Kelly Law-Yone is one of the best Guitar Hero Players in the world. She is so good that when Bill Gates gave his last speech at CES this year, Kelly was brought in to do a Guitar Hero skit with him and Slash.
Kelly plays for Team Pandemic, a professional gaming team that is sponsored by several companies, which means that she gets to travel across the country to play games. She competes in Guitar Hero competitions all over the United States and knows all the best Guitar Hero players in the world.
I was fortunate to run into Kelly while she was playing Guitar Hero for Dell University at the Game Education Summit in Dallas, where I got to hear all about her pro-gaming world.
Here's what she had to say...
Why Guitar Hero?
My friends that I played games with introduced me to it, and I don't like losing so I just decided to get really good and I bought my own copy so that I could practice at my place. It was a shock to them that I could beat all of them so quickly.
How does it feel to be one of the best Guitar Hero players in the world? Do you sometimes feel the pressure to always perform at the top?
I don't like saying that I'm the best because there is always room to improve. There is definitely pressure, but I enjoy meeting new people and I look at competitions as a way to get together and hang out and not as a way to prove anything. I already have all my scores posted online anyway.
How many competitions do you do a year?
I compete in about two big competitions and twelve to fifteen smaller competitions each year.
What competition prize are you most proud of?
I am the most excited by the really big check I won at the World Series of Video Games in Louisville. I don't mean that it was a lot of money. It is a check that is literally really big. It takes up a huge amount of space in my room, but it is worth it. It is one of three of these checks ever issued for Guitar Hero during this event. They stopped issuing them after the Louisville competition.
What other gaming jobs do you have?
Well, I just got hired to do demos for companies at video game trade shows and conferences. I get to play a company's game so that the attendees can see how it works and I answer questions about the game. It is really cool.
What other games do you play?
Right now I am really focused on World of Warcraft. I play a Blood Elf rogue, which means that I get to stealth around like a ninja. I just love the competitive aspect of Warcraft and the feeling I get when I win. It is such a focus for me that I'm playing about eight hours a day.
Do you want to join Pandemic's World of Warcraft team?
In a heartbeat. It's pretty much my dream job in the competitive gaming sense!
How do you feel when people refer to you as a girl gamer?
You know, I prefer being described as a gamer. I don't like being represented just by my gender. When I am playing games I don't think that being a girl plays into it.
So what are you studying and what are your plans after graduation?
Currently I am at the University of Texas at Dallas majoring in Arts and Technology with a focus on 3D modeling. I hope to do 3D models for video games, but as long as I get to 3D model something I'll be happy."
