Josh Shum, aka Stitchstarcraft, is an avid gamer and a member of the semi-professional StarCraft team, Team Eve SEA. From Hong Kong, Josh also has a passion for shoutcasting. We interviewed and quizzed him about his gaming history, being part of the team and on shoutcasting.

 

Josh started gaming at the age of three, playing the Real Time Strategy (RTS) game, Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. From there, he continued playing various RTS games such as the WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos and the popular Defense of the Ancients (DotA). In early 2011, Josh was introduced to StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (or SC2 for short), a sequel to the award-winning 1998 video game StarCraft. It was at the same time, his passion for StarCraft casting developed. “Coincidently, my school hosted a StarCraft II charity tournament and asked me whether I could shoutcast the games which I accepted,” he said.

Josh recently completed his first tournament, sponsored by PokerStrategy, who Josh believes that they could improve the StarCraft scene in Southeast Asia, with Team Eve. The shoutcaster said: “One of the most exciting matches to watch was the games between ST_KingKong and TtPiG in the finals. The two players played at such a high level of intensity during the game, being able to multi-task 5+ different movements every second was a brilliant skill to watch. I was also really proud that players like TtPiG were able to compete at such level, as it shows that SEA is ready for the international scene!”

Josh spends an hour regularly playing StarCraft II as random to get the feel of every single race’s strengths and weaknesses in different matchups. Also, to improve his shoutcasting skills, the SC2 player takes another hour to record his shoutcasting StarCraft games and upload on his YouTube channel. “To me, there are two very important qualities that a good shoutcaster should have. One is the ability to shoutcast the game like you are living it, and the other is having the knowledge of the game that he/she is shoutcasting,” he added.

Being a shoutcaster is not an easy feat. Josh faced many difficulties because of his lack of passion at the start. “I had had no goal before joining Team Eve. But when I did, I was given many opportunities to shoutcast amazing games, and that was when I found my goal to strive for my teammates,” he said. “I was also fortunate to have the support of experienced casters like HDPhoenix and Kellymilkies from Singapore who brought me into the spotlight in SC2SEA.”

 

When asked on where he sees himself in the gaming scene in five years time, he replied: “Along with Team Eve, I hope we will become a fully professional gaming team. As of now, we have just started. But in five years’ time, I am positive that we will reach an international level, and be able to cooperate like a real team does.”

Fans can keep tabs of your favourite SC2 shoutcaster by following his YouTube ‘StitchStarcraft’, Twitter ‘@EveStitch’ and Facebook Fanpage. You can also keep updated with Team Eve’s Twitter ‘@TeamEveSEA’ and Facebook Fanpage for some great events to come in the near future.