16-year-old drops out of school to play Guitar Hero

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

By Christopher Null: The Working Guy

Regular readers know that I love video games as much as the next guy. In fact, my right ankle is still sore from drumming my way through a marathon Rock Band session last night (who knew calibrating the TV would make such a difference!?), and I'm always looking for the latest titles to pop into my Xbox.

But how much gaming is too much? For North Carolina native Blake Peebles, there's no such thing. Guitar Hero is his title of choice. "I usually play till I can't anymore," he says, in this profile from the News & Observer.

In fact, young 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. 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.

Read entire story here (http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/101746).

[Potato]

... Cool....

[Mels_Smileys45]

Im still waiting for the PornStar Hero title to drop. I will own in that game!

[wapazoid]

"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."

Well, if aspirations of becoming a gaming world champ isn't the best damn excuse used by those with a bright future in the gas station attendant industry, I don't know what is.

[Excrement_Cranium]

Im still waiting for the PornStar Hero title to drop. I will own in that game!

Just adapt a fleshlight controller....

[Burt_Flaxton]

Awesome!

I'm going to try and recruit this guy, we have a few people who have pro salaries. Shouldn't knock it too much, I enjoy the leisure time I have with my wife & kids now that I took up gaming full time.

I imagine things like baseball & swimming had the same effect on society when it was in its infancy...

20 years from now, just as many kids will be dropping out of school to take up gaming as do now to take up football or basketball.

Especially since "education" and "information" is so easily acquired outside of school or college.

:)

[wapazoid]

20 years from now, just as many kids will be dropping out of school to take up gaming as do now to take up football or basketball.



Scouts usually pick up hopefuls while they're in college. Drop out of high school today and you'll have a hard time landing a job serving burgers and fries, not to mention escaping that niche.

[mfgbypooter]

16? hell he's already a has been.

*

[wapazoid]

Shaaaaat, I was kickin' the snot out of the old man with Atari games at 8. He would literally storm out of the room cussing at me.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Here's to wapazoid and his 666 posts!

He must be using the Pick of Destiny.

[wapazoid]

The glorious moment had been preserved. As I spun my chair to point dual horned hands at my Dio poster, I could have sworn I heard faint monk chanting.

Where the hell's ratcat?! We must air jam this!

http://members.cox.net/sgw75/666.jpg

[mfgbypooter]

Have a mod delete one of your posts so you can relive the moment.

*

[wapazoid]

satan

6, 7, 8, 9, 10

[CRLocky]

I used to play with a guy on xbox live that would "plan" on taking in 5 grand or so every two weeks (or whenever the bars down the street had a Guitar Hero competition).

He won every time I asked....

Major League Gaming, www.mlgpro.com, will be a good source for pro gaming. Especially the FPS games: Halo 2 and 3, Gears, Rainbow 6, even WoW.

It's sad that he DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL to pick up guitar hero! Guitar hero will only be the competitive game for so long! After a while, another game will pick up, and will he be so good at that one? Get the damn diploma! Jeeze...

[ratcat]

The glorious moment had been preserved. As I spun my chair to point dual horned hands at my Dio poster, I could have sworn I heard faint monk chanting.

Where the hell's ratcat?! We must air jam this!

http://members.cox.net/sgw75/666.jpg

Well done and I see you have Kodak your moment.

OK lets jam and toast the song \m/

The Number of the Beast, Can I play with Madness

Too many songs are coming into my mind.

Again congrats !!!

[w31n3r]

i think this is a trend thats going to catch on. when i was a kid, we spent most of our time outdoors and sports were a big part of our lives. so people like me today are the target audience for big sporting promotion companies that eventually pay top sportsmen and women morbid amounts of money. yeah, when i was a kid i was told sports would get me no further than the street corner and a cup for the alms too.

sounds familiar? dunno, but i wouldn't bet against it. of course, i'm not saying one should give up school, it's a great plan B.

[TorrentAddict75]

I live in North Carolina , guess it dont say much for us huh LMAO

[evilmegaman]

weird. I was reading the thread and look! 777!! lol

[mfgbypooter]

At least the kid has ambition.

Most 16-year-olds drop out of school to play pocket pool.

*

[notbob]

The glorious moment had been preserved. As I spun my chair to point dual horned hands at my Dio poster, I could have sworn I heard faint monk chanting.

