Interviews
Aug. 11, 2005
N-Sider's Kenneth Kyle Wade attended QuakeCon where he met the infamous professional video game competitor Fatal1ty. Fatal1ty was questioned about his thoughts on Nintendo.
Q: How did you get started in professional videogame competition?
Fatal1ty: I started back in 1999 trying my first hand in professional gaming and won $4000 in my very first professional tournament. I made a deal with my dad that if I didnt win money in that first tournament, I would quit. So basically, it was from that $4000 that I got all of this. [laughs] After that, I just traveled the world for six years as the first professional gamer. I got some sponsors that paid me about thirty grand a year to play, and then I eventually won over $110,000 my first as a professional gamer. I was like, "Man, I need to keep doing this. This is awesome!" Im making $115,000 a year, which is more than what my parents make. So, its good.
Q: Did your parents ever tell you to stop wasting your time with these videogames and that they were rotting your brain? Did you get the last laugh?
Fatal1ty: Im still working on that last laugh, but Im constantly doing my thing. My dad has always been supportive, but my mom hasnt been really supportive. Im always out to prove her wrong, things like that and so on. Ive made it pretty far right now, but Im definitely not done yet. So, Im still waiting to go much further. Im really exited about moving this forward, keep promoting gaming to the world, and to kind of be the ambassador to gaming. I want to expand this whole sport and genre to the world and make it more mainstream on TV.
Q: Do you ever think that gaming will reach the height of the NBA or NFL? For example, on the way over here I heard the local DJ Kidd Kraddick on the radio say that none of the people attending QuakeCon have ever seen a girl and that we're all slobs. Do you think that perception will ever be broken?
Fatal1ty: I think so. If you look at all the professional gamers and one thing that they all taught me is that we are all athletes actually. Were all very competitive people. I wouldnt say that a lot of us dont have girls, because a lot of us do have girls. [laughs] Especially the pro gamers. We just travel around and play games, play in tournaments around the world, and make pretty good money. That pretty awesome.
Q: Do you ever see yourself branching out in the future. Most of the games you appear to be playing are FPS like Quake, Unreal, and Painkiller on the PC. Do you ever see yourself competing on the consoles and playing Smash Bros. or Mario Kart?
Fatal1ty: [laughs] I could definitely do Mario Kart professionally. Ive been playing Mario Kart a lot, so Im really good at that game. I just won about $100 this past week from playing with friends at my house. They thought they were going to be the best, but I beat them 7-0, 7-0.
Q: Do you ever play those games on those online poker sites with the PC?
Fatal1ty: Ive done some poker online. Ive done the real deal once when I was in Las Vegas. Obviously, I play a lot of FPS games. Ive been very dominant in the games Ive played. I love playing console games, because it's just a lot of fun. I played in one tournament when I was thirteen and won first place in the NBA Jam section, so got really good at NBA Jam. Then I ended up taking third overall in my region for the blockbuster tournament. I was really young, that was about 11-years ago. So I do have a lot of background in consoles as well. I won the Dreamcast Quake III tournament at QuakeCon 2000, so I have at least one title on the console, but obviously that is still a FPS game. It would be interesting to switch to a different genre, but I just believe that FPS games are where the most skill and most strategy are. Most people agree that FPS games have the most skill, competition and where sport-like abilities come into play. Hand-eye coordination, reflexes, timing, strategy, being quick on your feet, and having mental game, all those things you use in sports cater to being a really good gamer. So if youre a really great athlete, you can also be a really good gamer.
Q: Did you ever think that you would be at this point at the ripe old age of 24? I mean; you have a cardboard cutout of yourself behind you.
Fatal1ty: No. [laughs] Back in 2003 when I started my company, I thought I have a great opportunity to start pioneering the whole gaming world in the first place. Doing my thing, traveling around the world, competing and winning a lot of money. I wanted to find a way to give back to gaming as Ambassador of Gaming to really help promote this to the world and make it bigger. So I started my own company, and thought its going to take at least ten years to start branding my product on different kinds of products. That was kind of my goal, to give my input, on how this product is made and so forth. Luckily I got teamed up with Auravision, who I signed on as Ambassador rights group to take over the logistical side of the Fatal1ty brand. I knew they knew how to brand and they knew what I wanted to go for and envision my dreams. They have been a great fit and have been working really hard. Every product we make is from the ground up. None of the products we do, we just dont slap my name on it. It has to go through a huge approval process, make sure everything is exactly how we want it, and sure performance is at the highest level.
Q: What kind of input do you give on some of these sound blasters?
Fatal1ty: Well on the X-Fi Xtreme sound card actually, obviously they had everything pretty much covered. Sound Blaster is very much onto their game. Obviously Sound Blaster has been very famous for many years, I think I was like 17 when I bought one of their sound cards. Ive been a huge fan now for seven or eight years now. So the main thing I wanted on the sound card was actually the hardware acceleration, because for the last four years or so Ive been dieing for a sound card with some sort of hardware acceleration on it. Sound is such a big hit on your performance. Before we signed with Creative, I had heard what they were working on the new hardware acceleration with the X-ram and I was like, "Yes! This is where we should be going. This is good! This is what I have been wanting for the past four years." It was really exciting to see that. So obviously working with them and knowing it will be number one, we definitely wanted to work with them. That is how we came out with the Fatal1ty edition with the X-ram, because that was one of the features I was really dieing to have. Everything made by Sound Card is pretty amazing and second to none.
