The 17-year-old who rose to fame last year by becoming world champion of the computer game Age of Empires II: The Conquerors at the World Cyber Games (WCG) said yesterday he is ready to win another title for Taiwan this year.
Tseng Jeng-cheng (曾政承), who irked Chinese reporters at the WCG in Seoul last year by waving the Republic of China flag after his victory, was speaking at a press conference for the visiting South Korean professional computer-game player Lin Yo-hwan, who was the champion of another game, Star Craft, at last year's WCG.
Lin is on a trip to promote computer games and intends to meet and challenge local professional players of Star Craft.
Tseng said that Lin was a hot shot who had lots of female fans during the contest last year.
"I heard lots of things about him before I met him at the WCG," Tseng said. "He was cool and I think I was inspired by him."
Lin, a 22-year-old college student who majors in computer gaming at Dong-A College in South Korea, said that he found Tseng very friendly, cute and innocent when they first met.
He said he was surprised that Tseng managed to beat several South Korean competitors as well as professional players from around the world to win the championship.
"Before I met him, I thought Korean players were tough enough already," Lin said. "However, Tseng showed me the skill of Taiwanese players by [winning] the title."
Tseng hasn't been to school for two years but said after he won the WCG championship that he wanted to study again.
Yesterday he said he was going to enroll at Shin-Min High School (
"I'll definitely do my best and win another title for Taiwan this year," he said.
The visiting South Korean gamer is scheduled to visit DPP headquarters tomorrow to meet the DPP's Culture and Information Department Director General Cheng Yun-peng (
Lin earned about NT$3 million in computer-game competitions in South Korea last year, according to a press release by his trip organizer.
The press release also said that Lin earned another NT$2 million through advertising.
Despite his parents' initial disapproval of his gaming, Lin said he had no regrets.
"When I began to play cyber games in high school and decided to devote myself to this field, my parents were pretty upset and asked me not to do it," he said.
"However, I'm happy with who I am today and will continue my career as a professional cyber-game player after I graduate from college. If it doesn't work out that way, I'll still get myself involved in the software production business, since this is my alley."
Sarah Yao (
"The WCG usually has five or six different games for players to choose from. There's a champion for each game," Yao explained.
"Last year, the six games were Age of Empires II: The Conquerors, Star Craft, Counter Strike, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament and FIFA.
As for this year, only five games will be selected and the WCG Organizing Committee will announce what they will be next week."
According to Hans Chuang (莊承翰), software manager at the company, Age of Empires II: The Conquerors and Counter Strike are the most popular games in Taiwan.
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