Ex-pro-gamer? What did you play?
I hussled Tekken at a local snooker hall until people stopped playing me.
Tekken was quite popular at the time- regular tournament events in Vegas with side-games going on for $1000+ per bout.
But when the skill over luck factor is too high, then the games dry up and you don't get any action.
So I learnt how to play cards.
Nowadays, gaming has become popularized - you arent going to get any money or a decent game against these players noobing around on skill-less games like WoW and MGS.
Fighting game and FPS achievements are impressive. My friend Tom has trophies from playing Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter 2 and Tekken. He is damn good at fighting games.
I wouldn't dismiss WoW as it is not skill dependent on the individual but as far as organizing a large group to remain disciplined and act out a strategy to fight a new enemy that is interesting. When a new boss/raid is introduced in a MMORPG, it is a new challenge for all players to test strategy as far as ways to combat the monster. My LS started off fighting Tiamat and taking 3 hours the first time, and now we can kill it in less than 45 mins. It all has to do with teamwork and doing things in an efficient manner as far as executing a strategy goes. A new raid in WoW is often an experiment and a group that can clear it first is usually the most skilled and organized (and willing to try new things).
MGS is about sneaking around and having patience, but it isn't as skill dependent.
In general I don't really like fighting games- I'm useless at Mortal Kombat and not much good at Street Fighter. Tekken is all about pattern recognition - I think most fighting games are, i just can't seem to apply it to anything but Tekken.
Ive heard the new Street Fighter is shit hot but Im not shelling out for a PS3.