werent we discussing this douchebag a few days ago?

Xeros606

@Hobb3z: Actually this site consists of one of the editors posting a Resident Evil 5 article every week and it turning into a debate about racism, followed by half the readers getting banned and having to make new accounts.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

@Hobb3z:

I gotta agree with Hobb3z on this one.

saxifridge

@Metropolis: You have obviously never been part of the pro gaming "scene". You would be surprised how many fans there actually are.

Almost all of you guys are making assumptions about Fatality and Pro gaming in general, yet again, that is mostly what this site consists of.

Do a little research before talking.

Hobb3z

YO! It's the green machine -- Gonna rock the town without bein' seen
Have you ever seen a turtle Get Down? -- Slammin' Jammin' to the new swing sound
Yeah, everybody let's move -- Vanilla is here with the new Jack Groove
Gonna rock, and roll this place -- With the power of the ninja turtle bass
Iceman, ya know I'm not playin' -- Devistate the show while the turtles are sayin:

Chorus:
Ninja, Ninja, RAP! Ninja, Ninja, RAP!
GO GO GO
Go Ninja, Go Ninja, GO; Go Ninja, Go ninja, GO!
Go Ninja, Go Ninja. GO; Go Ninja, Go ninja, GO!
GO GO GO GO

Lyrics, fill in the gap -- Drop that bass and get the NINJA RAP
Feel it, if you know what I mean -- Give it up for those heroes in green
Just flowin, smooth with the power -- Kickin' it up, hour after hour
Cause in this life there's only one winner -- You better aim good so you can hit the center
In it to win it, with a team of four -- Ninja Turtles that you gotta adore it's the:

Chorus

Villians, you better run and hide -- Because one day you might not slide
Choose your weapon but don't slip -- Vanilla's in control with the flex of the mic grip
Rockin' the crowd the way it should be rocked -- With the Miami drop that you like alot
Hittin like a Ninja Turtle when the bass kicks in -- You better check your level
The power of the Ninja is strong -- Fightin' all the crooks until they're all out cold

Tarutaru_Pantsu

DO NOT WANT!

PissedPS3Fan

@Xagest: what the.. ? strip tease? you just blew my mind.

other than that, yawn.

geekgrrl

Professional gamers have fans? Well besides all the loanly guys drolling over the females I mean.

Metropolis

While I agree the concept of an "e-sportmen" is a little silly, I think any of you would gladly accept a large check in exchange for your name being on a gaming product and to sit around all day playing games. I have never met him, he may very well be a douche bag, but if any of you had the same opportunity you would dive to be in the "douche bag's" shoes because in the end, he has fat stacks of cash and doesn't give a fuck what a bunch of people in the internet say about him.

saxifridge

@xAnarChisTx: Yeah I wasn't implying Billy Mitchell was an ass in real life like Fatal1ty. He is someone I would genuinely like to meet.

No matter how one-sided King of Kong was, you can't deny the guy has skill when he was the first person to ever get a perfect pac-man game (and reclaim DK #1 score live).

Tarutaru_Pantsu

I actually know the guy (I used to be a pro gamer but quit for various reasons) and you guys are creating this pre-idea about the guy.

He isn't the coolest guy ever, that is for sure...but calm down. He has made a living (very good one, might i add) off pro gaming and lives a life many would dream of.

With that said, I doubt this increases the attendance much, if at all, but it still good to see a company TRY something new.

Hobb3z

Is he still even actively doing anything, other than putting his name on any product that will have him? (Serious question) Seems like you used to hear a lot more about his actual accomplishments, now you only hear about him when his name is being used to sell something.

Or is my "l33t sp33k f1lt3r" just doing better at making sure I rarely see his name?

Justin42

associate skill with (insert generic PC FPS here)*

I put it in brackets the first time >_>;;

Tarutaru_Pantsu

Meh, he LOOKS like a douche. Most pros at ANYTHING are.

HeartlessOmega

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: But with Billy Mitchell, he really isn't an asshole in real life. The movie made him out to be a dick, due to editing. He told his side of the story several times, where he had great conversations with Wiebe during the movie, only to have it cut out, just to give the impression that he is a heartless fuck.

And yes, Pac-man and Donkey Kong are insanely impossible games to get through. I can only get to level 15 in Pac-man, and 10 in DK, and it's just brutal compared to today's games.

And for Fatal1ty, I can only further confirm that yes, he is a douchbag.

xAnarChisTx

@Jayge: You are right. I guess a better example would have been a game like Geometry Wars 2 where it is so random and brutal that it is not just a matter of pattern recognition (except sequence mode).

It is just hard for me to associate skill with because it is mostly based on human error of your hillbilly opponent.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

What the hell is an "e-sportsman?"

Nobody should care about this.

ncsbert

Yawn. Unless he's planning on doing a strip tease or something, I'm totally disinterested.

Xagest

Sorry, I like games, but that's where it ends. No toys, no pro-gamers, no events...just the games and the people that make them.

Wolfers

We had this same discussion last year when it was announced he would be at E For All.

He's a douchebag. Just look at him.

Mr_Fuzzypaws

You know the world Is fucked up when a guy playing an FPS game Is more famous than the guys who created the game in the first place

KEELr

guys a pompas ass.

radink

You have to admit, wearing a shirt with YOUR OWN gamertag on and striking a vanilla ice pose is kinda...douchy.

vonfaustus

I'm not sure why someone would want to meet/get an autograph from ANY pro gamer. I couldn't care less about "F@t@L1tY" OR Billy Mitchell. I can't tell if they just have good PR people on their side, or if video game players just have really low standards for who they idolize.

