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    Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel is the most notable Quake3 player in the world. Fatal1ty has dominated the Quake3 scene since 1999 winning more tournaments then any other player. Fatal1ty talks about what an average day is like, the auction for gaming lessons with him on Ebay, his thoughts on Doom3, and many other topics. Fatal1ty has recently opened up his website Fatal1ty.com which will be featuring lots of cool merchandise such as the FATpad, a huge mousepad that Fatal1ty himself uses. The FATpad will be will be distributed World Wide coming this December. You can also hang with Fatal1ty on #fatal1ty on irc.enterthegame.com. [Download Fatal1ty's Config Here!]

PlanetQuake3: How did you first get started with computer games?
Fatal1ty: Well, my Dad first introduced me to flight sims back when I was about 5 years old in ’85 - ’86 on our 286 / 12mhz Swan Machine. I use to play that a lot when I was younger and it’s a lot like an FPS game since you’re actually in First Person while flying the plane.

PlanetQuake3: What is the average day of Fatal1ty like?
Fatal1ty: Currently, I’m working very hard with Fatal1ty Inc, and trying to get all of my products up in production for World Distribution by Christmas. My primary goal right now is to get the FATpad distributed World Wide. Also right now I’m training for the upcoming UT2k3 tournament at the CPL. I have to do a lot of practice since I’ve never played the first UT, but I’m really getting the hang of this game and I definitely believe I can show a strong showing at the this upcoming event.

FATpolo Shirt

PlanetQuake3: Over all the tournaments you have won, how much money have you made and what are some of the items you have bought with that money?
Fatal1ty: On paper, I’ve made over $150,000 I believe, I really don’t know the exact numbers. I really haven’t went crazy with the money I’ve won, just bought myself a new 21” Sony Trinitron Flat Screen, and a Herman-Miller Aeron Chair. Also when my Dad had a heart attack back in 2001 in December, I felt I should of helped him out, so I bought him a ’99 Cadillac so he could get around easier and take some stress off his chest.

PlanetQuake3: Can you tell us more about that auction for gaming lessons with you on Ebay?
Fatal1ty: I definitely thought it was a cool idea since so many people ask me to teach them gaming, and this was probably the best way to go about it. I’ve always tried to think of ways to help the gamers and teach lessons in mass, but the only real way to do that is in person at a LAN. So when people came to my LAN’s I would help them out and give them a lot of pointers which really improved their games immensely. I believe in the future, LAN events might have me show up and maybe do like a workshop to becoming a Pro, and how you do it and so forth. Also I could see myself coming in to major LAN events throughout the world giving lectures or working hands on with the gamers and giving them tips. About the eBay deal, my Agent is actually the one who thought of the idea and did it. He had a lot of other athletes that were going to be auctioned off, and eBay wanted to have me on the site as well to be auctioned off just for test purposes. So we ran the auction, and it was incredible. eBay was literally shocked when they saw the numbers I pulled in and realized I outdid Tiger Woods in amount of hits to the page. In the 9-day period of the auction, I had over 70,000 hits which outdid all of the other athletes combined being auctioned off at the same time. About who won the bid, I’m not sure if I’m at liberty to disclose that or not. From what I saw on eBay, Dell Corp from Germany was the last bidder I saw, but I didn’t watch it till the final seconds.

PlanetQuake3: Even though you are playing other games besides Quake3 now do you think you will always being Quake3 on and off?
Fatal1ty: Yes, most definitely. Quake3 is a game you can never let go of, just like the previous Quakes, you play them for many years and it seems like no matter how hard you try not to play the game, it’s always there waiting for you at the next LAN event, or in some cases the next Major Event.

PlanetQuake3: What are some of the activities you do besides gaming?
Fatal1ty: I really enjoy playing a lot of tennis and other outdoor activities. I go rock climbing occasionally with my friends, and I also play a lot of basketball in the summer if I can fit it in. I’m very competitive and athletic, so pretty much anything that is interesting and fun, I play.

PlanetQuake3: Do you enjoy playing Unreal Tournament 2003 or Quake3 Arena better?
Fatal1ty: I enjoy playing Quake 3 Arena more so because of the netcode and amount of competitiveness around the world at the game. UT2k3 is a lot of fun also. It’s always fun to play a new game and learn the new tricks.

PlanetQuake3: What’s your upcoming schedule for matches?
Fatal1ty: I don’t know the UT2K3 community all that well yet, but there are a lot of good gamers in the community. Right now I’m just focusing on my game and getting myself prepared for the upcoming CPL event and not worrying to much about anyone else. The most important thing about getting ready for a tournament is finding your game, and that’s what I’m doing right now.

PlanetQuake3: Do you ever watch demos of yourself playing and analyze them for mistakes you might have made to get better?
Fatal1ty: Not really, I learn from actually making a mistake and working from there. I believe when I played Q3, I played it almost perfectly every time I played it. If I ever did make a mistake, I knew I made a mistake from the second I did it, not from looking back at a demo.

PlanetQuake3: Before playing an opponent in a match will you watch demos of that person in order to find their weaknesses?
Fatal1ty: Not necessarily, but I did some research for QuakeCON2k2.

