A plymouth teenager has just been made one of the UK's first full-time professional gamers.For the layman, this means Pete Wright, aged 19, gets paid to go to LA and compete against the best gamers in the world for a sweet $500,000 (£245,000).
For the gamer, this means the man's razor-sharp reactions make him one of the UK's five specialists at Counter-Strike: Source, a tactical first-person shooter video game.He claims he's nothing like the anti- social, nerdy, unwashed and vaguely freakish stereotype which springs into many people's minds.
But he still managed to fight off hundreds of competitors to be selected as part of the UK's first Championship Gaming Series team to compete in the World Finals, against teams from the USA, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South America and Australia.
"I was working for a laptop manufacturer and saw this opportunity and thought 'I've got to try my best'," Pete explained.
"It's a dream come true. Lots of people love playing computer games, but I get paid money to play.
"I'd love to do this for the rest of my life," he added.
Pete travelled to Birmingham for a four-day gaming job interview where he competed in tournaments to impress the general managers of two franchises.
He made the last 40 and travelled to London where Sky TV filmed a series of shows about the hopefuls which is set to be on Sky One at 9pm every night in the week running up to Christmas.
Pete's skills got him drafted into the Birmingham Salvo franchise as part of a five-man Counter-Strike force.
His teammates are from York, Liverpool and Brighton.Pete explains that the game is played on the internet and requires quick reactions and good communication with your colleagues.
"It's teamwork; everyone has got to be on the same page. You can be doing really well, but if someone in your team isn't you could lose."
Pete has been playing Counter-Strike for four years.
"People think we're nerdy and sit in front of a computer all day every day," he said. "That's not the case. I play about four nights a week from 7pm to 10pm."
But in the run-up to the contest in Los Angeles Pete's training regime will get more intense, with sessions of up to seven hours a day.
The Championship Gaming Series is the only worldwide professional video gaming league and a joint venture between BSkyB, US satellite TV provider DirecTV and Star, broadcasting by satellite to viewers in Asia.
Pete is set to head out to LA on November 25 and said the UK had a good chance of winning the 500,000 though he would also receive a 30,000 (£14,700) gaming contract and would be able to attract more money through sponsorship.
"Previously the UK hasn't been that good next to the Scandinavian countries and Asia, but we're good now. Latin America and the USA are our biggest challenge," Pete said.
"Australia tend to be the worst because their time zone means they don't get much practice against European and American competitors."
NO JOKE
