| 20 August 2010
Over the weekend, Eric "Juicebox" Albino signed with Connecticut-based Borderland Gaming. The signing was made official during the Summer Jam tournament in Philadelphia. The deal is for one year.
Juicebox is widely recognized in the Super Street Fighter 4 community as the best Abel player in North America (Abel is one of the many selectable characters in CAPCOM's Super Street Fighter 4 title) and he will once again be showcasing his talents at this weekend's event. It is the hope of BLGaming that this sponsorship will be a positive influence on competitive gamers everywhere, showing that you can travel around the world and earn money doing what you love - if you work hard enough.
According to the organization, Juicebox is the first console player it has signed. Team Spooky posted video of the signing.
In one of his first blog entries on the site, Juicebox talks about getting into competitive gaming and how players can have an epiphany when they realize games can be competitive.
Players who do not think of the game as a competitive outlet will stumble upon an experience that changes their perspective on the game at some point or another. In the past, this could simply have been someone at their local arcade beating them over and over again. Maybe one of their friends figured out how to charge a Sonic Boom and a Flash Kick at the same time and suddenly Guile became unbeatable. Sometimes, after these experiences, those players will write it off as unimportant to their enjoyment of the game and forget the experience. Other times, those players will allow themselves to admit the truth of the incident; “There is more to this game than I am currently aware.” This is the crucial first step towards being competitive. If you are like me, logical and curious, the next step practically takes itself; “I will explore the depths of this game and try to implement my findings in my gameplay.” After that declaration, multiple things should occur. First, you should set yourself up for success by overcoming the barriers to entry in Street Fighter.
