Game on?

Words used at interviewed comments, statements and elaborations are not word for word.

In 1997, the internet café trend arrived at our shores.

“Yes, it was 1997 when the first internet café invaded into my hometown, Ipoh,” says pro gamer Wu Meng Soon, at the current age of 21 this year.

During that period, internet cafés were sprouting on a slow scale, solely meant for surfing at websites and sending e-mails. Charging at a cutthroat price of RM4 per hour, internet cafes did not appeal to the youngsters of that era.

Internet cafes were also name as cafes, simply with the reason of serving food and surfing on the internet at once. However, it was just a matter of time before realizing that the idea of dining at the computer table was not feasible.

Trend Maker

World renowned PC game, “Half-life” was created by Sierra Studios at 1998, was soon introduced to internet cafes here. A science fiction first-person shooter game, developed by Valve Software made a tremendous change in the internet café industry. Starting off with the change of the term “Internet café” into “Cyber Café”, this first person shooter game makes no room for players to dine and game simultaneously. Yet, it was until Valve Software saw the opportunity and potential of the cyber gaming industry among the cyber cafes, “Counter Strike”, a developed first person shooter game, consisting of counter terrorist battling it out with the terrorist in different maps with different objectives.

Immediately, cyber cafes sprouted like mushrooms after a rain all over Malaysia. The game was fancied and welcomed by Malaysians enormously that players keep crowding the cyber cafes all around the clock, beginning from morning until the wee hours of the day.

“We would even skip school to just have hours of fun at the Cyber Café,” claimed by many players who are students at secondary schools and colleges during the hype of the trend.

The trend did not begin with just the arrival of Half-life and Counter Strike but also with the fact that it a means of escape from the dreadful studies of students from their school life. It also allows them to dwell in another realm of challenging their egos and building their fame in the cyber gaming world.

Currently, the trend appeals to majority of players from the age 16 to 24. Students and employees in their uniforms could be seen gaming in the cyber cafes.

“Most players retire from the gaming world at the age of 22 to 24, supposedly getting serious into their studies and career life,” said pro gamer Wu Meng Soon.

Detrimental or Beneficial?

At this era of the second millennium, it is a common trend for players at cyber cafes to game until wee hours in the morning, neglecting their sleep, family time and expenses.

“When we game, we game hard,” claims pro gamer Wu Meng Soon, which also goes with the nickname of susu.

When asked whether he regretted involving himself into the trend, he expresses the priceless experiences he had while going serious into gaming.

He met various players from different backgrounds, coming all the way from Singapore.

Furthermore, his passion for gaming also motivated him to take a big step of organizing a team to compete in tournaments. The leadership experiences boost his confidence and character as well as learning to deal with players to create a strong teamwork.

He and his team has participated in nationally acknowledged tournaments in the cyber gaming industry such as WCG (World Cyber Games), operated by Korean company International Cyber Marketing, ACG (Asia Cyber Games) and WGT (World GameMaster Tournament).

Each tournament requires strict and disciplined training, to ensure victory in hand.

“If you’re going all at it, 3 weeks before the tournament arrives, a minimum of 6 hours mind drilling training is compulsory,”

“Otherwise, you don’t stand a chance to even enter semi-finals,” expressed pro gamer Wu Meng Soon.

He also describes the intense focus of forming strategies and tactics to implement in his team according to their skills and personality.

On top of that, his social skills improved due to the fact that team mates in his team has conflicts among each other, disliking certain attitude or style of playing of each other and he as a leader in the team would have to resolve those conflicts in the most ethical and professional way.

“I tried to make them speak out during discussion, but they refuse to, so I had to deal with them personally,” when asked to state the other problems involved when attempting to resolve the conflicts between the members.

Other obstacles during training such as spending family time, girl friends, working schedule and school assignments get into the way while trying to obtain maximize performance of the team’s effort in training.

“Players who wish to form a team must be prepared to face all these obstacles, but overall, it’s a worthy effort,” he said with a smile.

Game on?

Question is, how long will this cyber gaming trend last?

“The main factor behind this trend, is not the players, not the location of the cyber café, not the economy or the politic of the country but rather how well the game developers create their games,”

“If without fail, game developers identify and comprehend the gaming trend among the players, adding on to fresh and creative concepts, players will continue to flood the cyber cafes,” pro gamer Wu Meng Soon explains.

As long as this trend lasts, it brings great profit for investors into cyber cafes.

“During peak hours, average of RM2,600 which is from 5p.m. until 1a.m. is earned,” states Chow Kah Hou, an employee of Blitzone, located at Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya.

That equates a total earning of RM100,000 and above per month for Blitzone, which has 120 computers operating in the premise.

At weekends, Blitzone will be so packed with players that it spills over to other competitors nearby. It is rumored that the management intends to expand to the 2^nd floor to keep up with the response of the players.

Thanks for your time.

God bless, cheers.