KaneRobot

where can I get one of those SWEET Fatal1ty shirts?
I too want to look like a douchebag.

gadjet

i hope the fame doesnt get to his head ?!

aggrostack

Why don't they finish him already? He's not 1337.

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: Donkey Kong and Pac Man take fake skill. They take Brain Age skill. Skill learned through constant repetition. It's like one-trick-pony "supermen" who can do incredible physical feats, but only in a specialized area because that's how they train.

Which isn't to say that the FPS games you've listed there take some godlike amount of skill, but your definition of actual skill is somewhat limited, if that's what you base it on.

Jayge

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: 100% agree with you there I had plans to go to grand rapids about an hour from where i live to met billy mitchell last weekend at a wii gaming event. I'd rather meet someone like him with the skill and time put into a game like pac-man and donkey kong he's true to the game.

ReisE

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: King of Kong didnt paint Mitchell as a very good guy, but yeah I would rather meet him then this fatality guy.

Im not a fan of the whole pro gaming thing either, its kinda stupid, its never going to get to the point that these leagues are saying it will some day.

The real compeition is where it was at 20 years ago, beating high scores that were thought impossible.

Scott3D

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: LOL ... you're insane.

hollowfreak

I never met him don't really care to. I'm from the old skool arcade days when we played MK and SF for glory and threw quarters down for your local pride. To me this whole professional gaming this is like a giant pussfest. I feel it was never met for it. But oh well people turn anything into a profession eating etc etc.

But I've seen countless times on the web people talking about seeing him here or there at this event and that and how much a flaming douche he is.

ReisE

I would much rather meet a REAL pro gamer like Billy Mitchell than meet some "boom-headshot" gamer like Fatal1ty.

Donkey Kong and Pac-Man take more skill than:
Quake
Quake 2
Quake 3
Aliens versus Predator 2
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Call of Duty 2
Counter-Strike
Unreal Tournament 2003
Doom 3
Painkiller
Quake 4

Tarutaru_Pantsu

He looks like jeff k and probably has the most embarassing career this side of menstral pad tester

bhlaab

My view is that I have great respect for what he has done to get to where he's at.

He is good a FPS games, or he wouldn't of won all those championships and cheques. He's made a lot of money from his name and personality.....but the guy is a smug asshole.

If you ever see him in an interview or in a documentary, you just want to pick up a baseball bat with nails in it and smash it into his face.

Oh well...life goes on I guess!

freemonk

This is the niche market of professional gaming and I think that if he's trying to make a living let the guy..... PIMP HIS W4R3Z.

Zombie999

Well that means that PAX and not E for All will keep getting all of my focus. Because these folks could have invited countless, countless other folks but no, they invite him.

Foxstar Sixtail

How about no? He is a schill. Admitted he will put his name on any hardware as long as the money is good. Seriously, screw him.

KaneTaker

Met the guy. He's a douche.

GrrSnort

He must have the best agent ever. Seriously Fatal1ty has never been cool.

Ryfael

I dont get what the hub-bub is about this guy either.

Altima NEO

@Metropolis: ...loanly guys drolling...

I see you may have dropped out of school at an early age. Have you considered a career in professional gaming?

Day Man

This guy might just be the biggest toolbox in gaming history.

CHU BOI

Does anyone in the gaming community not think he's a huge wanker?

Stevedroid

Why would anybody want to meet this guy or Billy Mitchell? I don´t remember nothing memorable or astonishing about these guys, they are good at games, that´s all, that´s nothing remarkable. Pro gaming is BS and it´s just a way to pretend videogames are accepted or embraced like movies or sports, but the sad part is that gaming isn´t like those examples...Geez, why the need to feel gaming is accepted?? I´ve never heard the Magic the Gathering or D&D guys craving for that, and they are fine, they have their market and their fanbase, you know, just like videogames used to, just before the urgent feeling to be mainstream turn it into a casual market, with shovelware included...

Daisuash

@DigitalHero: You know, he does look like Vanilla Ice.

dowingba

@Hobb3z: I'd also like to point out South Korea. If I'm not mistaken, they are pretty fanatical about their pro-gamers.
Given, like anything done competitively you have to be good at it in order to succeed, he lives a life many would only dream of. After all, isn't it the same for pro-sports in general? (I'm not arguing about calling gaming a sport, thats a discussion for another time.) Most of us enjoy playing games, but to play competitively it takes a whole new level of dedication. Same for pro-sports, I enjoy kicking the soccer (or football) around but to play competitively, no thank you.

trogam

I would love to meet Billy Mitchel

So I could set his mullet on fire.

Dauragon C. Mikado

I'd rather meet some other guy because he was in a movie about old video games!!!!!

FATAL1TY WAS NEVER IN A MOVIE ABOUT OLD VIDEO GAMES!!!!!!

dowingba

He reminds me of Vanilla Ice.

DigitalHero

I would absolutely go to this to see my personal hero in the flesh. And that would be the first person who starts chucking tomatoes at Fatal1tw1t.

Purple Dave

Hahahahahahaha!
Ahahahaha!
Ah...
Ah...
Ah...
Ah...
Ahahahahahahahah!

