PC & Gaming

Born at the end of 2000, I was gaming before I really knew what I was doing. Grew up with cousins who were just a few years older and already deep into handhelds and consoles — so I got pulled in early. First device was a Game Boy Advance SP (Pokémon Sapphire, a bunch of others), then a GameCube, then an Xbox 360 for Halo 3, Halo Reach, Call of Duty, and Skate. Eventually made the jump to PC — started with Minecraft, ended up in Counter-Strike.

That curiosity about the hardware side kicked in around the same time. I took apart an Xbox controller in elementary school, painted it galaxy blue, and put it back together just to see if I could. That same instinct led me to building my own PC — where I really learned how to put a system together properly and fell in love with the process.

On the competitive side, I played CS:GO seriously enough to enter a 32-team Netgear LAN tournament at AFK Gamer Lounge. Multi-day event — long sessions, hours past midnight. We made it to playoffs before getting eliminated. The opponents included semi-pros. I was 17. In the LAN center photo below, I'm the one in the tie-dye shirt with the water bottle. Didn't embarrass myself — which at that level, I'll take.

These days I game casually — simulation, the occasional multiplayer session when my friends and I can all hop on at the same time. I still keep up with the market: hardware releases, what's worth buying, what's just hype.