Anyone a Pro Gamer?

[Collector_Gaming]

as to go along side with the other sections thread i made that talked about who here has a twin galaxies record.

I wanna know if any of you are pro gamers.. or atleast tried a gaming competition. If so have you ever won anything?

and i am not talking about sitting with some friends at a bar and a buddy bets that he can play golden tee better then you for 10 dollars.

i am talking a full on funded sponsored could win a few grand or something cool competition where you play some of the best in the country or world.

[The 1 2 P]

While I wouldn't call myself a pro gamer per se, I have played in several tournaments over the last few years. During the Tekken 3/Tekken Tag Tournament days I was in a number of tournaments, from high schools, malls and anime conventions. And I've even taken part in a few Gamestop tournaments.

While I've never been the big winner, I have come in third twice for Tekken Tag. I was at a mall once to go to an import game store and in the middle they were having a Madden and Tekken Tag tournament. I had no idea about it and asked if I could sign up(it was $7 for either tournament) and they told me that sign ups were full but they were having a losers bracket tournament and the winner of that could face the winner of the other tournament. I signed up and three games later I had won the losers bracket tournament. Then I faced someone where the winner of us would face the other semi finalist for the title. I lost by one round in a best of five set 3 to 2. Thats the furthest I've gotten in Tekken Tag. I've also played in Soul Calibur, SC 2 and Halo 2/3 tournaments but I didn't place in any of those.

[G-Boobie]

I'm not "pro", but I play Street Fighter IV and Third Strike in tournaments. I've done pretty well, though the highest I've placed is fifth in Third Strike and thirteenth in Street Fighter IV at Michigan Masters 1. I'd say that I'm definitely better than average, but not much better.

I'm not terribly concerned about going "pro" either though: there's no way I'd make the same money doing that in relation to my real job, and I think that if I were being forced to play a game to earn my bread, it would very quickly stop being fun.

[kedawa]

Your only 'pro' if gaming pays the rent.
I've competed in a few fighting game tournaments myself, but I've only won a single small tourny for SFIIHF.

[kupomogli]

Your only 'pro' if gaming pays the rent.

What about an Ebay seller who may deal with games only and still make a living off of it without doing anything else? They're pro gamers?

I know I'm not a pro gamer, though. As much as I'd like to be and the fact that I'm better than average on most games, the fact that I'm a collector as much as a gamer makes me lack skill because I don't practice on a single game/genre.

The only way you'll ever be truly pro at a video game is if you spend all your time on a game or a select few games. The longer you spend on a game to perfect your skills the more pro you'd be. Though most genres if you're good in one you'll be good in the other and there's only memorization required in order to be good in whatever the next game you're playing.

[Gameguy]

What about an Ebay seller who may deal with games only and still make a living off of it without doing anything else? They're pro gamers?
Selling games isn't the same as playing them. It's like saying you're a professional driver because you're a car salesman. I suppose a professional reviewer could count as you have to play games to review them, but you're still paid for your writing skills instead of playing skills.

I'm not a professional, nowhere near that.

[Richter Belmount]

lolz.... pro gamer

[Collector_Gaming]

What about an Ebay seller who may deal with games only and still make a living off of it without doing anything else? They're pro gamers?

I know I'm not a pro gamer, though. As much as I'd like to be and the fact that I'm better than average on most games, the fact that I'm a collector as much as a gamer makes me lack skill because I don't practice on a single game/genre.

The only way you'll ever be truly pro at a video game is if you spend all your time on a game or a select few games. The longer you spend on a game to perfect your skills the more pro you'd be. Though most genres if you're good in one you'll be good in the other and there's only memorization required in order to be good in whatever the next game you're playing.

good example being FPS

remember the first big gaming star of the FPS realm?
Dennis "Thresh" Fong
who made professional gaming kinda a eye opener for inspired gamers by winning a quake 2 tournament and received a brand new corvette as a prize

heres 2 videos of his match up against his arch nemesis "Immortal" remember him?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4kr6s86WDA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj5RjU4_0gY&feature=related

then later coming forth Fatal1ty
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5Z1BBU1CnI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3ad0QisGpA&feature=related

[Enigmus]

lolz.... pro gamer

You reminded me of how I thought "pro gamer" was an actual job title when I was a kid. LOL

[Collector_Gaming]

You reminded me of how I thought "pro gamer" was an actual job title when I was a kid. LOL

actually from the late 90s to mid 2000's i think it could qualify... it was big thing but kinda died off

same thing for back in the early 80s to mid 80s remember the tournaments they had way back when?

and you had the movie "The Wizard" that highlighted this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT6zfPC3sDk

[BetaWolf47]

I used to play Super Smash Bros. Melee competitively. I learned how to do all of the generally advanced techniques.

