How to Become One of the World’s Best Gamers

Rizwan Syed July 31, 2011 0
How to Become One of the World’s Best Gamers

What does it take to be one of the world’s best gamers? As online gaming commands an increasing international presence, and more people logging on every day, LIVE’s Rizwan hunted down the answer.

Call of Duty: Black Ops is one of the most popular games of the 21st century to date. Within 24 hours of going on sale, the game sold more than 7 million copies.  Six weeks after release, Activision reported Black Ops had earned $1 billion in sales.

With this in mind, I approached the gaming team ‘Optic’ who won $10,000 at the Call of Duty: Black Ops competition at the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit in Ohio on June 5th for an interview.

The 4-member Team Optic won the Columbus Pro Circuit, the second competition of a challenging, six-city US Pro Circuit tour that places the most talented players alongside their toughest opponents.

Here are the people behind their gamer-tags:

BigTymer (William Johnson, age 22, from Arkansas, USA): full time college student.

Jkap (Jordan Kaplam, age 17, from New Jersey, USA): currently in high-school.

Merk ( Joseph DeLuca, age 18, from Ohio, USA): begins university this autumn.

Rambo(Raymond Lussier, age 22, from Quebec, Canada): a full-time gamer.

The Optic team provides advice to aspiring gamers who want to reach the top.

SKILLS REQUIRED 

MERK: ‘Awareness is key. Knowing what’s going on and what your teammates are doing is very important. Every gamer needs quick reaction time.’

IKAP: ‘You need to be aware of the spawns [when a player’s character dies and is reborn] for your team and the other team and know where to position yourself at all times.’

BIGTYMER: ‘A mixture of dedication, innate hand-eye coordination, extreme amounts of focus, and a little bit of luck.’

MOTIVATION

RAMBO: ‘After being involved in my first tournament with a chance to make money and failing terribly that I had the urge to be one of the best and make money doing what I love.’

BIGTYMER: ‘That pure adrenaline rush you get when you’re playing for thousands of dollars and you know that all the practice and time you’ve put in could be worthless in a matter of days.’

I’ve never wanted to settle with just being a normal guy’.

ADVICE TO ASPIRING GAMERS

RAMBO: Don’t give up after failing. It’s very rare that a gamer starts out at the top.Always remember that 80% of competitive gaming is played between the ears and not with your hands.

MERK: ‘Dedication is key.’

WHAT TO TELL NAGGING PARENTS

JKAP: ‘This is just the money available right now. As gaming grows, there will be more money out there for the win.’

MERK: ‘Gaming is still growing and in the next few years I bet it will be as big as some major sports!’

The age of ‘geeky’ gamers sitting alone in dark rooms playing on their own is clearly over. Gaming has become a competitive international business-with big money in it for those who are truly dedicated and talented

Just like any other profession, skill in gaming pays. Perhaps it is time for us to stop viewing gaming (especially competitive gaming) as an anorak hobby for time wasters and start seeing it as a potentially profitable and professional skill requiring dedication, skill and a bit of luck!

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POSTED IN » Games
About the author: Rizwan Syed View all posts by
22 years old politics & features editor for Live Online. Interested in history and politics. Can be found blogging at www.politicalconfusion.blogspot.com and http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/rizwan-syed. Photo to be uploaded soon.