Welcome to another Monday blog installment. Thanks for sticking with me in this transitional period of me not having any idea about what I want to write. So I have been ridiculously busy working in real life both at my day job as a VoIP engineer and my side job as a gamer aficionado to the world at large. For about a year now I have been trying to set plans in motion to embark on a journey to bring eSports to Jamaica on a corporate level. Months later and here we are with the world ambassador and advocate of competitive gaming Isaiah 'Triforce' Johnson as Digicel Jamaica becomes the first corporation to embrace the world of competitive gaming. I sat down for a quick Q & A with the man himself so others can get an understanding of who he is and what he brings to the table.
My full name is Isaiah TriForce Johnson. I added TriForce to my first name because a lot of my friends know me for being a huge Zelda fan. At first my friends just wanted to call me Zelda but I told them that is the Princess of the game and they did not agree with calling me Link. I’m not a bag guy so Ganon didn’t fit. Originally they did not like calling me GameMaster because in the arcades I use to put up TGM. It was my friend Robert Billings who then suggested TriForce and I agreed with it and the name stuck. I was able to still use TGM in arcades and if it allowed 4 letters I would put TFGM. It wasn’t until around 2002 I started putting EMP as my tag instead but that is because I wanted to pay tribute to my gaming team that I formed.
2. Has your family always been supportive of your gaming and vision for the future?
Not my Mother so much but my Father does support and encourage me a lot to pursue my passions in gaming. In fact it was my very own Father that started it up for me as a gamer. He himself use to play Pac-man in the cab station that he use to take me to when he was working and getting ready to take me home from school.3. Why do so many people feel the need to judge you as a bad person in the FGC?
I’m not from the Fighting Game Community and my outlook on a lot of things gaming never meshed with their sub-culture. I could go into a long drawn out story about it but to be honest, I’m at a point where it doesn’t even matter anymore. I have supporters and non-supportive people in the FGC and I’m fine with that. 50/50 is not bad and you can’t please everyone so that as good as it will get for me. What matters is that my fellow Nintendo gamers support my love for Nintendo and we share that common goal and bond. N4L
4. List 5 of your favorite or most respected non-EMP FGC members (Players/Organisers)?
Jason Cole - @AfroCole
Seth Killian - @sethkillian
LI Joe - @thisislijoe
Mr. Qurate - @MrQuaRate
Mike Ross - @ThatMikeRossGuy
5. Why?
They all keep it real and hustle their passions hard.
6. Why did you decide to call your organization Empire Arcadia?
Arcades is where it really started for me. Yeah I played some game & watch, some table tops etc. however the whole culture behind it hit me at 4 for the arcade. All I saw was just people putting quarters in arcade machines and playing. I had to stand on crates to watch and I was memorized. As I got older I considered people who hung out at the arcades, “Arcadians”. Like American’s are to America. When I decided to give an official legal name to my community now turned organization, my goal was to create an Empire from born from the era of the Arcades. “Empire Arcadia”.
7. What exactly is Empire Arcadia and its function?
Empire Arcadia is a development organization that utilizes the talents, passions and innovations of its gamers to help further develop new and old elements in gaming such as, Fashion, Art, Music, Media, Education, Health, Competition, Technology, Entertainment etc. in Gaming. We just so happen to use our gaming team as the marketing team since winning draws attention.
8. What job would you have liked to pursue and why if you had not started Empire Arcadia?
Regardless that I created Empire Arcadia, I’m still going after that Community Manager and or Ambassador position for Nintendo. No if and or buts about it.
9. How has your overall experience in Jamaica been?
It’s spiritually invigorating to be home.
10. Any final words to the various gamers in Jamaica but also the world as per the future of competitive gaming and what it holds for the masses?
Everyone on the planet plays games and it is my obligatory duty to open as many gaming platforms, in as many countries in as many cities, in as many communities as I can in the world. Bless up Jamaica.