[Oobgarm]

In my mind, Nintendo Game Play Counselor = Pro Gamer every time. LOL

[The 1 2 P]

actually from the late 90s to mid 2000's i think it could qualify... it was big thing but kinda died off

The top MLG and Madden players make between 5 and 6 figures every year, even to this day. So pro gaming is definitely a way to make a living for some people.

[Swamperon]

Any of the games I generally excel at there isn't a chance to be a sponsored pro Gamer.

The only one I can think is the Super Smash Bros Series, and even then I'm really only better than average.

[Collector_Gaming]

The top MLG and Madden players make between 5 and 6 figures every year, even to this day. So pro gaming is definitely a way to make a living for some people.

true true

i remember also a gaming group that made us gaming geek guys wish we could play against them.

http://www.fragdolls.com/
http://images.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/FDGroup.1252011542.jpg
and i find it great they are still around too! :D

i remember back in the day also when quake 2 was the big FPS i have played against a pro gamer in a rail gun only match up i mean it was a big group of us.
He decimated all of us it was like 70 frags in 12 minutes and second place out of a group of 16 had like 26 frags.. i was like hmmm sure enough he played for PGL at the time.
ahh the good ole days

[Icarus Moonsight]

I play Puzzle Fighter 2 at a fairly high level. No one is willing to pay to see that though. LOL

That's quite a harem there. :D

[Kitsune Sniper]

I've played TF2 against a few "pro" gamers. They're not bad. I still get killed but I give them a fair fight. :p

[The 1 2 P]

true true

i remember also a gaming group that made us gaming geek guys wish we could play against them.

http://www.fragdolls.com/
http://images.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/FDGroup.1252011542.jpg
and i find it great they are still around too! :D

I can't tell you how many times I've tried to play with them on Frag Doll Fridays on XBL. They are one of the best female clans around and the only one(that I know of) thats won an actual pro gaming tournament against all male players(it was a version of Rainbow Six). PMS is ok too but they have so many members that you are bound to run into ones that aren't that good.

I was hoping that Bust A Groove would get rereleased as a download title for either XBL or PSN. I was unstoppable in that game. It's too bad most people have either never heard of it or have never played it.

[frogofdeath]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/131553721_2b9e89dc24.jpg

[Collector_Gaming]

far side = best comic strip ever!

that is all

[PapaStu]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/56/131553721_2b9e89dc24.jpg

That comic has been on my parents fridge since it was originally published. Not there yet....

[DKTheArcadeRat]

I'm All-Pro at Dave of Duty.

[Famidrive-16]

i've been to several smaller fighting tournaments (only big one i've been to was Nor Cal Regionals several months back) but haven't really placed high

highest i've placed was 2nd in MvC2... where four people entered, lol

[kupomogli]

highest i've placed was 2nd in MvC2... where four people entered, lol

This would have been funnier if you placed in fourth.

[xfrumx]

I'm horrible at most games, except side scrolling platformers......but for some reason i keep playing the others too.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I can't tell you how many times I've tried to play with them on Frag Doll Fridays on XBL.

They're coming for you Barbara! :help:

[The 1 2 P]

Who is Barbara and what the hell does she have to do with the Frag Dolls?

[Collector_Gaming]

Who is Barbara and what the hell does she have to do with the Frag Dolls?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYR3dorshwA

one of the most famous movie quotes ever!

[The 1 2 P]

So famous that I've never heard of it. I also don't watch many movies that came out before I was born. But more importantly it had nothing to do with this thread or what I typed. But it came from Icarus so thats not at all surprising.

