Insight on Ambitious Amateur Gamers

A whole room of seated people in a dimly lit room begins to burst into applause, and starts chanting the name of the newly-elected winners. This isn't a basketball game or any movie award ceremony; it's a local amateur game tournament being held by a select few in a cyber café.

Video games, in recent years, have become a regular staple in life for many who consider video games to be the best stress outlet as well as entertainment. Nearly everyone in America owns a type of video game console or computer and at least has hands-on experience with a video game in some form or manner. Some even boast it as a "way of life" and abide to video games as their divine truth.

Professional video gaming in recent years have become a new emergence among careers, and many have taken a road to obtain that dream job, only to realize that it isn't all fun and games.

David "Geno" Tsang, an 18-year old amateur gamer, is a well-known Bay Area local contestant in Street Fighter, a type of video game, tournaments. With his credentials listing 40 attended tournaments and over $2000 in prize winnings, David represents the fraction of individuals who live life as a strict gamer with hopes of hitting it big one day by joining the small minority of professional gamers. He is also but one of the many who travel around locally participating in tournaments with hopes of attracting big-name sponsors to endorse his work and to allow him to participate in more high-tier competitions.

When asked about the recent available career choice of professional gaming and its facets, David says "I think that the new era of games is booming, but even if you do get the top score, in a few years there will be a new person to take away your title. It's also harder for me because I've made sacrifices in many places such as my life style by sometimes not being able to go out with friends. I've even had to cut into my own budget because as an amateur gamer, I don't have any sponsors. I just like doing what I do the best."

Professional gaming is not only limited to game consoles. The most popular, well-known form of professional gaming is currently the CAL, Cyber Amateur League, and the CPL, Cyber Professional League, both sister organizations. Both organizations' trademark game of choice is Counter-Strike, a game where the players plays the role of either a counter-terrorist or a terrorist and must complete the game objectives.

The main focus of online professional gaming is team competitive play and requires most gamers to form a team of five as a perquisite to join. Professional gaming has also become very lucrative, with some global tournament's prize winnings ranging up to $1,000,000. This is where all the fun ends, however, as the road to being a professional gamer requires hours upon hours on end perfecting a certain strategy, game style, and getting in sync with fellow teammates.

I attended a local Counter-Strike tournament at cyber-café Yobags in Hayward, a usually busy café filled to the brims with hardcore gamers, only to find the room silent with rows upon rows of people intently focused on their computer screens and a crowd of onlookers watching closely and whispering to one another. Much to my surprise, I noticed one of my old team-mates back in my own amateur gaming days and his new team just about ready to partake in the semi-finals, the goal being whichever team can reach sixteen rounds of victory first.

I watched the players closely, noticing the glare of all the monitors showing the looks of determination on all of their faces, nostalgic for my own past days of amateur gaming. All the bystanders watched steadily on the televisions that Yobags itself had graciously connected to the computers and all were awestruck by the events going on, some familiar with the game, some random strangers passing by.

Unfortunately, my old acquaintance's team, Team-District, lost by a considerable amount of rounds and was discharged from the ladder by a much more professional team, forced to watch the result of the finals. Taking the chance, I began to interview Team-District's leader on their reason behind attending this tournament and their recent loss.

Mike "Deflekt" Tran, a 17-year old senior in high school as well as personal acquaintance of mine, is the epitome of a teenager with dreams of doing what he does best, playing video games. Having years of amateur gaming under his belt, Mike is sure that he can go out and compete on par with the more elite teams out there.

"I still believe that all these years playing as an amateur will pay off. I remember seeing a documentary on television about professional gamers and knew right then and there, that was what I wanted to be," Mike says. When asked about how confident he is whether or not he and his team will ever make a successful living out of their gaming, Mike says "I'm really confident that in our current state, we'll be able to make a name for ourselves around gamers. Daily practice is at least 5 hours; we all interact often in real life, great friends, how more ready can we are?

Controversy has been a longtime companion of gaming, with special interest groups and politicians claiming that today's youth is degenerating due to excessive gaming, violent video games being marketed, and loss of interest in reality. Some say it's ludicrous to even imagine a career in playing games, a foolhardy dream to those who cannot face reality, but one look at David "Geno" Tsang and Mike "Deflekt" Tran says otherwise. Both amateur gamers know the hardships to come, but both are still content and happy with what they have so far.

Mike and David also agree on one thing and both says "It's just great doing the things that you love."