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

And who sees this sponsorship?

[Godeke]

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

But there the kind of public interest that makes such sponsorships worthwhile? Obviously sponsors of the contests get great visibility with an important customer base. The lack of coverage these events suffer from (except in South Korea) seems to preclude any real marketing impact for individual competitors, except perhaps using first place winner's endorsement in conventional advertising saying.

People sponsor racecars because even if the car isn't first, if it is in the race people see the primary sponsorship. Of course when they teams win, they use that fact in conventional advertising as well, but small time racers can be sponsored by small companies in local circuits exactly because that visibility of sponsorship can affect people in the exact community where the business is.

Small time game players are not seen in local events that are accessible to the public at large. Large events like these only can attract large companies as sponsors, which would seem to indicate a lot of the players will go without such sponsorships. Not that sponsorships are as necessary as they are in auto racing...

Re:And who sees this sponsorship?

[Idealius]

It's not hard to imagine future online gaming tournaments which are televised or streamed and the participants have sponsor logos on their game character's skin.

And I know many a gaming clan who was sponsored by a local business. I'm not sure WHY, but I know of them within my online circles.

Re:And who sees this sponsorship?

[moonbender]

And I know many a gaming clan who was sponsored by a local business. I'm not sure WHY, but I know of them within my online circles.

I imagine it's often because one of the guys in the clan owns the business or is in some other way affiliated...

Re:And who sees this sponsorship?

[fwice]

At least in the counter-strike, the sponsorship is seen pretty prominently.

When watching the game over HLTV (which lets you pretty much watch the game as its being played, through player pov and omniscient views), you see player names. If the clan/team is sponsored, they try to make this pretty known through their clan tag. IE, in one tournament in the past, Team 3D (sponsored by NVidia) used the ingame tag "3D.NVidia Kim", making it known that NVidia played a prominent role.

Additionally, I haven't been on gamesnet/gamesurge lately, but in the past, teams with a sponsorship would readily display that info through their IRC channel. "TEAM 123, Sponsored by JOERANDOM(www.joerandom.com)." With 40,000 people on the network, if your team was large enough, you could definately have sizeable traffic just coming from people double-clicking the url.

Finally, let's not doubt the traffic of fanboys. Take a look at Team3D's website here. There are tons of kids posting / viewing the site who are young & maleable. No doubt, they want to be like their 'idols' and use the same equipment, which is no doubt NVidia / Intel (Team 3D's sponsors).

Hope that clears things up. It is a lucrative market, and one that's just starting to be addressed.

stupid

[Gogo0]

Just to throw this out there, and I am sure many people agree and disagree, but I think this is just stupid.

How long until there are televised Madden games?

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.

Re:stupid

[Gogo0]

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.

Well actually, I was on top-ten teams throughout the life of Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2. I know the adrenaline one gets during a close game, and the spent feeling after a good match. I just dont find it to be a real sport. I admit that may be a totally illogical thing to say, especially since I cannot back it up with more than "I think it is stupid", but I think it is like Fear Factor. It is pure entertainment and many find it to be great. I dont, I think it is stupid.

Re:Retarded List Of Games

[Anonymous Coward]

"but it is one of the best online FPS ever"

Uhh...no. Halo and Halo players are pathetic jokes in the fps world. They are like the Kenny Gs of Jazz...

There has to be MS money involved to get crap like Halo on the list.

Lame.

Is there a Liandri Corporation around?

[WidescreenFreak]

When I read this:

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.

...the only thing that came to mind is the introduction to the original Unreal Tournament: "The Liandri Corporation quickly found deathmatch to be its most profitable enterprise" or something to that effect. I didn't know whether to be amused or terrified. I guess that as long as I don't hear "You fight like Nali!" when I'm walking down the road I should just be amused.

(That's called "humor", mods. Look it up.)

Re:Retarded List Of Games

[Chi Hsuan Men]

Don't you mean a Puma?

Shouldn't the title of the post be...

[SkyWalk423]

"America's Gaming 1337"?