When Is It Too Late To Change Careers?

ChainsawCharlie

http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/101746

Regular readers know that I love video games as much as the next guy. In fact, my right ankle is still sore from drumming my way through a marathon Rock Band session last night (who knew calibrating the TV would make such a difference!?), and I'm always looking for the latest titles to pop into my Xbox.But how much gaming is too much? For North Carolina native Blake Peebles, there's no such thing. Guitar Hero is his title of choice. "I usually play till I can't anymore," he says, in this profile from the News & Observer.
In fact, young Mr. Peebles is dropping out of high school... in order to focus on Guitar Hero full time. Peebles hopes to join the small but growing crew of players looking to make gaming a job. Citing his victories in Guitar Hero tournaments, which include "gift certificates, gaming equipment, and chicken sandwiches," Peebles thinks he has the chops to play competitively and earn actual money in the process. As the story notes, top gamers on the competitive circuit can earn up to $80,000 a year (though $25,000 is more common). Peebles, of course, can count his 52 Chick-fil-A combo meals toward that total.
I was at first inclined to disparage the decision by his parents to let Peebles drop out of school, but it seems a little less ridiculous when you delve into the facts. Peebles hahdn't been doing well in school and wasn't liked, and even now he isn't gaming full time. He has a tutor that provides a private education, and his parents say he's doing well with the more focused instruction and that their son now even does his homework without complaint. (Presumably he can hit the axe sooner after he's finished his studies.)
However, I worry that Peebles, who's just 16, may have a tough road ahead trying to break into competitive gaming. The costs of traveling to tournaments alone can totally outstrip earnings, and the amount of training can be grueling. Sponsorships are often a pipe dream. And then there's the issue of games going out of date and being replaced by something new. Traditional athletes never have to worry about, say, distance running being upgraded with a new version, but many games can go out of style, fast. In the end, there's just not much cash there: One gamer, quoted at the end of the linked article, says that in eight years his total earnings are about $25,000 total, and that's including a national championship in Halo 2.

woodchuck2

Anyone who thinks their kid dropping out of school for a "gaming career" is a hammer head!!!! My kid plays these damn games all the time, enough time that i put a timer on his bedroom so i have control of when he has power or not. He too thinks he will be rich from sitting in front of a TV screen, i support him in almost any career but this one. He gave me crap one day about how he can do anything i can !! I handed him a tape measure and asked him to read off a measurement, he was clueless . I dragged him out into the yard and told him to move a pile of dirt with my excavator, you would think playing games with a multi-funcion controller he wouldnt have a problem. Wrong!!! After 20 minutes of watching him bounce himself and the machine around i told him to get off. Damn fool couldnt even move dirt with 2 sticks and a seat. I told him great job genius , i cant wait for the rest of your generation to rule the country . I played very few electronic games as a kid and i can honestly say i havent touched one in over 20 years. Waste of time IMO, what ever happened to kick the can or the other old games that required some thought, imagination, physical effort and comradery??????

KentWhitten

I'm sorry, but I gotta step in. You seem to be the exact reason why our kids are like they are today. Jesus buddy, you just called your kid a damn fool. Teach them, they are your children. They learn from the people they associate with the most....YOU! You think throwing someone onto an excavator, they should just pick it right up? I know who the fool is, and it ain't your boy.

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ChainsawCharlie

I played a lot of arcade video games in HS. I seen things then, and still see things now in video games that can help with coordination and problem solving. But there has to be limits. My son went to stay with my brother for one summer. Me and my brother are both avid mountain bikers. My kid was an avid gamer. My brother bought my kid (16y/o) a bike and had to force him to ride it, and he told me he was winded and struggled just going one mile. Uncle took the video games away until he could do 5 miles without stopping for a break.

john5mt

drag his ass to work everyday. if he is any good at those games with a little instruction from you, you could turn him into a top hand at excavating before he even graduates from high school which will better help him pay for college and give him more life experience that will help him realize that those games aren't as real or fulfilling as real life. He is probably into them because you haven't shown him anything more interesting.

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