I would agree. Some people would call those sports though. I tend to refer to these things ("sports" where you can be as out of shape as you want and still compete) games, not sports. This includes baseball. Looking at you, Cece.
But for the sake of the argument (ie, why are people being paid to do this?) they all fall under the same umbrella of sports entertainment.
The point is, they are all equally ridiculous if you really break it down.
We appear to see this in the same light.
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I'm always interested in the marketing of individuals these types of new sports. Will we see player specific controllers? Custom consoles? Players who only play for specific systems? Will there be companies that cling on and make brands out of specialty equipment (hand grips, clothing, mics, who knows..)?
My brother watches a lot of skateboarding and I always wonder if you'll start to see skateboard shoes marketed the same way hockey sticks are. How much investment will companies put in design of boards? How much of a difference can science actually make to improve the players?
The book takes place in 2044 and follows the story of a virtual-reality game creator who offers up his entire company to the best player who can find an Easter egg in one of his many virtual worlds via a game called OASIS. A teenager named Wade Watts decides to take it on after millions have failed over many years. The key to winning the game is a plethora of pop culture clues from the 1980s. Whomever figures it out and wins the game — without having their avatars killed in the process — takes over the entire OASIS empire.
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The Sklar Brothers were talking about a recent big video game contest - one contestant in the final knocked down his opponent (some kind of fighting game). He got up and ran around the room gloating. While he was doing this his opponent recovered and knocked him out. The commentators went nuts.
Yeah, I've been thinking of going to EVO one of these days. If you're into that sort of thing, this is a great read about the crazy technical skills and gamesmanship in one of the historical moments in the competitive fighting scene:
I'd argue this is even harder to be the best at this than it is to make it in the NHL. The NHL has 700 players, and draws from a pool of what, 100K? 200K? Heck, lets say 1 million people. Being the best at video games, you're up against literally many times more than that.
I wish I could get paid sitting around gaming in my underwear all day, farting, drinking pop and eating pizza pops all day too. Too bad I rage to much when gaming haha and don't think anyone would want to video stream me doing that.
The prize pool for the Invitational has been growing like crazy.
2015 - $18+ million
2014 - $11 million
2013 - $3 million
The Masters golf tournament for comparison just hit $10 million for the first time ever.
Well if you think about the amount of people who golf versus the amount of people who play video games, there's probably a massively larger number of gamers in the world (in the entire world) than there are golfers. That means there are probably a lot more people who are willing to pay to see the best of the best play video games versus the best of the best play golf.
It makes sense that now as people who grow up with these games start to earn a decent wage and can spend more money on entertainment, that the prize pool for these tournaments outpaces most other sports.
The interesting thing will be if the e-games (or whatever they're called) can ever outpace sports like Racing, Football or Hockey, which get a lot of viewers who don't even participate in their perspective sports.
Well if you think about the amount of people who golf versus the amount of people who play video games, there's probably a massively larger number of gamers in the world (in the entire world) than there are golfers. That means there's probably a lot more people who willing to pay to see the best of the best play video games versus the best of the best play golf.
It makes sense that now as people who grow up with these games start to earn a decent wage and can spend more money on entertainment, that the prize pool for these tournaments outpaces most other sports.
True. I'd also point out that competitive online gaming has been around for really just a few years. It's only going to get bigger and even more mainstream - unless of course they turn off the internet.
Can't help but laugh at the old people complaining (about not understanding it).
Well if you think about the amount of people who golf versus the amount of people who play video games, there's probably a massively larger number of gamers in the world (in the entire world) than there are golfers. That means there's probably a lot more people who are willing to pay to see the best of the best play video games versus the best of the best play golf.
It makes sense that now as people who grow up with these games start to earn a decent wage and can spend more money on entertainment, that the prize pool for these tournaments outpaces most other sports.
The interesting thing will be if the e-games (or whatever they're called) can ever outpace sports like Racing, Football or Hockey, which get a lot of viewers who don't even participate in their perspective sports.
I went to the US Open in Seattle and it was a bad experience. Hot, dusty, uncomfortable, couldn't see jack. Going to a nice air conditioned convention center watching two groups of nerds going head to head on Dota on ginormous screens would be awesome comparatively speaking. Add in a bar and food service, and by golly it would be down right dandy to go watch. Throw in a few cosplay girls for effect like at car shows.
True. I'd also point out that competitive online gaming has been around for really just a few years. It's only going to get bigger and even more mainstream - unless of course they turn off the internet.
Can't help but laugh at the old people complaining (about not understanding it).
Actually, with many things, a lot of people drop off after a while because doing it for fun one is one thing, doing it for business or competition is another.
Can you imagine measuring your own APM (actions per minute) and replaying maps 1000s over because you're not fast enough or "training"? An average schmo like me might have 20-40 APM in a game like Start Craft 2. Your kid might hit 100 if we're generous (I don't know if you can get much faster than that without training). Pros can sometimes hit 600 and generally play at 300 minimum! That's 10 actions per second! You don't need to worry about your kids chasing this path. I have met kids who play at 100-140 APM and it's amazingly obvious how bad I suck, 300-600 is mind blowing to me.
Start around 1:30 to see how ridiculous of a level these guys are on.
Last edited by DoubleF; 08-11-2015 at 04:31 PM.
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The streamers aren't just sitting there playing games. They're commenting, interacting, and entertaining people. They are entertainers and hosts, just in a non-traditional way. Joe Schmoe can't just start a Youtube channel streaming his Destiny runs and expect it to take off.
Similarly, don't be jealous of the professional gamers. Imagine playing the same game, obsessively, over and over ten hours a day, every day. That's what it takes to be as good at games as these guys are. It's not playing anymore, it's a job and a career. The last thing you'd want to do is ever play a video game just for fun, it would ruin the whole thing.
Fascinating new world, but much like how 'video game tester' sounded like an awesome job when you were a kid, very misunderstood. These guys are very talented or very skilled and extremely dedicated to what they're doing.
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I used to think it was nutty that pro gaming existed. Now I kind of look forward to it as a future Olympic field of competition. It's already eclipsing many pro sports leagues in terms of viewership and money to be won.
I can't wait to see what gaming tournaments will develop when virtual reality really gets working well. It's going to be very cool.
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