Hello, firstly please introduce yourself in short: what kind of a person are you in the normal life, and what are your hobbies?
xlo^VGSpeedPro: My name in Real World is Rog閞io Barros, and I am 30 years old. I work with my Brother and a Friend in running a PetFood Company, and I am also Consultant in other Company that builds Simulators. I studied Computer Engineering, but started to work before finishing it, and I ended not to! My hobbies include Music, Cinema, Quality TV Series and Sports, mainly Motor Sports. I also love Food and to study it! LOL Of course, there is also Gaming! I run a SimRacing Team (NASCAR 2003, rFactor, GTR and GTL), am Team Captain of Agents Squad (Div1 in Unreal Tournament 2k4 CTF) and also Team Leader of Team Excello Racing Division (NFS, TMN & GT4).
Which games did you play before, and when did you start playing Need For Speed?
xlo^VGSpeedPro: I played many Games, before decided to take things more seriously, so I will only talk about Games that I "really really" played. I come from F1 Simulators. I started playing more seriously in 1992/3 with GP1. First Online Competitions were in 1997 with GP2. Entered World Championships for the 1st time in 1999, still with GP2. Raced GP3 until 2001. Then, for lack of time had to make a break, from competition, but continued Managing Virtual-Games.com Racing Team. In the end of 2002, when Unreal Tournament 2k3 was released, I decided to try that World. I played it so far, changing to UT2k4 when it was released. I intend to continue in UT2k7. In 2003, NFSU1 came out, and since time was a problem and I missed Car Racing, I decided to go for it, since the learning curve is quite faster in Arcade games, although to be good, you need lots of practise, no matter what kind of game. Played NFSU2 a lot, for World Records. Played very little Most Wanted, because I didn't like the game much. And now, it's Carbon time and I am really enjoying it so far.
In which events is NFS played? Do you think it is a competitive game for professional players?
xlo^VGSpeedPro: I think NFS is quite present in Events all across the board. From the Online Competitions provided by ESL and ClanBase, to WCG Organized LANs (National, European, Pan-American, Asian and World Finals), and to all hundreds of LANs organized all over the World. I think NFS needs a little more attention and tools to become really "
ro".
Tell us something about your best results (mainly in Need For Speed), and about the best games you remember of!
xlo^VGSpeedPro: In NFSU1, I was ClanBase European Ladder Number 1. In NFSU2, I still lead Circuit World Records, won WCG National Qualifier and went to WCG World Final in Singapore. In Most Wanted, went to European WCG Regional Championship (SEC) in Germany, won WCG National Final and went to WCG World Final in Monza.
Where did you hear about The Fast and the Furious Cup? What was your first impression and what do you think about it now?
xlo^VGSpeedPro: Since I am an active ClanBase player, it was not hard to see it!
I think this Cup has some of the most hard working admins I ever saw, mainly in CS4f1. Also, I dont see how it could be done better. I think that all that is possible, at this moment, to make this Cup be as good as it can be, is being done.
The Fast and the Furious serie is one of my favourites. Tokio Drift is a bit different than the others, but I like it. Do you like the movie and the trilogy, too?
xlo^VGSpeedPro: I liked Tokyo Drift more then I liked the second one. But for me, the 1st Fast and the Furios continues to be the best. Vin Diesel, is the Man!
Hmm...reaching playoffs as a groupwinner... What about your previous games, was it hard to qualify? What do you think about the skill level?
xlo^VGSpeedPro: Group Stage was more or less ok. I think I had the upperhand in what experience in concerned. I want to take this opportunity to thank my opponents there, for being always fair. Well, with exception to the Brazilians, I think we have here all the Top Players in last WCG. So, what do say more? The Skill Level is DEADLY! =)
You have just finished the race, do you? Please, tell us something about the objectives, mistakes, problems and times of your first important playoff game!
xlo^VGSpeedPro: I am a bit disappointed with my performance, because I got very nervous, what is unusual, for 2 reasons: 1st race was in Main and besides taking with the Water Deposit on my head, I realised I had underestimated my opponent, what is a rookie mistake. After that I did mistakes on all my Races, and I think the only thing I am proud was to break into 1m 12s in Savannah. But the Race generally was great fun. Almost all Races decided by very small differences! In Beachfront it was 0.18s difference! Falc鉶.nG is a great guy, a great opponent and very fair! Thanks to him for the Games! And GL for his next game! He is really talented!
What is your main goal in the cup? And who do you think, the final winner to be?
xlo^VGSpeedPro: My main Goal is to have Fun, and I am having it. My second objective was to see what was possible in Carbon, and thus better prepare future competitions, and I think I already achieve it. Now I will try to go as far as possible, but the opposition is quite strong. About the Winner, I think it's a lost of time to try to guess it! ;) There are quite a few people that showed they have what it takes to do it.
Which will be the next event that you will attend? What about the future of NFS? Does the game get enough support? If not, please tell us some possibilities that could be of assistance!
xlo^VGSpeedPro: I guess that if NFS Carbon is confirmed for SEC, my next NFS Event will be the National Qualifiers in Portugal. And I am waiting to know if NFS will make it to WCG too again. If that is the case, I will prepare to the Qualifiers for both SEC and WCG Final. I don't think the game has enough support, because of it's life span. When NFS 2007 is released, NFS 2008 is already underway, and so the Team behind the Games can't lose much more time with the actual version, because they are focusing on the next Chapter. But it is not only this, fact of having a Game that only is here for 1 year: Competition wise, the biggest Clans or the Players with more Free Time, will have an enourmous advantage because they will have more people or more time or both, and so they will have an edge over all Players that are not in that situation. Consequently competition in NFS could be much more interesting. I think NFS must return a little to the past and look at why FPS games have so much people playing Online. From the past they must bring the possibility to save Replays. In fact I don't know why they abandon it, since the Replays we had in previous Titles, not only allowed to share game experiences, but would also give the Community a way to build Tools, that could validate, that those Laps or Races had been done in a fair way, without the use of Cheats! Many people are complaining about the non-existence of LAN mode and that Online is crap. Granted that I already lost games Online to cheaters, the EA Leaderboards are useless and the crashes are really annoying, but the truth is I didnt had so much fun since NFSU2, and this is by far the NFS game I played more Online (over 1000 Ranked Races already). From the FPS games and some Racing games, NFS should get the Server Version idea. Having Server and Client Versions of the Game not only would solve most of the Problems related with Lag and Stuff, but would also multiply the possibilities for those who want to Organize Competitions. And, since the Server Version could have the capability to Validate the Players Games, in the same way like the Central EA Server does it, this wouldnt be a problem. About the LAN, I dont feel that much of a difference between Online and Offline (compared to MW and especially NFSU2), and to be able to play the game, LAN Tournaments just have to be connected to the Internet, which they will be, because CS Players need Steam!
So, I dont find it that serious. Less people that didnt bought the game will play it, but then again, is it fair for piracy copies to be 100% functional? Maybe if people buy more games, prices will become more accessible. How many of us has already spent more on a Disco night then what NFS coasts?
Probably all that are old enough to go to Discos!