Where the hell's ratcat?! We must air jam this!

http://members.cox.net/sgw75/666.jpg

really funny, this was what i saw. look at your post count

mine's cooler

[wapazoid]

Insane. Somebody get Glenn Danzig on the phone. This means something.

[BartSimpsonDude]

wow... they should make like a 'band' hero game ... with all instruments...

[djyorkie]

i am just waiting for the day that someone on guitar hero hits the charts...

"and now, here is the UK's number one, its fred with the guitar hero click....."

"click click clickety click click click"

so how long are these guys actually gonna have a career in gaming? is it gonna carry on till retirement with a pension plan and health insurance??? how many paid holidays do they get a year?

[evilmegaman]

wow... they should make like a 'band' hero game ... with all instruments...


LOL




seriously? they did.


it's called rockband.

[sonu_payne]

This will be bad for the guy.

If he wants to make a career in gaming then the best position for him would be is to become a game tester if he is not interested in the programming aspects.

Even then a minimum of graduation is required to apply in india which is the EA standards, idk about US/Canada but i think its the same. same goes for other labels.

It is nothing new that ppl follow their passion, there are weird instances of ppl leaving aside a better lifestyle doing even weirder things then gaming.

*I left the job of a network administrator in airlines to become game tester*

they actually pay me to play games.

[thelastfreeman]

It's bad enough we have idiots dropping out of school to make it as a rockstars, now they do it to become pretend rockstars.

[wapazoid]

*I left the job of a network administrator in airlines to become game tester*


Do you live in India? Games testers here in the US don't get paid very much. It's low enough in California to exlcude a lifestyle of affording a single bedroom apartment. Besides, being a tester doesn't necessarily mean you get to have fun all day. Part of the reason why some titles are chock full of problems is because the 19 year olds just play the games rather than reporting bugs.

[mfgbypooter]

I'm going to quit my job tomorrow to play Guitar Hero.

*

[Crashtard]

Wow. Have fun with that. It's not like anyone else is doing it.

[thelastfreeman]

Exactly. It's all about Guitar Hero IV now.

[Feather]

the stupidest game evar

[wapazoid]

I might have really enjoyed these rock games if I were 16 years old again. I've certainly had my fair share of air jammin' to Iron Maiden when no one was home.

[Crashtard]

I might have really enjoyed these rock games if I were 16 years old again.

This is exactly my problem with it too. It's fun for a little while, but the songs get so hard on expert that it takes hours of playtime and practice to just get through the songs. After I've been at work all day that doesn't sound fun.

[wapazoid]

Yeah, I'm not much for overly complicated or challenging games these days. The most I can put into a good FPS is a couple of hours at a time, three days a week. Used to be a gaming freak too.

[Feather]

Quake 3 forever

I wish Quake Live would come out of testing

[wapazoid]

Quake 2 CTF ftw!

And let's not forget about Chaos Deathmatch.

[Feather]

damn you now I have to dig out my quake 2 disc and all the mission packs again.

[wapazoid]

The mission packs! Wait up. I'll bring my comp and we'll hit the campain in co-op mode.

[Mels_Smileys45]

the stupidest game evar

Totally







Yeah, I'm not much for overly complicated or challenging games these days. The most I can put into a good FPS is a couple of hours at a time, three days a week. Used to be a gaming freak too.

Me too man. I don't know why but I can't sit down and obsess on gaming like I could when I was younger. When gaming was all about the hi score, if someone beat my score I would play until my eye bled and I beat it. Now I stop at the local laundry mat to play their classic games but after one game I am done. Im holding the MS Pacman score last time I checked, 177,000. I want to be able to hit the kill screen but after 30 minutes I loss it and my game falls apart. I just can't go on longer, not because it gets too hard but I lose patience.

I get on FPS kicks but I only stick to one, SOF2. After all these years nothing comes close to multi player perfection as SOF2. When I get a kick I can play it for hours. The other night I played for about 5 hours straight.

One more story, which I have told here at least once. When the first Zelda came out with the gold cartridge I went nuts. My parents left me at home while they went out of town and they also left me 100 bucks for food. Did I have a house party with hot chicks and beer? FUCK NO! I went directly to Toys R Us, the only place that still sold any kind of video games after the gaming crash of the late 80's, and bought the beautiful gold cart. This was the game I had been waiting for my whole gaming life! I wish the young people now could know how amazing and special this feeling was. I didn't have any guides or any such crap like they sell now. Later on though they had to sell guides to Zelda because many people got stuck. I hand mapped all the dungeons myself. I played that game for 7 days non stop almost. I didn't sleep or at least I don't 'member sleeping now and I ate potato chips and mustard sandwiches because I spent all my bread on this 70 dollar game! On the day my parents were to return I saved Zelda. This is the best feeling I ever got from finishing a game. There was so much to that game. It was huge. The music is still burned into my brain. Anyone remember the sound your heart made when you were down to a half heart?