Elemence

Yes. There certainly isn't anyone quite like Johnathan Fatal1ty Wendel.

Aye Mak Sicur

Billy Mitchell needs to show up to this event and kick this dudes head in chuck norris style. KING OF KONG!!!!!!!

ReisE

oh please stop stroking this man's ego

TheTog

@Hearts_Are_1: I asked him if he played any fighting games, like Capcom Vs. SNK 2, and he said "Fuck fighting games, shit takes no skill, man. Only for pussies." I kind of take offense to that. He said something along the lines that FPS' are the only games that require any skill. And he made fun of my PC rig. Fuck that pretentious prick.

GrrSnort

Penny Arcade's already put out their own press release about Fatal1ty. Priceless.... If someone else mentioned this earlier, I'm sorry.

AngryEddy

@GordieHoweHatTrick: I agree. Fatal1ty may have his name on all of this hardware, but Lucas had the Power Glove, and everybody knows you don't mess with the Power Glove. It's so . . bad.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

@angry_gamer: What makes it BS? Remaining stuck on old classifications of what is 'cool' and what isn't, what certain activities are for and what they aren't, is really an outdated practice. The size and scope of attendees at Guitar Hero/Rock Band competitions is a good example.

In one sense, it took video gaming a long time to get out of science labs, mainframes, and ultimately kids' houses an into the streets. It's done all this in around 40 years. Sports, on the other hand, have been around for thousands. They've had a bit more time to be accepted.

Testamonium

@Tesahli: Hey! Kotaku is serious business!

Tarutaru_Pantsu

Mike, are you kidding me... "Fatal1ty" is more than a rapper. His game flows with poetry with every click of the mouse.

Jokes.

It's known in computer circles that almost anything with the name "Fatal1ty" in it is CRAP.

mr_dimsum

I would rather meet that Lucas kid from The Wizard instead of this Fatal1ty guy. Just a shame he isn't real, I would have him autograph my Virtual Boy for sure.

GordieHoweHatTrick

[www.penny-arcade.com]

Gabe just put up an appropriately scathing and hilarious rebuttal to this 'press release.'

Captain_Collide

@DazeOfWar:

Identity thiefs?

Tesahli

I just strolled into his "show" at E306 and it kind of blew me away how ridiculous it all ways. Skimpily clad girls howling "Who's the best gamer in the woooorld" and rewarding yeahs with tees with his name on them. It was just fucking embarassing.

Sunjammer

I think the funniest thing about this is that he'll be signing autographs. Who in their right mind would care for his signature.

DazeOfWar

@Tarutaru_Pantsu:

Are you serious? No, you've gotta be trolling now. Sorry, I mistook you for a serious poster.

Tesahli

Being a gamer pretty much all my life (1st console at 3 years, taking computers apart and putting them back together at 6) I'm so not in the "pro gamer thang".

Really, gaming is not cool, it's geeky and it's to relax or to let your mind wander off and vegetate, not so some jock wannabe wants to pimp it out like a sport. I don't have a problem with jocks or anyone playing a video game but making it so that they can make money by branding and foul mouthed play just screams bigtime BS.

angry_gamer

@Tesahli: There's a good bit of truth to that. We've all been playing games all our lives, and this guy comes along and is suddenly 'professional,' and, being a douche-bag, it makes him really easy to resent.

Personally, I don't care either way. If he helps pro gaming, so be it. I'm not going to fight a wave that's trying to carry one of my favorite past times into a broader arena.

Testamonium

@brodie123: He's a dickhead, too. Take it from me. Besides, he only really excels at Quake. Trust me, I've played and seen better "pro"-gamers than him. At this rate he's basically a marketing puppet, especially for hardware companies.

Candlejack

Anyone seen the news post at penny arcade?

Hiarious.

monkey_87

Never even heard of this guy, but wow, he just looks/sounds like a loser. And i didn't see this in the comments yet, but Penny Arcade doesn't seem to think much of him either: [www.penny-arcade.com]

FreakyFavabean

@Tesahli: If you don't have reaction time, accuracy, reflexes, hand-eye coordination in Pac-Man, then Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde will fuck you up. It's not like they take the same exact path over 256 levels, and in most cases, they are better at teamwork and trapping you than the 10-year olds on Halo too busy arguing to work together.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

haha, from Penny Arcade today:

For Immediate Release
Wednesday, August 6 2008 - 10:29 AM
by: Gabe
Penny Arcade Expo 2008

Press Release

World's Top Gamer "Fatal1ty" will not be at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)
PAX is proud to announce that they will not be welcoming E-sportsman Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel to the event.

"There is no one else in the video game industry quite like Fatal1ty and we're thrilled that he won't be attending our show" said Gabe, Chief Executive Officer of the Penny Arcade Expo, the greatest video game festival in the universe. "Seriously, if he even tries to come we'll kick him out."

Wei

I didnt know vanilla ice was also known as Fatal1ty!

kablammyman

Other than creative products that seem to be branded to be

X-TREEME! and i always see hugely discounted I probably wouldn't even know who this guy is. Is he really that famous?
There used to be that one kid(few years back) that started his own gaming site and he seemed pretty bright, and level headed. Firingsquad I believe... Thresh?

Ehardergardens

It sounds cliche, but I think a lot of this hate is honestly jealousy. He may be a douche-bag, but I'm honestly pretty jealous of the guy, he plays video games for a living and gets paid tons of money for it. Given the opportunity, I'd take his job and slap a gamer-tag all over crappy merchandise no one will buy. You hear that Microsoft? HIRE ME GODDAMN YOU!!

