We talk to Team 3D's manager Craig Levine, aka Torbull, about running a team of pro-gamers.
By GameSpy Staff | Aug. 24, 2006
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The first ever Championship Gaming Invitational was filmed last month on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay area. Contestants duked it out in Counter-Strike 1.6, Battlefield 2, Halo 2, Project Gotham Racing 3 and Dead or Alive 4. You can check out all the action on DIRECTV channel 101 on September 8 through 10. In the meantime, we wrangled up some of the event's competitors to talk to us about what the life of a pro-gamer is like and what they think it takes to make it into the big leagues.
GameSpy: How did you assemble the team?
Craig Levine: I started Team 3D back in April 2002, when I was a freshman in college. I grew up playing video games and played competitively for a few years but quickly learned I couldn't juggle professional gaming, school and a social life. As an undergraduate business major at NYU I decided to assemble the best talent in North America to form a new "super team." Eight months later we won our first major championship and a big-time sponsorship deal.
GameSpy: What does your team do better than any other team?
Levine: Team 3D is more than just five guys playing Counter-Strike. We really embrace our roles as e-celebrities and as ambassadors of gaming. Our players are always friendly, professional, personable, and of course great gamers. The team puts a lot of hard work and time into practice and we have a good time doing it.
GameSpy: How often should a team practice together per week?
Levine: The team typically practices about four hours a day, five days a week together online to prepare for regular online matches and upcoming live tournaments. Before a major tournament, such as the Championship Gaming Invitational, we'll all get together for a boot camp at a game center and fine tune our strategies and communication in person. During a boot camp we will typically play eight hours a day for six days a week.
GameSpy: What obstacles/challenges has your team faced?
Levine: We face the same obstacles and challenges that many other teams do -- competition! The professional gaming circuit is so competitive that at any event there are about a dozen or so teams that, if they play well, can win an event. We need to stay focused, practice hard, execute on match days, and be on our game!
GameSpy: Who is your strongest player?
Levine: I don't know if I can identify one player as our "strongest." What is great about Team 3D is that in any given round of any match any player can step up and change the tempo of a game. Ronald "Rambo" Kim is probably the most well-rounded player on the team because of his versatility with weapons and strategic mindset.
GameSpy: Does age have anything to do with how good a gamer is?
Levine: It is still to be seen at what age gamers become "too old" or when in a gamer's career their skills start to diminish. I think that to be a successful professional gamer you would probably have to be over 18 years old to have a mature outlook on the profession. Every team has their ups and downs, and it is important that each member has good communication skills to work through problems.
GameSpy: Who would you say your biggest competitor is?
Levine: Our biggest rival is complexity. We tend to face them in a lot of the tournaments we attend and we often go back and forth with wins and losses, but every match is exciting for the players, fans, and media. It's like the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry of e-sports!