[G-Boobie]

But more importantly it had nothing to do with this thread or what I typed. But it came from Icarus so thats not at all surprising.

It totally did.

[Zama]

Hmmm Starcraft comes to mind :popcorn:

[Icarus Moonsight]

It totally did.

*internet high-five*

12P filled his brain with self-quotes, the rest had to go.

[Flack]

Although far from being a pro-gamer, I've made almost a thousand dollars this year already (2011) competing in Angry Birds tournaments. Two weekends ago I placed second at a local tournament, which qualifies me for the Dallas regionals in March. I would have placed first, but unlike all the other tournaments I've competed in that use an iPad with a video out cable, they used a camera pointing at an iPod. Ghetto. I placed first in a different local tournament, which doesn't officially count because it was on an Android device. No Android-sponsored events are officially sanctioned (due to last year's controversy with "Mad" Mike Pajaro and his hacked device), but they still paid cash.

Assuming I place at state, I should make somewhere around $20k this year. That doesn't include anything from finals, or any potential (?) endorsement deals. Only the big guys can pull in a deal from Roxio, but I'm hoping to get some backing from a local pet store or maybe an animal shelter or a construction company or something.

Here is a short video clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBMj5vDGc_0) of me earning 3 stars on round three and winning first place.

[Cornelius]

Nicely done, Flack! Bravo!

[ubersaurus]

I've played in fighting game competitions for years, though not so much lately. Best I ever did was 3rd in a Street Fighter II tourney back in like 07, though I remember coming in 5th in a big 40-man Capcom Vs. SNK 2 tournament back in 2002. That was pretty cool.

[G-Boobie]

I've played in fighting game competitions for years, though not so much lately. Best I ever did was 3rd in a Street Fighter II tourney back in like 07, though I remember coming in 5th in a big 40-man Capcom Vs. SNK 2 tournament back in 2002. That was pretty cool.

Are you coming out to Keits' new shindig this year? UFGT 7?

[bangtango]

Nope, the Pro's eat me for breakfast on their way to the top.

[ubersaurus]

Are you coming out to Keits' new shindig this year? UFGT 7?

If I can afford it. Maybe this time he'll fucking put me down for the games I register for.

[MeTmKnice]

On my paid days off, you could say I am "pro" gamer.

[The 1 2 P]

12P filled his brain with self-quotes, the rest had to go.

And you filled your brain with annoying rhetoric thinking you were a poet/philosopher. You are neither and the vast majority of your post make no sense. Go troll somewhere else troll.

[G-Boobie]

And you filled your brain with annoying rhetoric thinking you were a poet/philosopher. You are neither and the vast majority of your post make no sense.

They totally do.

[The 1 2 P]

No they don't but atleast he has one fan now.

[bangtango]

So famous that I've never heard of it. I also don't watch many movies that came out before I was born.

Does that mean you think Seth Rogen invented "comedy" and Vin Diesel invented the "action" movie?

[G-Boobie]

No they don't but atleast he has one fan now.

Achievement unlocked: got The 12P all sulky.

[The 1 2 P]

Achievement unlocked: got The 12P all sulky.

Seeing you come to your boyfriends aid didn't get me sulky although I found it mildly amusing but only because I was bored.

[G-Boobie]

Seeing you come to your boyfriends(implied homophobia, missing punctuation) aid didn't get me sulky although(missing punctuation) I found it mildly amusing(missing punctuation) but only because I was bored.

Definitely sulky. Truly, The 12P, you are internet.

If anyone wants to read an excellent book about pro gaming, check out Game Boys (http://www.gameboysbook.com/) by Michael Kane. It's about the big push for legitimization of professional Counterstrike leagues, and it's fantastic. A word of warning, though: the writer typically writes about more traditional sports, so some of the super nerdy factoids aren't correct, but it's still a fantastic biographical look at pro level FPS play in the U.S.

[Swamperon]

Not that I want to get involved in this debate but you've never even heard of Night of the Living Dead?

Admittedly the quote wasn't entirely appropriate, but still... ;)

[The Shawn]

They're coming for you Barbara! :help:


I lol'd.

