Features

Nic Brownrigg, 23, adjusts his headset and takes a drink of iced water from a glass.

At one point, his bedroom door opens behind him and an orange tabby walks in before he closes the door. Wearing a white hat and a T-shirt, he looks as comfortable behind a computer screen as one might think a professional gamer would.

It’s somehow fitting to conduct an interview through Skype with a Canadian gamer set to represent his county in the World Cyber Games (WCG).

The Charlatan’s Juanita Bawagan talks gaming, girls, and guitar hero with Ciji “Starslay3r” Thornton.

The Charlatan (TC): How did you first develop an interest in video games?

Ciji “Starslay3r” Thornton (CT): I started playing games around four or so years of age because my parents bought me a Nintendo. It started off as a learning experience but later developed into somewhat of an addiction as I got older.

TC: Why did you start taking competitive gaming more seriously in the last four years?

What started as a pipe dream for avid gamer Brad McBride turned into a reality two years ago, when McBride, his younger brother and a friend started up an ELAN Games franchise at Carleton.

Sitting across the hall from ELAN in Residence Commons, McBride, 25, said he wanted to start ELAN (Electronic, or Entertainment, Local Area Network) after he moved to Ottawa from Peterborough and was unable to find a quality gaming café.

It’s a big decision — Times New Roman or Arial? Which one will look better? Does it really make a difference?