Interview with Popi
Hey guys!
My job got extended to the 31st of August (in case you missed that note) which means I have sooooo little time to blog since I commute and have no free time at all. From tomorrow I might be able to catch an earlier bus meaning that I will get home 21.40 instead of 23.30... huge difference! Fingers crossed.
I am at work now and I try to spend my breaks blogging or similar but I usually write three sentences and leave so the pace is superslow at the moment... sorry about that.
Anyway. The 12th, which was a day off, I got the opportunity to interview the awesome Swedish Super Steet Fighter player Simon "Popi" Gutierrez. He was very talkative and I learned a lot about him that I did not expect. I haven't been able to translate it until now but I'm finally done so here goes:
So, in case somebody doesn't know who you are: Who are you and what's your background?
My Super Street Fighter (SSF) starts way back in Argentina when I was around 10 years old. In Argentina there are many arcade halls which is something I miss in Swedish. It is common in USA and Japan but there are few within Europe. Anyway, my brother introduced me to SSF 2. There was a lot of hype and energy around him when he played. We played against each other and he was really good. I had a big interested in games but I was lucky too. We always had Nintendo consoles, Sega console, Play Stations and so one. I was very into video games and less into computer games. I did play some FPS's like CS but nothing was as fun as SSF. I was motivated to play SSF in a different way. It was sometimes compared to chess and I understand that. It is complex! Years later I entered the Swedish national championship qualifiers in Gothenburg. I thought I was really, really good but ended up on 8th place... which was good for a beginner! After that Richard "Louie" Hansson asked me if I wanted to join Negative Edge, I said yes, and thought that one day I would be as good as him.
I realized that tournaments in Sweden were different from what I was used too. It was always very quiet, a whole other culture, and I was always the one talking a lot which was uncommon. I entered my first DreamHack as a member of Negative Edge and I was playing the most SSF at this point in my life. We became like a family in negative edge even though we were so many players and such different people. But there was never any elitism which made it easy to improve, we all helped each other. But many people quit the team, for example the three people I looked up to a lot, and they are now totally different people with ordinary jobs.
Okay, just to back up a little, were you born in Argentina then?
No, I was born in Sweden actually but we traveled between between Sweden and Argentina a few times. I have been in Sweden for many, many years now though and didn't visit Argentina until last year. It was very different since so many years had passed but I was very happy to see members of my family again.
Oh I understand then. So, to get back on what you were talking about before... did you ever think you were going to be a pro-gamer in any other game?
Hmm... no, I never did. At the moment I don't play many games at all but I have always liked RPGs. Four years ago I played a lot of Halo but not competitively. Perhaps I could have played it competitively but there isn't much of a community around it. I have traveled so much and been to events where everyone is so social. People come from all around the globe for SSF tournaments. That was the case when I was at a tournament in Las Vegas. There were people from all over the globe, many from Japan and USA, and I felt like I connected with everyone there... which is cool since everyone there comes from such different cultures! It is almost no elitism there either. You give each other tips and look out for each other. In a way, you get closer to your opponents.
The last tournament you entered were Webhallen Master Series in Stockholm. Can you tell us about the event, how it went and all? Also, how do you feel about DreamHack now?
I qualified in Gothenburg found out that the finals were to be held in Stockholm. I felt pretty safe because of my experience and wasn't so nervous. I met Yagami who I won against 3-1 so I qualified to the winner's final. There I met Chino. Chino is like a little brother to me, he calls me sensei and I taught him a lot about SSF. He's got a lot of talent. But I won against him as well, 3-0. So Yagami and Chino met, where Yagami won. So then it was Yagami against me lastly where I actually won 3-0. It was a good tournament because there were a lot of good Swedish players there... Skatan and Xiom were there too for example.
I am excited about DreamHack. The only thing that isn't positive is that they have changed the edition we are going to play. Basically, the new edition is new DLC and new mechanics that was released the 4th of June. They have nerfed and buffed some characters in there so I think they should have waited with introducing this edition until next tournament so we all could have "finished" the last version. Now, some people won't be able to adapt to the changes and some players will have an advantaged and disadvantage respectively due to the buffing and nerfing. I think DreamHack wanted to lure some people in by changing to the new edition to get a few more people coming to watch. However, I still think I can win or at least play my very best. As long as Sweden do well, I will be happy.
For how long have you played with your current team, House of Gamers?
My job got extended to the 31st of August (in case you missed that note) which means I have sooooo little time to blog since I commute and have no free time at all. From tomorrow I might be able to catch an earlier bus meaning that I will get home 21.40 instead of 23.30... huge difference! Fingers crossed.
I am at work now and I try to spend my breaks blogging or similar but I usually write three sentences and leave so the pace is superslow at the moment... sorry about that.
Anyway. The 12th, which was a day off, I got the opportunity to interview the awesome Swedish Super Steet Fighter player Simon "Popi" Gutierrez. He was very talkative and I learned a lot about him that I did not expect. I haven't been able to translate it until now but I'm finally done so here goes:
So, in case somebody doesn't know who you are: Who are you and what's your background?
