Issue 096
December 2012
Winning his UFC debut? Impressive. Destroying your older brother at video games knowing he hates losing? Legendary. Chico Camus talks about his life-long love of video games
How did this all begin, then, with you and video games?
“It goes all the way back to Atari, man. I had older brothers who played video games and we all loved to play sports as well so it was a natural thing for us all to get into sports games. I’m more of a sports video game kind of guy to be honest with you, but I do have time for shooting games sometimes.
“My mom made sure we stayed in sports so we played basketball, baseball or football so we caught onto those games because we were naturally connected to them.”
What were your sports games of choice then?
“I used to play a lot of Tecmo Super Bowl. That was a classic and I kept it interesting by playing other stuff around it so I never got bored. I’d play Pac-Man and Paperboy a lot as well, but the franchises like Madden and the NBA games were always my favorites. And they still are. If I only had $100 in my pocket and there’s a new Madden out then I know I’m going to have to pick it up. I still play mostly those games but, like I said, I do like to play shooting games and adventure games as well.”
Talking of shooting games, do you venture online much?
“I need to fix it at the minute because I’m offline but once I get back online I’ll play some Call of Duty for sure. It’s hard to balance it with training, my family and everything like that, but I’ll be back to it pretty soon, I hope.”
You talked about your older brothers; did it ever get competitive?
“My older brother Jesse was kinda the bully back then and he was the kind of guy who, if you were playing a video game against him, you’d be scared of winning in case you got your butt kicked. I was the youngest of three in that house so it got pretty competitive. We all wanted to be the best. Jesse ran that house though, you really didn’t want to beat him if he was in a bad mood.”
QUICK FIRE
Three games on a desert island?
“Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted, NBA 2K.”
Nintendo or Sega?
“Nintendo.”
Sonic or Mario?
”Mario.”
Madden or FIFA?
“Madden.”
LAUZON’S BEST BITS
UFC lightweight contender Joe Lauzon shares the latest from his life in video games...
Lauzon on iPad Gaming...
“Those games have really changed the market because they present gaming as more of a convenience than a sit-down product. I don’t finish training and want to sit down and get into Angry Birds or something like that, but they’re perfect for when you’re waiting somewhere. In the doctor’s, on a plane, or somewhere like that. It’s convenience gaming.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Video Game History of MMA: Primal Rage
We’ve all had ideas that, at the time, seemed world beating but fared less well in the cold light of day. The 2009 Dream super hulk grand prix stands out as a shining example of such an idea that probably never should have made it off the drawing board.
Any tournament that features Bob Sapp twice, ex baseball player Jose Canseco, Hong Man Choi and a Japanese super hero with red Speedos and a mullet was probably doomed to fail from the start.
If only Dream had looked back into the annals of video game history before this lumbering behemoth of a tournament came to pass. They’d have seen similar mistakes were made some 15 years prior.
Primal Rage painted a future in which a meteor had wiped out the bulk of life on earth and dinosaurs emerged to do battle for control of the planet. A tournament was quickly arranged, common protocol for a doomsday scenario, and the shambling monsters faced off.
Each dinosaur had a unique range of ‘abilities’ that ranged from breathing fire, expelling noxious bodily fluids and causing earthquakes. The few humans that were left worshiped the dinosaurs but were often used as human volleyballs in a bizarre half-time entertainment ritual.
That being said it still made more sense than Yamma.
SEPARATED AT BIRTH
Lyoto Machida and Reiji Oyama
The son of a legendary karate master, sent to a tournament to prove his ancient fighting style would prevail against any other? Wait, I forgot which one I was introducing. You don’t need to be a genius however; to work out that these black belts would get on like a house on fire. Both enjoy breaking boards, kata in the sunset and traveling the globe in search of the ultimate adversary.
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