Dubai man lies about food poisoning to finish game

Top Stories

BY CONSOLE! Nick Rego’s longest stretch of gaming was  70-80 hours for Dragon Age: Inquisition
BY CONSOLE! Nick Rego's longest stretch of gaming was 70-80 hours for Dragon Age: Inquisition

A couple of hours do the trick for him nightly, but on Fridays, you can bet he gets more than his fill.

By Alvin R. Cabral

  • Follow us on
  • google-news
  • whatsapp
  • telegram

Published: Thu 23 Mar 2017, 6:00 PM

Last updated: Thu 23 Mar 2017, 9:03 PM

I've seen this dude several times at media events. Though we've never really had much of a conversation (thanks to the snob that I am), he's jolly and very engaging. Until he gets hold of a video game controller. Things can get a bit nasty, so to speak.
"I can get very, very competitive," Nick Rego says. "I will easily ask for a rematch if I end up losing a game, especially if it's a game that I'm supposed to be good at."
Don't dare question his gaming arsenal and talents; aside from being the editor-in-chief of AskMen Middle East, he's a senior editor at games media titan IGN Middle East and tech website tbreak, FYI. He's a busy person during the day, so he usually is able to plop down on his favourite seat in front of the screen only in the evenings. A couple of hours do the trick for him nightly, but on Fridays, you can bet he gets more than his fill.
What makes one tick
Gamers, the hardcore ones most especially, have that unique gusto: the competitiveness, the camaraderie and, of course, the plain thrill of it. Rego says he can put in a tonne of hours for games - his longest was between 70 to 80 hours for Dragon Age: Inquisition - typical of dedicated gamers, both on consoles and PC, though he spends more time on the former since he's got more friends on it.
Which is no coincidence that the Dragon Age series is his all-time favourite. Across three of its titles, Rego says he's finished them over and over - that's hundreds and hundreds of hours, matter of factly.
I, too, tend to immerse myself in games, to the point of fantasising I'm the protagonist (or antagonist, depending). I guess it's the same for any gamer, as he puts it, "to love getting lost in the lore and fantasy."
"Even though I know exactly how each game ends, I still come back every now and then to play through it all over again." Rego takes a further step, doing cosplay as well - though he's only done it once, impersonating Watchmen's Rorschach (neat choice). And if he were to do it again, he'd do the Medic from Team Fortress (interesting to see him wielding the Syringe Gun).
Though I'm nowhere near his level, Rego and I agree on one thing: not spending for in-game stuff. Both of us see this as just an extra hit to your wallet. "I don't really care about it too much. most of in-game purchases tend to be purely cosmetic."Then, there are the wildest moments - what I personally call the "at-times lunacy stuff" for the sake of it.
One fine day, Rego was dead-focused on a particular game, and he was obviously enjoying himself getting challenged by it (or maybe, like myself, not letting that game get the better of my ego and pride after getting killed over and over. Or like being told your brain is useless, with some perplexing puzzle). Problem: there was a family event the same day, which was sure to prevent him from completing his mission.
Kids, do not do what is about to be mentioned next.
"I told my family I had food poisoning so that I could skip meeting some relatives and just stay home to finish that game."
Cue the silence. After processing the thought, I actually laughed at that answer; I never got to know if his family checked on him to make sure he was okay with his "ailment", but at least it worked. And by the way, my worst excuse has been claiming that I didn't want any of my friends to finish a particular game ahead of me, despite the fact that that title was already actually a year old.
And though his competitive fire rages on while gaming, Rego says he's never gotten into beefs while trading digital punches. "Even though things can get quite competitive, I tend to keep my cool," he says, but you'd suspect that he may have said that with a little secret snarl. "So. no; I haven't done anything disruptive while playing." And as for which character he could be compared with or would want to be, the answer wasn't a surprise: again, from Dragon Age.
"I would want to be the Inquisitor. there's a lot of his back story that I can relate with - it would be sort of cool to be him even for a bit."
And kids, Big-Bro Nick wants to further this to all of you: aside from keeping your emotions in check, be gracious in defeat - be a noble fighter and not a keyboard warrior - it's just a game, anyway.
"Don't be a sore loser online and engage in trolling or harassing others," he points out. "It's easy to hide behind a keyboard and make fun of someone else, but you'll really get nothing out of it... gaming can be a lot of fun, but practice moderation," he stresses. "You need to get enough sleep, so try to work out a schedule so your family is happy with the balance between your education and the time spent playing."
How Dubai is playing out
He's already very much into the gaming industry for years, but he is still a fan at heart. Dubai, he says, has a lot of really good and dedicated gamers, and he is very confident about their potential.
"It's about time a UAE team made it to the big leagues," he quips.
A lot has changed as well. Rego says that years ago, physical and online stores in Dubai were "virtually non-existent". So it helps that the emirate is hosting more events and activities to spur more interest in the sector. And boy, would he love to see gamers rumble in eSports - the Electronic Sports League - here in Dubai; he admits that it's still in its infancy in the region. He sees huge potential for it to be a massive attraction.
"It (the gaming sector in the UAE) can only get bigger and better in time," Rego adds. "I think it's high time we show people that there's a serious competitive gaming scene here."
Time will tell to see how all this plays out.
Alvin's favourite video-game franchise is Castlevania. He believes he's the heir to the Belmonts' Vampire Killer whip
alvin@khaleejtimes.com


More news from