Also, the kind of skill required for beating Pac-man, is the same kind of skill required for beating a Rubik's cube. Just memorizing patterns. It's a skill, but a completely different one from the skill required for a FPS, which is reaction time, accuracy, reflexes, hand-eye coordination, etc. They really can't be compared at all.

Tesahli

Who's that guy?

CockroachMan

@Daisuash: Well, to be fair, your examples don't really hold water given that there are large tournaments for games like Magic held across the country. If people could get paid good money to play a card game like that, they would. From a marketing standpoint, though, CCGs and such aren't frenetic enough. Poker somehow slips by that, but I don't think anyone could market their way past the 'nerdy' fantasy element of a CCG. Poker players at least tend to have style of some sort, and the amount of money on the line adds tension.

I guess what's funny to me about that comment is that, for the longest timing, gaming really has been a niche thing, started by science geeks and maintained by them, and we were mostly fine with that. It's exciting to see your hobby grow, though, and this is the consequence of that. In return for more elaborate games and an industry with a greater field of depth, we have to suffer through all of the flotsam that clutters the waters.

Gaming is much more like your examples of movies and sports than you'd like to believe. Decades ago, people thought movies were just a gimmick that wouldn't go anywhere. Same with TV. If you can spin it just right, anything can have the competitive edge necessary to garner attention. Sports just happen to have it built in and ready to go. That's the only real difference.

Testamonium

@Grahamunculus: It's not really sad. It is just wanting to meet someone who is good at something you are interested in.

If you are interested in big, hairy, roid-rage men who throw/kick/hit a ball, good for you. We hope you meet those men some day.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

@GrrSnort: Met him as well, seemed like a nice guy to me...didn't act like a douche or anything

Hearts_Are_1

Fatal1ty is only cool until his m0m and d4d gr0und him for not finishing his h0m3w0rk.

Robotube

Haha, that is lame. I'm pretty bad ass at Galaga but no one wants to meet me. You know who I want to meet? Someone who actually plays sports like Garnett or Pele or Frank Thomas. That would be awesome. Meeting someone who is good at video games is the opposite of awesome, it is sad.

Grahamunculus

i'd never pay a cent to see the guy.. i'm not trying to hate on the guy.. he's a gamer just like most everyone else here, except he's exceptionally good at it and has made crazy bank doing so..
but, a celebrity in my eyes, he simply is not.

brodie123

@Daisuash: Pro gaming and the Wii destroying gaming do not have a direct correlation. If anything, Pro gaming becoming more popular would help STOP the Wii's evil casual gaming parade because it would bring more attention to games that are built to kick your ass rather than games that let you pretend to cook by attaching a plastic spatula to a Wii-mote.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

A huge selling point?!? are you kidding?

Boudabras

@Quilt: [pressthebuttons.typepad.com]

Candlejack

@duckmouth: Nope, those videos are more a matter of playing against humans that make errors and editing to only show the highlights of the matches.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: Don't even start by trying to set aside what you think constitute aspects of "skill". You're using some sort of Luddite witchery by saying that 2D survival games take skill, but FPS games do not. Believe it or not, there's a tremendous amount of skill involved in being able to maneuver in a 3D environment, manage an inventory of weapons appropriately (most of which are suited to specific situations), to evade fire, and even more importantly, to translate that into goal-directed behaviour such as capturing a flag or working on a team.

tybeet

Hold on, hold on...I've got a joke now.

When's the Fatal1ty movie coming out?

Quilt

I have no problem with the guy personally. What I don't like is the fact that he is turning out more and more to be a brand more and more than an actual gamer. Unless you are specifically looking for them you won't find any examples of him playing or of his skill. What you do find is a lot of junk hardware, bad stage shows, and interviewers constantly swinging off of him. It's no different than if a football player is constantly hawking his own line of shoes and equipment and yet very few people have actually ever seen him play.

If his feats and wins were more popular it wouldn't be an issue, but his image as it stands for most people lacks substance through no fault of his.

OUberLord

To the people who say that everyone else is jealous and this kid is living the dream, blah blah blah: true, this kid gets paid to play videogames and make boatloads of money doing so... but I'd rather get paid to *make* them. Which would you rather do - something that's rewarding in that thousands+ people get to enjoy your handiwork; something that takes skill, time, and ingenuity... or get paid to simply play them?

thirtytwoutside

And the farce that is professional gaming continues.

Quilt

This guy is a douchehammer who is barely famous in the gaming community, why do I hear about him still? With practice anyone with decent hand-eye coordination, a parents basement and no job could be just as "successful"

Kirk Douglas

@duckmouth: I beg your pardon everyone, this was supposed to be the second vid:

+ Watch video

duckmouth

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: CoD2 doesn't take much skill? Regarde:

+ Watch video

This chap isn't even a pro, but I'll wager he'd whup 'Fatality' (I refuse to spell it with a 1).

If that vid doesn't do it for ya, check this shit out:

+ Watch video

duckmouth

Say all you want, the fact of the matter is that he makes more money then all of us and gets to play video games for a living. That has to be items number 1 & 2 on just about everyone's wishlist on this board.

M.A.S.

