# About *Published:* 2019-12-05 *Author:* Joe Dynamite ![](https://www.joedynamite.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/me-at-twofivesix-2013-810x540.jpg)Photo of Joe at Two5Six, a games × culture event in 2013 by [Kill Screen](https://www.flickr.com/photos/killscreen/sets/72157633496462467/) on FlickrJoe is a web and mobile app developer based in New York. He is also someone who really likes video games. He spent his teen years working at Blockbuster Video and some of his early twenties working at [GameStop](https://www.gamestop.com/). While at Blockbuster, many slow nights were spent playing rental Nintendo 64 games on the Pokémon Snap Station in the middle of the store and watching Kevin Smith’s movies on the overhead TVs. GameStop fired him for not tucking in his shirt. He briefly attended [DigiPen Institute of Technology](https://www.digipen.edu/) while pursuing a career in video game design and development. Unfortunately, real game development is a lot harder than making a game with *RPG Maker 95*, so he dropped out. He is still passionate about creating games, so he’s been experimenting with [Unity](https://unity.com/), [PICO-8](https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php), and [Playdate](https://play.date/) development. Through his web development career, he has worked for [Gary Vaynerchuk](https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/), built digital publishing tools at [Condé Nast](https://www.condenast.com/), and contributed to the world’s best checkout platform at [Shopify](https://www.shopify.com). Start-up projects of his own have been invited to participate in incubator programs run by [NEA](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nea-launches-new-installment-of-design-mentorship-program-in-the-studio-254742801.html) and [VentureCrushFG](https://www.venturecrush.com/fg/index.html). He’s decided to combine his experience with his passion for video games and launch this website. But in all honesty, Joe would rather talk about video games than about himself in the third person. ### Follow along for more. - [![YouTube application icon](/wp-content/themes/joedynamite/images/youtube-app.png)**YouTube**joedynamiteTV](https://www.youtube.com/@joedynamitetv) - [![Twitch application icon](/wp-content/themes/joedynamite/images/twitch-app.png)**Twitch**joedynamiteTV](https://www.twitch.tv/joedynamitetv) - [![Instagram application icon](/wp-content/themes/joedynamite/images/instagram-app.png)**Instagram**joedynamite](https://www.instagram.com/joedynamite/) ### Frequently Asked Questions #### Is Joe Dynamite your real name? Nope, it’s a pseudonym I started using online around 2005. I was named Joe after my grandfather, and “Joe Dynamite” was a name he was known by. He used to transport truckloads of explosives for a living. When he passed away, I decided to assume the mantle, kind of like my own superhero origin story. It is not a *[Napoleon Dynamite](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0374900/)* reference, haha. #### What are your top five games? I know these lists can be pretty contentious but here are my picks. I apologize if *your* favorite game isn’t on *my* list. 😉 1. Suikoden II – PlayStation 2. EarthBound – Super Nintendo 3. Super Mario Odyssey – Switch 4. Yakuza: Like a Dragon – Xbox (2020) 5. Final Fantasy Adventure – Game Boy Some score highly because of nostalgia, but for the most part they’re all just really good games.