this sickens me....

[reptiman93]

haha so i go on yahoo to check mail and started to read one of those little stories. and i ran past this

young 16 year old Mr. Peebles is dropping out of high school... in order to focus on Guitar Hero full time. Peebles hopes to join the small but growing crew of players looking to make gaming a job.Guitar Hero is his title of choice. "I usually play till I can't anymore," he says. Citing his victories in Guitar Hero tournaments, which include "gift certificates, gaming equipment, and chicken sandwiches," Peebles thinks he has the chops to play competitively and earn actual money in the process. As the story notes, top gamers on the competitive circuit can earn up to $80,000 a year (though $25,000 is more common). Peebles, of course, can count his 52 Chick-fil-A combo meals toward that total.

ok first off. who pays someone 80 tho. to play a fake guitar. and who would quit highschool to play a video game. video games are taken over kids. as you can see by some of the kids these days. i am 14 and never had a video game. and have been fine. i dont know why this makes me so mad haha but it just does

[ADEE]

((shakes head)) wow... and to think hes our future, boy are we lucky.

devils advocate: at least he has a dream

[Matt94rocks]

I saw that story to thought thats the dumbest thing that any human has ever done its never going to get him any where in life.All my friends play the game constantly I tell them why dont you quit with game and pick up a strat and start kicking out some riffs.

[reptiman93]

exactly. all my friends always talk about it. i have played real guitar and drums for 5 years. and playing those games is nothing to me. but honestly.... who is paying these people to play a video game??? lol 25,000 in one competition is stupid!!!! and most of the people who have all these wii's and x box's are a lil on the obese side. not being mean ... but its the sitting on the couch that does it to people

[Argentra]

I'm not saying it's not sad, but here's the answer from a game design grad (i.e. my boyfriend):

Those who would shell out 80k are endorsers. They only pay up to the best of the best, though. Like the Ogre Twins - the best Halo players out there, who skipped final exams to go to a championship tournament. They got 0's on the tests, but walked away with 20k prize money.
If that kid isn't in the top five champs of the WORLD, he is wasting his time.
As for those who would do such a thing, there is a legit 'business': video game athletes. They are professional gamers who get endorsements by the thousands to play new games. Kind of like having Tiger Woods use the newest Nike sports shoe.

Also, using the fake guitar for the game is VERY different from a real guitar. In fact, it's nothing like it. Real guitarists have tried the game and failed miserably because they were thinking like a guitarist, not a gamer. It doesn't train you to play a real one, just like playing DDR doesn't teach you real dance moves.

Oh, any BTW... those stereotypical, overweight gamers aren't the dedicated gamers. Real players use both hands and focus on the game, FORGETTING the food which the other players chow down on as they casually play. My BF happens to be @145 lbs and 5'11". Most hardcore video gamers I know, including my first BF, are thin and dexterous.

[ShawnT]

Gaming has got very competitive over the last few years...So this doesn't surprise me at all. There are kids winning 100k for MLG events across the USA every year.

[stangs13]

I play both the real guitar and drums and guitar hero and rock band, and love them both. I am not bad at the guitar on guitar hero, but the RB drums kill me!! I don't know why I can't play them after playing a real set since I was 11!


Come on! He is doing nothing with his life, and is throwing it away..common sense tells this teen(me) to stay in school and do REAL things that will make me money. Your looking at the next big agricultural engineer here! He needs to look into the future and invest in something real. His parents need a good smakin' too!

Now Halo and Madden are the real man games..Heh.

[reptiman93]

yeah alot of the people get alot of cash for it. i dont get why. but this was in the article too

One gamer, quoted at the end of the linked article, says that in eight years his total earnings are about $25,000 total, and that's including a national championship in Halo 2.

i dont think this world should come down to halo 2 championships. and as it does , everyone asks eachother .... why does the new generation just keep getting more obese???

[reptiman93]

his parents should have smacked him but instead .........

I was at first inclined to disparage the decision by his parents to let Peebles drop out of school, but it seems a little less ridiculous when you delve into the facts. Peebles hahdn't been doing well in school and wasn't liked, and even now he isn't gaming full time. He has a tutor that provides a private education, and his parents say he's doing well with the more focused instruction and that their son now even does his homework without complaint. (Presumably he can hit the axe sooner after he's finished his studies.)

[stangs13]

his parents should have smacked him but instead .........

I was at first inclined to disparage the decision by his parents to let Peebles drop out of school, but it seems a little less ridiculous when you delve into the facts. Peebles hahdn't been doing well in school and wasn't liked, and even now he isn't gaming full time. He has a tutor that provides a private education, and his parents say he's doing well with the more focused instruction and that their son now even does his homework without complaint. (Presumably he can hit the axe sooner after he's finished his studies.)

Hmmm. The parents are clearly het for no common sense, and they show markers!!!




Lolsnake joke.