@Hobb3z: I'm also with Hobb3z on this one. I see all of this "he LOOKS like a douche" and "I met him once. Guy SEEMS like a douche". Meeting someone once and spending 5 minutes with them doesn't make you master judge of his/her personality.

As for him being at E For All...whether he is there or not, I don't think it will make much of a difference.

Moe Power

LOL some serious twisted logic around here.

Anyone contesting the skills required to play an FPS I suggest you attend E4A and challenge Fatal1ty to a duel. As someone who plays FPS games, badly, I can assure it you don't win by randomly mashing buttons. For that he earns my respect.

Regarding professional gaming. Erm aren't you all the same rabid "HARDCORE" gamers, spending hours earning achievements just like everyone else? Yet you criticise something that can only legitimise gaming as a serious competitive sport and so justify your lonely hours of self gratification? Problem seems to be with professional gaming is that the wrong types of games are being used to represent it.

Wendel's personality is questionable, I've never been struck by him as an engaging person. I'd hope he gets a new agent who can play to his strengths as a gamer and not try to make him something he doesn't appear comfortable with.

Jelster

Never did like this whole pro gamer league thing. A gist of them look like huge assholes who trash talk online to you through out the entire match. I don't wanna be apart of that.

s0nlxaftrsh0ck

I'm guessing 50% of actors have far less skill, and commitment then he does, yet are celebrities.

Please, theres nothing wrong with being a fan of pro gaming. It's just like being a fan of any other sport, entertainment medium, or hobby. But I agree that hes a complete douche.

I'm not a fan of pro gaming, but I don't see whats wrong with it, I'm not a fan of nascar, seeing 50 cars circle around a track 500 times seems boring, or seeing Mr. Spoc in person talking about episode 132FK5@ doesn't interest me either, but there are fans of that too.

It's not like pro gaming doesn't take skill, because if it didn't, you'd be there doing it making money off it too.

Crull

Seriously I think you're all jealous. This guy is living the dream of every kid from my generation. He's making money playing video games.

zgreenwell

hehehe, i liked heaton from SK, that was when CS was in its early days. I have to say I do hope WCG becomes what the olympics is :D

Fauxe

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: We get it. You don't like FPS's, and you think that only "hillbillies" play them.

It's quite a stretch however to say that it takes more skill to play Donkey Kong than a game like Shadowrun or Counter Strike. To be good at Donkey Kong or Pac-Man, you need good reflexes and good pattern recognition. To be good at Shadowrun you need good reflexes, and the ability to out strategize an opponent whose strategy will be constantly adapting and changing.

Perfect analogy; your saying it takes more skill to be good at that old electronic game Simon, than it takes to be good a Chess.

robinandtami

Good god, I love Penny Arcade.

Wizzard

@Quilt: When Uwe Boll buys the rights to it.

jedifreeman

All this 'looks like a douche' stuff reminds me of how the 4chan crew just shout 'bald' whenever Penny Arcade are mentioned.

superbabyproject

I know a lot are going to disagree with me, but I don't care. Personally, I have no interest in professional gaming. I consider myself a great gamer, well-versed in many different genres. However, even though I do have certain games where I'm nigh unbeatable, I would never want to be paid for nor """"celebritized"""" like Johnny is. I think that just takes the fun out of my favorite hobby. For instance, if I'm constantly playing Game A because that's what I compete in, I won't have that much time to play the upcoming Game D that I've had my eye on for quite some time now.

Another reason I dislike professional gaming is because it's boring to watch other people play video games unless I'm scoping out my competition or watching a friend play (OR other people in an arcade, back when they existed). Frankly, I could care less about those live gaming streams popping up on sites around the net.

Finally, I think a professional gamer should be one who plays a LARGE myriad of games and is better than your average gamer at most, if not, all of them. Correct me if I'm wrong, but all 2 of the professional gamers I heard of were only good at like 2 or 3 titles.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying game tourneys aren't fun; I've been in one and am practicing to take on another this year. I'm just saying that I wouldn't a want a career based on playing Game A.

DONNYchiban

I'd rather meet any random Korean.

After all, they're ALL good at Starcraft.

mergedwarrior

There's a potential Donkey Kong kill screen coming up if anybody's interested.

MASOCHIST187

@Jayge: Skill is all relative to the game. Some take more of a memorization of pattern and timing, some are a twitch gaming response and more hand-eye coordination. Being really good at a fighting game and being really good at a FPS or platformer title takes the relative same amount of skill, the only difference is what skills are most necessary. No one game genre takes any less skill from a competitive angle than another, it's all just how many skillsets or how much knowledge one needs to have nailed down to do the best.

Ampillion, Dayman. Fighter of the Nightman.

If I am playing 2Fort as an engineer and I continue to dominate a Spy because they are attacking me before sapping the sentry, that doesn't make me an awesome, "best engineer in the world" because I got so many kill counts, it just emphasizes the point that playing against human players is harder to associate with skill because it depends on how stupid they are.

Tarutaru_Pantsu

@M.A.S.: he seems to more pr and selfwhoreing now than game playing... I sure wouldn't want to do that.

And i wouldn't be too sure about the 'makes more money than any of us' bit either ;)

harlock_JDS

@ReisE: Rock Paper Scissors Online would like a word with you.

Wizzard

This story and comments is comedy gold lol. I've laughed a few times reading threw them all.

All games take skill in the end.

ReisE

After reading some of the comments about how DK requires more skill than a recent FPS, I must disagree. While DK does require skill, I believe that FPS games are much more dynamic and have more variables to account for in a match. To succeed requires great skill and concentration.

