Comments on: Less than five people in the world know where this is.

Less than five people in the world know where this is.

xowie — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 06:32:54 -0800

How far can a video-game champ go? Ask Matt Leto.

By: C.Batt

C.Batt — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 07:42:54 -0800

Uh... hm... makes me think of that simpson's epsidoe with the planet of the apes. In particular: "Doctor Zyos, doctor Zyos. Doctor Zyos..." (sung to the tune of Amadeus by Falco13 (ca 1983?)) couldn't get past that... a parody of a parody... sad :-(

By: C.Batt

C.Batt — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 07:43:32 -0800

hoo, boy... an epsidoe... what was I smoking? Episode. I meant Episode.

By: crazy finger

crazy finger — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 07:56:15 -0800

It's good to see that society's priorities are in order when science and education are underfunded and entertainers are paid absurd amounts of money.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 07:56:50 -0800

But has he ever kissed a woman?

By: fungible

fungible — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:04:21 -0800

He has no girlfriend. Surprise, surprise. Really, there's something "Brave New World" about this, and then something really sad.

By: a3matrix

a3matrix — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:04:48 -0800

If he kisses a woman he will lose all his powers dummy. Everyone knows that! pwned!!!

By: xmutex

xmutex — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:12:40 -0800

There is some sort of Neal Stephenson novel in this. Fun story, thanks for the link.

By: unreason

unreason — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:29:52 -0800

There is some sort of Neal Stephenson novel in this. I think he has to become less polite to become a Neal Stephenson character.

By: Frasermoo

Frasermoo — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 09:01:05 -0800

I played against this guy the other day and pwned him. see you online.. Gamertag: gnomeboy

By: gilgamix

gilgamix — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 09:18:23 -0800

Great link. Reminds me of a new yorker article from a while back.

By: andryeevna

andryeevna — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 09:30:45 -0800

heh, who plays first person shooter on a console? come play with the big boys on computer FPS, then we will see how good you really are.

By: Four Flavors

Four Flavors — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 09:51:25 -0800

Why should he bother if he's making $80-100k a year on the consle? Will Halo 2 become the Starcraft of the US? (For those who don't know, Starcraft is the game of choice for the professional gaming league in South Korea)

By: fleacircus

fleacircus — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:02:44 -0800

By: papakwanz

papakwanz — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:11:41 -0800

This guy is the REAL Last of the Starfighters! One day, when the Covenant Hordes descend upon Earth, Zyos will be called upon to use his awesome powers to save us all! I play Halo 2 online quite a bit (Gamertag: Papa Kwanzaa) And I'm OK, not anything special (Currently level 7, although I was at 8 but got reset back to 1 after New Year's for some reason). I really wonder what this quote means: "He does all the things that all the other kids won't do. And that's why he wins," Steve Leto says. What "things" does he mean, besides playing 20 hours a day, that is? Are there some special techniques he has? Does he perform human sacrifices before he plays? andryeevna- I've played FPS on both consoles and computers, and I find the console experience a lot more fun and intense. Difficulty-wise, they each have their advantages and disadvanages and probably end up about equal.

By: aerify

aerify — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:16:47 -0800

If he kisses a woman he will lose all his powers dummy. Everyone knows that! Ahahahahahahaha. That is probably more true than you think. If he had someone, he wouldn't have time to play games.

By: jacquilynne

jacquilynne — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:18:33 -0800

What "things" does he mean, besides playing 20 hours a day, that is? The ones mentioned in the article? Things like flying to other cities in order to put in dedicated development sessions with other high level gamers and videotaping his practice sessions and reviewing the tape. He's obviously dedicated to developing his play, and that's a lot different from just playing all day.

By: Four Flavors

Four Flavors — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:19:22 -0800

papakwanz: I'm pretty sure that the things he does include reviewing tapes of his game playing, something I've not heard of other gamers doing. Of course, I won't be surprised if the PGL takes off that most of the top players will use tape reviews, just like top athletes do. On preview: what Jac said.

By: bardic

bardic — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:28:46 -0800

What "things" does he mean, besides playing 20 hours a day, that is? Human sacrifice. Duh.

By: xowie

xowie — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 10:36:28 -0800

By: Stonewall Jackson

Stonewall Jackson — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 11:23:34 -0800

How far can a video-game champ go? First base...maybe second base if the girl is drunk and has low self-esteem.

By: wtfwjd?

wtfwjd? — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 11:55:01 -0800

Mr. Leto needs to be turned on to day trading. Those mad skills applied to scalping could really earn a few shekels...

By: m0nm0n

m0nm0n — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 14:57:48 -0800

Man now I want to get ahold of a vid of that last FFA match in NY where he won by 20 kills. I don't even play Halo (used to be hardcore into q3, myself), but I'd love to watch it.

By: First Post

First Post — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 15:16:28 -0800

Here's another Observer article about a champion who wins by being completely obsessed and absorbed by his field in a way that other competitors marvel at, yet fear: Bass Fishing in America, a great tale about a Japanese guy who moves to Texas to become the greatest bass fisherman in the world. It's funny that console gamers are surprised by the thing about analyzing tapes of past games. Most FPS/PC clans do this regularly, even posting them for anyone to watch.

By: zerolucid

zerolucid — Sat, 08 Jan 2005 19:06:30 -0800

The article as much as admits this isn't new, buried in the middle of the second page -- but then ignores its own revelation. Zyos is nothing special. This story is at least nine years old. And sort of older than that. Yeah, really. The article even makes picking up weapons as they respawn sound like something Leto invented. Basically the console FPS scene is about ten years behind. But clearly Matt Leto is one really talented cat. Screw the jokes about girlfriends. The man is a video game god; it wouldn't be right to let him go to waste.