Quiana Nicole McPherson

Although her ultimate dream life may consist of a re-start button when you die, anime friends and jumping from tall buildings, 17-year-old Quiana Nicole McPherson is perfectly content with her real life in San Antonio.

McPherson is a senior at Business Careers High School. At the age of 8, she received a Nintendo 64 game system as a Christmas gift from her grandfather.

"I knew what it [Nintendo 64] was, I just never expected my grandpa to buy me a video game system," McPherson said. "It was just one of those gifts you never expect and then get really excited when you see it."

Tossing her Barbie dolls aside, McPherson traded in plastic fashion toys for a grape-colored box system and a gray controller. Her first two video games: Tigger's Honey Hunt and Super Mario.

"I was getting more and more video games," McPherson said. "I would say about two or three new ones a month. It just became more addicting."

As time progressed, McPherson's love of virtual reality grew and so did the challenge of squeezing in playtime each day.

"It would make me do my homework faster so I could play the game," McPherson said. "Then after dinner, I would hurry to finish the game, but I've never been attached to a game where I didn't want to go anywhere."

Aside from playing video games, McPherson shares a passion for music. She plays the flute in her high school band and even practices guitar. McPherson uses Guitar Hero to combine her two loves.

"I think of Guitar Hero as my other guitar so sometimes I will play that instead of my actual guitar," McPherson said. "So if I can play the song that I want to play on my video game and not on my real guitar, then why not play it on my video game?"

Video games also allow McPherson to express her imagination through the drawings she produces. She hopes to one day become a video game designer and begin working with graphics and design.

"I started learning more about video game design and it just interested me," McPherson said. "I love to design, animate things and I like to draw, so it fits into the artsy part of me because I love being creative with everything. I'm more of a media person, I like doing things on the computer."

She said she would like people to respect video gamers and their creators. "Gamers are nerdy," McPherson said. "But they can be really cool to talk to. You just might find something you have in common with them because we don't just sit and play video games. We have a life, too."