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January 7, 2005 6:32 AM   Subscribe

How far can a video-game champ go? Ask Matt Leto.
posted by xowie (24 comments total)
 
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 :-(
posted by C.Batt at 7:42 AM on January 7, 2005


hoo, boy... an epsidoe... what was I smoking? Episode. I meant Episode.
posted by C.Batt at 7:43 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by crazy finger at 7:56 AM on January 7, 2005


But has he ever kissed a woman?
posted by ColdChef at 7:56 AM on January 7, 2005


He has no girlfriend.

Surprise, surprise.

Really, there's something "Brave New World" about this, and then something really sad.
posted by fungible at 8:04 AM on January 7, 2005


If he kisses a woman he will lose all his powers dummy. Everyone knows that!
pwned!!!
posted by a3matrix at 8:04 AM on January 7, 2005


There is some sort of Neal Stephenson novel in this.

Fun story, thanks for the link.
posted by xmutex at 8:12 AM on January 7, 2005


There is some sort of Neal Stephenson novel in this.

I think he has to become less polite to become a Neal Stephenson character.
posted by unreason at 8:29 AM on January 7, 2005


I played against this guy the other day and pwned him.

see you online..
Gamertag: gnomeboy
posted by Frasermoo at 9:01 AM on January 7, 2005


Great link.
Reminds me of a new yorker article from a while back.
posted by gilgamix at 9:18 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by andryeevna at 9:30 AM on January 7, 2005


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)
posted by Four Flavors at 9:51 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by fleacircus at 10:02 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by papakwanz at 10:11 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by aerify at 10:16 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by jacquilynne at 10:18 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by Four Flavors at 10:19 AM on January 7, 2005


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

Human sacrifice. Duh.
posted by bardic at 10:28 AM on January 7, 2005


Similar article about Madden.
posted by xowie at 10:36 AM on January 7, 2005


How far can a video-game champ go?

First base...maybe second base if the girl is drunk and has low self-esteem.
posted by Stonewall Jackson at 11:23 AM on January 7, 2005


Mr. Leto needs to be turned on to day trading. Those mad skills applied to scalping could really earn a few shekels...
posted by wtfwjd? at 11:55 AM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by m0nm0n at 2:57 PM on January 7, 2005


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.
posted by First Post at 3:16 PM on January 8, 2005


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.
posted by zerolucid at 7:06 PM on January 8, 2005


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