How a little girl from Lebanon went on to develop games in Japan

Get to know the people who make great videogames

_{[Sup Holmes is a weekly talk show for people that make great videogames. It airs live every Sunday at 4pm EST on Youtube, and can be found in Podcast form on Libsyn and iTunes.]}

Last week on Sup Holmes, we did a lot of stuff. First off, we launched a contest for a signed CD by famed Mega Man composer Manami Mastumae. You can still enter if you want. Check out the show for details. 

Fittingly enough, this week’s guest was Mastumae-san’s friend Dina Abou Karam, the community manager for Comcept (Mighty Number 9). Dina is my new definition of a hardcore gamer. Against all odds, her love of videogames has driven her down a life path that’s been packed with unlikely and amazing events. From a little girl playing bootleg copies of JRPGs and gold farming in Final Fantasy VII to developing an autobiographical game about naked people in Japan and working for Mega Man cocreator Keiji Inafune, it’s always been videogames for Dina. They are what excite her, motivate her, and fascinate her. Her passion is palpable and infectious. It’s no wonder that Comcept chose her to be the online face of the company.

We talked about a lot of things — Bayonetta 2‘s awesome design and mismatched marketing, Dina’s first commercially released game (Plushed),  the first game she ever remembers playing (a weird monkey-infused version of Tetris), videogame enthusiast culture in Lebanon, and a lot more. I hope this isn’t the last time Dina appears on the show. I imagine she’ll be in this industry for a long time. It will be exciting to see what she creates next.