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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Fong.

Dennis "Thresh" Fong (方鏞欽 born 1977) is an entrepreneur and retired celebrity pro gamer^[1]. Fong has been called "the Michael Jordan of video games",^[2] a "Top 20 Entrepreneur Under 35" by Red Herring magazine,^[3] and voted as the "Top North American E-Sports Figure of All Time"^[4] by the E-Sports Entertainment Association, and is best known for co-founding Xfire, an instant messenger and social networking site for gamers which was acquired by Viacom for US$102 million in April 2006, and winning John Carmack's Ferrari 328 in a 1997 Quake tournament.

Fong was born in Hong Kong and came to the United States when he was 11 years old.^[5]

Fong initially chose the pseudonym "Threshold of Pain", which meant being able to withstand enemy fire and suffering. However, as many games had an eight-character limit and the truncated "Threshol" did not sound cool, he went with "Thresh" and liked the meaning of it which was to strike repeatedly.

In games, Fong is known for his reflexes, intuition, and tactics. [1]

The highlight of his gaming career was at the Red Annihilation tournament in 1997. He and Tom "Entropy" Kizmey emerged from a crowded field to face off in the Quake level E1M2 "Castle of the Damned", where Fong, playing as "Thresh", defeated "Entropy" 14:-1. In his gaming career, Fong rarely lost, winning tournaments over a five-year span in many games including Doom I and II, Quake I, II, and III, and StarCraft.

Using his prize winnings and endorsement money, approximately $100,000 a year over his gaming career,^[6] Fong and his brother Lyle started GX Media, the parent company of Gamers.com, FiringSquad, and Lithium Technologies. Dennis was the CEO of the company and Lyle was the Chief technical officer; together they grew the company to 100 employees.

In 1999, GX Media raised over US$11 million dollars from CMGI and built gamers.com, a popular web portal.^[7][8] Fong's Ferrari was parked in the lobby of the GX Media offices and the company threw a party at the Playboy Mansion during E3. In 2001, Gamers.com was acquired by Ziff-Davis. GX Media spun off Lithium Technologies, which is run by Lyle.

After gamers.com, Fong was editor-in-chief at the video gaming site FiringSquad, wrote a monthly column in the popular PC Gamer magazine, and co-authored the official Quake II strategy guide.

In 2007, Fong founded Raptr, a social network and related software client for gamers.

Dennis currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[edit] See also

• DWANGO

[edit] References

1. ^ Entrepreneur Launches His Third Interactive Computer-Gaming Company. San Jose Mercury News. 01-SEP-03
2. ^ Kushner, David (2000-09-05). "The Michael Jordan of gaming". Salon.com. http://archive.salon.com/tech/view/2000/09/05/thresh/index.html. Retrieved 2007-06-25. 
3. ^ ""Top 20 Entrepeneurs Under 35" in Red Herring Magazine". Red Herring, Inc.. http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=13445&hed=20+Entrepreneurs+Under+35. 
4. ^ ""Top Ten North American Esports Figures" at Esportsea.com". http://www.esportsea.com/index.php?s=esports&d=content&id=83. 
5. ^ The Michael Jordan of gaming, Dennis "Thresh" Fong leaves the deathmatch arena to try his hand at building a business. David Kushner. Salon.com
6. ^ 'Thresh' Rules Online Subculture of Gamers, Mark Leibovich, Washington Post, December 23, 1999; Page A1
7. ^ Thresh plays the portal game Marius Meland, Forbes, 11.12.99
8. ^ Video Game Champ Creates Web Portal Kelly Zito, San Francisco Chronicle, December 15, 1999

• "Thresh: the legend of Quake". Cyberfight.org
• "King of the Gamers" Washington Post.
• "Valley Boys". Business Week cover story.
• "Hail to the King". Penny Arcade

[edit] External links

• Raptr
• FiringSquad
• Xfire
• Thresh's Quake Bible
• Thresh vs Entropy at the final of Red Annihilation 1997 (Quake 1 Demo file)
• Youtube of the above demo with commentary