Ahmed Al Nasheet is one of the earliest influencers in the gaming sector in the entire Middle East. Now a voice actor, chef, content creator and artist, he has come a long way. He received his first gaming console at the age of five, and he hasn’t stopped since. He was the first Arab to reach 100 million views on YouTube, after which he hosted TV shows on MBC. He has a busy schedule, which this month includes VidCon Abu Dhabi, and being the only non-Saudi Riyadh Season Ambassador. Here are his big picks.
1 Call of Duty
“Call of Duty is the reason why I am here as a gamer. That was the first game where I found my voice in the community. I was the first-ever gaming content creator in the Middle East. The reason why I am called DVLZ Game is that we started as a group, and I wanted to do something in E-Sports. The name was also created because I am from Bahrain, I support Manchester United and they are called Red Devils. The game gave me my first opportunity, and it was how I started my popular series.”
2 Disney Infinity
“This one because I was a voice actor in the game. I voiced a couple of the characters, thanks to Junaid who chose me to be a part of the team and Nazeer from Pluto Games. They found me on YouTube and loved my voice. They reached out and asked me if I would like to be a part of the game, and that started a whole new journey for me. I’ve been working with Disney for the past couple of years, and I remember being six years old and watching The Lion King and Mickey Mouse cartoons. So if you told me that in a few years I would be doing a voice over for them, I wouldn’t believe you.”
3 Frogger
“This is one of the first games I ever played, and it changed my life because it was back then that I realised just how much I loved gaming. I remember it being just a few pixels on the screen. Looking back now, I don’t know how I found it entertaining. I would be playing with two pixels on the screen and getting a frog across the street. My parents were super supportive, they wanted me to be creative, and they knew that if I spent my time playing I would learn a lot – and I did.”
4 The Last of Us
“I remember being in Dubai at the IMAX cinema and it was packed with people. PlayStation wanted me to play the first scene of the game in front of everyone, and I had played this game numerous times, and finished it a couple of times as well, so I knew everything about that game. I witnessed how they made the game because I travelled with the team as well. At that moment, I wanted to play with the audience’s emotions. I wanted the people to connect with the characters. Spoiler alert: when Jules’ daughter dies in the game, I wanted people to feel the struggle. So when I reached that part of the game, the entire room, including the audience and the staff, were crying. At that point, I knew I had done my job right.”
5 Super Mario World (and Sonic the Hedgehog)
“I feel like I’m cheating by combining these two, but it’s because these two games are very similar. They remind me of a certain age growing up. Mario, I fell in love with the character and saving the princess. I saved the princess so many times. The reason I started to draw was because of Sonic. Sonic was the first painting I did and received an A grade for it.”
instagram.com/dvlzgame,
December 3-4. VidCon Abu Dhabi vidcon.com/abu-dhabi-en
