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“I never really thought or planned out my choreography, Esguerra told Kotaku in an email “I developed it over time.” The pedals make it hard to move around too much during intense firefights, so he needed to try and add extra flair elsewhere. “At the end of the first video on top of the train when I dodge the blue enemy rounds over and over again I only really do that if that is the last enemy of the level and I could take them down with one shot, also if I have enough time. If an enemy is close enough I would turn my head either right or left and shoot the enemy as if it is a no-look shot.”

Most of the time he only operates one player’s character at a time depending on which is facing the biggest threat. If he’s feeling exceptionally daring he’ll press both pedals to pop both players’ characters out of cover and go full tilt. And if both characters die, he’ll start over from the very beginning.

Esguerra was in the Mirage Casino in Las Vegas the first time he ever laid eyes on Time Crisis. Around five years old in the mid-90s, his family decided to take him to the casino’s arcade while on one of their annual vacations.

“A stranger put in a quarter for me,” Esguerra said. “I got to play the first level of Time Crisis and I’m sure I died in the first area. It was hard for me, but exciting, and I kept playing year after year ever since.”

It wasn’t until almost 20 years later in the early aughts that he finally started to master the game. While attending Los Angeles Community College, Esguerra discovered there was a family arcade across the street that had Time Crisis as well as a bunch of other light gun games. “After class I would spend hours playing Time Crisis, House of the Dead, Silent Scope and Police 911,” he said. While he’s become known for Time Crisis 2, his routine is the culmination of all of his light gun game experience. He first started ducking so much because of Police 911, which actually tracks player movement when it comes to reloading and dodging bullets. In games like House of the Dead he would move and shoot at the same time to try and make things more difficult. And once he started to be able to beat Time Crisis in a single life, he decided to start dual-wielding the other character as well and adding in movements he’s perfected for other games to challenge himself even more.

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“I think people love watching me play because they’ve never seen anyone dual wield Time Crisis,” Esguerra said. “When people come up to me they usually say they never thought Time Crisis could be dual wielded or could not be beaten with one credit per side.” A lot of people have seen Time Crisis machines at one time or another. Some even coughed up the money to die a few times playing them. But still fewer have ever seen how the games actually end. Esguerra thinks that’s part of what makes his performances extra special.

“I do it because it is much fun for me plain and simple,” he said. “I just enjoy the challenge...and I love watching people’s reaction, especially when their jaws drop.”