First Person Origins

Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham and Dennis "Thresh" Fong sit down with a legend in the gaming space, Jeff Gerstmann. He is one of the founders of Giant Bomb, and recognized as one of the early pioneers of game journalism and online games media. With nearly 25 years of experience in this industry, today we’ll learn what motivated Jeff to innovate content and create his own vision for what game’s journalism and entertainment should be.

Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham & Dennis "Thresh" Fong sit down with Street Fighter & Tekken legend and 4x world record holder, Ryan "Prodigal Son" Hart to talk about his origin story. At a young age Ryan was always in his local arcades, practicing and battling for clout of being the best Street Fighter player in his local scene. As the arcade seen grew in South West London, Ryan began traveling to other venues to learn from, challenge, and eventually beat the best players London had to offer. His grind through the early days of the fighting game community had him thrown into his fare share of fights outside of the games, too. Listen now as we speak with Ryan about what motivated him to be the best fighting game player in London, and eventually the world.

This episode was recorded June 17th, 2020, shortly before his departure from the industry. djWHEAT and Thresh sat down with Paul Chaloner, better known as ReDeYe. With a 20-year career casting over 80 games, Paul was one of the original voices of Esports. He took these experiences and written one of the most comprehensive books about the history of esports, and we had him on to talk about his book, and more behind the scenes of this unforgiving, yet incredible industry.

djWHEAT and Thresh sit down with Johnathan Wendel, better known as Fatal1ty. Fatal1ty is one of the most decorated esports professionals, and is credited for putting esports on the pop culture radar with his famous appearances on MTV: True Life and 60 Minutes. From an early age he was told he wouldn’t make it, and time and time again he’s proven the world wrong, and we’re thrilled to have him on today to take us through his origins.

Marcus and Dennis sit with Andy "Reginald" Dinh, previous #1 League of Legends player in the world, recipient of Forbes 30 under 30, and founder of Team SoloMid. So how does an untamed, latchkey kid go from struggling roots to owning one of the biggest esports organizations in the world? Part of the answer is Neopets. Listen in and find out more about Andy's amazing journey so far.

Growing up with 7 siblings, discovering games, and learning to be compettive (01:30). Picking up DotA (16:57) and what makes him good at games (18:23). Andy's super power and being relatable (21:27). Building TSM (31:50) and losing a million dollars in business overnight (38:50). Starting the TSM League of Legends team (40:30) and eventually transitioning from player to coach (54:35). Andy talks about his regrets (1:09:14) and tells the story about Russian hackers who almost took him down (1:13:30). He tells us why most esports investments are going to fail (1:18:05), why he passed on the Overwatch League, and how he chooses which games to get into (1:23:25). He talks about the best parts of esports over the last decade (1:30:00). We dish on the $50 million complex (1:33:50) and why he wanted DoubleLift back (1:38:40). In the end, Andy shares reflections on change and growing (1:42:40)."

"We sit down with Geoff Keighley, creator of The Game Awards, curator for Summer Game Fest, and long-time host of countless television and online video game shows. Did you know The Game Awards almost didn't happen and was saved by Britney Spears? Geoff lets us behind the scenes to understand how a beta tester out of Canada went on to create one of the world's most anticipated video game celebrations of all time.

Geoff starts off talking about where his career is now (01:30) before going to back to where it started with a fateful letter to Sierra On-Line (7:00). Dennis asks him about his super power (20:03), and Geoff talks about working his first video game award show in 1994 (33:37). He eventually joins with Spike TV's Video Game Awards show years later (40:49) in addition to starting with G4 (44:21). He discusses the conflict between the needs of television and the authentic needs of the gaming community (51:38) and how that led to Dorito-gate (55:54). Geoff shares his opinion on the VGAs and how they inspired The Game Awards (01:03:30), and how he invested all his money into what he believed (01:08:40) and nearly lost it all if it weren't for Britney Spears (01:12:02). Marcus asks about his relationship with Kojima (01:16:44). Dennis asks about the ESPYs for esports (01:22:50) and if The Game Awards will continue with COVID (01:38:34). With all the ups and downs, they talk about missing a fear gene (01:43:47)."

