Tips on becoming a pro gamer
by Jennie Lees 
{ Nov 17th 2005 at 5:00PM }
Ted Owen, from the
Global Gaming League, has some advice for those wanting to
become pro gamers: get good, and get noticed. Whether you start your gaming career by playing at LANs or competing
online, practicing hard and playing against others who are at the top of their game will help you improve
yours.
It's not just about skill, though. Personality and branding are also important when trying to stand out from the competition—media-friendly gamers have a wider appeal than just their firing accuracy. Consider taking classes to improve your PR and image, and think about your appeal outside the gaming world, and you might land some sponsorship and media deals.
Prizes and sponsorship aren't all there is to aim for; the top professional gamers can land themselves full-time positions with regular salaries, and concentrate solely on their gaming. At this level, gamers really are virtual athletes, with intensive training programmes to match those of top sports players worldwide. But staying flexible is key, as tournament games and sponsors are likely to change.
For anyone just starting out, it's a lot of hard work to become (and stay) a professional gamer—but players like Fatal1ty, and the members of Team 3D, show that it can be done. Get yourself online, get into ladders and tournaments, and show the world what you're made of.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I'm a lifelong gamer- since 1977 I've been gaming- and I think the whole idea of a "professional gamer" is LAME LAME LAME. I really dislike "Fatal1ty" and "Killcreek" and their ilk. Slackers who got lucky. They aren't being paid for gaming- They're being paid for being slacker poster children for Generation Y. They sell product based on their appearance and the false promise that sitting on the sofa playing games all day long is going to lead the average mook somewhere. It won't. It's mostly luck that makes people like this famous. Sure, they game well, but if they think there aren't a few thousand kids out there who can beat them at any given game, they're wrong. Just because nobody stepped up publicly to beat the record doesn't mean the record hasn't been broken.
Professional gamers? No. They're professional stereotypes. All these guys succeed in doing is making the rest of us look like slackers who can't string together a sentence that doesn't involve gaming in some way.
Incidentally, this is also why I dislike G4 TV and harbor an intense loathing for Morgan Webb's pseudo-fame. What does she do? Nothing any other semi-cute woman couldn't, except she does it in a forum where she's surrounded by horny, desperate geeks.
Einhanderkiller @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Pro Gamers...
Must be a good job.
Pros:
-Sponsorship = Lots o' money
-You get to play games as a job! How cool is that?
-Free stuff
Cons:
-You sit in front of a monitor/TV all day
-Some games can get pretty boring... after playing it for 1000 hours.
-Losing a tournament/competition can significantly mess up your reputation
DJ @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Extremely well said #1.
Martin @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I like Morgan since it shows that not only fat chicks play video games.
Pat Gaeger @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Pro Gamers..
Hey guys im only 15 but have been gaming for about sience i was born. Professional gameing to me are a couple of people who get lucky breaks and succed in a game. I was lucky to get xbox when it came out for christmas and get xbox live and i must say why dont any of the kids that are insanley good at Halo2, or Call of Duty or any games for live get chances to prove them self. Heck i know i would give alot to be a pro game i meen you make lots of money to play a game i meen come on its the life but its not fair some of us are going to have to keep our dreams at home never getting a chance to show how good we really can be and have a chance to make money off it. Also pro games get the big bucks for shovling out the 400$ for new xboxes or thousands for computer and graphic cards i never had the chance to have a great computer but i must say when i go to internet cafe's i mop the floors with people and you can call it luck or skill but am i ever gona get anything for it no and i play Halo2 almost every day and will i ever get anything out of that no so as we all keep our hopes up to be a pro and know were never going to get there the pros can bask in there own glory.
Pretty Obvious @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
#1 sounds jealous.
Ghost @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I think its totally awesome that someone can gain fame by playing video games, and becoming "pro" would be cool. But you know who I look up to? Those average joes that day in day out go to work (at a real job) and their spare time is spent playing video games, while gaming is a great past time, and with the addition of Xbox live being able to actually chat to who your playing with thats awesome. But it still doesnt build social skills, the "REAL" world is required to properly build them. I saw that mtv True Life special on gamers and what I mostly saw, is sad people getting fired because they were at home playing games rather than being at their job. I think that while promoting games and promoting pro players people lose sight of just who the key demographic is, and it gives younger kids bad ideas. Yeah they might be able to frag 35 people in Five minutes, but can they hold down a real job, can they do school work to their fullest potential. I think gaming is a double edged blade that can simotaneously cause great good and pain in one sweep. its sad really.
jl @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Pat - you're exactly the sort of person this article is aimed at! Find out if there are local MLG tournaments, for example, and start winning 'em :)
AceFlash11 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
whats the point of trying to be the best if you can't even enjoy video games.
