CHENNAI: It started with DOS games like Dave and Pacman, for Rakesh Vishwanath. This 28-year-old gamer was barely a teenager when he was introduced to DOS games, and now, 14 years later, he is officially one of the rising stars in the Indian gaming world. While his fingers play around with the latest Nintendo V, which was gifted to him along with a PS2 and Xbox, he tells CE about his goals and aspirations.
“Resident Evil 4 is my most memorable game. It’s also an action-horror film series,” he says. “While I was getting familiar with the craft, these are the games I could easily understand. Criket07, The House of the Dead and Doom (the classics of the late 90s) are a few add-ons to the list.”
When he was in college, Rakesh decided to compete in tournaments. “I realised that Counter-strike, Need for Speed and FIFA were a few common games that were played in tournaments. I began participating in tournaments conducted by colleges like SRM and SNN,” he shares.
Stating that this kind of experience was a great exposure, he agrees that he got the chance to meet like-minded people in these tournaments, “And this helped in improve my skills,” he adds.
It was in 2008 that things changed for the better for Rakesh. “In both tournaments held by SRM and SSN, I came third. There were participants from colleges outside Chennai like Vellore Institute of Technology and Shastra College. To keep my passion and interest alive, I participate in tournaments conducted by my company too,” he smiles and adds that last year, his team qualified for the
quarter finals.
But when did he take gaming seriously? “I was in college when I decided to pursue it seriously. I got my PS4 and the minute I paired it with a projector, that was my forst step to long nights of gaming,” he laughs.
Dues Ex: Human Revolution (an action role-playing video game set in the year 2027), the House of the Dead (a first person arcade game where players use a light gun (or mouse, in the PC version) to aim and shoot at approaching zombies), and Call of Duty (another first person shooter video game) top his list of favourites.
And he just cannot stop gushing about his PS4. “Killzone Shadow Fall (a shooter in a science fiction setting) and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (an action-adventure video game played from a third-person perspective of Nathan Drake) are my picks from PS4. Since I’m also an ardent football fan, I like playing FIFA as well,” he says.
But Rakesh could not make it to the national or international competitions, as he had several familiy commitments. “I wanted to achieve big, but it was tough. I had to compromise a lot for family,” he avers.
Rakesh says there is a lot of planning that goes into preparing for the game, especially in a Counter-Strike tournament. “We practice our moves and our gaming session goes on for hours. We start all of it weeks prior to the tournament. These virtual games are like any other sport; they require a team effort,” he explains.