EG|Gemini Interview

Name: Alex Garcia
Alias: EG|Gemini
Title or Occupation: Student
Age: 18
City based out of: Miami, Florida, USA

Methos:
Aside from Quake, what other games do you enjoy?

Gemini:
I don't play many other games besides Quake. I try whatever I hear is good at the time.

Methos:
What did you think of some of the "Quake killer" games that have been released? ie: SiN, Half-life, Unreal etc...

Gemini:
I tried all the "quake killers", none impressed me with the exception of Half Life and that was a single player game.

Methos:
Tell us about your Quake (QW) clan history.

Gemini:
I've been in a few clans. DR (Dark Requiem), Impulse9, XP, Wicked Demise, and now EG.

Methos:
Any reason for being in so many clans?

Gemini:
There were a lot of different reasons. DR died since it wasn't active anymore. I didn't like XP much due to the east/west coast difference but, I had fun playing with players like Unholy and LittleDragon. Impulse9 QW fell apart when I9 split into U4.

Methos:
What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses in QW?

Gemini:
My strengths are the knowledge of the game itself, strats, and my confidence.

Methos:
What are your favorite Quake DM levels?

Gemini:
DM3, DM6.

Methos:
Your style of play has been described as closer to the Euro style than the American style. Any reasons for this?

Gemini:
I don't think there is a "Euro style" I'm one of the few LATE QW players whose demos have gotten into the hands of people. Most of the USA demos which people have seen are NQ. NQ is a much slower paced version of quake (even on lan) I think there is a NQ style and a QW style.

Also, I believe that the initial "greats" had a huge impact on how the scene evolved, when Thresh was playing there was no doubt that people tried to play like him, defensive, smart, not too fancy just getting the job done, very few good NQ people strayed away from that. I'd say that goes for the international scene as well. If you watch great aggressive, fancy, fast players like Lakerman and Reload, you and the rest of the community will try to mimic their style.

Methos:
What type of player do you find easiest to play against and what kind of player do you have the most trouble against on dm6?

Gemini:
I'm really confident against the type of player that goes into the game not so sure on winning. My hardest would be the guys that are VERY confident that they can beat me and the ones that play really really defensive.

Methos:
I've always thought that a "very smart" player such as Thresh would beat most of the fancy aggressive players on dm6, what do you think about this comment?

Gemini:
I agree.. Being fancy is for demos, being a smart player and thinking about "looks" second is much more effective.

Methos:
On the three main DM levels, who do you think are the best players in the world?

Gemini:
Reload on DM2, Thresh/Rix and a few others on DM6, DM4.. I'd say Lakerman.

Methos:
You were asked to attend the TGI tournament about a week before it started. What happened that you couldn't attend?

Gemini:
Lack of enough time to setup a trip to Sweden.

Methos:
Although this is a tough question to answer, how do you think your would've done in the TGI?

Gemini:
Hmm, in 100% shape.. top 4, if I could win on dm2/6. everybody would have a field day with me on DM4 :)

Methos:
You watched a lot of the TGI demos and kept up with the event. What were your thoughts on the players and the event itself?

Gemini:
I thought the event was great, most of the players played great.

Methos:
In his interview with Spookie, your clan mate EG|Monster was asked his thoughts on the TGI and had the following to say.

"EG|Monster: I think the results would have been vastly different if the top North Americans went. I personally KNOW I can handle Lakerman and Nik on dm6 and I'm not bad at the other maps either. But, I think that there are lots of players that are equally skilled or maybe even more so than all of the Europeans and Australians that played in the TGI. But anything I say is purely speculation. I simply wish they asked more than just the "big name" players to represent. I mean everyone knows that sCary's strength is in  team games and not 1on1, so why ask him? All in all, I'd say that TGI was indecisive and generally a failure as a tournament."

Can you give me your thoughts on Monster's negative thoughts regarding the TGI?

Gemini:
I read the interview with Monster. I don't know what facts he gathered to come to that conclusion, but everybody is entitled to their own opinion. It doesn't reflect my opinion or my clan's opinion. I thought the TGI was a success alone in that it's the first tournament to bring 10 players from around the world into one spot for some GREAT games. Like all tournament it had it's downfalls with online coverage being one of them. There's not much more I can say about his comments.

Methos:
You're involved with the USA team for the Rapture99 tourney in July. Can you give us your thoughts about it?

Gemini:
As far as Rapture99 goes, I'm really looking forward to it, it's gonna give us true USA QW players a chance to shine and do well in a tourney. QW has always been ignored in the public eye over here in the US. so we're looking forward to it.

Methos:
The squad is made up of some well known USA players. How do you think you'll fair against Lakerman, Xenon, Cable and the rest of the Euro Selects?

Gemini:
Aside from Thresh, we're only well known in the QW community in the USA. Our games against the Euro Select squad will be interesting if we practice and take it as seriously as I'm thinking they will.

Methos:
We haven't heard much about the Rapture99 tournament in recent weeks. Can you give us an update on the tourney?

Gemini:
The Rapture team has had some trouble and things went into limbo for a month. Vanish had to move from his location unexpectedly and didn't have a phone line for weeks. I can't give much more of an update other than Vanish and the rest of the organizers are still working hard in trying to get us over there to play the games.. let's cross our fingers :>  I'd also like to see a Canadian team attend the tourney. Canada has spawned some great players like Genocide, MikeJ, Pure, Diehard just too name a few. Would just be an even better international event if they were able to attend.

Methos:
Okay, we want a prediction. As it stands now, what do you think your chances of winning will be?

Gemini:
As it stands now, not good. after watching some of these players play in TGI they're in great great shape, which we're not. The QW scene here died a few months ago so, we don't really have the luxury of playing 8 hours a day. But, when we get closer to the date, I think we'll be in great shape.

Methos:
Who is your favorite quake player?

Gemini:
I enjoy watching demos of Thresh, Drakken, Lakerman and a few others. Those r my fav to watch.

Methos:
Do you think you'll switch to Q3A when it arrives?

Gemini:
Of course, I'm sure everybody will switch unless it's another quake2 =/ Although quake2 can have it's moments, it's very dull. If q3a turns out the same, I think I'm gonna exit from the scene until a better game that quake comes out. But if everybody is playing q3a, I will surely wanna be there.

Methos:
What are your thoughts on the Q3A test release and how do you think the final product will be received by gamers?

Gemini:
I enjoyed playing Q3A. The test is a lot better than Q2 ever was. If only id didn't try to fix things that aren't broken. We all know they fucked the RL, now the Q3 rail is nothing like quake2's. If it isn't broken, why fix it?

The changes I'd like to see are...
More POW on the RL with a little faster speed
Quake2 Railgun
Instant weapon switch
More QW like physics
Less effects, more substance

If they add all that, this game has the potential to be THE game and even beat out Quake. Also, they have made the game WAAYY to newbie friendly. I have attacked newly spawned players hit them 4-5x with RL just to have them pickup a Railgun, keyboard turn and pop me in the head. That's fine for FFA, but I seriously hope they change that for the final product at least in competition mode where more hardcore players play or we'll have low scoring matches with no excitement.

Methos:
Anything else you'd like to mention?

Gemini:
Not really, just watch for some great games come July at Rapture99.