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Father and Son Pro Gamer Team Wins Halo Tourney

Posted by Zonk on from the gaming-is-a-family-activity dept.

theodp writes "What Matty and Moises Alou are to Major League Baseball, Poison and his 7-year-old nephew Lil' Poison are to Major League Gaming. Recently, the pair bested 550 Midway Mayhem contestants to take home 1st and 2nd place honors at the largest Halo tournament of all-time. The Chicago Journal reports that gaming prodigy Lil' Poison, who picked up a controller at age 2 and whupped his game-playing Dad into retirement, will be featured on 60 Minutes in January."

36 comments

  1. Nephew? Son? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Which is it? It changed 3 times in the description!

  2. Re:Nephew? Son? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, it only changed 2 times.
    (sorry)

  3. Re:Nephew? Son? by rerunn · · Score: 3, Funny

    It doesnt matter. As long as you dont see the words "catholi priest".

  4. HALO US by Piroca · · Score: 1


    I wonder if people outside the US care about HALO, being it the "[American] Football" of the videogames.

  5. Re:Nephew? Son? by rerunn · · Score: 1

    Gah. I swear I pressed that "C" key. :(

  6. The shame by HeWhoRoams · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can you imagine what it would feel like to be beaten by a small boy? I mean his hands can't even be big enough to grab a full size xbox controllerand he's screaming in his pre pubescenet voice "HEAD SHOT!"

    Thats the sort of thing that makes a man go play The Sims.

    1. Re:The shame by game+kid · · Score: 1

      In other news, Jack Thompson's head explodes when finding out that "family-friendly activities" includes playing HALO and getting head shots.

      I'd love to see/hear his reaction to this...

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  7. Re:HALO US by hal2814 · · Score: 2, Funny

    So does that mean that the rest of the world doesn't care about Pro Halo except for Canada who has a pro version of the game that has a few different rules mostly regarding player substitution and level size and is mostly ignored by fans of the US version of Halo?

  8. Matty and Moises? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Matty Alou is Moises' uncle. Felipe Alou is his father.

  9. Father and Son? by Dogers · · Score: 2, Funny

    Man, what kind of wierd shenanigans went on to make his nephew his son?! You Americans and your crazy morals, I dunno..

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    1. Re:Father and Son? by IpalindromeI · · Score: 1

      Maybe he slept with his aunt? Not that tough to come up with. Now, being your own grandfather, that's a bit harder.

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      Promoting critical thinking since 1994.
    2. Re:Father and Son? by pnice · · Score: 2, Funny

      Here in Texas we call that a duncle. To this kid it's his dad and his uncle.

      --
      My Xbox Live Gamer Card
    3. Re:Father and Son? by mapmaker · · Score: 1
      Here in Texas we call that a duncle.

      Here on the East coast, we call that a West Virginian.

    4. Re:Father and Son? by Dogers · · Score: 1

      okay, so its only 50/50 incest :p

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      I am a viral sig. Please copy me and help me spread. Thank you.
  10. Both! by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Funny

    Perhaps they were rednecks...

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    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  11. Advertisement? by superpulpsicle · · Score: 1

    If the game wasn't Halo would these people be featured on 60 minutes. Every year there are at least dozens of competitions.

  12. Baseball nit by adso · · Score: 1

    Felipe Alou is the father of Moises. Close, though. Matty is Felipe's brother, and along with a third brother, Jesus, all played in the majors. All three played in the outfield together for the Giants in 1963. The opposing team was quoted as saying, "They're everywhere"

    1. Re:Baseball nit by ClamIAm · · Score: 1

      I always knew Jesus was alive.

  13. Saw it Coming by Caseman984 · · Score: 1

    The Japanese have been trying to tell us that little kids are dangerous for years! See: Ring Ju-On Spiral Etc. What happens when this kid turns 18? Instant Army recruitment.

  14. Well, this only proves... by Gadren · · Score: 2, Funny

    The family that slays together stays together.

  15. Is anyone else disturbed by this? by ShoeTheShoeless · · Score: 1

    What people have failed to point out is that this 7 year old is champ of a game rated M (17+) by the ESRB! Is no one else disturbed by this? As a parent and avid gamer (including Halo 2) I wouldn't allow my 7 year old to play Halo2, let alone enter a tournament....

    1. Re:Is anyone else disturbed by this? by game+kid · · Score: 1

      Well, Jack Thompson, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and...uh... *to Slashdotters* anyone? Beuller? Anyone?

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
    2. Re:Is anyone else disturbed by this? by Kazzahdrane · · Score: 1

      Of course it could be argued that his father (uncle?) has clearly played the game himself and decided that the child is mature enough to play it. Whether he's right or not isn't the issue, the fact is he's made an educated decision which is more than can be said for most "omg Manhunt made my son get smallpox" parents.