DK has patterns you can memorize for movements of some objects, and it's been shown (a la King of Kong) that some thing can even be controlled at will by the player, such as barrel movements.

I've never met Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe, Fatal1ty or any one else high-level like that, so I cannot accurately comment on the "ghey"- or "douche"ness of any of them.

StupidDufus

Fatal1ty came into my old work once to play Unreal Tournament. The actual visit was extremely uneventful, but the build up around his presence all day would make you tink the god damned President of the United States was making an entrance.

BudDudandSlash

@tybeet: True story.

FATDAN

Where are all the scream fan girls for this pro gamer? Oh wait thats with the Koreans.

LiLllA

@DONNYchiban: QFT

angry_gamer

@thirtytwoutside: That's a trick question right? I'm pretty sure most people would choose being paid the amount this guy gets paid just for playing a game and making appearances than being a game developer who is working twice as many hours a week trying to meet contant deadlines.

Most of you guys just sound like haters. If this were so easy why don't you do it? There are worse jobs than professional gamer...

henhowc

@Testamonium: Right and since when is being a foul mouthed couch potato a sport in all the millions of years it has had to develop? The closest it has become are a few board games but a "pro gamer" is as much a sport as a "pro poker player".

Really, we barely consider bowling a sport. And if you actually had any reading comprehension rather than some kneejerk drive to prove someone wrong you'd know I wrote specifically "but making it so that they can make money by branding and foul mouthed play just screams bigtime BS".

angry_gamer

@Foxstar Sixtail: agreed. I'm not against pro/tournament gaming by any means (as I am a competitor on a world level on a particular game) but the team behind E4All thinking that his participation warrants a separate press release is just silly. Wether you agree or disagree with pro gaming is irrelevant; it is a growing part of the gaming industry right now so recognizing key players in it is understandable. But pro-gaming isn't at a point yet where those key players are selling points for non-pro gaming events. Include him in a press release listing what the show has to offer in its entirety but don't give him his own.

Smidget

I'd rather meet a developer than a gamer.

Who cares about fellow gamers? I want to meet and talk to and hear speak the guys creating these works.

ScottG13

For over 200 years it has been common knowledge (shared by the 16 Chambermen) that the ghosts featured in Pacman are sentient, living transcendient beings whom have been alive since rougly 132 AD.

Given this relatively obscure fact, one could easily see why Pacman is regarded as one of the most difficult games in existance, as the opponents are not only self-aware, but sentient.

To date, Pacman cabinets are the only known tangible devices that are capable of entrapping such overwhelming evil, and thus should be approached with extreme caution.

Bone Structure

I thought that we, as a society, had moved on from stupid shit like this. Seriously, to anyone who actually plays games and knows hardware, this guys name is complete and utter joke. They try to make you think that having a fatal1ty (seriously, a 1 instead of an I...really?) anything will make you some kind of god gamer, which in reality, it makes you just as much a pro, as wearing that Hooters shirt, makes you a Nascar driver.

Darkest Daze

@Tarutaru_Pantsu: That's why playing in a pub and playing in a match for a league are 2 different things. Pro-gamers are not skilled because they "pzwn'd da nubs" in the pub. They may start there, but if they are pro, they are in tournaments and leagues, and are matching their skills against other like minded and like skilled players.

I'm not going to play against a world champion chess master and then claim he's not pro because he beat a schmuck and jumped on my mistakes. In fact, I would argue that recognizing a mistake is a sign of skill, and taking advantage of said mistake even more so.

FATDAN

Oh god. lulz all around, yeah?

Also, mad lulz to this: [www.penny-arcade.com]

FallenEverdark

I lost interest after the "Thresh" era.

boopadoo

There's no one like him...as in there's no career for anyone else if you expect to be a pro gamer. I mean this guy has sellability as much as a booth babe probably...it makes no difference at all. So what makes this guy so special. The question is, can he sell hardware and software and why would anyone use his name to do so?

karateka

@ScottG13: Exactly I really do want to meet the people behind such great titles. I want to meet the person/people behind Final Fantasy, Shigeru, and Hideo. Let alone I would also would love to meet the composers for these games, Koji Kondo, Nobuo Uematsu.

shrek187

I think we can all agree that these events need more booth babes and less gamers. heh

henhowc

I really don't care who he is or what he does. If the E For All Expo has a playable demo of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom then I will go regardless.

shrek187

professional gaming is lame. Competative games making the not fun, IMO. I got so sick of COD4 because it got so competative. And whoever thinks fatality is a celeb, they seriously need a reality check, but they are 10 years old anyways. Games are art, not for sport.

SW33TLOU

As I am not a part of the "FPS community," I was going to ask if this Fatality guy is anything to be excited about. I always assumed he was some asshole that happens to be good at FPSs.
If the comments that have already been posted are to be believed, I think I was correct.

AdmiralRupert

@thirtytwoutside: errr...play them. After hearing the horror stories that come out of EA's dev factories, yes definitely play them...

NeVeRMoRe666

He's wearing a shirt with his own name on it... that's pretty lame.

chenry

After this piece of news I've decided to go to PAX this year. They promised it's going to be 100% Fatal1ty free!

fdisk

"...we're eager to see him interact with the fans, which is what he does best."

I thought he was there because playing video games competitively was what he did best. Color me confused.

