We interview Pro-Gamer and Razer employee Nicholas DePalmer.

Not everyone's cut out for pro-gaming. It takes hard work, determination, lots of practice and some very steady hands. We spoke to Nicholas DePalmer, known for many a game including Fifa, Counter-Strike, Halo 3 and more. He now works at Razer, giving them a good helping hand to make some awesome peripherals, and we speak to him about, well, just about everything.

GWN: To get our readers better acquainted with you, can you give us a brief description about yourself?

N.D: Every kid grows with dreams, imaginings of what they want to become when they are older; whether they stay focused enough to live their dream or not is in their own hands. While overcoming my life’s obstacles I fought for my vision, to make a career out of one of two things that were the biggest positive influences in my life: video games and sports. Throughout high school and college I balanced the two until I found an opportunity to take one to the next level; the next level for me was gaming, more specifically the Championship Gaming Series. 

Not all fairytale endings are handed to us, in fact, mine was a struggle – I came from a rough neighborhood with a single mom, a family lacking college graduates, a lot of health issues and much more. I put myself through college and like anyone else, I have a lot of bills, ate only ramen noodles, and neglected friendships. I chose to put all my efforts into gaming and it paid off; I graduated with a Bachelor of Science all while being signed by contract to the inaugural Championship Gaming Series season. With my franchise, Carolina Core, I finished second in North America followed by another second place finish in the World Finals earning, with my team, over $200,000. Now, I am working at Razer and continuing my pro-gaming career on the side.

GWN: We’re going to start off with some general questions, since you have a lot of experience in gaming. What are your favorite gaming websites (no we won’t be upset if you don’t mention us)?

N.D: I mostly visit professional gaming websites that report to communities with the latest news and updates on teams and scores such as Gotfrag and Gameriot. League websites I visit regularly are the Championship Gaming Series, MLG, Electronic Sports League and World Cyber Games.

GWN: What games do you like to play for fun? 

N.D: I enjoy playing the FIFA Soccer series, Counter-Strike 1.6 and Source, Call of Duty4, Starcraft/Broodwar, Team Fortress2, Guitar Hero3 and a few others.