Joey “Mo” Hasty has been the manager of the Top Games video game store in Gardendale since 2003. Top Games is the only dedicated video game store in Gardendale.

• Do you like your job?

I love my job. It’s paying my bills and for my house, and it’s paying my way through college; I’m five semesters away from getting my degree. I want to be a radiology technician. I was going to be an English teacher, and I’d be closer to getting my degree for that. But, I thought Rad Tech had less chance of lawsuits. Plus I like the job security.

• Do you play a lot of video games?

As much as I can. I started when my parents got us a Nintendo—no, wait, an Atari for Christmas when I was 3 years old. Pac-Man and Asteroids! When I get home I get on and play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 with my friends on Xbox Live, and at work I try to get Xbox Achievements. Xbox 360 is my platform of choice.

• Does working a job that’s the same as your hobby make you enjoy it less?

Sometimes. Every once in a while I’ll get burned out on games, but it never lasts long. I used to collect games, but now I just get rid of them when I don’t want them anymore.

• When you’re not at college, work, or playing video games, what do you like to do?

Hang out with my girlfriend and at the gym. That’s my life.

• How do you think independent stores like Top Games compete with big chain game stores?

Well, it’s hard to sometimes because we don’t have the volume and we can’t get the number of games they can. But we’ve found out a lot of people don’t like to order games online, and like talking to a person in a store. Also, from what I gather from our customers, our trade-in values are much higher than the larger stores.

• Have you ever thought about opening your own store?

Oh, many, many times over the years. But I’m not sure I want that kind of responsibility.