Junior Harrison Carney‘s passion is playing video games. He’s been playing ever since he was little, and he enjoys playing now both for fun and competitively. Some of the first games he played were Crash Bandicoot, Spyro and Super Smash Bros.

Q: Why did you start video gaming?

A: I started ever since I was a little kid. I definitely consider myself a gamer, just not pro. I always thought they were a lot of fun, and it’s a good way to kill time. I’ve always been pretty competitive, and I liked the competitive side of gaming.

Q: Do you play games alone or with others?

A: I like to play online; I definitely play socially, but I like to play by myself also. Online is definitely more social, and it’s more competitive or it’s more of hanging out with your friends virtually, but alone is just kind of downtime.

Q: Are video games an important part of your life?

A: I’d definitely say yes, just because I use it a lot to pass the time and it’s something I do with my friends. It’s something I enjoy to do, [and] if it’s something I enjoy to do, might as well do it. It depends how much school work I have, but I’d say over the summer or when I’m able to play a lot, I spend a couple hours a day playing video games.

Q: What’s your favorite game?

A: My favorite game ever is either Call of Duty or College Football NCAA 12, because I love sports and I love college football, so that was something I could relate to competitively and kind of be a part of college football. I enjoy the competitiveness [of Call of Duty], the aspect of achievement and getting better and just playing with friends and having fun, because to me being competitive is fun, so that’s why I enjoy playing those types of games.

Q: What is your proudest video game moment?

A: I was at one point nationally ranked in NCAA 12 — I was third for nine hours. Over winter break they had this huge competition and I barely ate or slept for nine hours, then as soon as I stopped playing I shot way down. [Also] qualifying for the MLG tournament in California for a game called Star Hawk, [although] it was in California and it’s not ideal to go to a different state to play video games [so I didn’t go].

Q: In what other ways have video games impacted your life?

A: They’re just something I spend my time doing. I think it’s cool to be someone else for a little bit and do something you wouldn’t normally do on a regular basis, and enjoying the social and competitive aspect of it as well as the creativity and imaginative part. I go to a lot of midnight releases at Game Stop at town center for most games. It’s really fun because you hang out with other gamers in the community and talk about games and upcoming events, so that’s a cool thing socially that I do with video games.