Sabash

@karateka: The question is, can he sell hardware and software and why would anyone use his name to do so?

Wendel's been pimping hardware ever since the Razer Boomslang years ago I think. I'm sure that would be over with by now if there wasn't any money to be had from it... and from what I remember on IRC with people talking about how they wanted to get their hands on the guy's Q3 config file, I guess there's a market for everything.

evslin

Professional gaming? I am amazed it still exsists.

Philantrophy

And apparently Fatal1ty has been uninvited from PAX.
[www.giantbomb.com]

Awesome.

LordAndrew

For such a famous and l33t gamer, he obviously isn't a Kotaku reader...

vanlingo

Who the fuck is Fatal1ty?

bysty

As a marketing bullshitter... this press release is marketing bullshit at its finest, and sad example of how far businesses are forced to overextend themselves to feed shareholders' demands for aggressive growth.

My knowledge of the PC gaming scene has been limited ever since the original Half Life was cutting-edge, but I can't see this appealing to more than a handful of rich kids/adults impressed by the branding and willing to drop the extra coin.

Good for the guy making a living on gaming and his brand, and as a previous commenter pointed out, the real all-star in the mix is Fatal1ty's agent, who keeps delivering the paychecks for what has to be a minimal return given this guy's extremely minimal "celebrity".

I could see the "pro gaming scene" evolve over the years and maybe someday take a foothold among teens, sort of like the "action sports" X-Games phenomenon has expanded from my adolescence into a major marketing demo.

The problem is, the X-Games has a sort of instant watchability that people like myself, who never got into skateboarding, bmx, etc. can watch and enjoy at a bar or some public gathering. The concept of pro gaming is too similar to hunting/fishing shows... why watch other people doing what you'd rather do yourself? Sure the skill is admirable, but the presentation sucks.

Jonaconda

@GrrSnort: i agree hes a total dooche

Thejamielynch

All I ever hear about is some crappy licensed Fatal1ty product, and never anything about Fatal1ty's actual gaming ability or Fatal1ty being in some competition. The power glove guy from the wizard has more of a rep than Fatal1ty does

jdlyga

Fatal1ty is as much a member of the industry as your local Gamestop clerk.

OtisElevator

@OtisElevator:Less. A Gamestop clerk can drag his way up the ladder and end up as a regional manager or even a buyer, who pretty much decides what Gamestop will buy from the various developers and how many copies. That's real power with real connections that last a lifetime.

Fatal1ty is a smoo who once his 15 mins are up, won't have anything at all but his rep, which is already more trouble then it's worth and the money, which he better be investing and not blowing mindlessly.

Foxstar Sixtail

You're totally correct, Foxtail. I was must have been around junior-high age when Dennis "Thresh" Fong began ripping shit up on the Quake circuit. I think I only read about him in a Rolling Stone article, but thought it was cool at the time there were people out there making a living on a game I equated with LPBs joining a server and beating everyone just by crouching and blasting us before our shitty 56k connections caught up.

e-Fame is fleeting, and Thresh ended up investing in a gaming company he later sold for what I will unscientifically refer to as a fuckload of money. At this point Thresh is probably in his early thirties, but he realized quick that the gaming scene discards its elders, and cashed in his chips at the right time.

That's the biggest problem with "pro-gaming" as a sporting concept. Fans of baseball, basketball, football... the athletes who came before are a huge part of their chosen team's lore. Gaming, like the rap music industry, is a young man's game with little room commercially for yesterday's artists/games.

...Well, that and I refuse to believe the average working man in his mid-twenties and above would schedule time to follow the "professional gaming scene". Niche market at best.

Jonaconda

I remember he was there a few E3's ago, there was a contest, kill him once, just once in a 3 minute match and win a computer or something. 3 days and a couple hundred amateur contestants later and i think no one won. But man he really drew a crowd.

samuraiyu

lol it doesnt matter if this dude is a complete asshole. just imagine him trying to pick up chicks and all is well.

"so wut do u do for a living?"

"well, i play videogames PROFESSIONALLY. thats right suck it in. im like a professional athlete."

"LOL GTFO."

maraxusofk

How come we never hear about his competitors? This isn't advertising pro gaming, it's advertising this ass

Snake726

Fatality (yeah I spelled it all proper on purpose) has been around so long now that the kids his products are marketed at don't know who he is.

ArcaneDevice

I would never have known he existed it weren't for this article and I don't think a lot of people even know who he is. Also, I don't expect any pro gamer to be anything but a douche and/or have an inflated ego.

Shykin

@duckmouth:
LOL GTFO! You post vids of someone playing FFA on a Console and then say they could take Fatal1ty. Wow talk about not appreciating the skills involved. Hey here a special FA1L just for you. :)

@OUberLord:
Totally with you there. Can't blame him for looking to move on, when you're top there is only one way to go from there. I just feel he'd be better at progressing competitive gaming from the perspective of a pro-gamer or even forming his own team and coaching. Just doesn't seem to have the charisma to pull off the celebrity stuff he's being pushed into doing.

@DONNYchiban:
Why should professional gaming be any different from the other litany of sports people drop billions of dollars on to watch, support and mimic on a amateur level.