"I'm getting out of here"

[Icarus Moonsight]

12P: That initial comment wasn't actually directed to you. Zombie hoard, thousands of guys trying to get in a Dolls public game. That being the reason you haven't been able to join, I would guess. It's not a stretch by any means. Main difference is the LIVE hoard grunt-chants "bewbs" rather than "brains". Zombie hoard simile is especially relevant if the game the gals are playing is L4D. You not having reference to the context caused a disturbance in the force.

Go Flack! Kick ass in Dallas!

20k? Seriously? Crap, I seriously need to play more games. That solid gold joystick I keep asking for every Christmas isn't just going to magically appear out of nowhere.

*watches video* Oh, damn it! You got me! BirdRoll'd. LOL

[The 1 2 P]

Definitely sulky. Truly, The 12P, you are internet.


I wasn't impling anything. Icarus is apparently your friend and unless he's really a women in disguise then what I said is technically true. That one obviously went over your head but maybe you can use that spelling nazi thing to fall back on.



12P: That initial comment wasn't actually directed to you. Zombie hoard, thousands of guys trying to get in a Dolls public game. That being the reason you haven't been able to join, I would guess. It's not a stretch by any means. Main difference is the LIVE hoard grunt-chants "bewbs" rather than "brains". Zombie hoard simile is especially relevant if the game the gals are playing is L4D. You not having reference to the context caused a disturbance in the force.

While I'll be the first to admit that a majority of XBL gamers are lacking proper etiquette I wouldn't neccessarily compare them to blood thirsty zombies. Even if I had heard that quote before it wouldn't have made the situations anymore similiar.

[The 1 2 P]

Edit: Nevermind

[Collector_Gaming]

Was there any registration fees for each tournament? Also, if you make finals for any of the competitions and they are out of state would the tournament operators fly you out or would you have to pay out of pocket? For most of the Gamestop tournaments I entered you had to provide your own travel for all regional events(which could be in your state or a couple states away) but if you made the finals they would provide airfare and hotel accommendations.

did you click the link?

[Maddrox]

i want to see 1 2 p in rl

[The 1 2 P]

did you click the link?

After you posted that I did. I wanted to know if anyone's been in a semifinals/finals situation similiar to something like MLG, WCG or any other noteworthy league.

[Collector_Gaming]

thats why i posted this thread is to wonder who here has ever been in a tournament where money or something of significant value was on the line as prize

and i am not talking about you and your boys hanging out in the basement with cube of soda, a few boxes of pizza playing a marathon of halo or something
or sitting at the bar trying your luck against people on Golden Tee arcade machine playing for 10 dollars a round

i am talking about a actual organized gaming event

[bangtango]

I competed in a MK tournament back in the day and in a few SFII tournaments. Won some matches, but lost the ones I "needed" to win to move on.

Back then, though, I was using Blanka in SFII and Johnny Cage in MK, neither of whom I ever stuck with long-term. Nowadays, I use Ken in SFII and Scorpion in MK.

Couldn't tell you any key details about the tournaments other than them being located somewhere near Portsmouth, NH in the 1990's.

[Collector_Gaming]

I competed in a MK tournament back in the day and in a few SFII tournaments. Won some matches, but lost the ones I "needed" to win to move on.

Back then, though, I was using Blanka in SFII and Johnny Cage in MK, neither of whom I ever stuck with long-term. Nowadays, I use Ken in SFII and Scorpion in MK.

Couldn't tell you any key details about the tournaments other than them being located somewhere near Portsmouth, NH in the 1990's.

do you ever goto the ones at Fun Spot in NH?

btw i love that arcade haha.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I wasn't impling anything. Icarus is apparently your friend and unless he's really a women in disguise then what I said is technically true. That one obviously went over your head but maybe you can use that spelling nazi thing to fall back on.

We're just two wild and crazy guys!

