Pro Gamer

Currently listening to: http://youtu.be/yD5chW4Gu_Y
Currently playing: Skyward Sword, Conduit 2, Xenoblade, Soul Calibur V

This week the Soul Calibur V World Championships were held in Las Vegas. I watched the entire event via online stream courtesy of Team Spooky. After watching the entire 3 hour event I realized that my Soul Calibur skills are possibly world contender good. I wasn't impressed with the Japanese or US players, the French players and the one from Dominion Republic were amazing tho.
This thought process got me thinking of what type of level as a gamer I am. Before I get into this, this is in no way an attempt to gloat, or stroke my ego in the matter. Just a slow, almost surreal realization of the level of gamers out there.

In Soul Calibur IV I was ranked 2nd on the XBL servers for ranked gameplay out of tens of thousands of cutthroat, spammy, and amazing players, and in December of 2003 I competed in a Soul Calibur II tournament in Saskatoon and placed first with my main, Raphael. This might not be on the level of World Championship, but the stress and anxiety that comes with competitive play is the same. I feel like I'm one of the best in this part of my country. Even my friend Jeremy Hardie is no slouch and when we used to play SCIV he rarely won a match.

So am I only good at fighting games particularly one franchise? No actually. I'm also a pretty damn solid Tekken player, but I know, I know, both are fighting games from Namco Bandai. For the record I have obtained every achievement and trophy thus far in the SC and Tekken games. Soul Calibur V being the hardest one to complete thus far, but its a slow process and I will master the game. Fighting games aside, there is another game out there that I'm not only a top ranked player, but I'm one of the best on the NTSC servers.

Conduit 2. I'm possibly top 20 in that game. Having no real ranking Leaderboards its not possible to actually figure out where I fit into the top players, but having being close friends with the number 1 player 'Samu5' I feel that I could be easily top 10 without the lock-on feature of the game. Which is a crutch for players who cant aim, and claim they are amazing players, when they don't do anything but lock-on and spray a clip of ammo, but Ill stop bitching about the C2 community. The real FPS ace is my friend Jeremy Hardie, he has owned and beaten a majority of FPSes out there, and not just beat, beat on the hardest, most insane difficulties, a feat I could never do.

I game alot everyday, with my friends and without. Certain games I tend to do well, others I'm average. RPGs are my top rated games, but the Japanese players take those to an insane level of gameplay, so I tend to have world class skills at fighting games. I'm just one person out in the middle of nowhere, I live with gamers, and interact with gamers daily, should I feel an aura of accomplishment or superiority? Of course not. Most world class gamers have egos and look down on the players that got them there. Would I be an amazing Soul Calibur player if I didn't force roommates and friends to fight me in countless matches? Probably not. Would I like to travel the world and play a video game in World Championships and win money and prizes?

No. I enjoy the game immensely, but I don't wanna travel, or attend numerous events, I want no prestige or glory (ironic blog post I know) but that makes one think, are the world champions truly the best? or are they only the best of the people who want the same thing? Could there be an amazing Soul Calibur player down the street from you, that is World class, but has no way or no desire to compete and go to Worlds?

Think about it.

Add me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @demonicjaye

3 Years Later

Currently listening to: http://youtu.be/73iGAd5ntuE
Currently playing: Wii - Metroid Prime 3, MW3, Mario Party 9, Kirby's Return to Dreamland EX
DS - Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days, Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Phantasy Star

It's been awhile.

For those of you that are familiar with this blog, you might expect alot of personal things to read about me. Take note however that after reading the posts that were posted over 3 years ago. I can happily say I'm no longer anything like I used to be. No longer emotional and obsessed with people who didn't feel the same way, no longer hating my life and complaining about small, trivial things that have no real effect on my life. What changed you ask? Plenty.

For starters I no longer date or associate myself with my ex girlfriend Heather. It ended how it was fated to end, and that's perfectly fine between the two of us, we have no animosity between us, but we don't have any strong emotions tying us to be friends. I am however dating someone new and she has made my life the best Ive ever had it. Alison is the piece that I'm missing when I'm alone. She's the other part of my insanity to make life complete, and even tho we have our ups and downs, I feel that we will never part ways. Its suffice to say I love the girl, even if I don't show it to the best of my ability.

Now that the emotions are out of the way. I still work in SE Saskatchewan moving oil rigs, Ive did my time and got dirty in the trenches of my company and took piles of shit from management time and time again to find myself finally getting recognition and promotion. I intend to continue climbing the ladder to the top to hopefully someday become someone who is looked up to as a leader.

I have picked up music as a hobby again since the last time I posted, taking an interest in recording, drumming, and guitars again. Forming a solo metalcore project called "Headshot the Hero" (Like it on Facebook) I have pieced together a drumset from all over the world via the Internet shopping, and its a 7/10 kit. I'm proud to have designed and built it myself, but I would sell it if the offer came up. I also have Black Orpheus still on the go, and after the HTH album, I shall go back and make BO come to life. In between that there is a possibility of a Dubstep/Rap project that may or may not take flight. All of these projects will have Facebook and YouTube pages, and if you keep up here you will be linked as developments come up. Quick shout out goes to Luke Jay Knight of Near Ruin (Also Like them on Facebook) as he is helping me co-write the HTH album.

Video games in a big way! Having over 60 titles in my Wii collection and numerous DS titles I have spent a large portion of my last 3 years playing video games, reviewing video games (http://www.byronicgaming.blogspot.ca/) and forging stronger friendships thru video gaming and the industry. Not much else to say except that I am looking forward to continuing my hardcore gaming ways in the future for at least one more generation of consoles.

Still getting tattooed, I no longer fight competitively, still am an Internet junkie, and overall I'm happier.

Not to say I wasn't happy all those years ago with my close friends and ex girlfriend here with me. But I was never happy living paycheque to paycheque, having drama over the Internet, and always angry about my job and living here. In 3 years I have become more mature, intelligent, some would argue colder, but I don't wear emotions on my sleeve like my ex made me. I like to keep things to myself, and people who know me well enough, should know I love them, and how it is. I enjoy music again, video gaming, and being me. I have a girlfriend who accepts these things and supports me in my crazy ways, and I in turn, support and accept her for who she is.

This blog will be littered with probably nothing epic or interesting, but if you got time to kill feel free to peek into what I'm doing. Add me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @demonicjaye