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In korea, Broodwar is huge, SC2 is growing. In the US and Euope, SC2 is all I really hear about. There are a number of big name tournaments: IPL NASL and MLG being the 3 most well known. With HD web streams and large prize pools, these events are what people go to a bar to see. The smaller more frequent tournaments (often 10+ a week) are promoted on team liquid and reddit

We, Starcraft 2 Players, would love to have many of you join us. However if the game has to be compromised for some of the reasons I have seen in these comments, then continue entertaining yourself otherwise. There are a significant number of people who are able to make a living off being a profession Starcraft 2 player. Their livelihood and the entry of others into that realm of survival are dependent on Starcraft 2's competitive nature as an eSport. Those who are unfamiliar, the eSports scene for Starcraft 2 is huge and just getting bigger. Off the top of my head a few going on: Global Starcraft 2 League ( http://gomtv.net/ ), North American Star League ( http://nasl.tv/ ), Major League Gaming ( http://mlgpro.com/ ), IGN Pro League ( http://www.ign.com/ipl/ ), TSL, various local tournaments happening everywhere, King Of The Hills with open invite to various divisions with cash prizes. Just look at the coverage on YouTube and Justin.tv The linked article this refers to, I feel, is that the game designer realizes the error of his cool additions purely for the sake of fun. A good example of this in action is take a look at the success of Nightmare Chess as a game and if you look into how difficult it has been for many to keep tournaments going. Balance and stability is more important than cool and crazy for long term fun. Blizzard's willingness to keep the stability of Starcraft 2 over chasing hype is admirable in my eyes.

Yea, I've heard some manufacturers started offering this feature on newer models. But is it really offered on 'most' HDTVs as of now?

I should have clarified in my earlier post - a typical choice among serious console gamers is a medium sized LCD (19"-22") using VGA for video. This is actually the standard for Major League Gaming.

Remember with FF3/6J came out? Look at the box art. See how pissed off Mog looks?Look at him. It's like he's saying "Make a joke about the ball on my head one more time. I dare you."

No, sir, I fear for the day when that gets unleashed upon the earth.

Wait... Halo 3 had a 'so-so' singleplayer mode? Are we even playing the same game?

Just what are you comparing Halo 3's singleplayer campaign to? Half life's? [Which is one of the best FPS's in the genre.] Quake? Unreal? [I don't think those two even had single player campaigns.] Doom? [You best be joking if you honestly think ANY of the Doom's had a better singleplayer than Halo 3.] Maybe FEAR?

Mind letting us know just where Halo went wrong and your ultimate singleplayer FPS went right? Obviously giant levels, lots of enemies, seamless indoor and outdoor battles, lots of vehicles and weapons, good cutscenes, storyline, fantastic AI [except when driving], and singleplayer online co-op don't do it for you. Maybe they should have shipped a cake with the game?

Yeah, it's pretty obvious I'm a fan of Halo, but when you come out and say the campaign is 'so-so' and then give nothing to even support that... Well, it'd be like me saying "Half-Life 2's campaign is so-so. I mean, we all know that, I shouldn't have to go into details." Which, I'd probably get modded troll for.

I'll let you know what I thought sucked about Halo 3's campaign:

- Most of the game has you running through the same locations over and over again. You fight your way through Voi's port in "The Storm" fighting against the Covenant, and then you do it again in the next level, but in reverse, and against the Flood. It's almost like a theme with the series. In short: Repetitive levels.

- The messages from Cortana during gameplay, while at appropriate lulls in combat, are quite truly annoying as they cover your entire screen and slow your movement to a crawl.

- The Marine AI is really terrible at throwing grenades and driving.

- The campaign was too short. Certainly it was fun to play through it, but finishing the game on heroic in under 8 hours just seems too quick for me. Another couple of levels would have helped prolong the enjoyment. As well as help diversify the environments found in-game.

On the other hand, the things I've found enjoyable in singleplayer, are just too long to list. Yesterday, me and my friends were doing this. Today, we're going to play with a section of "The Covenant" where warthogs driven inside an area they're not supposed to go will flip upside down and land on the ceiling when you try to drive them.

