Rakaka Swedens biggest E-sport site is covering the World Cyber Games 2010 in Los Angeles. Two of our editors sat down with the Ultimate Weapon himself Flash and got an interview. Because of the language barrier and the need for translator this interview is text based but we got of course some pictures.
Flash together with Iceman and Nicke111 from Rakaka at WCG 2010.
"There is much talk in Europe that this may be the last final between you and Jaedong because of Starcraft 2’s strong advance. How does it feel to hear such a thing? - There are plenty of opportunities to see us in Korea and it is definitely not the last chance to see us play against each other since we will continue to play Starcraft: BW for at least five more years. After WCG it's quiet for about a month so I will try to have some vacation."
I found a lot of that interview generally uninteresting - Except for the bit that him and JD are gonna keep playing broodwar. It's kind of funny how he doesn't even try to euphemize the skill gap between Europe and Korea. He simply just says Koreans are better.
"I will not change the game in the near future, however I believe that both I and Jaedong will be in the top if we ever change game. I've seen some games but I did not have time to follow the scene, but I still think I have a fairly good picture on who is good and not."
lol he couldn't have dissed the foreigners and current sc2 pros any more epic...I never really liked this guy but with bw scene slowly fading...I hope this guy can carry the korean BW further... he is basically saying that if the top bw pros switched to sc2 the current sc2 pros will get newb stomped and the balance bs currently going on will shift to different direction
Five more years, hell yeah! (Five more years for Bisu to make a comeback too :D *fingers crossed* lol) lol He's so blunt with the foreign scene about the gap, but I don't disagree with him.
On October 01 2010 10:58 HazMat wrote: Why not post the whole interview on here. It's extremely short...
obvious marketing strategy lol it's like one of those girls gone wild commercials where they block out all the good parts of the body and u have to buy the video to view all
Well if even Flash said in interviews that BW leagues will stop in year or 2, ofc it would be very bad for the atmosphere. He says what he wants to happen.
Although I think it's awesome that Flash and Jaedong are planning to stick to BW (and why wouldn't they? They're the best). It's probably a bit of wishful thinking that BW will be around for 5 more years. If it doesn't attract enough viewers sponsors will go away and there will be no cash to sustain any leagues or teams.
I would like another 5 years even though I play sc2 and dont' play bw I do like having both bw and sc2 to watch as both are fun to watch and would be kinda sad to never see Jaedong/Flash playing anymore.
But even I am skeptical that it'll last 5 more years. I hope not but I will not be surprised if for some reason the pro scene does die due to Gom/Kespa or something :/.
On October 01 2010 19:08 Geisterkarle wrote: Sad, wanted to know, if infernal was also an computer(hard) or not
Flash wouldn't berate his opponent like that.
tbh its pretty uncalled for. Everyone knows the koreans dominate bw wcg every year, yet players still like going and fans still like watching. Their 'competition' there aren't full time bw progamers, let alone the best (or second best) players in the world, why insult them for it?
- I have never tried Starcraft 2, I have not had the time to do so since I have been busy playing Starcraft:Brood War. I will not change the game in the near future, however I believe that both I and Jaedong will be in the top if we ever change game
- It's a very big gap in terms of skill between the Koreans and foreigners in Brood War, but in Starcraft 2, the gap is smaller because the game is so new. However, I believe that Korea will soon dominate Starcraft 2 as we do in BW but with SC2 foreigners will have a better chance than in SC: BW.
Haha this is great, now all the korean sc2 players should support the continued existence of bw so they don't switch, also, poor foreigners in korea T.T
I'd like to come back to this in 3 years if he hasn't already switched over. The talent is slowly leaving SC:BW for SC2. I want Jaedong to come to SC2 for a week, lead a zerg revolution and then he can go back to SC:BW I think there will be some major politics going on in the next few years, SC2 is already proving to be a huge cash cow.
Even though BW has basically died outside Korea, I don't see the Korean fanbase suddenly giving up on all the SC pros. The only thing that can kill BW in Korea is Kespa/GOM fighting.
platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
Platinum/Diamond mouse were announced after NaDa won his golden mouse (the first player to do so.) Which was late 2006. Soooo yeah... no.
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
That would not be a challenge at all for him... Well pretty happy to see Flash that optimistic !
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
Someone like Flash would have absolutely no issues catching up.
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
Someone like Flash would have absolutely no issues catching up.
Flash was one of the best BW players at age 15 when others had been playing the game years before he even knew about the game. He wold probably be the best SC2 player in the world after a month of playing.
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
Someone like Flash would have absolutely no issues catching up.
Screw catching up, give him a week and he'd be the bonjwa of SC2 as well.
On October 03 2010 09:36 papaz wrote: 5 years? LOL. He is dreaming.
SC2 is gonna get bigger and bigger with already bigger prize money. Eventually the money will make these guys switch.
It's bigger prize because they don't have salaries... SC2 so far doesn't have any of the big sponsors that SC has had. Just one tournament basically paid for by Blizzard, and what else?
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
On October 03 2010 09:36 papaz wrote: 5 years? LOL. He is dreaming.
