Larry Hryb
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| Larry Hryb | |
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 Larry Hryb's press shot |
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| Other names | Major Nelson |
| Occupation | Director of Programming for Xbox Live |
| Known for | Host of "Major Nelson Radio" podcast |
| Website http://www.majornelson.com/ |
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Larry Hryb (pronounced /ˈhɜrb/ "Herb"), also known by his Xbox Live gamertag Major Nelson, is the Director of Programming for the Microsoft gaming network Xbox Live. His blog "Xbox Live's Major Nelson" provides an "inside" look at operations at Microsoft's Xbox division. He picked the gamertag Major Nelson after a character by the same name on the 1960s U.S. television comedy I Dream of Jeannie after it was recommended to him by his TiVo.[1] Prior to taking the position at Microsoft in 2004, he was a former programmer and on air host with radio broadcaster Clear Channel Communications.[2] Hryb graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
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[edit] Podcast
Hryb is most known for his popular weekly podcast "Major Nelson Radio". Direct from inside the Microsoft Xbox team, Hryb and regular co-host Eric Neustadter (known as "e") discuss Xbox, Xbox Live, Xbox 360, gaming, technology, other next generation consoles (including the PlayStation 3, and Wii), among other subjects.[3] Hryb also frequently invites colleagues at Microsoft to participate in the show, including Laura Massey (Gamertag "lollip0p") and Stephen Toulouse ("Stepto"). His show regularly hosts interviews with people in the gaming community, and offers prizes to listeners through his "Name the Game" contest, where he plays a short audio clip from a game, and a winner is drawn from the correct entries. Additionally, regular features of the podcast include "Xbox 101", a segment devoted to various features on the Xbox 360 or Xbox Live, and the after show, an easter egg where Hryb talks about random topics. Major Nelson and e regularly joke about each other's Gamerscore and gaming habits. Xbox 101 is also a series of "Inside Xbox" videos on Xbox Live.
On November 6, 2006, he celebrated his '200th' podcast, which was marked with a nearly two and a half hour show. Hryb openly admits that he added to the show number and the figure doesn't accurately reflect the number of shows made. Hryb switched to a #1xx numbering around July 18, 2005, when he did show #136 after the previous '7/10/05 Blogcast'.[4] Major Nelson was interviewed on the Video Game Outsiders Podcast (show #50), where he said the following: "About a year and a half ago, I started numbering my shows at 100...it makes it sound cooler, bigger numbers are always better."[4] His podcast is also available on iTunes.
[edit] Other media
In addition to his podcast, Hryb hosts a weekly one-minute segment called Major's Minute. On Xbox Live or the Xbox website, Major's Minute has a recap of new content and news related to Xbox Live Marketplace. This segment is released on Thursdays.[5]
Hryb also is also a regular on a Sirius Satellite Radio program entitled Level Up designed for the casual video gamer. The show is no longer an active new segment on Sirius Satellite Radio
[edit] Personal
Hryb is married and lives in the state of Washington. He enjoys photography, the Xbox 360, the Nintendo DS, and many other gadgets. In 2006, Next Generation Magazine named Hryb one of the "Top 25 People of the Year" in video gaming.[6] Also, in 2009 he was featured on Wired.com's "100 Geeks You Should Be Following On Twitter".[7] One can follow the games he is playing on his Xbox 360 on his 360voice blog.
[edit] References
- ^ Hryb, Larry (2008-05-25). "Show #280: XNA, DRM and more". Majornelson.com. http://majornelson.com/archive/2008/05/25/show-280-xna-drm-and-more.aspx. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
- ^ Hillis, Scott (2008-01-03). ""Major Nelson" emerges as face of Xbox". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN0265215120080103?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ Podcast description on iTunes Music Store
- ^ a b Hryb, Larry (2006-11-09). "Now serving over 100,000 comments". Majornelson.com. http://majornelson.com/archive/2006/11/09/100k-comments.aspx?sidebar=1&PageIndex=5. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ "Inside Xbox - Major's Minute". Microsoft. http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/insidexbox/video/majorsminute/default.htm. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ Campbell, Colin (2006-12-13). "Next-Gen's Top 25 People of the Year". Next Generation Magazine. http://www.next-gen.biz/index2.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4395&Itemid=36&pop=1&page=0. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
- ^ Denmead, Ken (2009-05-13). "100 Geeks You Should Be Following On Twitter". Wired.com. http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/05/100-geeks-you-should-be-following-on-twitter/. Retrieved 2009-05-24.