PlanetQuake3: What are some of your favorite Quake3 maps and mods?
Fatal1ty: My favorite map has to be Q3dm17, that map is a blast on LAN. I believe FFA on dm17 has to be the most entertaining map on LAN. There is so many mod’s in Quake 3, and I really loved them all, but I believe the most fun one was JailBreak. Also Grid Iron was surreal. Never imagine playing football in Quake 3, but they did it. And its 10x’s better than the typical soccer game you’re use to. You should check out both of these mods for your next big LAN event though, I guarantee you’ll have a blast.

PlanetQuake3: When you first started playing Quake3 did you ever imagine that one day you would be one of the best players in the world? Did you set out to try and become one of the best players or did it just happen?
Fatal1ty: I definitely set out for it. My goals were two things only:
1. Being the Best Gamer in the World
2. Flying overseas to play a video game.

I accomplished that at XSi in Stockholm, Sweden in February of 2000. I couldn’t believe my dreams came true so fast, and after all the haters set out to say I wasn’t the best gamer in the world, I set another goal.

Goal: Keep proving them wrong.

PlanetQuake3: How do you prepare yourself for a big match?
Fatal1ty: I like to focus and get mentally prepared. I love to listen to music before my matches and get in the zone.

PlanetQuake3: When your out at the movies or at the mall do people usually recognize you at all?
Fatal1ty: Yes, occasionally. Just recently I was at CostCo in Stockton, California and this older man knew who I was from TechTV I assume or some other media stuff I’ve done in California. My friends overheard him talking to his son about how I was a Professional Gamer. I’ve had other instances happen when I’m at Best Buy or other electronic stores of that nature.

PlanetQuake3: Do you enjoy dueling or Team Deathmatch more?
Fatal1ty: I enjoy dueling more, because I’m in control of the game and I don’t have to rely on anyone else. But I also enjoy Team Deathmatch with cK, because I can actually rely on them which is nice.

PlanetQuake3: How many hours a day do you usually practice?
Fatal1ty: When I’m in my hard training ritual, I practice 8+ hours a day. If I’m not training that hard, it’s typically 4+ hours a day.

PlanetQuake3: From what you've seen about Doom3 so far, what are your thoughts about it? If id does a good job with the multiplayer, do you think you would consider playing it?
Fatal1ty: Oh most definitely, you can never not recognize the skill iD has. They will definitely make a great game, and I can’t complain at all from all the previous iD games I’ve played. I haven’t seen one bad one yet.

PlanetQuake3: What is your favorite tournament of all time?
Fatal1ty: I would have to say RazerCPL was the best tournament overall. You had all the top gamers from all around the world there, and the tournament was ran flawlessly.

PlanetQuake3: How do you find time to be a professional gamer traveling all around the world and still manage to doing regular things like spend time with family and friends? Do you ever find yourself lacking time to do things?
Fatal1ty: Yes, it’s a real bummer at times when you’re traveling all the time and can’t be hanging out with friends back at home and going to parties or other activities. Right now I’m training in San Francisco for the upcoming CPL event, I’ll be flying home on the 25the, driving to St. Louis on 26th, coming back 27th and getting ready for Thanksgiving the next day, then having my Mom’s birthday, then having a LAN with friends on that weekend, and then flying somewhere else for another LAN for more practice for this upcoming CPL. Then I’ll be flying back home to drive down to Dallas for CPL, and then heading back home really fast for Christmas and then traveling to New York for New Years. I believe after that I’ll be available for a little while, which will be nice unless I have to start training for another big event that is happening in the next 2 months.

PlanetQuake3: Are you one of the few pro-gamers that has an agent or do most of them have one? What exactly does the agent do for you?
Fatal1ty: I believe I’m probably the only one who actually has an agent. He works deals for me for products I might endorse or have my picture on, and things like that. We don’t have any major sponsorships as of yet, but I believe by next year we’ll have someone big.

PlanetQuake3: What advice could you give to someone that dreams of becoming a pro-gamer?
Fatal1ty: Don’t let other things fall because of your dream of becoming a Pro-Gamer. Try to stay well rounded and if the timing is right, your dreams will come true.

PlanetQuake3: Do you have a favorite match that you think you played exceptionally well in?
Fatal1ty: I believe I played extremely well in this match, not only because of the score, but because of the magnitude behind it, and all of the haters saying I can’t, I can’t. I took crap from everyone for almost a year and I was over the edge and had to prove my point.

The match was from QuakeCON2k2 where I played John “ZeRo4” Hill on pro-q3dm6.

PlanetQuake3: Who is your biggest supporter?
Fatal1ty: I believe my Fans are my biggest supporters. They really make me want to try my hardest and put in those extra hours every night so I can go beat up on those cocky kids who talk a ton of crap online.

PlanetQuake3: What’s the deal with that stuffed tiger your always with?
Fatal1ty: It’s my mascot, smU. I’ve been traveling around with it for over 3 years now to all the events and it’s brought me a lot of good luck as well. Whenever something lucky happens, smU gets all the credit.

PlanetQuake3: Do you have a certain group of people you play against to practice for matches?
Fatal1ty: I practice with a lot of the cK guys, but I’m not really bias on who I practice with, as long as they’re good and not cocky.

I wanted to say one last thing. Thanks to all you guys that have supported me in the past, and just remember, keep proving them wrong.

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