SC2 is gonna get bigger and bigger with already bigger prize money. Eventually the money will make these guys switch.
It's bigger prize because they don't have salaries... SC2 so far doesn't have any of the big sponsors that SC has had. Just one tournament basically paid for by Blizzard, and what else?
this. bw scene has lived for the past 10+ years because it has had the support of many korean corporations in their society. that is why there is a concept of pro-teams being sponsored by these companies with salaries being paid. all there is for sc2 so far is some monthly tourneys where the majority of the prize money is coming from blizzard. how long do you think blizz will keep that up? they better hope the same thing that happened to bw will happen to sc2 or else it will be dead. we'll just have to see.
Flash has no reason to switch to SC2 with his current salary... obviously if BW dies(OSL/MSL/Kespa teams) Flash will move over to SC2. It would be interesting in how much the head start some of the older programers that moved over sooner will have an impact on their play vs the big names early on. How long do you think it would take Flash playing SC2 to be Flash? 2 weeks?
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
uh what? they announced this several years ago when nada won his golden mouse.. ugh go back to sc2 forum
On October 03 2010 09:36 papaz wrote: 5 years? LOL. He is dreaming.
SC2 is gonna get bigger and bigger with already bigger prize money. Eventually the money will make these guys switch.
without teams, sponsors, coaches, and off season dancing .. i dont see SC2 getting bigger.. and thats going to be the plan of the company who is holding the broadcasting rights ..
WC3, before SC2, had one of the biggest cash prizes for a gaming tournament .. take a look at the records of Moon, Grubby and Sky .. did it factor to the growth of WC3? + Show Spoiler +
On October 02 2010 00:26 JackMcCoy wrote: platinum mouse? diamond mouse? sc1 guys already stealing ideas from sc2? xD i hope flash will challenge himself soon and try sc2, or else when he finally switches he may be too far behind other pros who went sooner...
On October 04 2010 03:36 NickC wrote: 5 yrs was a mistype. meant to say 50 years!
I would watch Flash play until the day he dies. Hopefully while playing an epic game.
To those responding to the guy banned for saying SC:BW won't last 5 more years, please don't egg SC2-exlusive fans on by saying SC2 won't last 5 more years. Only increases the hate and they'll keep posting back.
5 years is a little be optimistic. Outside of Korea it's all sc2. In Korea, the newer generation is playing sc2, so it won't be much longer before the transition starts to pick up. We're already seening current BW pros looking to join the next gsl.
2 years tops, and even by then i think the bw scene will be anemic at best.
I have no doubt Flash and JD could be top tier sc2 players, but it WOULD take at least 2-3 months of hard practicing, and I find it easy to believe that they will be hesitant to switch because for that 2-3 months, they will have to suffer being non top tier, and games are 10x more fun if you are winning, amirite?
On October 04 2010 05:40 benjammin wrote: it's gonna be all about the $$$
would you take a pay cut if you had a garuntee that you would be #1 in a certain game? moving to sc2 would be gambling their fame and status, not only money (even thought they have some pretty good odds)
Good interview.. but 5 years.. not sure about that.. seems a little outlandish. I say 2 more years before he starts dabbling around in SC2 maybe in the 3rd year he attempts to qualify for whatever big tournaments are around.
On October 04 2010 05:30 danson wrote: 2 years tops, and even by then i think the bw scene will be anemic at best.
I have no doubt Flash and JD could be top tier sc2 players, but it WOULD take at least 2-3 months of hard practicing, and I find it easy to believe that they will be hesitant to switch because for that 2-3 months, they will have to suffer being non top tier, and games are 10x more fun if you are winning, amirite?
This again?
Why do people constantly come to the BW forums to talk about Flash and JD switching over, and how it would be easy for them, etc. They are both raking in the highest salaries in BW, and making a lot more money than they could in the current SC2 scene. They both also stated they're staying with BW for the time being, its been covered so many times now.
On October 02 2010 00:06 CidO wrote: I'd like to come back to this in 3 years if he hasn't already switched over. The talent is slowly leaving SC:BW for SC2. I want Jaedong to come to SC2 for a week, lead a zerg revolution and then he can go back to SC:BW I think there will be some major politics going on in the next few years, SC2 is already proving to be a huge cash cow.
The active talent isn't. MVP is actually the first so far and he was far from a top BW player. The rest are B-teamers and has-beens who couldn't cut it in BW anymore. And why does every BW thread get plagued by sc2 posters and their doom and gloom attitude about BW dying these days? I know you want SC2 to succeed, but keep it on the other side of the forum please.
On October 04 2010 05:30 danson wrote: 2 years tops, and even by then i think the bw scene will be anemic at best.
I have no doubt Flash and JD could be top tier sc2 players, but it WOULD take at least 2-3 months of hard practicing, and I find it easy to believe that they will be hesitant to switch because for that 2-3 months, they will have to suffer being non top tier, and games are 10x more fun if you are winning, amirite?
This again?