Major League Gaming shows he's not even the best! :-(

So I guess nobody watches the NFL, MLB, NHL, etc. Take a look at some speed runs in video games, or even compedative matches at http://www.mlgpro.com/ or http://www.halo-pro.com/cgi/index.php

I assumed there would be more games on here that would realize CPL isn't the only league and the US isn't the only country. Just because CPL doesn't run the tour this year doesn't mean they aren't having CPL tournaments and just because something has a setback in the US doesn't mean it is over for the rest of the world. Also some players can make a very good living off of these tournaments...admitedly this is only a very very small percentage. When the article mentioned "The overall winner of the Grand Final was Jonathan Wendel, aka Fatal1ty, who amassed cash prizes of $231,000 during the year long event" this was not a 5 vs 5 CS match. This was a 1 vs 1 Painkiller match so all that money went to him...and the government of course. Plus he has sponsers which will cover all his travel expenses. I should also mention that Major League Gaming has signed a deal with USA Network to start televising some tournaments. So I wouldn't call pro gaming dead.

I think it's true that games USED to be designed with only the player in mind, but that is changing.
As a former Halo2 player, I can say MLG is a major part of the elite online Halo community and has been since the days of Halo1. However, you could not pay me to watch Ogre 1 and Ogre 2's screen for anything resembling entertainment value. I might take some of their tactics, but it's not really incredibly fun for me to watch another players screen. I see it as the equivalent of watching baseball from the view of the Shortstop's eyes, or football from the position of a wide receiver.

I do think that this is changing with the capabilities of the Xbox360 and the addition of spectator cameras into some newer games. It's not ready for primetime, but I think it's taking steps toward getting there.

The ultimate application of spectator video games would be a system like the instant replay in Madden games, or like the cameras in Driver3 (hated the game, but the cameras were fun). This way the directors could go through the gameplay footage, and strategically place cameras where the action was at any given moment. This would make games watchable, and with a coherent announcer who can effectively explain what is going on without using Halo2 jargon to the random MTV viewer, then professional gaming might just have a chance.
Oh, to be in high school again...

I think it's true that games USED to be designed with only the player in mind, but that is changing.
As a former Halo2 player, I can say MLG is a major part of the elite online Halo community and has been since the days of Halo1. However, you could not pay me to watch Ogre 1 and Ogre 2's screen for anything resembling entertainment value. I might take some of their tactics, but it's not really incredibly fun for me to watch another players screen. I see it as the equivalent of watching baseball from the view of the Shortstop's eyes, or football from the position of a wide receiver.

I do think that this is changing with the capabilities of the Xbox360 and the addition of spectator cameras into some newer games. It's not ready for primetime, but I think it's taking steps toward getting there.

The ultimate application of spectator video games would be a system like the instant replay in Madden games, or like the cameras in Driver3 (hated the game, but the cameras were fun). This way the directors could go through the gameplay footage, and strategically place cameras where the action was at any given moment. This would make games watchable, and with a coherent announcer who can effectively explain what is going on without using Halo2 jargon to the random MTV viewer, then professional gaming might just have a chance.
Oh, to be in high school again...

I suppose if all you are doing is waiting for your turn, then yes, waiting in line for a video game could be quite boring.
 
However, I live in an apartment style dorm with a few friends, and, because of our crazy schedules, much of our best social time is spent watching someone play a game, be it a classic MegaMan or Final Fantasy or some newer hit like Jade Empire, etc. We root for (or against) the player, poke fun at the storylines, chat about (IRL) current events, give play-by-plays for the game...
 
Gaming can be social, too. And that, I think, is from what these guys are trying to 'Profit???'.

Redefined? Really? I thought the real innovations came from the Doom's and Quake's, not another FPS clone.

I always thought anyone who really found the Halo's to be truely revolutionary has never played an FPS on a computer -- there really wasn't anything unique about the game.