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Gaming Does Professional Gaming Have a Future?

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Guest-16, 10 Apr 2009.

  1. PolygonreVue

    PolygonreVue What's a Dremel?

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    This topic has certainly gone around the net like a forest fire the last couple of weeks, and even though I think Bit-tech's interpretation of the debate was more open minded than most (such as that New York Times-article...), I think that the whole issue has been made more complicated than what it actually is.

    As was briefly mentioned in the article, eSports have already broken through the barriers and reached a huge mainstream audience via TV and live events - in South Korea. I know that some people scoff at the mere thought of professional competition in computer games, and that some might say that the cultural differences between East Asia and Europe makes a comparison between the two unfounded. Personally, I say 'no' to the latter and scoff back at the former - the Korean eSports scene have not only made progaming socially acceptable (actually, 'desirable' is the proper word), it also draws an immense international audience.

    Starcraft: Brood War, a game that is 11 years old and with crude, simplistic graphics is the one title that has proven to have the depth, the potential for skill, unpredictability and longevity to support a multi-million dollar industry in Korea - something that Western, credit crunched businesses are longing for. This post is not the place to tell you all why we should not be worried for eSports in these times of financial crisis, but rather hopeful instead - because that is how the best, the financially strongest and longest thriving eSports was born in the wake of the Asian dotcom-fiasco in the late 1990s. Feel free to read this article on my blog though, which deals with that and more:

    http://polygonrevue.com/2009/03/the...of-4-the-korean-professional-starcraft-scene/

    Indeed, eSports as a phenomenon will always be a niche-thing. As such, it will never the less be huge, is my prediction. If you are still doubtful, make sure to surf over at http://www.gomtv.net tomorrow (Easter Sunday, or any other Sunday for that matter) at 10am and watch the best Starcraft-progamers in the world play the game against each other live in front of an audience, all commentated in English and absolutely free. Good Gaming!
     
  2. robi386

    robi386 What's a Dremel?

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    For me, the same applies to any sport. I can hardly watch an entire football game, it has to be a world championship game or something. But if I play it myself, I could do it until I fall on the ground and can't move anymore. It's just way more fun playing it. The more the match is challenging (a tournament or sth), the better the players the more I enjoy it, more adrenaline, bigger rush.

    One problem with watching games on TV is that for the most time you don't see the actual human players during the action. Maybe if they had a semi-POV camera behind players' shoulders it would make it more interesting.
    Plus we'd need a decent game (in terms of watchability) and good comentators.
     
  3. PolygonreVue

    PolygonreVue What's a Dremel?

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    Providing that you have 15 minutes to spare and don't mind a good RTS-game, I'd like to share a link that encapsulates all the points you made. The Koreans have addressed all these problems and, in my view, made them into features:

    MBC Star League: Luxury VS Jangbi
     
  4. glawk

    glawk What's a Dremel?

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    Your article was posted on slashdot. Here's my reply from there:

    A little background about myself: I spent the better part of my teens and early 20's playing at a high competitive level in games like Quake and Counter-Strike. I've won semi-major events; I was even on a few teams with notable CPL/WCG winners. You could say that I was right on the cusp of becoming a pro gamer.

    There are a few reasons that I didn't go "pro" like a budding career and the fact that only the very cream of the crop players actually made enough money at the time to consider pro gaming a worthwhile endeavor. I knew I wasn't the best player around, and carting myself around to places like the CPL to finish in the bottom half of the top 10 or top 5 didn't make any sense to me. Working a steady job and earning a living from 9-5, 5 days a week, did.

    Back then, I watched a lot of demos of other players and teams. You know what? I hated it. It felt like homework to me. When I attended lans, I rarely watched or was interested in spectating matches.

    Why? Because gaming, especially at the highest levels, is way more fun when you are actually playing. Gaming, to me, is all about the adrenaline rush that you get when you're storming a base, or grabbing quad damage, or fighting back to win a round when it's 1v3. Spectating, to me, is for losers. Spectating is what I did back in high school when I lost a round of Street Fighter II and had to sit and wait for my turn in a rotation of friends.

    I have probably said it here before, but it bears repeating. Pro gaming relies on sponsorship which, in turn, relies on spectators. And gaming is a poor spectator 'sport', or at the best, a niche market.
     
  5. iamwhoiam

    iamwhoiam What's a Dremel?

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    "Gaming is far more accessible than football though"

    ...is he joking?

    Football = £4 and a free park / cul de sac / school
    PC Gaming = At least £700 on a semi-decent rig, £20pm broadband connection, and obesity
     
  6. yanglu

    yanglu Hmm...

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    I agree iamwhoiam! Not to mention destroying your eyes.
     
  7. [PUNK] crompers

    [PUNK] crompers Dremedial

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    tbh its starting become a little annoying opening Custom PC to find articles that i have read on bit-tech, or vice versa.
     
  8. cebla

    cebla What's a Dremel?

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    A couple of years ago I played in a couple of local counter strike tournaments and really enjoyed it. Playing in the competitive environment of a tournament is just a lot more fun than just playing on a public server online. The biggest problem when playing on a public server is you rarely get any real team work at all, because everyone is just playing for themselves not really for the team.

    I also enjoyed watching some of the demos of the CPL finals if only because it showed how much room for improvement my team still had. Just watching how they played was interesting and I enjoyed it just as much as watching some other sport on TV. Although I should mention here that I don't watch sport much except for a bit of one day or twenty-twenty cricket.
     
    Last edited: 12 Apr 2009
  9. acron^

    acron^ ePeen++;

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    Funny to see all the local 'pros' coming out of the wood work for their 2 pence :p

    I used to be very active in the CS1.6 scene - even managed to get my clan sponsored once, and that's the closest I ever got to the pro scene.

    I once truly believed that gaming would one day become 'mainstream', and whilst in many senses that's become a reality, it's still not quite at the level it needs to be in order to be really endorsed.
     
  10. lostxp

    lostxp What's a Dremel?

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    Well, I got to travel the whole united states playing Counter-Strike and Quake, I Also have made over 20,000 in 2 years. which yes is bad but not being a full professional gamer it also is not bad.
     
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