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Is Gaming Really a Spectator Sport?

Posted by Zonk on from the look-at-all-the-fragging dept.

njkid1 passed us a link to a GameDaily article on the upcoming DirecTV Championship Game series. There's big prize money at stake, dozens of teams are flocking to the banner of the event, and promoters are talking the event up as something that can't be missed. All of this begs the question: Is competitive gaming a spectator sport? Is the culture of videogaming conducive to mass-market entertainment? Will Counter-Strike matches draw enough of a crowd to maintain advertiser interest at future events? What's your read on this new entry into American gamer culture?

2 of 105 comments (clear)

  1. No by stratjakt · · Score: 1, Troll

    It's not.

    We can argue semantics all day long, but any activity you can perform just as well in with a rigourous training regimen of cheez-its and mountain dew, is not a sport in any way, shape or form.

    PS2 is not a sport, bowling is not a sport, and golf is not a sport.

    Only the lamest of the lame want to watch some guy play video games.

    --
    I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
  2. i watched the ad by SP33doh · · Score: 0, Troll

    I watched the ad on my tivo, it looks like complete crap. I'm sorry, but they were advertising dead or alive as their biggest game. sorry, but I'm not going to care about second-rate fighters.
    and then fatality came on and I decided "yeah, no." fatality is the perfect example of what I don't want video games to turn into.

    I have nothing against gaming tournaments, but I want them to stay at gaming conventions (like PAX), I don't want them televised. I don't see any way for it to be televised without it turning into a mainstream marketed-the-hell-out-of crap-fest. and that's the last thing I want for gaming.