Ventura County isn't exactly recognized as being a video game mecca. Developers tend to gravitate toward Japan, San Francisco or a dank cave. But that's yesterday's thinking. Today's developers aren't interested in being confined to a cubicle or tied to a dinghy. Steve DeBaun, who believes that gaming shouldn't be confined, period, shares his love for gaming with the county he grew up in.

DeBaun sat with me outside of Bernadette's on Main and waxed philosophical on gaming. As a teen at Camarillo High, DeBaun was an “alpha geek” at a time when playing Nintendo was akin to wearing thick punch-me glasses. “Being a geek at that time was not that fun at all,” DeBaun recalled. “Did you know in Korea, if you're the best guy playing video games you've got girls hanging off of either arm. Why!? Wrong country, wrong decade!” But he didn't let his unpopularity dissuade him from pursuing a career in the far more popular field of applications development.

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