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Pro Gaming Commentators
HatTriQk writes "Maybe if your skillz are lacking you should become a Counter-Strike tourney commentator? The BBC has an article on the role of the Pro Gaming Commentator." From the article: "E-sports, sometimes called v-sports, are growing at a dramatic pace with games such as Unreal Tournament, Quake and Counter Strike letting gamers not only participate in online duals but also spectate online. The games are played at a frenetic pace, making real sports such as football and rugby look like petanque, and often it can be difficult to follow the intense action."
"To cover this event we go live to Xander the Doomslayer who's watching the carnage live from his mother's basement! Xander?"
"Wow, his supply of plasma grenades is lower than a doodle bug in Aunt Tillie's root cellar."
GOaaaall!
Do you have to own a copy of the game to spectate on line? I don't have time to master some of these games but I would enjoy watching skilled players.
"Lack of technical competence coupled with the arrogance of power, as usual, leads to no good end."
The games are played at a frenetic pace, making real sports such as football and rugby look like petanque
Egad, did I just read a UKian write that Soccer (the big UK sport) seems like a French game? It looks like the Beeb is getting into the trolling act itself...
Then again, imagine if this was a USian article refering what we call "football." That kind of talk could start a war... (You want freedom fries with that?)
Those who complain about affect & effect on
I know theres a ladder system in it, but does anyone know if there will be big money tournaments for it? I'm trying to figure out which FPS I want to pick up and get good at to pro-game.
God spoke to me.
Just in case you wanted to know what petanque was...
"It's a wonderful idea. But it doesn't work." -- Tad Danielewski
I went to the CPL and they will be having WC3/CS/Halo 2 tournaments this summer. Technically I should go back to WC3 where I was owning house, but I think it'd be more fun to take up a new hat.
Besides the CPL, are there other leagues to pay attention to?
God spoke to me.
I imagine the commentary would be on the level of something from the fake ESPN 8 the 'Ocho' announcers in Dodgeball.
In real sports, you have centralized action that everybody can watch, and its easy to see where the action is. In FPS, you have lots of corridors, different elevated levels, ect.
There's no possible way for a spectator to track all this let alone a commentator. Seeing as how the sole purpose of a commentator is to talk to fans about where the action's at, how will they be able to do that if even THEY don't know where the actions at since there is so much going on at once?
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
No good at CS? Halo 2? Get some friends together, and play. Thats what these things are designed for - to PLAY. Not to watch.
Spectators belong on the BotServe
Physics is nothing like religion. If it was, we'd have an easier time trying to raise money!
I always felt the commentary made that game much more enjoyable. However, since Powerball typically only had to focus on 1 ball, I imagine it was easier for someone to provide play-by-play commentary on that, versus a FPS deathmatch frag-fest. Even the automated frag/suicide messages in FPS games are hard to follow, and I can't think of what else someone would need to know besides who killed who?!?
-==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!
Like that japanese translated show MXC on spikeTV, I'll dub all the characters voice. It'll be the best commentary when I make every match "telephone workers vs. circle jerkers".
... I was just musing how there couldn't be a bigger bunch of dorks than professional gamers - and then this come along.
Can we stop using terms like "cyber-athelete" and "e-sports" when applied to competitive gaming. I know in a lot of people's heads "sports" and "games" are mixed together but they are two seperate things. A sport is an athletic game. Not only does it require skill of the game but it also requires all the other demands of being in good physical shape. I don't mean to belittle the skill that some proffesional gamers have, but the comparing a game Counterstrike to a game of Football or Hockey is ludicrous.
That said, treating a video game like a sport and commentating on it like its a sport seems pointless. I remember watching Arena on the ol' crappy G4TV channel. Almost all the shows I saw were FPSs where the commentators seemed to do is point out what the viewer could obviously see. It's painful It's like watching commentators for a pool game saying:
"He moves his stick back, OOHHH! NICE SHOT! He made it into the pocket! He better be careful though this next shot is tough. If he misses it, his opponent might have a chance to win."
It's wasted potential. What commentators should be doing is discussing strategy, terminology, and other reasons why the players are doing what they do. You know, things that give people insight about the game not the action.
-Shawn "If the Name Don't Rhyme It Ain't Mine" Conn
Warning: I am not a sports freak.
What is the point of these annoying commentators anyway ? Do I really need someone to tell me what I'm seeing ? Do I really care that some poor russian hockey player can't drive his Ferrari because his dumb highness got arrested for DUI, but he can drive a puck like nobody's business!
Just imagine this redundancy in the gaming scene: we already have all the info we need onscreen. Do I really want some greasy kid repeating "XSlayer fragged BillcoPC, respawning in 10 seconds" over and over again ? Does he really look forward to having his face shuffled after reminding me for the 30th time how much I suck when pitted against aimbotting basement dwellers ? No thanks. Go to school. Get a job.
-Billco, Fnarg.com
and often it can be difficult to follow the intense action
I listened to the commentary on the latest "Intel Extreme Edition challenge" documentary, and it was more difficult to follow what the commentators were saying than it was to just watch the action. So I don't know if they help in that regard.