Mortal Kombat has been my passion since I was 4 years old. No other fighting game has been fascinating me so long as Mortal Kombat. I would like to tell you my story which is far from ordinary.
Where it all started
I grew up in Switzerland where fighting games were not that popular at that time. Switzerland was quite conservative and gaming was considered as something harmful especially for little children. So the way I got in contact with Mortal Kombat was in a traditional way: The Arcade Hall. Brothers of my friends took me there because it was exciting. One of them bought it by himself for the Super Nintendo (SNES) and I was always playing it with him afterwards. Of course my parents did not allow me to have it so I had to wait. Yea I know, the game is recommended for people from 18 years old and upwards, but when I mean «I had to wait» I mean I had to annoy them long enough to get it. So finally they bought it for me. In 1995, both Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat the Movie were released. I was too young to know «when something was released», so again, my neighbours who were older than me showed me that game and movie. Actually I did not understand the game and the movie that much, but I loved the effects and the sounds. Although he had a really short appearance, Reptile against Liu Kang was my favourite fight in the movie.
The years after
I detached myself from Mortal Kombat when I was 10 years old. World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy were more important at that time. Nevertheless I bought all the Mortal Kombats. The very first one I really enjoyed after Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was Mortal Kombat Deception. Unfortunately, there were no local tournaments and gaming was still not that popular. Most of the time I enjoyed playing Mortal Kombat offline. The game was a real threat for all parents of my friends because of its brutal nature. I admit that it was brutal, but my friends were watching some brutal movies regardless of their age which was alright – so well, this was not my cup of tea. I had no real competitors so when I think back at that time I was quite bad at playing Mortal Kombat.
MK9: Going Online
In 2011, when I finally hit 21, Mortal Kombat 9 was released. I remember it clearly that this was something I had been waiting for so long: Having real competitors. I had so much fun playing online that I started to wonder how this game should actually be played. Without competitors, I had not clue about fighting strategies or the way to play against zoners, grapplers or lamers. Ermac had become my fighter of choice because of his versatile playstyle and of course his lore. Other main characters followed like Kabal, Reptile, Sub-Zero and Noob Saibot. I managed to climb up to the top ten in the Playstation Network around 2013. Until today, Mortal Kombat 9 is my absolute favourite game in the series, because it has great and authentic mechanics. It is a little bit slow, but the feeling of playing is the best.
MKX: Ready to Stream
In 2015, I was totally ready to stream my online play. During that time I had had a lot of freetime so I wanted to start streaming directly from my Playstation 4 over Twitch. I had been practicing a lot of fighters for 3 months until I started to play online. With Ermac and Scorpion I was really successful. My record at that time was 100-0 in King of the Hill. I had managed to stay Rank 1 for 6 months in the Playstation Network. I made some streaming sessions, but unfortunately the qualitiy was quite bad that is why I stopped. My next intention was to play in the ESL, because after the release of Mortal Kombat X, Mortal Kombat was an officially accepted eSports Game in the ESL – but for XBOX only! Another limitation which prevented me from competing with a lot of other likeminded people. Out of a sudden my Playstation 4 broke down, so I took the chance and bought an XBOX One. After I bought the XBOX One, ESL changed the main competition platform to Playstation – the XBOX Live experience for Mortal Kombat X was not that good, because of connection issues. The European network for playing Mortal Kombat X online on XBOX One was quite horrible. After this bad experience and no money to buy another Playstation 4, I decided to stop playing at all.
MK11: Comeback
In 2019, 4 years later, Mortal Kombat 11 was released. Should I buy it or leave this stuff better behind me? Well, I graduated and had some spare time to spend, so why not. At first sight, it was absolutely not my game. Slow movement and dull gameplay. I gave it a try and stopped 2 months later. And after two years of ignoring it, I make an online stream and develop a website? What is wrong with me? If there is a passion for something you cannot leave it behind. It always pops up in your mind and chases you, because there is some unfulfilled desire – especially when you have been enjoying something for so long. But my desire has changed. I just want to have fun playing the game and entertain likeminded people the same way I get entertained by them. The desire to compete with everyone and show my skill is not that strong anymore. I consider myself as an experienced Mortal Kombat player, but not a Pro, because for that I would definitely need more time which I do not have.
Follow me
I decided to stop playing games on the computer when I was 25, because I come from a console generation, where sitting in the living room with your friends and playing games was the best. My nickname AfkForEver «Away from Keyboard For Ever» stands exactly for that – the good old times. Nevertheless time has changed, almost everything is online nowadays. That means for me, I can finally show everyone how much I love playing Mortal Kombat.
Enjoy my stream!