My Super Street Fighter (SSF) starts way back in Argentina when I was around 10 years old. In Argentina there are many arcade halls which is something I miss in Swedish. It is common in USA and Japan but there are few within Europe. Anyway, my brother introduced me to SSF 2. There was a lot of hype and energy around him when he played. We played against each other and he was really good. I had a big interested in games but I was lucky too. We always had Nintendo consoles, Sega console, Play Stations and so one. I was very into video games and less into computer games. I did play some FPS's like CS but nothing was as fun as SSF. I was motivated to play SSF in a different way. It was sometimes compared to chess and I understand that. It is complex! Years later I entered the Swedish national championship qualifiers in Gothenburg. I thought I was really, really good but ended up on 8th place... which was good for a beginner! After that Richard "Louie" Hansson asked me if I wanted to join Negative Edge, I said yes, and thought that one day I would be as good as him.
I realized that tournaments in Sweden were different from what I was used too. It was always very quiet, a whole other culture, and I was always the one talking a lot which was uncommon. I entered my first DreamHack as a member of Negative Edge and I was playing the most SSF at this point in my life. We became like a family in negative edge even though we were so many players and such different people. But there was never any elitism which made it easy to improve, we all helped each other. But many people quit the team, for example the three people I looked up to a lot, and they are now totally different people with ordinary jobs.
Okay, just to back up a little, were you born in Argentina then?
No, I was born in Sweden actually but we traveled between between Sweden and Argentina a few times. I have been in Sweden for many, many years now though and didn't visit Argentina until last year. It was very different since so many years had passed but I was very happy to see members of my family again.
Oh I understand then. So, to get back on what you were talking about before... did you ever think you were going to be a pro-gamer in any other game?
Hmm... no, I never did. At the moment I don't play many games at all but I have always liked RPGs. Four years ago I played a lot of Halo but not competitively. Perhaps I could have played it competitively but there isn't much of a community around it. I have traveled so much and been to events where everyone is so social. People come from all around the globe for SSF tournaments. That was the case when I was at a tournament in Las Vegas. There were people from all over the globe, many from Japan and USA, and I felt like I connected with everyone there... which is cool since everyone there comes from such different cultures! It is almost no elitism there either. You give each other tips and look out for each other. In a way, you get closer to your opponents.
The last tournament you entered were Webhallen Master Series in Stockholm. Can you tell us about the event, how it went and all? Also, how do you feel about DreamHack now?
I qualified in Gothenburg found out that the finals were to be held in Stockholm. I felt pretty safe because of my experience and wasn't so nervous. I met Yagami who I won against 3-1 so I qualified to the winner's final. There I met Chino. Chino is like a little brother to me, he calls me sensei and I taught him a lot about SSF. He's got a lot of talent. But I won against him as well, 3-0. So Yagami and Chino met, where Yagami won. So then it was Yagami against me lastly where I actually won 3-0. It was a good tournament because there were a lot of good Swedish players there... Skatan and Xiom were there too for example.
I am excited about DreamHack. The only thing that isn't positive is that they have changed the edition we are going to play. Basically, the new edition is new DLC and new mechanics that was released the 4th of June. They have nerfed and buffed some characters in there so I think they should have waited with introducing this edition until next tournament so we all could have "finished" the last version. Now, some people won't be able to adapt to the changes and some players will have an advantaged and disadvantage respectively due to the buffing and nerfing. I think DreamHack wanted to lure some people in by changing to the new edition to get a few more people coming to watch. However, I still think I can win or at least play my very best. As long as Sweden do well, I will be happy.
For how long have you played with your current team, House of Gamers?
They started sponsoring me rather recently, some time last year. It was an old friend, David, who is a manager in HoG who asked me "Have you not been sponsored yet?" and thought it was really weird. So I told him I have been contacted by EG, Razr, Team Property and so on but I never thought they gave me a good enough deal, a deal I would actually get something back from. Two-three travels per year was not enough. I wanted more than that. It clicked a lot better with HoG. They had a broader perspective as well and wanted me to reach my maximum potential. We clicked more like a family and you could go there and practice at their cafe and everything felt much better with them.
Awesome. So, one last thing before I wrap this up. We are going to play "The fast three". I tell you something, you can't think about your answer and I want you to say what you like the most quickly, alright?
Okay, go.
Sonic, Mario or Zelda?
Zelda.
iPhone, Android or Windows?
Windows.
PC, console or handheld?
Handheld.
Okay, go.
Sonic, Mario or Zelda?
Zelda.
iPhone, Android or Windows?
Windows.
PC, console or handheld?
Handheld.
Alright! Thanks a lot for talking to me. Any shutouts?
I would like to thank HoG for being a great team and thank you for having me!
So that's Popi for you folks. I hope you enjoyed and I'll be back with more posts in a while. In the meanwhile, like, comment and share with your friends!
Bye guys!
I would like to thank HoG for being a great team and thank you for having me!
So that's Popi for you folks. I hope you enjoyed and I'll be back with more posts in a while. In the meanwhile, like, comment and share with your friends!
Bye guys!
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