Meet Siddhant Pati a.k.a Sid in short, a passionate gaming freak from the state of Odisha in India, who can really surprise you with his skills, knowledge and love for gaming. A B.Tech graduate from KIIT University, Sid is now an Electrical Engineer maintaining his life as gamer, a husband and a son all at the same time. Amlan Panigrahi, the COO of TL had an interesting conversation with him just recently. Let’s know about Sid’s opinion and thoughts related to technology as well as gaming:
Amlan: How long have you been into gaming?
Sid: It all started in the year 1997 when my Dad bought me an 8-bit video gaming system on which I played Mario. Before that I used to play handheld video games like Tetris. So, if you are asking about gaming as a whole then my gaming days started from the year 1995. My PC gaming started with Half-Life. That was the best game in that century! [Excited]
Amlan: PC vs Xbox One vs PS4…which one would you vote for?
Sid: [Gasps]…I just have one word to say-“PC”. To be frank, my 3 year old system performs much better than an Xbox One or a PS4. At 1080p and 60fps, it just hammers all the games running on it. The kind of graphics a PC can generate…there is no way a PS4 or Xbox One can emulate. In addition to that, gaming on platforms like Xbox One and PS4 requires a lot of investment which is not the case in PC. So, if you consider versatility, gameplay and experience…nothing can beat a PC!
Amlan: What is your best moment as a gamer?
Sid: [A rare pause]…My best moment as a gamer would be when I assembled my own gaming PC without taking anybody’s technical help or suggestion and that too in a state like Odisha where people do not have any idea or basic knowledge of building gaming systems…[Annoyed]
Amlan: Tell us about your gaming rig. What hardships you had to overcome in order to build it?
Sid: I had to work hard a lot. It took me a period of three months to assemble it. Back then in 2011, my ASUS P8Z68 VPRO mobo was the 10th piece in India. [Sighs]… It was not available in Odisha, so I had to wait for around one month to get it shipped from Singapore. I purchased a 650W iBall PSU but later when I got my Radeon HD 6970, I discovered that my SMPS had two six pin connectors…whereas, the GPU had two eight pin slots. So, I had my PSU switched to Corsair TX 750W which I got from Kolkata. Then I had another problem……my CPU temperature usually went up to 94⁰C. So, the cooling was not done properly. When I got a cabinet, my gfx card could not fit into it. Therefore, I had to cut my hard-drive cases. But you can’t even imagine the fun and joy I experienced when I played games at ultra-settings after completing my system [Lifts his hand in joy]
Sid's Gaming Rig
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Amlan: According to you what advantage do GTX 900 series of gfx cards have than their predecessors?
Sid: [A rare pause]…I would say the best part about the 900 series of cards would be their power consumption and cooling. If you want to talk about GTX 980, then it’s the best card right now in terms of quality and benchmark. It’s a 4k gaming card. What really amazed me was this card can be used to downscale 4k into 1080p in your system. In other words, even if you have a 1080p monitor…you can still enjoy 4k gaming.
Amlan: What smartphone would you recommend as the ideal one for gamers?
Sid: [Gasps]… I have an LG G Pro2 and I am in love with it [Holds his phone with his hand]. I would recommend Nexus 6 for gamers as it’s a bang for buck phone but if money is not a barrier for you then directly go for iPhones because generally, most of the games are optimized for their hardware.
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Amlan: You must have definitely played COD Advanced Warfare. How was your experience?
Sid: [Smiles]….I am pretty much lenient towards the COD franchise because of the experience it provided me over the years. Advanced Warfare has really changed the total atmosphere of COD franchise with its exceptional and innovative gameplay. The game is so good that I don’t even have enough words to describe the thrilling experience I witnessed while getting hooked into it. You have to go and see for yourself [Lost in thoughts]. I am actually speechless because of the futuristic technology they have incorporated into the game. And one more thing I would like to say-“Kevin Spacey ROCKS!!!”