Did you know Valorant wasn't always going to be a tactical shooter? Dennis and Marcus sit with Stephen Lim, ex-Rioter who founded the Valorant team. He took his experiences from Insomniac, EA, and Blizzard, along with his 8,000 hours of Counterstrike and other competitive titles to put together what ultimately became Valorant. We dig into what inspired Riot's new tactical shooter, the personal sacrifices that made the game possible, and all the tough design choices along the way.

Slim shares his own gaming habits and talks about meeting the Founders of Riot Games (03:48) and taking on his new role (06:41) to develop the New Games team. He talks about the inception of Valorant (12:28) and the desire to tackle the competitive space. Marcus points out how similar LoL and Valorant are (17:28), and Slim challenges the idea that Valorant was inspired by Overwatch (19:12). Developing a game in the shadow of League of Legends (24:28). They discuss what makes a game tactical (28:42) and what to anticipate for new Agents (33:48). Slim reveals Valorant was almost a different game (36:51) and how the decision to go tactical defined all their hiring and development. Modifying Unreal to make a game truly competitive (41:40), the choice to go stylistic (43:52), and the sacrifices made over those decisions (47:56). Prioritizing anti-cheat (56:15) and a discussion about the cheat industry. Designing for competitive integrity (1:04:45). The choice to not use the League of Legends universe (01:16:35). The inception of agent roles (01:26:47) and adding new content. Slim's final thoughts (1:45:17).

Marcus Graham, aka djWHEAT, is an Esports Hall of Famer who is known as a pioneer in Esports Commentary and Livestreaming. He’s broadcasted over 30 different Esports titles in 12 different countries and was a part of the original founding team of Twitch. Dennis "Thresh" Fong sits down with Marcus to find out how the Y2K bug played into his career path, how he created perhaps THE template that broadcasters still use today to cast games, and the effect that his parents had on his Esports journey.

Marcus grew up in Boys Town, Nebraska with 11 siblings (2:50) where he discovered his love for competitive gaming (13:15), and his early on desire to work in video games (18:57). He talks about participating in competitive MUDs (21:40), eventually leading him to the DOOM and Quake scene (26:30) where he started Clan 519 (31:33). Fate guided his transition to casting (41:15). Over his career he learend to cast over 40 different games (63:25), and used these lessons to mentor (70:00) the current and future casters of esports. This all eventually culminated in his arrival to Twitch (80:27) as a founding member and now as a mentor to Twitch streamers as the Director of Creator Development (88:42). Marcus and Dennis give their final thoughts on his journey (93:42).

Dennis Fong, aka Thresh, is recognized in the Guinness World Records as the first professional gamer in the world. Did you know he's also the reason you use WASD to move in video games? He sold his companies for over $800m, played Quake with Elon Musk, has a League of Legends character named after him, and may or may not still own that Ferrari he won almost 23 years ago. Marcus "djWHEAT" Graham sits down with Thresh to dig into his many trials, tribulations, and stories to understand the true origins of a man who went from a legend behind the keyboard to one of Silicon Valley's most successful entrepreneurs, all from his love of video games.

Dennis grew up with computers and siblings (5:50) in a competitive family. Elon Musk used to frequent Dennis' Quake server (33:15). Many of Dennis' skills permeate his everyday life, including playing Clash Royale with Andy of TSM (56:22), and carry to his second act as an entrepreneur in starting Xfire (61:17). Dennis led Clan DeathRow and sets the record straight on the origins of "Thresh" (72:00), and the story behind the Ferrari (77:57). While celebrating his win, Dennis is challenged on stage by the Japanese Quake champion (87:07). Due to his success, his configs became popular, including WASD (93:11). Dennis gives his advice to all who wants to follow his path (104:20).