    3. Re:Is anyone else disturbed by this? by ShoeTheShoeless · · Score: 1

      I guess you could make that arguement...

  16. meh by game+kid · · Score: 1

    More like Be cool. Pwn n00bs after school.

    --
    You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
  17. Who's reaction time is faster? by Rhys · · Score: 1

    His or yours? Stastically, it'd be his.

    Complex strategies in FPSes? Sometimes, but certainly not in a FFA deathmatch. Nothing more complex than path planning in pacman. And you could certainly teach a 7 year old the strats even if they wouldn't come up with them on their own.

    Besides if it makes any of the teenaged "god's gift to " n00bs go cry over a nice game of The Sims it has made a better place. (insert your favorite with player vs player combat)

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  18. Re:Nephew? Son? by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 1

    /. is delivered via multiple servers. It takes some time to propagate story changes to all the machines.

    Each hit you make to the main page can come from different servers. So descriptions can flip back and forth between the corrected and uncorrected state until everything is in sync.

    --

    There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
  19. Wow! by Enforce1 · · Score: 1

    The downfall of society is so well documented. Picked up a controller at age 2? Thats a bit scary. What happened to kids going outside? Of course, its cool that they were successful in the tournament, but is this really terribly newsworthy?

    1. Re:Wow! by The+Kow · · Score: 1

      "Kids are playing video games, not Cowboys and Indians! The decay of moral values! Oh no!"

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      Moo
    2. Re:Wow! by PyroMosh · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Downfall of society? Scary? What? Why?

      It seems to me that you're making an assumption that one activity precludes the other. But I do not see why this is the case at all. As long as the kid is learning and taken care of, and healthy and happy (not being neglected, etc), what difference does it make? In fact, the argument could be made his father and uncle are interacting with him, developing his social skills, as opposed to how many kids grow up / have grown up, sinking countless hours in front of a TV vegitating.

      Also, how does this contribute to the "downfall of society"? If you're making the assertion that video games are somehow harmful in and of themselves, I can not agree, and I'd like to know what your thoughts are on this.

      The only thing I can see from that point of view is that the game is rated M. Presumably for content that is not wholly apropriate for a 2 year old. Aliens invading Earth and killing everything? Perhaps there is a "no blood" or "under 17" checkbox setting somewhere, but I don't know how much of a difference it can make with themes like that.

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      Touch everywhere, even when inappropriate.
    3. Re:Wow! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tiger Woods started playing golf at age 3. What about having a social life? I mean, it's cool that he is successful and all but is it really news worthy?

    4. Re:Wow! by Enforce1 · · Score: 1

      Xbox live or not, social interaction happens when kids play together. I think its a moot point if the child is taken care of or not... Well, perhaps i didn't say that right. Assume no neglect, plunking your kid down in front of a video game isn't as healthy as interacting with other people. Developing social skills is an important part of childrearing. There is essentially no difference between "playing games with father and uncle" (lightly paraphrased) and "vegitating."
       
       

      Its also important to note that a child exposed to a game at the tender age of 2, or even 5-6 may not be able to discern reality from game. In this particular case, it could even be said that the father and uncle are contributing to the detriment of the child by encouraging the child to follow in their footsteps. A long shot, maybe, but possible, is that Daddy watches football, and plays football with the neighbors. Daddy plays halo, and disappears for 8-9 hours every day, so he must be off killing aliens. Like I said, a notable longshot, but kids minds are not very far developed... They're, at times, scared of what could be under the bed, and are, generally, oblivious to the workings of the world outside their front door.

  20. Re:Nephew? Son? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So when the article is named "Father and Son Pro Gamer Team Wins Halo Tourney" and the first sentence says "...Poison and his 7-year-old nephew Lil' Poison are to Major League Gaming." that can be blamed on packet propagation?

  21. Re:Nephew? Son? by Elwood+P+Dowd · · Score: 1

    Ah. No. Although the "dad into retirement" thing could be true even if it's an uncle/nephew team.

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    There are no trails. There are no trees out here.
  22. Not all it's made out to be by Kokichi · · Score: 1

    Note that this was not a "best of" competition, but a walk-on competition for anyone. If you go here: www.mlgpro.com/news/MLG_Chicago%253A__The_Battle_o f_the_Masses/1.html you'll see that he's playing against another kid who looks to be around 12 years old. So while I'm sure he's damn good, think of all the nooblets that entered the tournament. Also, it seems that there was another "VS" guy in his group that got in the top 10 for FFA. I wonder if they had some kind of unspoken pact as they played FFA...it seems that if you were in an FFA with a teammate, sure you'd kill them to get ahead, but perhaps you'd decide not to chase after them if you could go for someone else. Just a thought...