Amlan: What is your opinion regarding Battlefield Hardline’s delay?
Sid: [Grins]…People at EA take their products very seriously. If they are delaying it then it might be for some good reason. I really love the concept of Cops vs. Criminals, as we are going to see something new in the franchise.
Amlan: The usage of military grade weapons by cops and criminals in Downtown LA seems a bit odd and most of the people have criticized Hardline for incorporating this idea. What is your opinion regarding this?
Sid: Why shouldn’t the cops have military class weapons? If the opposition has better firepower then how are cops gonna face them? With pistols? … [Chuckles]
Amlan: What was your first reaction when you played Far Cry 4?
Sid: [Excited]… One word-“It’s India man! And am gonna rule as I know my country better than anyone else!”. I always wanted to go to the Himalayas where you can’t go just directly but how about paying a visit virtually? How about enjoying the chill of the air like you are actually there?…[Smiles]
Amlan: What do you do?
Sid: I am an Electrical Engineer in Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited. We are the ones who transmit power from the generating stations to the distributing companies who again sell power to consumers. We fail…you are in darkness!!! No computer games!!! … [Grins]
Amlan: Do you like your job? Isn’t it hectic?
Sid: Yes, I like my job which has been assigned to me. Why would you call it hectic?… [A rare pause] It gives you the money to buy all the tools and machinery in order to play games. As far as I know, most of the people earn for a living but I earn for gaming! [Chuckles]… In order to get something you have to lose something.
Amlan: Your hobbies..?
Sid: Riding bikes, watching tons and tons of movies, photography, etc.
Click to view slideshow.
Amlan: What is your best game so far?
Sid: [Lost in thoughts]…Best game would be a very hard choice but on the basis of genre I may be able to answer this question. If you are talking about RPG, then Mass Effect is the winner for me. Batman would be my choice for beat’ em up/ action adventure games and shifting our focus to FPS…it’s very difficult for me to choose which one. The game that I anticipate the most right now is Evolve. You can be a monster…you can be anyone of them as in Left 4 Dead.
Amlan: Do you think in this rapidly changing world there is a need of smartwatch?
Sid: [Frowns]… At present, it’s only needed to showoff and that’s the only answer I can give. You are becoming fat…just go and workout. If you are gonna track how much you have run, how much food you have consumed, how much you have slept and maintain a list of these things then why don’t you build a device that could quantify your emotions like how much love should I give to my mother in terms of percentage, how much love should I give to my friends?…[Chuckles]. So, let’s build a band which can measure our heartbeat rate and digitalize our emotions!!! Let nature have it’s way. If you are smart then you are smart. A smartband can never make you smart.
Amlan: Would you like to see a Watch_Dogs 2?
Sid: [Sighs]… Honestly, speaking I just played the game (Watch_Dogs) for five minutes and then uninstalled it. Because in the end Sleeping Dogs is a thousand times better than Watch_Dogs. So, soiya hua kutta is much better than dekhne wala kutta…[Laughs]. Hence, I do not care about a sequel for Watch_Dogs. Some people like it…let them enjoy it…
Amlan: What does gaming mean to you? How do you maintain your life as a gamer, a tech geek, an engineer and part of a typical Indian family?
Sid: [A rare pause…thinks deeply]…To me gaming means experience and learning through games. I know so much about technology because of games only. So, it’s like attending a college that gives me no degree but a hell of a lot of experience that I can really apply into my life…[Glad]. Actually, gaming world is such a place that allows me to be me…..what I really want that my inner-self wants. It expresses me inside it. And about balancing things…it’s a very difficult job being an Engineer, a son, friends with many people, living in a joint family and also, as a husband (who is soon going to become a father). But I don’t know how balancing comes naturally. The only person at the end of the day who complains a lot is my wife who says that I am unable to give her a lot of time…[Chuckles]. But she still isn’t disappointed and hence, recognizes my passion for gaming. So, this is how I enjoy my life as a gamer… [Glad]
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