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Man behind well-known video games accused of sending sex toys to NC teen
Linkedin - Twitter - TumblrA well-known man in the video game world is now in jail in Iredell County.
Nicholas Dean Des Barres, from Los Angeles, is charged with sending inappropriate messages to a local teenager. Des Barres has more than 25 years of experience in the gaming industry.
The teen victim’s father spoke to Channel 9′s Dave Faherty, saying the way he found out about it was when his son received an Amazon package with sex toys in it.
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Des Barres is charged with felony solicitation of a child by computer and first-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, among more than a dozen felony charges.
Family members say the 13-year-old, who Channel 9 is not identifying, met Des Barres while playing a video game online.
“I was shocked,” the teenager’s father said. “I quickly realized why they’re trying to push for people to produce identification to join social media for stuff like that.”
Court records show Des Barres encouraged the teen to take pictures and videos of himself and send them via chat.
Des Barres was a prominent video game journalist in the 1990s and early 2000s under the pen name Nick Rox.
From his LinkedIn:
Multi-talented writer, designer, background artist and Japanese to English localization expert. 27 years of game industry experience and 24 years in professional game localization. Translated Enix/tri-Ace's acclaimed 'Valkyrie Profile' before graduating high school. Spent an 8-year stint in Japan including two years at legendary developer PlatinumGames Inc., ultimately rising to the position of Lead Game Writer.
Following a relocation back to the US, launched an explosively successful grassroots campaign to bring the universally acclaimed* visual novel The House in Fata Morgana to consoles in the West. Performed key introductory functions and language interpretation for developer Novect and then-potential publisher Limited Run Games. Remade, recreated, and repainted legacy 800x600 background graphics in native 4K. Designed key motion UI graphics and game logo.
Now setting forth toward new horizons.
* As of late 2021, the Switch version of The House in Fata Morgana enjoys a Metacritic rating of 100.
Game Localization Specialist
Translated Japanese text and wrote final English dialogue for over 30 major video games, including:
• 'Valkyrie Profile' and 'Star Ocean: The Last Hope' — Square-Enix
• 'Metal Gear Solid 4', 'Suikoden II' and 'Metal Gear Solid Rising' (unreleased) — Konami
• 'Monster Hunter 3' and 'Breath of Fire III' — Capcom
• 'Tekken 6' and 'Tales of Vesperia' — Bandai Namco
• 'Inazuma Eleven' series — Nintendo/Level-5
• 'White Knight Chronicles' series — Sony Computer Entertainment/Level-5
• 'Dead Or Alive Dimensions' — Koei-Tecmo
• 'Guilty Gear' — Atlus/Arc System Works
• Unreleased Yasumi Matsuno Project — Publisher Unannounced
• 'Hatsune Miku Project Diva f' and 'Project MIRAI Remix' — Sega/Krypton Future Media
• 'Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~, ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ & ~Wintertide Miracles~ — Otomate/Aksys Games
Game Journalist
Wrote for 1UP, GameFan, GamesRadar and several other magazines and websites.
Translated 11-page 'Deadly Premonition' postmortem cover story for Game Developer magazine, working closely with game director Suehiro "SWERY" Hidetaka.
Translated feature interviews with Japanese developers for EGM magazine, including pieces on 'Metal Gear' creator Hideo Kojima and 'Mega Man' creator Keiji Inafune.
Lead Game Writer, Product Design
PlatinumGames
Translated and wrote for 'Anarchy Reigns', 'Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance', 'Bayonetta 2', and an unannounced title. Lead Writer for 'The Wonderful 101'.
Translated internal design documents, e-mails, bug reports, press interviews, and requests from Japanese sound, visual and music designers for Western and Asian outsourcing.
Subtitled approximately eleven hours of game director Hideki Kamiya's commentary for 'Bayonetta'.
Interpreted for executive staff at numerous high-level financial meetings with Western game publishers/platform holders as well as enthusiast press interviews.
Assisted recording sessions for 'Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance' and 'Anarchy Reigns' with noted voice directors Kris Zimmerman and Jack Fletcher, respectively. Responsibilities included actor direction and real time alterations to game script.
Contributed to combat design for 'Anarchy Reigns', 'Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance' and 'The Wonderful 101'. Areas included player character action design, enemy AI routines, balance, button mapping and online play/latency issues.
Co-Founder, Editor, Graphic Designer
Versus Books Inc.
Co-founded company.
Contributed to over 20 official video game strategy guides, including guides for installments in the 'Pokémon', 'Final Fantasy', 'Legend of Zelda', 'Super Mario', 'Street Fighter', and 'Resident Evil' series.
Duties included company branding, cover, back cover and interior design as well as guide authoring and translation of licensed Japanese guides.
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