How A Used Sega Genesis Changed Tamoor Hussain's Life

Tamoor Hussain Spot On video

Tamoor Hussain might be known today as the managing editor of GameSpot and the creative director of GiantBomb, but life didn’t start out easy. He grew up in government-subsidized housing in the UK, surrounded by danger, but found an escape in video games that changed the trajectory of his life forever.

Growing up on the council estates of the UK, Hussain didn’t have access to video games as a kid, but fell in love with games the moment he got the chance to see them at his cousins’ house. He didn’t even get to play his cousins’ games, but he was enamored nonetheless.

“I remember thinking, ‘This is unbelievable. I cannot believe what I'm seeing,’” he says, “I couldn't understand it. It was like so weird. I was like, ‘You're controlling what's going on on the TV. That's insane to me.’ I desperately wanted to play it, but my cousins were like, ‘I get to play for two hours a day – you must be mad if you think we’ll let you play for us.’”

His love of video games was a bit of escapism from what Hussain calls a “weird” upbringing. On the streets outside his council estate, it was never an easy time. Going outside was a dangerous affair, with a “90% chance that some lads would beat the s**t out of you for no reason.”

“I was scared most of the time. That’s where my love of video games came from – it was escapism. As a kid without the agency to walk around on my own, I’d immerse myself in games.”

When fighting games started to hit home consoles, his cousins eased up a bit. They needed a punching bag, and Hussain was the victim they were looking for. While most of his time playing was spent taking punches more than dishing them out, he fell in love with gaming nonetheless.

Hussain’s dad managed to get him a used Sega Genesis, and suddenly everything opened up for him. Sure, fighting games were still everything he lived for – Street Fighter 2 in particular captured his attention more than anything – but a friendship with the owner of an independent used games store meant that every now and then, he was able to get his hands on something different.

“Streets of Rage was a massive one for me,” Hussain explains, “And then Columns. So much Columns. People talk about having the Tetris bleeding effect, where when they close their eyes, they can still see [the blocks]. For me that happened with Columns. I think that's where a lot of my broad love of video games came from because I just had to play whatever I got.”

But while his confidence in gaming grew, and his library of games grew alongside it, his confidence in the real world didn’t quite reflect it. Hussain says that his teachers were constantly tell his parents that he never talked, and even today, his introverted nature means that a lot of what he does – networking at events, interviewing, presenting at the BAFTAs – is exhausting.

He eventually discovered that video games were a good ice breaker, opening up conversations with people he otherwise wouldn’t have a way to talk to. The ease with which he could talk about games very quickly turned into writing about games, too, and getting those thoughts out on the internet after leaving home was a form of much-needed therapy.

“I was severely depressed,” Hussain says, “Depression in the South Asian community is extremely taboo. South Asians have a very, very bad relationship with mental health. I think back on people that I knew when I was younger – adults in our community – and with hindsight, I can tell, like, that person was depressed. We just didn't talk about it.

“It manifested in so many different ways. I was massively overweight and slept all day. It was the typical depressive spiral but it was just treated as me being an unruly teenager. I was just in my own space and quite removed from the world. It was seen as laziness. It was seen as me sabotaging my own life. Somehow I got A-levels in Psychology, Law, and English Language. It was such a struggle.”

Hussain studied Law in college, determined to become the breadwinner for his family, but despite earning his law degree, the allure of games just couldn’t be ignored. With the release of Metal Gear Solid, Hussain started writing more and more about games on his personal blog, publicly documenting his discovery of what games could be.

He landed an unpaid internship at GameSpot because of his unadulterated passion, and subsequently landed a job at the now-defunct CVG — Computer + Video Games. Eventually CVG shut down, and Hussain spent a bit of time working on the London Underground. It wasn’t a great time, but it paid well, and he could keep a roof over his head and food on his table. It couldn’t last forever, though, and his passion for video games was always calling.

Eventually, Hussain realized that there was no future in the London Underground, and no point living a life where he wasn’t happy. He wanted a future where he could be himself, do what he loved, and make a difference in the world.

“I remember walking around to every person that I worked with at the London Underground and asking them the same question: how much of a pay cut would you take if it meant that every day you woke up and you looked forward to work? Some people were like, ‘20 grand, 10 grand,’ and that is when I realized there's no future in this for me.”

And look at Tamoor Hussain now. He’s not just the managing editor of GameSpot in the site’s San Francisco office — he’s supporting new talent, making waves in the industry to make the world a better place. He’s hosted charity streams, used his platform to raise awareness for global injustice, and turned his passion for video games into something that helps, informs, and delights countless people, day in and day out.