ZeroHour @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I believe that if #5 worked on his spelling and grammer and maybe some math that he would excel over the pro-gammers and would be better off making the games than playing them for a living.
Should #5 actually succeed as a developer, we would benefit from better games and fewer cola commercials from geeks that add no value.
BTW -- not a shot at #5 as a person, just the endeavor to be a pro-gamer
nojok3 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
#6 took words out of my mouth
BTW, its organized, not organised (story)
Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
What has Morgan done?
(1) She's cute
(2) She's INTELLIGENT (unlike most people who post on blogs and/or forums)
(3) She's a GAMER who knows her stuff
Did I mention she was cute?
Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Also, being a pro-gamer is about as worthwhile and meaningful as working at McDonalds.
A "pro-gamer" is not a job...and you aren't apart of the game industry either. If you want to be involved with games, then be a programmer, an artist, a 3D modelor, audio guy, etc.
Heretic @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
funny how people who suck get so jealous. n00bs, gotta love them.
Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Yea...right.
Heretic @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
hahahhahahah, i just had to let all the n00bs know how much im laughing their lack of gaming skill. n00bs. haha.
Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
...and I'm laughing at your maturity level.
Heretic @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
oh come on now, dont be bitchy cuz you suck at games.
ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
N00B? Heretic, I'm pretty sure I was playing games before you were born. I can school you in Atari 2600 Combat, or I can school you in Super Street Fighter II (I won my city's championship back in the day- With Dhalsim, even!) - My gripe about "pro" gamers is that they're just the gen-Y slacker version of a spokesmodel. That's all. It's not about how good they are, because there are plenty of people who are good at games- and lets face it, it doesn't take amazing skills to get good at games. It just takes repetition.
Back in the old days we had guys who were high score masters at Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Wizard of Wor, and other games. You never saw these guys end up in cola ads or have their name plastered on an advertisement for a particular gaming accessory. Why? Because it's not considered "talent" when you rot in front of a video game all day and memorize the game's patterns. It's called sloth, and we generally don't award people for it.
The reason these guys are mentioned at all is because they don't mind shilling video game products. They're spokesmodels, like I said. They cause dorks like Heretic to drool while they're open-mouth breathing and say "1F 1 G3T G00D @T G4M3Z 1 C4N B3 F4M0UZ! W00t!" and then they rush out and buy the game/cola/accessory that "Fatal1ty" is promoting.
Generation Y is funny. You're the most easily marketed-to generation in the history of the world. Corporate baby boomers slap some slacker "pro gamer" kid on TV and you do what he says. Don't feel bad, though- He's probably just as deluded as those who worship him. He probably thinks he has really accomplished something. He'll sound like a grade-a idiot when he's in his 50s and talking about the days when he was the poster boy for this kind of marketing.
There's a reason marketing firms refer to Gen-Y males as "mooks."
Not all of Gen-Y is this way, of course, but when it comes to the guys who think "Maxim" is fine literature, and Morgan Webb is "teh hawt", marketers look at them and get dollar signs in their eyeballs.
Mog-Pharu @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
I will start this by paying respect to Zerocorpse, who stated exactly what I wanted to upon seeing the article.
In saying that, I'm merely present to clarify something; both Morgan Webb and Adam Sessler utilize a teleprompter, and the games that they review are written for them by other people. All either of them do is read what has been given to them, playing the game itself is neither a prerequisite, or constant occurrence. I believe this successfully disproves any preconceived assumptions towards literacy or experience in gaming or even intelligence (which, even in their canned responses, neither of them show.).
ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Webb and Sessler make game reviews unpleasant... and that's hard to do for a lifelong gamer like myself.
Yeah, Morgan's cute. But she sure seems to be rather vacant, otherwise. Sessler's just an annoying fellow. Together they come off as bad game show emcees, rather than generation-next cool gamers.
At least Cat seemed more genuine.
jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
/me misses Cat
:-(
Anasurimbor Khellus @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
The acting for X-play is horrible, yes, but I think just as much, if not more of the blame should go to the writing. The fact that their reviews more so consist of egregious skits possessing the most tasteless, and adolescent of jokes/comments with gameplay footage in the background attributes to the shows utter lack of quality, and constant annoyance. I like how they can spend a minute talking about absolutely nothing, and then in the end give their ultimatum with absolutely no previously stated justification outside of "yes, look at this game, it's bad, believe it, look at the graphics, bad, so we here at X-play give this game a 2...out of 5". While I'm at it, I should go ahead and note that the writers while being talentless are simultaneously tasteless, and that X-play's reviews are no "harder" than anyone elses, and are as inept and unreliable as most game review publications.
