As far as careers go, professional gamer must rank up there as being one of the most desirable, except of course that it’s highly unlikely to ever become reality and it pays surprisingly very little. Well, in true American style, one kid’s parents have allowed him to quite school aged 16 in a bid to become a professional Guitar Hero player.
Blake Peebles (middle names Randy and Chuck – possibly) from North Carolina will now be home schooled and will concentrate a large chunk of his time on playing Guitar Hero (don’t most 16 year-olds concentrate most of their time on that kind of activity anyway?).
The story on Gizmodo drags up a few other points worth noting, especially the fact that professional gamers typically earn less than £10k a year and even the very best struggle to topple the £40k bracket.
Perhaps the most incredible thing about all this is that young Mr Peebles has his parent’s blessing in his latest endeavour that sounds like little more than a good excuse to live off crap food and sit in his room playing on the Xbox. The reason they let him do it? Because he said that school is a waste of time – well, that’s ok then, as long as there’s a valid reason for it.
Someone should call the authorities on that guys parents. Professional gaming isn't something one can make a living at and the very VERY VERY few that do, don't make a whole lot. He'd have better chances at becoming a cop by playing CSI than becoming a Guitar Hero Player (honestly, if he put that much effort into playing a plastic guitar, wouldn't you think his parents would buy him a real one?)