Wash, rinse, repeat... Sorry, had to do for broke. Flack kicked my ass. Totally did. :D

[G-Boobie]

thats why i posted this thread is to wonder who here has ever been in a tournament where money or something of significant value was on the line as prize

and i am not talking about you and your boys hanging out in the basement with cube of soda, a few boxes of pizza playing a marathon of halo or something
or sitting at the bar trying your luck against people on Golden Tee arcade machine playing for 10 dollars a round

i am talking about a actual organized gaming event

Well sure. I've been to Midwest Championships, Devastation, Michigan Masters, and I'm 90 percent sure I'm going to Evo this year. There's all kinds of money on the line at each of those tournaments, but I don't think many people playing for it consider themselves "pro". There's not much in the way of for real, actual, sponsored pro gaming here in this country. North Korea we ain't.

[ubersaurus]

You mean South Korea? I don't think North Koreans really know what pro gaming would even entail :P

[Icarus Moonsight]

You underestimate dictatorial madness. Remember, this is the guy that claims to have shot a 19 on 18 holes of golf.
http://www.funnypictureblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/kim-jong-il-pokemon-master.jpg

You see a capitalist pig munching on the tall grass...

[G-Boobie]

You mean South Korea? I don't think North Koreans really know what pro gaming would even entail :P

Indeed, South Korea. I don't know why my go-to was NORTH Korea, but I was wrong wrong wrong.

On the other hand, they totally have an arcade now! (http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/10/21/north-korean-arcade-blast/)

[Collector_Gaming]

oh i know at my school we had a foreign exchange student who was from Seoul South Korea and made a good friend named Jung Lee he told me about all the cool arcades they had in korea and they have (or atleast in 2002-2003) computer gaming tournaments like nobodies business.

But i think there still exists a competitive spirit in gaming in america i mean like i said in a state over from me in Laconia NH we have the worlds largest arcade "Fun Spot" they are famous for holding yearly classic arcade tournaments and famous for having a day of gaming record breaking where people will hop on the machines and try to break previous world records.
Pretty cool if you ask me :)

[G-Boobie]

I was desperately attempting to cover up my geographic faux pa by pointing out the extreme shadiness of the North Korean arcade, but yeah... South Korea is pretty heavily into the professional video games. Stracraft, Tekken, etc. As I understand it, some of the Nordic countries have widely popular leagues and players too.

Here in the states though, not so much. The audience just isn't there. One of the 'big' E-sports leagues, the Cyberathlete Professional League, went out of business a while back, and no one cares about the others, including a lot of former sponsors and television carriers. The biggest fighting game tournaments in the country are run as a hobby by enthusiasts. It's possible for a few clans to make a barely middle class living by playing games, but that doesn't exactly sound like the high life to me. Most people who compete in games (myself included) on a regular basis treat it as a hobby.

[FxMercenary]

Pro Gamer? Yeah, ive been sponsored and paid to play. We were flown, put up in Hotels all expenses paid, and played in Tournaments. Counter-Srike was the last one I did back in 2005. Kinda retired. Lots of fun memories and photos.

[Xtincthed]

i got sponsored a bit, with a mouse and keyboard etc in a local event playing Medal of Honor Allied Assault
nothing to brag about tho :p

[Dobie]

Have I been in a situation where there was something of significant value on the line? Yes. I got extremely lucky last summer and got to be an Omeganaut at PAX Prime in Seattle. It was great, I got to play games against 19 other people and try to win a trip to TGS, which they valued in all of the paperwork I had to sign at around $10,000. I unfortunately did not win, but I can honestly say it was not because of lack of skill, but due to crummy luck at an unfortunate time. The upside though? I got in early to the expo hall every day, didn't have to stand in lines, met many awesome developers, got tons of sweet swag, and met lots of fantastic people. Oh, and seeing my face crossed out on their giant sign... that was simultaneously horrible and awesome. I made it my facebook pic.

But am I a pro gamer? No.

[pseudonym]

I've played in some tournaments (SSBM and online), but I wouldn't consider myself a pro gamer.

[Famidrive-16]

On the topic of South Korea, SF2: Championship Edition is still pretty big over there and tournaments are regularly held for the game:

http://www.youtube.com/user/sf2ce

[BLiTZ]

If anyone has any questions about this kind of thing,

-I was on MLG staff for about a year. I'm the most active member on the MLG forum as well, with about 14,000 posts (about 7,000 higher than the next person I think)

-I compete off and on in Gamebattles (MLG's online competition) ladders and tourneys, been ranked #1 on I think 7 ladders now, and top 2 in about 6 more

-I'm currently one of the best overall Xbox Live Arcade players in the world

-I've gotten over 1400 #1 rankings across 141 different games on Xbox 360, PC/Mac, Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, and iPhone

-I've been part of Team Pandemic ($250,000 career prize money) and Type Z (~$100,000 career prize money) and sponsored by companies like Dell, Intel, Windows Vista, Plantronics, GoDaddy, Razer, etc.

