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Personal Life Newell formerly suffered from Fuchs' dystrophy, a congenital disease which affects the cornea, but was cured by two cornea transplants in 2006 and 2007.[23] He married Lisa Mennet (now Lisa Mennet Newell) on the same day he founded Valve with Harrington.[24][25][26] They have two sons.[27][28] The birth of Gray in the late 1990s served as inspiration for the final boss of Half-Life, as the couple considered childbirth to be the most frightening thing they could think of at the time.[29] In 2011, Newell said his favorite video games included Super Mario 64, Doom, and a Burroughs mainframe version of Star Trek.[30] Doom convinced him that games were the future of entertainment, and Super Mario 64 convinced him that games are a form of art.[30] Newell is also a fan of the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.[31] Newell also recorded a voice pack for Dota 2, a Valve-developed game, which referenced many previous statements and phrases from himself in a humorous manner.[32] Within the gaming community, Newell has the nickname Gaben, derived from his work email address.[33] Newell said that he has tried to grow into his public image: "They hug me when they run into me. I'm not a hugging person, but that's what they want. I was with my kids the first time that happened in public, and my kids were pretty cool with it. But I wasn't. 'Dad, roll with it.' Even now, I'm learning from our customers."[34] In 2020, Newell resided in New Zealand with a group of friends during the COVID-19 pandemic, electing to stay in Auckland rather than returning to Seattle once airlines travel restrictions were eased.[35] As an expression of gratitude for New Zealand's hospitality, Newell and others planned a free event, "We Love Aotearoa", with live performances from musical artists across New Zealand. This was accompanied by VR stands for Valve games such as Half-Life: Alyx and The Lab.[36] The event was postponed from August to December due to a lockdown induced by a second wave of COVID-19 in the country.[35][37] In October, Newell applied for permanent residency in New Zealand, but said he did not intend to take Valve offices with him.[38][39] His New Zealand residency application has been granted in principle.[40]