MY EARLIEST GAMING MEMORIES ARE OF playing Mario on the Nintendo Game Boy. It was a big thing at school, and then after that came Pokémon. My mom even has a picture of me playing the Game Boy while on the potty.
I don't know how I got the Game Boy. I think everybody was riding the same wave and it was the new fad, but my parents weren't really gamers. They are into sports and traditional games, such as badminton, volleyball and cards.
I love gaming but I also like sports and I can see a natural correlation between the two. They're both about competing and reaching your potential, and breaking down how the game could and should be played to maximum effect.
The gaming was just a generational thing, I guess. All my friends at school were playing console games together, like connecting our Game Boys together to play Pokémon. And we advanced through games together, going to each other's homes to play each other's consoles, working together to defeat difficult puzzles, and so on.
In my early gaming years, there was some concern from my parents about how much I was playing. It could get a bit extreme where I would cut into my sleeping hours and I even developed facial tics, which often happens to people who play too much.
They were asking the stereotypical questions of kids who love to game a lot. What will my future look like? Who will I turn into? Will I be able to take care of myself? And can this really be a career? But my parents were always very supportive. There was never any crazy resistance to my gaming.
Then, when I got my first paycheck from gaming, even though I was very young and it was minuscule, it helped to calm their concerns. They felt this would all work out for me one way or another. I started to realize this could be a career for me in the very first game I played seriously, Heroes of Newerth. There were some tournaments where we were able to win a few thousand euros.
This story is from the November 22, 2024 edition of Newsweek US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 22, 2024 edition of Newsweek US.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Mystery of Ginger Cat Is out of the Bag
The genetics behind the vibrant orange color in feline coats is finally confirmed after 112 years
Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie
PARIS HILTON AND NICOLE RICHIE ARE READY TO BRING A LITTLE “SANASA” to the world with Peacock's Paris & Nicole: The Encore, their first project together since their reality show The Simple Life ended in 2007. What's “sanasa”? It's a song and phrase the longtime friends created as kids and popularized on The Simple Life. The show, a cultural phenomenon in the early days of reality TV, followed them over a series of blue-collar jobs. Now they're bringing it back as an opera. “I know this is just going to make people laugh, have fun, be nostalgic and just celebrate our friendship,” Hilton said. While Richie acknowledged “you can't do Simple Life again,” she said now “felt like the right time.” The famous pair also revisit some old jobs in Arkansas, like fast-food chain Sonic, where they now have drinks named for them. “I think that there is a part of our friend- ship that the show ended up showing that people connect to,” Richie said. As for this new special, Hilton is glad to do something positive for their fans. “It's been such a crazy past couple years, and I just feel like the world needs more joy.”
What Next for Your Drugstore?
Walgreens and Amazon are placing opposing bets on the future of retail pharmacy
AMERICA'S GREATEST WORKPLACES for Diversity
AS COMPANIES IN THE UNITED STATES CONTINUE TO navigate the evolving dynamics of the workplace, diversity remains a cornerstone of organizational success and social responsibility.
FIGHTING SPIRITS
ANDREA MCCARTHY TOLD FRIENDS and family when she gave up alcohol on January 1, 2024, that she would toast 12 months off the sauce with a drink to ring in 2025. As that anniversary approached, the Los Angeles-born content creator told Newsweek she had had a change of heart.
Lessons Over Lunch
Ninety-year-old volunteer Hugh showed me how the winter years can be full of purpose
Is California's Green Dream Hot Air?
The state aims to rely on zero-carbon energy sources in two decades' time but has hurdles to overcome along the way
Power Struggle
As the dust settles following the toppling of Bashar al-Assad, new front lines could be drawn in Syria's old civil war
Downsizing Goes Bust for Boomers
Rising property costs are not just affecting young Americans—older people are ‘aging in place’ due to a dearth of affordable accessible housing
Ray Romano
\"I read about three scripts, and at the end of each there was a little twist, a little turn, [and] it was funny.\"
