America's Gaming Elite

Next Generation is reporting on the World Cyber games, which enter their final leg between the 16th and 20th of September. The U.S. teams have been finalized after the last round of national competitions in New York over the weekend. From the article: "The spectator excitement combined with a high level of competition this past weekend here in New York signals that the era of e-Sports is beginning to mature here in the US, as it already has elsewhere in the world. We have always been the biggest tournament in the world, and it is here that pro-gamers get their start. We are now seeing the kinds of corporate sponsorships necessary to back these players so they can train and compete at the highest level worldwide." Five bucks OGRE 1 and OGRE 2 for the Halo 2 win.

Comments

Re:stupid

[Idealius]

Some would say watching REAL american football is stupid, too.

There's plenty of guys who would consider professional online tournaments right up there with the Superbowl (or beyond.)

The only problem is they can't tell anyone about it :P

But, seriously the core appeal behind these types of competitions (man vs his peers) is universal regardless if it takes place in a real or virtual world.

I am very active in online gaming. If one finds a game where people don't cheat and each contestant has an equal shot of winning, it can become addicting, fast. It's not the question "Who's a better clicker?" but "Who's a better man" that people get addicted to. Don't laugh, because, after all, if the playing field is level for all competitors then one could view the game cancels itself out and all that's left is what each competitor decides to do.

I'm not saying I agree with this mentality, it's just natural for competition and it breeds human interest. ..And it should probably be exploited.

I remain unentertained while watching football on TV because I never played, yet I can watch televised Basketball and be fully entertained. This is probably because basketball is a sport I played competitively. This is most likely the same reason why you aren't interested in online gaming tournaments. Try playing one of the games these online competitors do, and actually try to win instead of playing like it's your leisure time. Then, watch a demo of one of the professional players playing. Try not to be impressed.

It's not a question of "if" online competition will become serious in the U.S., it's a question of "when".

Online gaming competitions might never be mainstream to the level of football, but then neither is chess and it's a competitive game that has been around for thousands of years.

On a sidenote an interesting thing about Online gaming is the gamer maintains the stance of someone who might play chess (sitting down) but the tactics are generally much more organic like football or tennis.