Pinoy is videogame champ in California
02/08/2011
SUNNYVALE, California - A Filipino is making a career out of playing video games in California.
Twenty-five year old Ryan Ramirez considers himself an athlete. He makes sure he's physically fit, focused and energized.
For 8 years now, Ramirez has played video games competitively and his forte-- Street Fighter.
"I always had this competitive feeling and for some reason I can’t get it in sports so I transferred it to video gaming," Ramirez said.
Because of his skill, Ramirez gets challenged all the time.
Ramirez is the Street Fighter king of California, winning 34 tournaments, the most for any player.
His biggest win was when he beat the world's most famous Street Fighter player--Japan's Daigo Umehera three times last year.
Because he's so good at the game and because he lost his job as an accounts manager 2 weeks ago, Ramirez has decided to play games for a living.
"In one tournament, I would earn $6,000. So it's not bad money," he said.
To train for Evolution World Finals, the biggest open competitive fighting game tournament to be held in July in Las Vegas, Ramirez plays for hours at the Sunnyvale Golf Land.
He's currently sponsored by Borderline Gaming for all his training needs.
Ramirez says videogaming is not necessarily a waste of time for kids and teenagers.
Twenty-five year old Ryan Ramirez considers himself an athlete. He makes sure he's physically fit, focused and energized.
For 8 years now, Ramirez has played video games competitively and his forte-- Street Fighter.
"I always had this competitive feeling and for some reason I can’t get it in sports so I transferred it to video gaming," Ramirez said.
Because of his skill, Ramirez gets challenged all the time.
Ramirez is the Street Fighter king of California, winning 34 tournaments, the most for any player.
His biggest win was when he beat the world's most famous Street Fighter player--Japan's Daigo Umehera three times last year.
Because he's so good at the game and because he lost his job as an accounts manager 2 weeks ago, Ramirez has decided to play games for a living.
"In one tournament, I would earn $6,000. So it's not bad money," he said.
To train for Evolution World Finals, the biggest open competitive fighting game tournament to be held in July in Las Vegas, Ramirez plays for hours at the Sunnyvale Golf Land.
He's currently sponsored by Borderline Gaming for all his training needs.
Ramirez says videogaming is not necessarily a waste of time for kids and teenagers.
"Would they rather have their kids to actually play video games or do drugs or be in a gang and get in trouble all the time?” he said.
Ramirez said he does not see himself retiring 5, 10 years from now.
"I'll probably say I'll still play competitively but I think I'll try to get a real job,” he added.
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