While most newish gamers will never know how great this era was, I will still rave about it every chance I get. It was a magical time. A time I miss.

[Feather]

I have all retail versions of mission packs

[wapazoid]

One more story, which I have told here at least once. When the first Zelda came out with the gold cartridge I went nuts. My parents left me at home while they went out of town and they also left me 100 bucks for food. Did I have a house party with hot chicks and beer? FUCK NO! I went directly to Toys R Us, the only place that still sold any kind of video games after the gaming crash of the late 80's, and bought the beautiful gold cart. This was the game I had been waiting for my whole gaming life! I wish the young people now could know how amazing and special this feeling was. I didn't have any guides or any such crap like they sell now. Later on though they had to sell guides to Zelda because many people got stuck. I hand mapped all the dungeons myself. I played that game for 7 days non stop almost. I didn't sleep or at least I don't 'member sleeping now and I ate potato chips and mustard sandwiches because I spent all my bread on this 70 dollar game! On the day my parents were to return I saved Zelda. This is the best feeling I ever got from finishing a game. There was so much to that game. It was huge. The music is still burned into my brain. Anyone remember the sound your heart made when you were down to a half heart?

While most newish gamers will never know how great this era was, I will still rave about it every chance I get. It was a magical time. A time I miss.

Thanks for the straight-up flashback!

Those were the days when you got butterflies in your stomach while watching the longhand reach 2:15 in class! Just knowing that amazing console was waiting for me when I blasted through my bedroom door was about as close to an orgasm as I've ever gotten then. Zelda was an absolute masterpiece. We did our own mapping too, on graph paper and exchanged notes, tips and tricks in class. In middle school, there were only three topics my group of friends stuck to:

1. Boobs
2. Dungeons & Dragons
3. Nintendo Entertainment System

Friday night sleep overs were the best. It was all about junk food and gaming. NES 'till dawn, no matter how pissed off our parents got. This generation of young gamers haven't a damn clue as to just how spoiled rotten they are. But then again, we got to enjoy some major milestones in gaming history.

And yes, I remember what a wounded Link sounds like. :icon_thum

[Mels_Smileys45]

True that!

I do have have one shame about classic gaming. When I was about 11 all I wanted for xmas was video games. While my parents were out I unwrapped them all very carefully and then re wrapped them and stuck em under the tree. I played them for almost two weeks before xmas. Ive always felt so guilty over that. They got me everything I asked for and I was a wicked little shit. No use in telling them how shitty I was as a kid now. It may make me feel better but I am sure it wouldnt make their day to know about it.

[wapazoid]

LOL

Well, at least you were a sport about it and ruined Christmas with a clever James Bond finesse. Shit, I would have done the same... but my mom always stashed the presents until a day or two before Christmas. And she was always so damn intricate with gift wrapping!

Here's to awesome moms.

[mountain_rage]

Gaming is definitely not what it used to be. To be honest, I think my last great gaming moment was when I bought my N64 with Mario 64, damn that game made me shit my pants. Console releases used to be huge, because the leap was so significant from one console to the next. Now the game play changes are non existent and all we get with the release of a new system is a new rehash. Wii almost brought back that old feeling, but sadly it was not quite the same.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Gaming is definitely not what it used to be. To be honest, I think my last great gaming moment was when I bought my N64 with Mario 64, damn that game made me shit my pants. Console releases used to be huge, because the leap was so significant from one console to the next. Now the game play changes are non existent and all we get with the release of a new system is a new rehash. Wii almost brought back that old feeling, but sadly it was not quite the same.


Completely agree. The Dreamcast release is my last video game moment and the only time I ever stood in line on release day. From the moment I played my SEGA online I was hooked. N64 was a great release too. Mario64 was the first game to use 3D in a playable fashion. It was amazing. I remember I had a game for my PS1 were I played a big jack rabbit in 3d. All it was was jumping really high and looking around. At the time it looked cool but as a game it was awful.

