be?!?"

Maybe the one Simpson's game I ever enjoyed was Hit and Run. Good times. And ever since I've taken part in blogging here it's impossible not to have heard of Axe Cop. I've read some of the work. It's good stuff. Something I've been meaning to get around to reading more of. But my game consists of another comic. I know a couple weeks back there was the rumor of game being based of The Walking Dead that definitely got my interest. Like I said above I love my zombies and TWD is the one comic I'm absolutely hooked on. Not to mention the T.V show is fantastic. I know it seems the market is getting flooded with zombies lately but if you're like me then it's not much of a problem. I'm just really curious to see how TWD can do on video games.

[SAINT: Couldn't agree more about The Walking Dead, it's an amazing series. Perhaps the best rendition of what I imagine zombies to be like. Great series!]

Saint asks, "What's your favorite flavor of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream? And if you're feeling especially creative, if you were going to create your own video game inspired flavor, what ingredients would it contain and what would you name it?"

 If I had to pick a favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor not to long ago I had this Carmel Sutra that was pretty dang good. I'll go with that. As for a video game flavor I'll take a flavor from each of the GTA locales. Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk for Liberty City (had to look that flavor up), some ice cream from the Cherry Popper factory in Vice City, and some vanilla ice cream with a hint of weed from San Andreas. Call it Grand Theft Ice Cream I guess. Sounds delicious.

[SAINT: Okay...not quite what I was expecting, heh heh...but alas, you're the one answering the questions. I don't know that Ben and Jerry's could get that approved by the legal department.]

A special thanks to Iceman (DStubbs) for spending some time with us while divulging a few details about his gaming personality. To read more about Iceman (DStubbs), view his GIO profile here.