Some Background

Hello, my name is Tom, and I’m a video gamer. I haven’t played a video game for 16 hours, only messed a bit with the new destiny 2 raid boost. I started playing games in the early 80’s on the Atari 400 (my high school bought some), and took their BASIC programming class when they first offered it. I then took over the Z80 PC my dad brought home from his office, not only playing, but also writing some games (examples: a text adventure and a breakout-style game). My dad ended up having to “reserve” computer time from me, eventually!

After various turns in my career and education, 1993 found me with my own 486 and a shareware copy of the original Doom. The immersion of that game experience inspired me to go back to school for an advanced degree, focusing on computer graphics. I’ve now been working in the Games Industry for more than a dozen years, currently for a AAA developer.

Since I work in the industry, I’m “forced” to buy and play a lot of games. My son just started playing, and my daughter is now old enough and determined enough to go for the controller whenever she sees it.