[wapazoid]

Gaming is definitely not what it used to be. To be honest, I think my last great gaming moment was when I bought my N64 with Mario 64, damn that game made me shit my pants. Console releases used to be huge, because the leap was so significant from one console to the next. Now the game play changes are non existent and all we get with the release of a new system is a new rehash. Wii almost brought back that old feeling, but sadly it was not quite the same.

Mario 64 was very impressive. But it was Mario Kart 64 that blew me away. I've never had a better time with a split screen racing game. I remember hauling my 32" Trinitron beast of a TV over to a friend's party when that game came out. I think that was the last time I pulled an all-nighter.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Mario Kart64 was nice. I still play it from time to time using project64. I love Beetle Adventure Racing and San Fran Rush 2049 also. Those three still gets lots of play. Gotta love EMU gaming. Its the best thing about this era

[wapazoid]

Emulation gaming is the best. Of all the apps available, I still love MAME32 the most. I've got the MAME screensaver running on all the systems in my lab, and sometimes it looks like you're walking into a small arcade.

The D3D effects that simulate an authentic arcade monitor are just... rad. The nostalgia comes from seeing classics as you did when you pumped quarters into them.

[Mels_Smileys45]

Oh hell yeah. MAME all the way. Huge fan here. 16Gigs of arcade classics and always growing! I remember back in 2000 when I found my first dump site. It took forever to download even the small ROMs. Ive never used D3D, I will look into that.

I use to us the extra art feature to make the screen show the art that surrounded the screen but it takes up too much screen space and makes the playing field to small.

I like to have friends over and play shooters that allow two people to play at once like Smash TV. Good times. Just need a black light to simulate the old arcades.

[wapazoid]

I totally recommend checking out the D3D features. Not sure what's changed since .81 (that's when I stopped updating and archived). Here's some of my personal favorite settings. I host my archive on DC.

The lcd's I have are all widescreen, so adjusting the aspect ratio provides for more screen use without unwanted stretching. Knocking the zoom down to 1 looks great to me. Also, the right brightness adjustment helps for that old arcade look.

As for D3D, I find the default settings perfect. I don't use additional artwork for the same reason you've stated. Getting the vector graphics accurate can be tricky, depending on the screen display. I usually have to add flicker and lessen intensity. I use Tempest to make the adjustments.

http://members.cox.net/sgw75/mameoptions1.jpg

http://members.cox.net/sgw75/mameoptions2.jpg

http://members.cox.net/sgw75/mameoptions3.jpg

Game on, brother.

[sonu_payne]

Do you live in India? Games testers here in the US don't get paid very much. It's low enough in California to exlcude a lifestyle of affording a single bedroom apartment. Besides, being a tester doesn't necessarily mean you get to have fun all day. Part of the reason why some titles are chock full of problems is because the 19 year olds just play the games rather than reporting bugs.

yep i'm in India and the money in testing is quite good actually. I changed my domain recently but a couple of my friends who went into game testing line 2 yrs back were making roughly 2 times as much as i was making as admin. its because the cost of living in India being quite low.

[wapazoid]

yep i'm in India and the money in testing is quite good actually. I changed my domain recently but a couple of my friends who went into game testing line 2 yrs back were making roughly 2 times as much as i was making as admin. its because the cost of living in India being quite low.

Double the pay for being a game tester? Wow, that's unheard of where I live. I can understand why you've switched. I worked at 989 Studios back in '99, mainly roto-scoping video frames for cutscenes. The testers there were making $10.00/hour. A few years back, a friend at Rockstar told me that they were paying testers $13.00/hour. That kind of wage might afford you a room in someone's home.

[sonu_payne]

Double the pay for being a game tester? Wow, that's unheard of where I live. I can understand why you've switched. I worked at 989 Studios back in '99, mainly roto-scoping video frames for cutscenes. The testers there were making $10.00/hour. A few years back, a friend at Rockstar told me that they were paying testers $13.00/hour. That kind of wage might afford you a room in someone's home.

10$/hour in 99 would be Rs 500/hour, In 1999 Doctor's on government salary were making 500/day in india. So the bottom line is that all of it depends on the purchasing power/value rather then the currency value. In Rs 500/day the doctors were able to maintain a higher middle class status of living in india while maybe the tester was not able to find a room in someone's house, where you came from.

I'll leave the maths and the economics but yes testing is the buzz word in IT market these days in India. Maybe testers are not taken as seriously as a doctor but they can maintain a contemporary lifestyle.