WIELDING his plasma sword with merciless authority, Victor De Leon III - one of the world's most sought-after video game tutors - smites his slow-witted foe.

"You should relax and slow down," he counsels. "And learn to reload your grenades."

He is poised in front of a 132-centimetre TV screen, fingers working the game console with practised ease. While this is a one-on-one lesson, he normally teaches remotely via the internet to pupils sometimes thousands of kilometres away.

At the end of the session, he hops off the sofa and goes to attend to his hamster, Cortana, named after a character in the Halo 2 combat game of which Victor is a grand master.

Just as he begins explaining that "more practice" is the secret of success, his mother summons him for tea.

Every inch the professional gamer, from the seams of his personalised embroidered shirt - provided by his principal sponsor - to the tips of his Nike trainers, Victor is just eight years old.

He sees little hope for his pupil, and vanquished opponent, 32 years his senior. "I would give him an F," he says, giggling, when asked to award a grade.

The American computer and video game industry was worth an estimated $US7 billion ($9 billion) last year.

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