Video game superstar publishes book to win
By: Dennis Mongello
Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Originally published: 2/9/07 at 3:37 AM EST
Last update: 2/9/07 at 3:54 AM EST
Originally published: 2/9/07 at 3:37 AM EST
Last update: 2/9/07 at 3:54 AM EST
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All competitive games have their superstars, the people who know what it takes to win and aren't afraid to be great. You know their names: Jordan, Gretzky, Montana, and a list of others who were just a little greater than their peers. Playing to Win is a book dedicated to winners and aims at telling the reader exactly what it takes to be one. This book won't feature the 49er's playbook or the Great One's training regiment, though. Playing to Win instead focuses on its own set of winners: Valle, Choi, Umehara, and others who have defined what it takes to be great in competitive gaming.
That's right, competitive gaming: video games, board games, card games and more. David Sirlin, an MIT graduate, wrote Playing to Win as a guide for people who think they might have what it takes to enter the tournament scene and tells them what it takes to be a winner. He's qualified to write this book since he was a champion himself in Street Fighter Alpha 2. While his expertise lies in Street Fighter, his concepts can be applied to any game, be it chess, Halo or poker. Aside from being a champion gamer, he currently works as a game designer so he is able to take his inside-out knowledge about games and apply it to taking your skills to the next level. Finally, he relates Sun Tzu's The Art of War to gaming. This shows the timelessness of Tzu's work, and also gives concrete examples of using different strategies to win.
Sirlin's approach is very systematic. He starts by describing how a beginner plays a game, and then what the beginner needs to do to become an intermediate, and so on until the player understands what goes through the heads of the elite players as they are in the final rounds of tournaments. Readers (and even gamers who think they are on top of their game) might be surprised at what people have to go through to start winning. It takes a great deal of commitment, both physical and mental. A player has to have the physical prowess to play their game for hours, ignoring fatigue and malnourishment, while at the same time remaining mentally sharp, not only to work through their own strategy, but to systematically dismantle their opponent's.
That's right, competitive gaming: video games, board games, card games and more. David Sirlin, an MIT graduate, wrote Playing to Win as a guide for people who think they might have what it takes to enter the tournament scene and tells them what it takes to be a winner. He's qualified to write this book since he was a champion himself in Street Fighter Alpha 2. While his expertise lies in Street Fighter, his concepts can be applied to any game, be it chess, Halo or poker. Aside from being a champion gamer, he currently works as a game designer so he is able to take his inside-out knowledge about games and apply it to taking your skills to the next level. Finally, he relates Sun Tzu's The Art of War to gaming. This shows the timelessness of Tzu's work, and also gives concrete examples of using different strategies to win.
Sirlin's approach is very systematic. He starts by describing how a beginner plays a game, and then what the beginner needs to do to become an intermediate, and so on until the player understands what goes through the heads of the elite players as they are in the final rounds of tournaments. Readers (and even gamers who think they are on top of their game) might be surprised at what people have to go through to start winning. It takes a great deal of commitment, both physical and mental. A player has to have the physical prowess to play their game for hours, ignoring fatigue and malnourishment, while at the same time remaining mentally sharp, not only to work through their own strategy, but to systematically dismantle their opponent's.
