The Man Behind The Legend

The one time I got to meet Mario
and he was a stack of Goombas!

Behind every great legend there is a man. Well, I guess that's not technically correct. There are probably great legends with women. Regardless, this legend has a man. I am that man. Fuzunga.

Fuzunga is the alias of Stephen De Carlo, the most awesome guy in the universe. And I didn't make that up. It's an actual quote from a reliable and legitimate source. Graduating with a very useful degree of fiction writing with minors in sociology and classics, Fuzunga has become a writer of many styles including the aforementioned fiction and "game journalism". He's run the blog Installation 04 since (coincidently) '04, where he writes about his interests in video games, animation, and other nerd junk. Fuzunga's dreams include being the very best like no one ever was, designing video games, and creating animated programs. For some reason, he has lived his whole life in Florida.

In 2010 he founded The Players Republic, which would later become Twinfinite. He left Twinfinite to focus on said collage degree, but the website he started has become pretty dang successful, with millions of hits a month. Why did he never go back? Because he's always looking towards the future.

He is easily identifiable by his long-time avatar and mascot, the fire-breathing bear, which also doubles as great product placement for Toasted Head wine where the image originated. Toasted Head is the most awesome wine ever. I don't drink wine, but if I did I would totally drink Toasted Head because it's got a fire-breathing bear on the bottle! In conclusion, buy Toasted Head.

Here's what people are saying about me:

"That Fuzunga guy owes me five bucks." ~ some guy

"Fuzzy what now?" ~ Mr. Gurple from the retirement home

"He's funny." ~ everyone

"I like turtles." ~ someone's idiot child

"Of course I've heard of Fuzunga, he's my favorite Pokemon!" ~ Bob from accounting

Yessir, I sure am a popular guy!

I'd also like to take a moment to thank all those who have helped me over the years:

DOEGAB was there before I04 was even I04. He was collaborating with me back in the GameWeb days, when it was but a printed newsletter. Doegab worked with me for ages and has been a part of every major incarnation of Installation 04. We frequently bounced ideas off each other. He now lives in Kentucky.

RAIDERBEAR is one of of my oldest friends and a frequent collaborator. The two of us founded The Players Republic together in 2010. He's a longtime Dragon Ball fanatic and all around great guy. I made a bad choice that really hurt him but luckily we're still friends. I miss working with you, buddy!

MONKEYLORD is a gamer and a movie buff who enjoys classic rock. He started at I04 near the end of the first era, right before the Great Temporary Shutdown. He's a big fan of Halo, Fallout, and most other games where you shoot stuff.

BATTSMAN is an excellent drummer and one funny dude. Though he doesn't write for the internet any more, he can be heard drumming it up around New England. He released an EP with his band Robbed By a Flute in December 2012. You should check it out because it's awesome!