Play to win

Posted on 25 Sep 2008 at 10:59

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"In 1996 there was a well-publicised Quake tournament hosted by id Software (the developer of the Doom and Quake series). Denis 'Thresh' Fong won first prize, which was John Carmack's first Ferrari, which Carmack (the man who programmed Doom) put up as a prize for first place." However, despite his success in this and other tournaments, Denis Fong eventually left the professional gaming scene and, like Pitchford, embarked on other game-related career pursuits.

With the advent of widespread television coverage, professional gaming began to generate increased awareness, publicity and funding. It wasn't long before it started producing superstars capable of earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year through competition victories and lucrative sponsorship deals.

Fatal Attract1on

Pro gaming's most famous competitor is Johnathan Wendel, who competes under the pseudonym Fatal1ty and has earned in excess of $500,000 during his career. Thanks to his prowess in games such as Quake III: Arena, Doom 3 and Counter-Strike, Wendel has become famous enough to launch his own line of Fatal1ty-branded hardware with business partners including Creative and XFX.

"I started competing professionally when I was 18 and became world champion in February 2000," Wendel tells Shopper. "Since then, I've changed games five or so times and won another 11 world titles. My parents always yelled at me for playing too much. Between the ages of 13 to 18 I was grounded at least half the time from my PC. I had to prove them wrong. Now that I make more money than both of them, they understand." Putting in at least eight hours of practice a day while adhering to vigorous workouts, maintaining strict sleeping routines and abstaining from alcohol, Wendel is the model professional, a gamer who all other competitors aspire to be and to defeat.

"First-person shooter gaming (such as Doom 3 and Counter-Strike) is the supreme sport of gaming," claims Wendel. "The skills you use in traditional sports are exactly the same as in a first-person shooting game, apart from the physical exertion. Everything from the mental side of competing to hand-eye coordination, reflexes and strategy." When asked what it takes to be a world champion, Wendel said: "Hand-eye coordination, strategy, experience, knowing how to out-think your opponent and having the winning mindset and a little luck. But if you don't practise like a mad man or woman, you'll never make it. It is very competitive. However, [after competitions] there's usually a lot of partying between the gamers. Everyone hangs out and has the time of their lives."

In August 2007, Wendel's pro gaming achievements were rewarded with an eSports Lifetime Achievement Award for "showing exceptional sportsmanship, taking part in shaping eSports into what it is today and for being the prime representative of this young sport". Wendel says: "It's nice to know all the hard work and sacrifices were worth it. All I ever wanted in the gaming community was to be respected for my game and loved for what I tried to do for the community. I hope to continue to give back as much as I can."

Since receiving his award, Wendel has focused on several new projects while waiting for the emergence of the next big player in pro gaming. His projects include PwnOrDie.com (a YouTube for gamers) and working as a spokesman for the Championship Gaming Series.

Valley of the dolls

Other high-profile superstars include the Frag Dolls, an all-girl gamer team formed in 2004 by games publisher Ubisoft in an attempt to promote its games and the presence of women in the gaming industry. The Frag Dolls proved themselves more than just a collection of beauties who extol the virtues of Ubisoft's latest products when they won a variety of tournaments, including the Rainbow Six: Vegas contest at the prestigious Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) tournament in December 2006.