I'm not a "pro gamer" because that's a term usually reserved for a specific spot in leagues, such as top 16 in MLG or something like that. A pro gamer can definitely be used to represent someone making a living or a significant amount of prize money gaming (like fighting game players who compete in a wide number of locals and non-league tourneys). I am a sponsored world champion in a wide number of games and genres, but would not refer to myself as a professional. But I can probably address questions, misconceptions, and stereotypes if anyone is curious!

(PS: Stumbled upon this thread when googling "Twin Galaxies smash melee" to try and get a link to the world record page for it; none of my browsers will let me navigate to that page on their site >_>)

[ubersaurus]

On the topic of South Korea, SF2: Championship Edition is still pretty big over there and tournaments are regularly held for the game:

http://www.youtube.com/user/sf2ce

China is also big on CE, and they're also big on KOF 98. Someone asked the Chinese players why they still ran with CE even though Hyper Fighting and Super Turbo have both come out, and the general response is that they felt that with the overpowered CE Bison, it took more skill to win in that game and had more interesting matches.

Which doesn't really make any sense, but I've also found people get weird about games.

[kirbykirb]

true true

i remember also a gaming group that made us gaming geek guys wish we could play against them.

http://www.fragdolls.com/
http://images.totalgamingnetwork.com/images/FDGroup.1252011542.jpg
and i find it great they are still around too! :D

i remember back in the day also when quake 2 was the big FPS i have played against a pro gamer in a rail gun only match up i mean it was a big group of us.
He decimated all of us it was like 70 frags in 12 minutes and second place out of a group of 16 had like 26 frags.. i was like hmmm sure enough he played for PGL at the time.
ahh the good ole days

Wow, they all look ugly..but I guess its better then the sterotypical gamer girl which falls under these three categories:

1. Obese
2. Excessively tall
3. Anti social to the max.

And yes they can be mixed/combined.

Still though, its surprising what passes as beauty/hot in the video game world...well guess it's a demand far outweighs the quantity (and there is lil quality :|)

[Collector_Gaming]

Wow, they all look ugly

wow... and i thought my standards were high :|

[G-Boobie]

Wow, they all look ugly..but I guess its better then the sterotypical gamer girl which falls under these three categories:

1. Obese
2. Excessively tall
3. Anti social to the max.

And yes they can be mixed/combined.

Still though, its surprising what passes as beauty/hot in the video game world...well guess it's a demand far outweighs the quantity (and there is lil quality :|)

Jesus Christ...

[SegaAges]

I will be honest, I did not read anything past the first page of this thread. Too much stuff to read.

I am no expert about pro gaming, but I do know alot about it. 1 of my projects I am working on (still only about halfway done) is a pro gaming tournament site. Now, I could go on and on trying to plug something that is halfway done, but I will try not to digress.

Through working on this, I have met multiple pro gamers that definitely make a living enough to pay rent off of gaming. I have talked with multiple people in MLG as well.

The thing about pro gaming is that some people will make 6+ figures. This is not to be confused with the rest of the people. Most good ones that I have run into, and I mean some good ones, will make around 20k-30k. I am sure there are others that make more than that, but these are the ones that I have talked to.

If you couldn't notice from people like Fatal1ty, in order to make alot of money, you need to do what pro athletes do and get sponsorship. Get nerdy stuff like motherboards and video cards or something (the Fatal1ty Competition Edition Sound Blaster is pretty nice).

To many people, it is still considered too much of a recreational thing to play video games. Many people don't accept it as something beyond that. I know many people on even these boards do, but then again, this is mainly a video game collection board.

Since it is still seen as a recreational thing, at this point, it will just never be like the NFL or NBA or anything. Well, it will once people see beyond that (I mean, it worked for chess and poker)