Why do people constantly come to the BW forums to talk about Flash and JD switching over, and how it would be easy for them, etc. They are both raking in the highest salaries in BW, and making a lot more money than they could in the current SC2 scene. They both also stated they're staying with BW for the time being, its been covered so many times now.
On October 02 2010 00:06 CidO wrote: I'd like to come back to this in 3 years if he hasn't already switched over. The talent is slowly leaving SC:BW for SC2. I want Jaedong to come to SC2 for a week, lead a zerg revolution and then he can go back to SC:BW I think there will be some major politics going on in the next few years, SC2 is already proving to be a huge cash cow.
The active talent isn't. MVP is actually the first so far and he was far from a top BW player. The rest are B-teamers and has-beens who couldn't cut it in BW anymore. And why does every BW thread get plagued by sc2 posters and their doom and gloom attitude about BW dying these days? I know you want SC2 to succeed, but keep it on the other side of the forum please.
Arent we all on the same side? Die Command and Conquer!
On October 04 2010 05:30 danson wrote: 2 years tops, and even by then i think the bw scene will be anemic at best.
I have no doubt Flash and JD could be top tier sc2 players, but it WOULD take at least 2-3 months of hard practicing, and I find it easy to believe that they will be hesitant to switch because for that 2-3 months, they will have to suffer being non top tier, and games are 10x more fun if you are winning, amirite?
This again?
Why do people constantly come to the BW forums to talk about Flash and JD switching over, and how it would be easy for them, etc. They are both raking in the highest salaries in BW, and making a lot more money than they could in the current SC2 scene. They both also stated they're staying with BW for the time being, its been covered so many times now.
On October 02 2010 00:06 CidO wrote: I'd like to come back to this in 3 years if he hasn't already switched over. The talent is slowly leaving SC:BW for SC2. I want Jaedong to come to SC2 for a week, lead a zerg revolution and then he can go back to SC:BW I think there will be some major politics going on in the next few years, SC2 is already proving to be a huge cash cow.
The active talent isn't. MVP is actually the first so far and he was far from a top BW player. The rest are B-teamers and has-beens who couldn't cut it in BW anymore. And why does every BW thread get plagued by sc2 posters and their doom and gloom attitude about BW dying these days? I know you want SC2 to succeed, but keep it on the other side of the forum please.
I'm not trying to make you feel assaulted in any way, but the new Jaedong interview released today strongly indicates Jaedong is open to making the switch. This is, of course, open to interpretation, whereas Flash appears firmly against SC2.
On October 04 2010 05:30 danson wrote: 2 years tops, and even by then i think the bw scene will be anemic at best.
I have no doubt Flash and JD could be top tier sc2 players, but it WOULD take at least 2-3 months of hard practicing, and I find it easy to believe that they will be hesitant to switch because for that 2-3 months, they will have to suffer being non top tier, and games are 10x more fun if you are winning, amirite?
This again?
Why do people constantly come to the BW forums to talk about Flash and JD switching over, and how it would be easy for them, etc. They are both raking in the highest salaries in BW, and making a lot more money than they could in the current SC2 scene. They both also stated they're staying with BW for the time being, its been covered so many times now.
On October 02 2010 00:06 CidO wrote: I'd like to come back to this in 3 years if he hasn't already switched over. The talent is slowly leaving SC:BW for SC2. I want Jaedong to come to SC2 for a week, lead a zerg revolution and then he can go back to SC:BW I think there will be some major politics going on in the next few years, SC2 is already proving to be a huge cash cow.
The active talent isn't. MVP is actually the first so far and he was far from a top BW player. The rest are B-teamers and has-beens who couldn't cut it in BW anymore. And why does every BW thread get plagued by sc2 posters and their doom and gloom attitude about BW dying these days? I know you want SC2 to succeed, but keep it on the other side of the forum please.
I'm not trying to make you feel assaulted in any way, but the new Jaedong interview released today strongly indicates Jaedong is open to making the switch. This is, of course, open to interpretation, whereas Flash appears firmly against SC2.
I think people are reading way too much into that interview (especially in the sc2 thread). He said that one day he will switch over. Flash said the same thing pretty much, so have a lot of players. In fact, aside from a few players who openly stated they will retire when BW dies and not be interested in switching over (like Light and Really) the rest have been keeping their options open. I think that players will consider switching when (if) SC2 has enough of a structure to replace BW (that includes structured teams, team leagues, good sponsors, etc) and there is enough money to be made to support entire teams, not just 1 individual league.
I would prefer broodwar lasting forever but what ever to that , like flash said bw will hopefully last 5 years and bw without pro leagues it's like i am missing an old friend who i use to talk to a lot . With that being said lets welcome the proleague on the 16th of this month GO BW!!!!!!!!!!
EPT![[image loading]](http://www.rakaka.se/images/1601-wcg_iceman_flash_nicke11-01.jpg)
Flash hwaiting! ![[image loading]](http://www.rakaka.se/images/1601-wcg_iceman_flash_nicke11-02.jpg)
I think there will be some major politics going on in the next few years, SC2 is already proving to be a huge cash cow. 
