I interview edge`Genuine, discussing topics such as previous managing experience, CGS, and his current team.

Hi edge`Genuine, can you introduce yourself to the readers?

Hey, I'm Billy "genuine" Smith from Edge of Gaming. I'm currently 18 and have just finished college. I have been accepted into the University of Manchester for Business and Economics next year, so I’m currently looking forward to that!

How did you get into gaming?

Well I’ve always loved gaming in general, used to spend hours on streets of rage as a kid. RPG's used to be my favourite; I think I’ve completed all of the final fantasy series ever played. As for PC gaming, I had just got a new pc on like a 400mhz processor and my friend started to play soldier of fortune 2. It was so addictive, we'd both skive school to play on publics...think we made a clan too (www.gbsclanserver.bravehost.com)

Can you talk us through your gaming and managerial history

Well my PC blew up just as I was getting pretty good at CoDv1, so i had to quit that. I was gutted, and still wanted to be involved with the lads, so I guess I just naturally took a managerial stance with the team. Set up an IRC channel, website and got a server sponsor and stuff. After that, I joined a friend from SoF2 (pLg, director of riZe gaming) at riZe, initially as a news poster

I worked my way up to marketing and operations manager in riZe and did fairly well. Helped write up a lot of documents, did some basic market research and was taken under Mike's (pLg) wing. His management style is very similar to mine, although i like to think i use business application from my education more than what he did in riZe. I think because i was slightly more naive then and riZe was going downhill, i decided to leave and join team-nd / dMiZE as director. I soon noticed that just having me as a director with other people who weren't as motivated as me wasn’t the recipe for success and i know now that i shouldn't have left riZe, but by then it was too late and riZe was already dead.

What made you want to form the Edge Organization?

Well, Leon (ionz), my fellow director, has abit of reputation for organisation making. I had just quit CoD2 and he wouldn't stop bugging me. At first I didn;t take him seriously at all, but after a while the idea became quite tempting. When he told me that he also had cZar rick involved, i knew that with us 3 combined we had something special.

The UK scene isn't anywhere near as competitive as it can be, and sooooo many games are looked over. There's alot of niche's in the gaming market, it's just all about finding them.

Can you talk us through your individual teams and players?

Well first of all we have edge.css. What a brilliant bunch of lads. I personally am very hapy of this coup as i spent quite some time research into them. Rick and leon seemed very set on having r3 as our CSS team, but i just had a feeling something wasn't right with them. Our criteria was UK and highskilled, and we've found that in asperity. They've finished 3rd in the intel championship, which is nothing to be frowned at, and i'm 100% confident in them that they will continue to improve and be able to take on teams such as AuX and 4k for number 1 spot in the UK before long. As for Quake 4, i'm very privilaged to be working with geo, he's a brilliant lad. Take's abit of management as he gets hooked on WoW and gets stressed with Quake 4, but if you can handle him right, he's brilliant. He's been gaming for 2 years and can play a competitive game vs someone like Geo who's been gaming how long? Imagine geo once he has 3 or 4 years gaming experience under his belt. As for Warsow, it's an upcoming game and we have several upcoming players now. I'm sure when warsow hit's the big scene (which i will be bold and predict it will) all of our players will need no introduction.

What tips do you have for new managers?

Stick to it. The amounts of times I’ve had arguments with players and fellow managers is ridiculous. But it happens, different people have different visions and opinions and it's all about coming to some kind of middle ground. Also sponsors, learn how to use the phone and build up a massive contact list, even if you don't use them for your team, it's good to be friends with people who could be of benefit to you. The biggest point i'd like to make though is having your priorities correct. In team-nd, one of the managers wanted to be successful because of the e-fame it brought him? I mean wtf? E-fame? If you want e-fame, become a player, management is all about helping players and teams become great...not about making yourself become great.

Do you ever see yourself making a living out of gaming?

Hmm, difficult question. I read an article about "bds" from SK. He openly admits that he isn't very rich at all from gaming, and as far as I’m concerned, he's at the most powerful and successful gaming team to date. However, who knows? things might change. Whether i would choose to do it is also another question, my personal dream at the moment is to start my own franchise, either in clothing or a sports bar. Knowing that when i die, I’d leave a business that's scattered all over the world, and earning one of my relative's a lot of money to have a better life I’ve had, would make me very happy.

What are you opinions on CGS?

Championship Gaming League? Hmm, it's pretty amazing for gaming i think. The days where quakecon and CPL ruling the gaming tournament world are well and truly over now i think. In general, it's a great thing for gaming isn't it? I don’t believe a company as such should be able to own such a professional league. I think they should set up a UKGA (UK Gaming Association), much like the FA in football and then run a professional league from. It's only a matter of time before some rival league's are made and everything goes heads up. But anything which brings more coverage and therefore more money into the game pleases me for the mean time, asking for a gaming governing body might be asking abit much at the moment hehe.

You have a good platform for build on, a strong sponsor and some very strong players/teams? Where do you go now?

Well, it depends what direction me, leon and rick want to take. We're all equally powerful managers within Edge and it's lucky we're an odd number, so we can employ a voting system on alot of issues. More sponsors, Build a Community and improve our teams, are our current medium term objectives so we'll be aiming to do that, but it's important not to grow too quickly as our players/teams will get stolen by bigger fish before we have a chance to introduce a legal aspect to our organisation and register as a business.

Do you still see yourself involved in gaming in 5 years?

Honestly? No. But ofcourse it depends. I'll always game with my friends on fifa and stuff, but in 5 years, i see myself working for a big company in a high salary job. Theres alot of stress involved in being a gaming manager and i think the addition of that sorta stress to the stress of a high salary job might push me over the edge (no pun intended lol!). Who want's to commit suicide at 23? I'd much rather wait til 30!

If you could would you go back to playing would you?

Yes and No. Yes because gaming is a intellectual stimulation you rarely find in real life. You have to pay to go to Alton towers and ride oblivion, to get the same feeling you get from winning an official game. The feeling of winning in gaming, especially in tournaments, is just like scoring in football, but it's accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, where as you play a football match once a week.

But in general, no I wouldn't. When i was at my peak in gaming, I was playing a good 8-10 hours a day, missed quite abit of my education, put on a lot of weight and didn't get any girls. Now I have a much better quality of life without gaming...so going back would be a mistake. I wouldn't want to put anyone off gaming though, some of my best memories involve me sitting at my computer and I’m a much better person for having been a gamer

I mean, it's strange to think, but I would never have spoken to a Swedish person or someone from Belgium about something as simple as football if I didn't game. The internet is a great thing.

Thanks for the interview, any shoutouts?

Shout Outs to Game Zero LTD, probaly the best GSP i've ever worked with. Can find them at www.game-zero.com! Also shout-outs to the edge players + teams for making it such an enjoyable experience as of yet, leon, rick and any body else who has ever made me laugh.

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#edge @ quakenet
Edge