Enemy Down

1on1: FIFA 09 UKeSA Pro Hughjarse

Enemy Down sits down with YoYoTech's FIFA 09 elite player Matt Bushell

Posted by SmellyMoss on Apr 7th 2009 13:09

Our final interview FIFA 09 Dell XPS Premiership with YoYo Tech's Matt Bushell aka Hughjarse. Enjoy!

Enemy Down: How did you get into the world of eSports?

Hughjarse: I've been casually playing video games since I was 7 and then I decided to give online gaming a try by joining Xbox LIVE in 2007 and got a copy of FIFA 08. I found I was beating nearly everyone on it, so I decided to look around for some competitions. I started with Game Battles but saw it was pointless as it was just a ranking ladder rather than a proper competition. My little brother, Dan, saw an advert on XLEAGUE for a FIFA tournament, so I entered that and came 2nd in my first tournament. When I heard that Multiplay were hosting FIFA tournaments at their iSeries events, I started attending them too.

Enemy Down: Did you win any of the tournaments at the Multiplay iSeries and XLEAGUE?

Hughjarse: I've participated in lots of XLEAGUE tournaments since and won 9 in total. I think 3, of which were televised. The biggest XLEAGUE tournament I've won was the FIFA Champions of XLEAGUE, where I won 2 signed England t-shirts for winning both, the PS3 and Xbox 360 grand finals. I have attended Multiplay's i33, which, I finished 2nd to Chris Bullard and also went to i35. Unfortunately, I only came 5th in that tournament.


Enemy Down: So did you hear about UKeSA through your brother too?

Hughjarse: No, I have joined a few clans while I've been in the competitive scene. I heard of a new team called Nervous Gamers (Ed: now YoYoTech) and spoke to their manager, Mark Kearns (Rage) about joining the crew. He usually finds out about most of the events, so that's how I found out about UKeSA.


Enemy Down: Nervous Gamers must have been pleased to hear that you were picked to represent them in the Dell XPS Premiership Division. What were your manager's thoughts at the time, how did you react and who would you have chosen to represent the team instead of yourself?

Hughjarse: He was pleased to get me on board and delighted to have me representing Nervous Gamers in the Dell XPS Premiership Division. If I had to choose anyone else, it would definitely be Graham Ellix (Skamzz). He's one of the brightest prospects for eSports and FIFA in general. He managed to show this by finishing 2nd at the FIFA Interactive World Cup UK Finals.


Enemy Down: Speaking of the FIFA Interactive World Cup, did you enter yourself?

Hughjarse: I went to a qualifier in Wimbledon but I don't like the way it was run. A lot of players go from city to city to qualify for the FIFA Interactive World Cup, increasing their chances of getting to the UK Finals. There were so many tournaments up in the Midlands and in the north of England, but barely any in the south of the United Kingdom, so there weren’t many chances to qualify. Because of this, there was a lot of quality players all crammed at the London event, such as Luke Stovell (Motown/Classic), Ben Withey (Benzi), Jonathan Omar (BigBalla), fellow Nervous Gamer, Dominic Stephens (Mover) and so on. I gave up in the end because my chances of qualifying were slim, so I don't think it was that fair, to be honest.


Enemy Down: Now that UKeSA have revealed the Cup Tournament, what do you think of the decision not to include Dell XPS Premiership Division players in the competition?

Hughjarse: Well obviously, it was disappointing not be involved but I can understand why that decision has been made. If the Premiership players were given the chance to enter, those same players will just keep winning these tournaments. It will just make many of the players wonder why they should bother entering if they have no chance at winning. The one thing I don't quite understand is why the prize allocation for the UKeSA Cup and the Championship Division is the same amount as the prize allocation for the Dell XPS Premiership Division? If anyone from UKeSA could explain that, then that would be good to know.


Enemy Down: Don't you think that the decision to equal the prize money regardless of division is because of the reason you've just mentioned?

Hughjarse: No, because it is by far more difficult for players in the Premiership Division to win the title, than it would be for them to win the Championship Division. So I believe there should be a greater prize allocation to the Premiership players. Plus, a higher prize fund at Premiership level should give incentives for Championship Division players to work and aim to be in the top division.

Enemy Down: Should the UKeSA rules change in FIFA so that everyone has to play in Manual mode? Would that bring more skill into play or will we just see endless goals due to players not used to the Manual setting?

Hughjarse: I have never used manual settings so I couldn't really say, but if it would make the game more skilful, then I think it should be considered. At the moment, all you need in FIFA 09 is a packed defence with a few attackers, use the "pass and run" tactic and then a lobbed through ball - it's really repetitive. Also if you look at my results, how have I beaten Michael Barrett (Bazza) and got a draw against Ollie Hagues (Klash) but then been hammered by 2 players of the same level as Bazza and Klash?


Enemy Down: What other improvements would you suggest to the UKeSA in the next season?

Hughjarse: I think the matches should be a home and away leg format with the scores combined for a final score like XLEAGUE used to do. I also think that there should be a playoff between the top 4 players of the league table. It's the way snooker and darts do their competitions and I think it makes the tournament more exciting. There should be some games played offline because it doesn't seem fair if every game is played online.


Enemy Down: So then, should the UKeSA event taking place in London have offline matches as the "away" segment of the league, so that the competition is based on both online and offline?

Hughjarse: That would be a great idea and I think that would work perfectly. I still think UKeSA should consider having a play-off though; otherwise there will be no final, which is a bit of an anti-climax.

Editor's Note: UKeSA does have 4 person play-offs at GameOn! London in June.


Enemy Down: Now, originally UKeSA mentioned that there will be a maximum of 8 players in the Dell XPS Premiership Division. Do you think UKeSA will add the 8th player in the next season? The setup of the UKeSA Cup suggests that the 8th player could be the winner of that competition...

Hughjarse: I don't think it makes that much difference, but in most football leagues, there's usually an even number of teams. As for deciding who the 8th player is, I think the winner of the cup is a great idea.


Enemy Down: Is your brother, Dan, playing in the UKeSA events?

Hughjarse: No, my brother doesn't really like competitive gaming. He plays a lot of games but more for fun than for a living.


Enemy Down: So who is better, you or your brother?

Hughjarse: At FIFA, it's me by a long distance but he's miles better at most First Person Shooters like Call of Duty and Killzone.


Enemy Down: Thanks Matt. Congrats on 4th place and making the play-offs!