Wade Hinkle is the founder of Gaming Unwrapped.ABOUT HIMName: Wade Hinkle.Age: 41.Education: Degree in culinary arts from Spokane Community College in Spokane, Wash.Family: Wife, Alesia, 42; daughter, Autumn, 14; and sons, Anthony, 24, and Marco, 23.Hometown: Monterey, Calif.FAST FACTSGame systems he owns: PC, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PSP, Nintendo 3DS and Super Nintendo.Favorite retro video games: “Zork” and “Wizardry.”Favorite modern video game: “Halo: Reach.”Place he wants to visit: Tokyo.Invention he wishes he had come up with: The paper clip.Favorite movie: “Buck Rogers.”Xbox Live user name: TheSenorWakko.On Twitter at: @SenorWakkoONLINEVisit Wade Hinkle’s video-game website at www.GamingUnwrapped.com. Follow the site’s Twitter feed via @GamingUnwrapped.
The Internet is a fickle place, and Wade Hinkle has spent almost two years recovering after coming face to face with that harsh reality.
The chef manager at McCallie School, Hinkle, 41, is a lifelong fan of video games and has spent his free time for the last decade editing websites devoted to covering the gaming industry.
After moving to Chattanooga from California’s Silicon Valley, Hinkle founded his most successful site, Gamers Daily News, in 2003. As executive editor, he directed an international staff of writers whose work attracted 30,000 to 40,000 visitors a day.
In late 2009, Hinkle attempted to log on to the page only to discover his partner, a U.S. citizen based in the Czech Republic, had locked him out and taken over ownership of the site. After consulting with a lawyer, he said, he walked away after being advised that, since the incident fell under international law, disputing it would be needlessly expensive and complicated.