Gadgetopia

The New Player in Pro Sports: An interesting article about professional video gamer Johnathan Wendel, who goes by the name “Fatal1ty” and just won the $150,000 CPL tournament (this article was written prior to the tournament).

He’s not a couch potato, it turns out:

Wendel is first and foremost an athlete. Before he became a professional gamer at 18, he competed in baseball, hockey, tennis, football, golf, billiards, even pingpong. The skill set for traditional and e-sports, he said, is the same: “Hand-eye coordination, reflexes, timing, strategy, dedication, being quick on your feet in the game, making very smart decisions in a split second.”

He runs everyday and has sworn off caffeine and alcohol. And apparently ping time is very important at the level at which he plays:

The “1” isn’t a vanity thing, he was quick to point out. It stands for the 1 in a T1 high-speed connection. When he was competing via dial-up, he was ranked 13th in the world in Quake 3; after he switched to T1, he rocketed to first.

Here’s his site.