SAN RAFAEL, Calif.--It was Sunday, April 2, and some of the best video game players in the world were getting ready for a tournament that could affect the rest of their lives.
This was day two of the all-weekend auditions for a new member of the Frag Dolls, video game publisher Ubisoft's all-women professional gamer team. For the eight women vying for the single new spot on the currently six-member team, this day was what the competition was really all about: the tournament.
On Saturday, the eight women--who ranged in age from 19 to 27, came to Northern California from seven states. Known by nicknames like The Don Wan, Calistah, Cella and Angel, they arrived at the famed THX Studios here for a day of interviews, media training and informal video game play.
The judges were going to take each of those elements into consideration when choosing the new team member, but everyone knew that to have a chance at winning, kicking butt in the tournament was a necessity.
Because Ubisoft granted GameTrailers the right to produce an episodic series about the event and the eventual winner, I was granted access to the auditions only after agreeing not to publish this story, or one that follows it, until after the corresponding GameTrailers episodes had run.
Some of the women were practicing playing "Halo 2," one of the two games on which they were soon to be tested, and the banter and smack talk had already begun. That was important, since the judges were looking to see who could stay cool under pressure, play well and showcase the feisty and communicative personality they sought in a Frag Doll.
"One thing I'm looking for is someone who can play the fast-paced games like 'Halo (2)' (and) some of the slower-paced games like (Ubisoft's) 'Ghost Recon,'" said Sorola, "where it's strategy and thinking. Where it shows someone who's a lot more patient rather than someone who just mashes buttons."
He also said he wanted to see how Marcella Fernandez, 21, from Dallas, would fare. She was telling everyone she didn't sleep the night before.
"It's awesome that she's that excited," Sorola said. "But you've got to get your sleep no matter what's going on. If she can hold it together, that's awesome."
Not long after, all the candidates left and everyone else--the current Frag Dolls, the GameTrailers team, Ubisoft's public relations folks, a few others and I--sat waiting for the eight women to return.
As we waited, Valkyrie, one of the existing Frag Dolls, yelled out rhetorically, "Can I ask each of them to give me an example of their (smack) talk?"
"OK, girls," she shouted after the eight entered. "We've seen that you can talk the talk. Now we're going to see if you can walk the walk. Stand up and give me an example of your (smack) talk."
"Say my name," shouted Monica Inderlied, a 21-year-old from Norman, Okla.
"You shoot like a boy," 27-year-old Jennifer King of Seattle said to huge laughter.
"I want all of you to eat it," shouted Rennelly Morel, 19, from Brooklyn, N.Y.
Then the game play started, with each of the eight women sitting down at an Xbox 360, in two facing rows, four on a side, readying to play "Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter."
The room quickly filled with the sounds of gunfire, explosions, the grunt of dying game soldiers and the excited yells of the eight competitors. All around, people were hovering and watching them play.
"If these people standing behind you are making you nervous," taunted Valkyrie, "get used to it. In tournaments, you're going to have a hundred people behind you. I like it. It turns me on. Guys'll be coming up to you and you know what? You have to turn around and talk to them."
"That was awesome," shouted Heather Boyd, 22, from Vero Beach, Fla. "I just got popped in the head."
ok, so they got their frag tourneys. but what about us sports gamers? we've been playing informal tournamants since Tecmo Bowl. NBA live, Madness, NCAA 06, Madden, 2k6 - where that tournament?
you know whee those games are? THey in the garbage.. forget the g@y sports games on a console.. get off you F@T L@ZY @SS and place real sports CHUMP....
Maybe if they didn't release a new 'version' each year with only seasonal updates, sports game might ghave a small glimmer of hope of getting considered a tournament type of game.
But other than that, the real thing takes much more skill to do and is much more entertaining, well known, etc. Same reason that games like 'Full Spectrum Warrior' do not get considered.
That is, other than the fact that there is a lack of extreme depth in the gameplay mechanics that allows for tiering and truely and well established 'advanced play' (such as combos in Street Fighter, Wavedashing/SHFFL's in Smash bros. Melee, and button combos in the Halo games).
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But other than that, the real thing takes much more skill to do and is much more entertaining, well known, etc.
Same reason that games like 'Full Spectrum Warrior' do not get considered.
That is, other than the fact that there is a lack of extreme depth in the gameplay mechanics that allows for tiering and truely and well established 'advanced play' (such as combos in Street Fighter, Wavedashing/SHFFL's in Smash bros. Melee, and button combos in the Halo games).
Great. So much for suffrage and equality.
Be equal. Not divided.