Official member of Championship Gaming Series.

Ryan Ward

Tag - Offbeat Ninja

Hi Ryan, could you please introduce yourself, and explain what it is that you do, to the readers!

Hello, I'm Ryan Ward, AKA Offbeat Ninja. I currently have one of the coolest jobs ever: A professional gamer for the Carolina Core in the Championship Gaming Series.

How did it feel to be the first pick of the Caroline Core franchise, 6th overall? What was going through your head as you were sitting at the playboy mansion waiting anxiously? Did you have any doubts about getting picked at all?

It felt great to be picked in the first round of the draft. I was anxiously waiting to see if my name would be called and what team and city I could possibly be representing. I felt very confident after winning the CGS DOA4 combine, so I felt I had pretty good chance of being picked. When I heard my name get called for the Carolina Core, it was like a dream come true. I've always been a huge gamer for the duration of my life, so it meant everything to me.

Can you please tell us a little bit about how you went from: picking up a controller for the first, to winning the WCG Finals in Italy, to being picked up by The Carolina Core and given up to a $100,000 a year job playing video games?

It seems like I have been gaming for as long as I can remember. The first time I ever picked up a controller was way back at the wee age of 3. My Dad had brought home a NES and a bunch of different games, but the one that stood out the most would have to be good ol' Super Mario Brothers. The love was born and still lives on. Since then I have been playing pretty much any and every kind of game that remotely interests me. When I first started to play DOA, I seemed to be naturally good at the game, so when I saw all of these tournaments springing up, I knew I had to be involved in them in one way or another to see just how good I really was. Thankfully all of the training and hard work has paid off in terms of winning the WCG world finals, and the ultimate prize: being drafted by the Carolina Core.

With the CGS turning gaming into a true job, how is your day to day schedule going to change due to this? Any major life style changes that are going to happen, to adapt to the league?

Leading up to the combine I was definitely taking the game very serious and was training multiple hours a day. Some days, I probably played a little too much. Oops. Thanks to this rigorous training schedule, I don’t think that I will have much trouble adjusting from playing games for competition and fun versus playing them as a full time job. It is definitely going to be a new experience for me being out on my own, but I am greatly looking forward to it and feel it will be a great experience.

Practice hours being a non-issue in this tournament, what do you think will be the biggest factor that will determine a winner and a loser in this competition? How are you going to prepare to minimize this factor?

I believe the most important factor would have to be the ability to adapt to your opponents. Each and every match, they are going to be coming at you with new and modified strategies and using their character's attacks in different ways. If you can adapt to your opponent and read what they are going to do, it will be very hard for them to get a win on you. In order to minimize this factor, I believe it is important to perfect your character in a multitude of styles such as being aggressive when needed or defensive, so that you are able to play well and adjust regardless of what your opponent is doing

About the Championship Gaming Series

Headquartered in Los Angeles, the Championship Gaming SeriesTM. (CGS) is a well-capitalized global media company which uniquely targets the $37 billion global video gaming category with an innovative and compelling sports entertainment offering. Developed and financially backed by News Corp. (NYSE:NWS) companies DIRECTV, BSkyB, and STAR, CGS is the first worldwide professional video gaming league. Launched in 2007, CGS features the world's best pro gamers and is broadcast to more than 100,000,000 households in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia. Key strategic partners include Microsoft, Dell, PepsiCo, and IGN.