Professional gaming is in it's infancy. I hope the screaming coaches and Mountain Dew segments of the CGS don't kill it off totally. With some nurturing and maturation the tools and people could be in place to make it a very entertaining medium. Right now if you have the right commentators and suitable editing watching a Quake Live CTF match or Duel can be very entertaining. As with most sports though, unless you are following a team or player you are doing little more than watching some random dude fight some other random dude, that is something that Fatal1ty has to done and may be the inspiration for more gamers.

Jelster

I'm not going to slag anyone I don't know and don't pay attention to
(yes, even on the internets where hate doesn't cost you a dime), but I'm not convinced the notions of Pro-Gamer and Entertainment-for-All are a
smart match.

Will be interesting to see exactly what crowd the expo draws this year.

Brackynews

i think we can all agree the wii is evil

li0nh34r7

WHO?

race

i wonder if much like other forms of so called ''sport'' there is room to make money as a jobber? since i dont even own any 'Xtr3m3' games like the kinds the 'pros' play, maybe i could get money to lay down and take the L?

of course to me the only shooters involve spaceships and power ups

kenesu96

who is fatal1ty, and why is he red?

if_deez

WHy is this guy even relevant???

GoonieGooGoo2

I don't wish to be a hater but seriously,while im sure he would school me in whatever he plays, he still looks incredibly like a douche.

computermachina

His brand name is attached to a lot of crap. It helps me know what stuff to avoid. Thanks fatal1ty!

panzerjedi

Fuck professional gamers.

Rammy

If it wasn't for the post, I wouldn't know who Fatal1ty is. Who is the guy I need to punch who thought that Fatal1ty is a selling point. Its bad marketing to have a selling point people don't care about.

CrazyEcho

Met him at E3 years ago, loser plays out dated shooters and bunny hops the whole time like a 12 year old.

R3co

How dare any of you challenge the marketing prowess or personal magnetism of Fatal1ty?

None of you hold a candle to him in any of the games where he has a World Championship (I believe it's 12 games).

So put a sock in it and WORSHIP THE MAN AND THE BRAND.

sumzeroclone

@sumzeroclone:No.

Foxstar Sixtail

Dear hater:

Seriously? I'll put my name on any hardware as long as the money's good. Who wouldn't?

Valcien

More than likely, 99% of you are awful players, hardcore players, but bad at what you play, I'm sure you play a lot and it frustrates you that people can excel at what you can not. In Korea, Starcraft and Warcraft III are played professionally and they make big money (they're treated like sport stars), you guys on the other hand don't make money playing a video games and probably never will.

Will Pro gaming take off in the US? I don't know. It has in other places. The fact that half of you are extremely jealous meat heads calling Fatality a douche just because of the way he looks makes me question the character of the posters on this website.

Deenouce

I'd rather meet Steve Wiebe, there's a real gaming champ.

MoonJump

My company had a party at CES and we normally have sponsors, Fatality and Creative and someone else. Halfway through the party we discover his publicist is at the front handing out "fatality" dogtags and saying "welcome to the fatality party". So yeah, he has a "great" publicist, just a completely immoral one.

Randomdude1234

"No one like him in gaming"?

Did...
Did she just say no gamers are douchebags?

MuffinmanMike

@boopadoo: Thresh didn't seem to be the type of person to inspire over 100 comments of type seen here.

neeko

I kind of stopped paying attention to the "haters is just jealous" argument once Hanson tried to do it.

MysidianMan

He reminds me of the 80's.

AnujSuper9

So...His claim to fame is that he plays video games just like the rest of us?

...

WVI

Check out today's Penny Arcade press release; I much prefer their Fatal1ty announcment to this one.

Treesus

Christ. I really hate the FPS is the game of choice for generation of gaming and Fata1ity is a prime example. If anyone should be the spokesmen for gaming it should be East Coast fighting game god Justin Wong or even West Coast's Alex Valle. Fighting games take a lot more skill and finesse than FPS IMO and command a crap load more respect and comradery since most competitive fighting games are born from arcades and not D Bags sitting in front of their TV talking shit over Xbox live. Shit like that will get you punched in the teeth in the arcade unless you earn respect.

SIlentStrife

Penny Arcade has a "press release" that they are proud to announce that Fatal1ty is not attending.

Now THAT'S a selling point.

unfathomablej

I still can't believe the money this guy makes let alone people wanting his autograph.

Deathmerchnt

This man is the worst person that ever lived

UncleAndross

@KaneRobot
The prevalence of gaming webcomics should tell you all you need to know about video game player standards.

MysidianMan

@Jayge: Maybe so, but remember, Billy Mitchell holds the world record for some hundred+ games or so. That takes skill beyond being just the champion of one game.

Ad-hominem

Well, they're confused. Don't they remember the basic attitude of Gamers?

[www.penny-arcade.com]

We don't like pre-made "personalities".

Ad-hominem

This is hilarious. If you taking video games seriously enough to turn them into a 'career', then, well, umm... pretty much that.

Imagine all the fascinating, interesting things he must have to talk about when people talk to him at a barbecue, for example. Like they'll sit there with beer and be so bored by what he says, they just lose focus on the conversation. I'm sure he has so much to say since he's travelled the world, experienced different cultures and knows all about all the depth of learning to become a 'Professional Videogame Player'. But then, how interesting is any sports star? Well, they're more interesting than sports fans, I'll give them that....

MaxChallie

@KaneTaker: can't really fault him for that, you'd do the same thing if someone was holding a bag with a big dollar sign on it!!!!!!!!!

@M.A.S.:
agreed!!!! that's why he is so hated!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

freespeech2