Fatal1ty: I got the name from a game called Mortal Kombat, I was a huge fan of Mortal Kombat as a kid. I got the name when I was 11 years old, so I’ve had name for about 16 years now and I just loved it when you ripped the guys head off in Mortal Kombat. In my game I’m a kill guy and I want to kill in the most brutal way possible so Fatal1ty is very fitting in my game.
Fatal1ty: I used to like playing War Craft 3 a lot, I love Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf all those games I’m a really big Mario fan. Also when I’m not playing games I’m in to a lot of sports so I play a lot of Tennis, Basketball, and Golf. You know I go snowboarding, jet skiing all kinds of stuff. So, on my off time I try to do a lot of outdoor activities as well, I like being outside a lot, so I have two sides to me; I really love to be inside playing that game but I also really love to be outside playing my sports.
Fatal1ty: Great man, I think we’re projected to make about 50 million this year in sales, you know I started my company Fatal1ty Inc. and it’s just frickin crazy, I’ve been playing games now for nine years and never thought I would be making this kind of money playing video games and selling products it’s just really crazy you know I’m pretty fortunate and blessed to be able to do this. I hope to keep doing it for a long time and keep supporting gamers around the world and make great products.
Fatal1ty: My edge is usually kept because I’m very disciplined, I’m a very competitive guy and keeping my edge is mostly that I train very hard. I sacrifice a lot to train like I do and I think I’m willing to sacrifice in areas where others are not willing to sacrifice in that area. Some people can’t sacrifice, they have to hang on to friends a lot and party a lot. I’m willing to sacrifice that. Do I want to have a relationship? I’m willing to sacrifice my relationship to do what I have to do you know? Are people willing to go broke doing what they love? I am. I never give up and I go for it all the way every time, I’m a very competitive guy so if I lose one tournament, believe me I’m coming back next time to get you.
Fatal1ty: The competition has always been stiff over my whole career. If I’m on top of my game though I’m very confident about winning, as long as I get training and practice in. There’s always been good competition you know, I never felt that there was different competition from 1999 to 2005, I’ve won tons of tournaments for six or seven years, when I started at 15 I won tournaments even then so I’ve been winning for over ten years, taken first place in a lot of different tournaments and I think it’s because I have a lot of discipline and a lot of hard dedication and work ethic, I think that’s what separates me from a lot of people.
Fatal1ty: Yeah, because the stereotypical type for a video gamer is that he’s fat, he’s pimpified (pimple faced), he wears glasses or something like that, like he’s not all there you know? And like, that’s completely wrong, if you look at all the top pro gamers in the world those guys are really fit and we do all kinds of activities outside we were very competitive as kids and we just found a way to channel that competitiveness and our athletic ability into the game. So it still requires the hand eye coordination, the timing, the strategy, everything that sports requires. The only thing we’re not doing in the game is physically jumping and running. But still the mental stamina, the hand eye coordination, the precision, those are things you’ll find in real sports, especially first person shooter games. Other games those are more about strategy and movements here and there but I really think that First Person Shooters are the sport of video games and could also be considered a real sport.
Fatal1ty: My most memorable tournament experience was winning the $150, 000 on 60 minutes and MTV 2 on game to fame in a tournament called Pain Killer. I was in a lower bracket and had to win four games in a row basically, I came up clutch and won the whole thing, I came up clutch and played really well and came up 150 grand richer and it was all over TV and stuff many people saw it. It was really cool, I was very happy. That was a big break for me, to win that one that was something special.
Fatal1ty: I’m just being myself, I always try to stay down to earth, I’m from Kansas City, Missouri in the mid-west, you know I used to go get the eggs in the morning as a kid, I used to get the hay for the cows for my grandparents so I come from a pretty solid background. I think that’s been such a blessing for me to have such a good upbringing with my parents and family, living the different lifestyles, living in the country and in the city so I never had that chip on my shoulder like I’m better than everyone else so I shouldn’t hang out with you. Whenever someone comes up to me and wants to talk to me or hang out with me I give them the time that they deserve because their dream is to meet me or talk with me or chat and I feel like it’s my duty to be nice and talk to them as well. Most of the time you know what? I like talking to people anyway, I get to travel to all these different cities, different countries from Asia to Africa, from Germany to Sweden, Singapore, Thailand wherever and people have their own little quirks that make them interesting.
Fatal1ty: Definitely it factors into how well I play, I would say I run two or three miles a day when I’m training for major championships, I do about 200 sit ups a day as well. Basically I try to stay pretty well fit, work on my core and my cardiovascular and I think it enhances my hand eye coordination and my neuro-fitness, my neurotransmitters to think faster and process information faster. I’m always on the cutting edge. I just stay pretty healthy, so on day three of a tournament I’m still firing on all cylinders and I’m ready to win it all.
