Buying the Nintendo wasn’t the end of the story.

It was the beginning of a new obsession.

Once my brothers and I had that console, I didn’t just play video games — I studied them.

And eventually, I competed.

In 1994, Blockbuster ran the World Game Championship.

Store-level competitions were held in every Blockbuster in North America between June 14 and July 9, 1994.

This was the start of summer in Hawaii.

I was 11 years old.
My birthday was August 27, 1994 — I would turn 12 later that summer.

I had just finished sixth grade at Kamiloiki Elementary.

I was competing on the Sega Genesis.

My favorite game was Sonic the Hedgehog — speed, timing, hand-eye coordination.
In-store, I played ClayFighter.

I won.

That sent me to the state finals at Ala Moana Center Stage.

NBA Jam.

Walking backstage felt surreal.

There were sandwich platters.
Coolers full of soda.

To an 11-year-old kid, it felt like a VIP lounge.

What really hit me was the age difference.

The cutoff was 20 years old.

There were teenagers and full-grown adults backstage with me.

I didn’t know then that I’d one day be 20.

I just knew I was competing with them.

The rules were clear:

I took that seriously.

(I didn’t swear back then.
Now I swear like a sailor.)

The NBA Jam match was intense.

Neck and neck the entire game.

Final possession.
Half a second left.

I hit a slam dunk.

I’m up by two.

My opponent checks the ball.

Throws it from across the court.

A three-pointer.

Buzzer.

He wins by one point.

He had been swearing at me the entire game.
Nobody caught it.

I lost.

It was crushing.

Not just because I lost.

But because I realized something deeper.

I had reached the peak of what I thought I wanted.

I had been obsessed with video games because of the movie The Wizard.
It made competitive gaming feel like the ultimate goal.

And there I was.

At the top.

And it didn’t feel the way I expected.

I remember thinking:

I didn’t quit games forever.

A few years later, Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Transworld Surf pulled me back in.

Around the same time, I started surfing.

Before that, I didn’t even go to the beach.

We lived less than a mile from Sandy Beach, but my mom always warned us:

So I skateboarded first.

Then surfed.

Different arena.
Same obsession.

Here’s what I only realized years later.

Spending 6–8 hours a day playing video games:

To this day:

I can sit in front of a screen and work deeply for hours.

That ability started there.

(It also explains my screen addiction — if I’m being honest.)

Looking back, the pattern is obvious:

The Nintendo wasn’t the point.

The training was.

What video games really taught me was this:

That belief never left.

I just changed the game.

From consoles → to companies.
From points → to dollars.
From levels → to businesses.

You don’t always get what you’re chasing.

/

Sometimes you get the skills you’ll need next.

And you won’t recognize them until much later.

Next Episode:
How surfing replaced gaming — and why learning to ride waves taught me timing, patience, and risk better than any business book ever could.

🤙

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If this hit, forward it to someone who still plays to win.

Mahalo,
Jean-Paul
Founder, JPG Hawaii & JPG Media
441 Cooke St., Honolulu, HI 96813

Jean-Paul.com
(yes, it’s actually my name)

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