Q: With the future of videogames on the horizon with the Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Revolution, where do you see videogame heading? Will it be about better graphics, innovative game play, or different control methods?
Fatal1ty: Obviously a lot of it is going to be about the graphics, game play, and getting to a much more realistic realm. Obviously you dont want to get too realistic, because you want to have something that is futuristic and fun to play. Be able to do stuff that you arent able to do in real life. Like being able to carry eight guns at once, like shooting a rocket and then bring up a rail gun. Thats exciting, because that is something you cant do in real life. Doing those types of things make the game a lot of fun. I think the main thing is the graphics, the experience, and the sound is becoming a huge part of the gaming world. Its really going to immerse you into the whole gaming experience. When you watch a movie, obviously all the graphics are really cool, but its the sounds is the emotion. Its what really makes you think you are in the movie or that youre feeling it. Definitely sound is the most important part.
Q: The videogame industry is often surrounded in controversy, with the GTA "Hot Coffee" issue being the most recent. In the past, people have said that Doom and Unreal are to blame for school shootings. Do you feel that videogames are training our children to kill?
Fatal1ty: Definitely not. About the Grand Theft Auto thing, I really dont know a whole lot about that issue. Ive heard about it, but I personally dont play it. I used to play the old Grand Theft Auto on the PC back in the mid-90s. Obviously every kid plays Grand Theft Auto today. Ive played Doom, Quake 1 and all the games leading up to now, but what I dont think people realize is how much relaxation gaming really gives you. Gaming is actually a tunnel of relaxation. Its a place where young kids and even grown ups go, just to get away from the real world. They use it to relax, get away from the daily life of working from 9 to 5, going to school, dealing with parents, dealing with your kids, or whatever. I think people will tend to point the finger at these types of games, because they need to point the finger at something. The truth is, gaming probably does a huge amount of relaxation for everyone that plays games. It gives them some sort of relaxation and balance with the world. I think gaming hasnt been getting credit for what it has been doing for people all over the world. They try to point their fingers at why a game is so bad, when really it's probably the parent or the individual that is having the issues. Its sad that they have to do that, but I think gaming should get a lot more praise and award for what it is doing for everyone.
Q: How often do you play games between leisure play and practice play?
Fatal1ty: I game all the time. Its non-stop. Its so much fun. I love traveling and playing games. At home when Im not competing for a tournament, I like playing my consoles and on the Internet. Every part of the gaming world is just so much fun for me. When Im not playing a videogame, then Im playing another game, like tennis, baseball, basketball, hockey, or football. Im always playing a game. Thats how I grew-up. Im a very competitive guy and love playing sports. I just love playing games in general. So if Im playing baseball, hockey or tennis or Quake, Doom, or Mario Kart, it's still a game. I love playing them.
Q: As far as Nintendo platforms go (GameCube, GBA, and DS), which games are you favorite to play on those?
Fatal1ty: Definitely Mario. Hands down. What else can he do? [laughs]
Q: Which one? Tennis? Golf? Party?
Fatal1ty: All the Mario games. I have Mario Tennis and love that. On Mario Golf, Im trying something that has never been done before on that right now. Definitely Super Mario Kart.
Q: Would you like to see tournament for these games? Maybe at E3?
Fatal1ty: I think it would be interesting more for leisure, more or less. I dont think they should be taken as seriously as FPS games. FPSs are where the real skill is at and where the real competition. For the fun and the excitement, if you want to be the best Mario Kart or Mario Golf guy out there, then that is still a cool thing.
Q: What are your thoughts on the PSP and the Nintendo DS? It appears that the touch screen does a great job replacing the mouse and keyboard for FPS with Metroid: Hunters and GoldenEye DS. Do you see the game industry moving inthat direction in the future and steering away from the basic joystick and buttons set-up?
Fatal1ty: I dont think so. The thing is, people like to hold stuff when they are playing. The joystick is a great thing for flying jets around like in Battle Field 2 and in flight simulators. They want to feel like they are on the throttle. It feels more realistic like you are in the environment. So having a stylus is like, Oh, Im shooting a guy here with a pencil! That doesnt do anything for me. It doesnt make me feel special or anything at all. The reason why the mouse is so great is that you are moving the mouse around, which is basically the motion of your arm. It feels like you have control over what is going on. I guess in real combat, like in the army or whatever, it feels real similar. I really dont know from experience, but it just seems like they are basically the same.
Q: As far as the controls for the future, where do you see them heading. I was at an arcade last night playing Police 911, which uses motion sensors to track your movements to play the game. Do you think games will start being played with devices like the Playstation 2 Eye Toy and we will start to move away from the standard controllers?
Fatal1ty: Its always interesting and I am always up for new ideas and inventions and see how the work and play, but you dont want to get too realistic, because that takes away from the fun and the whole futuristic aspect of the game. It can be a real toss up. I really like the keyboard and mouse right now, but like I said, Im always up for new ideas. Im willing to take it in and check it out, but right now it is really the mouse and keyboard.
Q: Any advice for future gamers that may try to take you on in the future?
Fatal1ty: Just practice a lot and keep your head on a swivel.
Q: All right, nice talking with you, sir.
Fatal1ty: Thank you very much.