Also, I would like to go on record in pointing out that Morgan Webb looks more like the corpse of a male than a woman. She possesses no complexion, no feminine shape, her face is remarkably masculine, and her voice, and attempts at acting are beneath poor.
jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
It's amazing how you guys fail to understand that when a website, magazine, etc. reviews a game...it is that persons OPINION!!!
Opinions are like assholes...everyone has one. If you base your buying decisions on one person's review then you have issues.
...as for X-play...if they are so bad then why have they been on for so long? Explain that to me...
scott @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
X-Play is great. Sessler and Morgan have better anti-chemistry than any comedic duo. The writing is better than any entertainment show or gaming blog out there. It's a good show and that's why it's flagship show of G4. I don't always agree with the reviews but the delivery is often entertaining anyways.
If Morgan looks like a corpse, than I am a necrophiliac. She may have chicken lips, but the girl's got wit and delivery. She's also got a real woman's curves.
Lot of jealousy in this thread. Lot of "I've been gaming since 4ever!!!!!" Not impressive. We all have been. That's why we're here.
World of Warcraft @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Zerscope, your comment is the personification of what's wrong with the perception of gaming.
You talk about the extreme side of gaming. If you do anything to an extreme, it is bad. It's common sense that you are wasting your life if ALL you do is play video games. The same could be said for watching tv, etc. etc.
For someone who has supposedly played games for such a long time, you should realize certain games require skill more than simple repetition. Besides, anything you want to master requires repetition.
Playing video games is just another form of entertainment. As games become more exciting to watch, the market for televised championships will increase. Then there will be more people for you to complain about. :)
Raina @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
Personally i dont think that anything somebody puts their heart and soul into can be considered a waste of time. Who are you to define what is usefull in life and what is not. Games have a nasty stereotype of being a lazy lifestyle and a complete waste of time. Gaming does take skill, practise, dedication. You can compete profesionally and you can be sponsored. It sounds to me like most other sports in the world. Just because you dont sweat your arse off, doesnt mean its not a sport by the way.
In short, dont be scared of the technological revolution. Computers and games are the future of sports and this generation Y you speak of so bluntly will be running that future.
Also i think people like heretic should hold thier comments as they dont serve any perpose in this so far friendly debate and only cause stupid rivalry.
To the people like Heretic who are the picture of stereotype gamers, i hope you have a contingency play... every hero falls and pro gamers will ALWAYS be beaten. I play at least 3 -4 hours of xbox live a day but i still study to be a personal fitness trainer. I would like to be considered one of the top girl gamers in NZ but if i dont succeed then i still have a good stable life ahead of me.
Midian @ Dec 18th 2005 9:38PM
... Pro gamers are slackers? I think not, if you think about it, they are as the artical says, virtual athletes, meaning they have to under go training, now you maybe thinking "Yeah, sure, playing videogames isn't training it's just fun" but that isn't the case at all.
Sure to some of us videogaming is just a hobby, or is just something to do to kill hours. But some people out there, kids, adults, any gamer, can have a dream to be pro, to compete against others. Just like alot of people I know want to be pro sportspeople, I want to be a pro gamer. I have been gaming all my life too, and I am not about to give up my whole lifetime of experiance. So what, you may think they are slack, that is your opinion, personally, I admire everyone that has ever gotten the honour of being called "Pro"
Greg @ Jan 2nd 2006 9:00PM
I agree with everyones opinions to a certain extent. However, my opinion on this matter is that it isn't "luck" that got these people in the spot light. The media doesn't take some regular Joe and put him on the table. It does take skill. It takes a whole lot of it. As a gamer, I've seen the hardship of trying to become an excellent game player. These guys didn't pick up a mouse and keyboard or gamepad and automatically be good. Most of them spent hours on edge playing these games because it's what they enjoy. I remember reading an article on a Counter-Strike player about how he got in the spotlight. He worked at a toll-booth, had a girlfriend, and went to college, and in his spare time played these games. His personality, his earned skill, and his dedication to play hard brought him where he is now. I think the "generation-Y" kids have it alot harder with gaming, the fact is, it's a larger community than it was in the 80's and 90's. Mulitplayer games have gotten huge, and will grow considerably within the next few years. If you look at most gamers, they're usually underage to take on a tournament, or go to major LANS. The point is, anyone can be good at what they do. These pro-gamers are just that. Good. C'Mon, you wouldn't be complaining if you had your name printed on a motherboard!