I really enjoy watching e-sports, particularly ones to do with EVE Online.
Something about the complexity and inacessibility of it is really awesome.
[video=youtube;X7-YKVMQyXg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-YKVMQyXg[/video]
There's also the fact that I can't actually go out and do this stuff in game, for one reason or another.
Honestly, I believe e-sports to undermine the whole purpose of gaming, and I don't see them going anywhere. I don't expect to see them on national TV, I don't expect to see multimillion dollar elite teams sponsored by the biggest brands in the world, and I sure as hell don't expect e-sports players to be known by people who don't even give a shit about e-sports.
Even if you factor out esports undermining the spirit of gaming, which I will admit is solely my opinion, you still run into the "Watching grown men play video games" problem. 90-95% of people aren't going to want to watch others play video games, regardless of how skilled those players are, whereas they are willing to watch people throw a handegg around or drive stupidly fast gokarts around a squiggly bit of pavement for 90 minutes. Football and Formula 1 have a bit of a showy aspect to them, something even a viewer not interested in football and auto racing can appreciate, whereas e-sports lack this.
Who knows, I may be wrong, but that's how I feel about it.
[QUOTE=Sgt-NiallR;33747866]I really enjoy watching e-sports, particularly ones to do with EVE Online.
Something about the complexity and inacessibility of it is really awesome.
[video=youtube;X7-YKVMQyXg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7-YKVMQyXg[/video]
There's also the fact that I can't actually go out and do this stuff in game, for one reason or another.[/QUOTE]
EvE isn't all that inaccessible. I've been in the game two or three weeks and I'm already running L4 missions and I've gotten a shot in edgewise on a PVP hunt. You've just got to go in with someone who knows what they're doing, and slip into a suitable corp. The basic game mechanics aren't difficult to work out, and even the complexities of fitting your ship out fall into place in the course of due time.
I think its ridiculous to think they could become just as popular. There will always be the people who like gaming over real sports and vice versa. To be honest I think real sports will always be on top with the developments in exercise, training and health.
Plus, real sports are 10x better than watching say a Madden game because of all the variables that can happen in real life.
Not a lot of people enjoy watching two nerds duke it out over starcraft either. I remember subscribing to a youtube channel for C&C duels but it was incredibly impractical.
[QUOTE=Mr. Sun;33762888]I think its ridiculous to think they could become just as popular. There will always be the people who like gaming over real sports and vice versa. To be honest I think real sports will always be on top with the developments in exercise, training and health.
Plus, real sports are 10x better than watching say a Madden game because of all the variables that can happen in real life.
Not a lot of people enjoy watching two nerds duke it out over starcraft either. I remember subscribing to a youtube channel for C&C duels but it was incredibly impractical.[/QUOTE]
Just remember that sports are many different activities. Do you watch much dart on TV? I'm sure I don't. eSports can and is just as popular as some sports. Sure teams like fnatic, TCM-gaming, etc will never have as many fans all over the world like say Real Madrid. Still, football, soccer, baseball and ice-hockey aren't the only sports in the world.
E-Sport is incredibly limited in game choices (go on, try to introduce a new RTS game to a major tournament). In a way this does mimic sport (no one is going to play football/soccer with their hands), but this throws away the best thing video games present - diversity.
E-sport games are ineffective and inefficient. It looks more of a gimmick to me.
[QUOTE=gufu;33763528]E-Sport is incredibly limited in game choices (go on, try to introduce a new RTS game to a major tournament). In a way this does mimic sport (no one is going to play football/soccer with their hands), but this throws away the best thing video games present - diversity.[/QUOTE]
Not like real sports are diverse.
Considering that poetry used to be an Olympic sport, I'd say playing video games isn't too far-fetched to qualify as a sport either.
Also, whoever claims videogames aren't physically exhausting enough to be a sport hasn't seen me button bash in a Guilty Gear match
Definitely not within the next 10 years. There's a lot of people passionate about it but nobody I've ever met in my life.
I think that honestly most people just find real life stuff to be more entertaining. It's not really a question of technology developing.
[QUOTE=Mr. Sun;33762888]Plus, real sports are 10x better than watching say a Madden game because of all the variables that can happen in real life.[/QUOTE]
I'll have to disagree. Video games cause much more bariables then real sports. Sports players are the same with no difference at all. Quarterbacks throw the ball, Volleyballers spike, and Basketballers dunk. Video games, however, can be much more diverse. A DotA team with five tanks is and plays much more differently then a team with four supports and one hypercarry. The enemy team would have to counterplay accordingly, while normal sports play regularly no matter what, since teams have no variety in composition.
I think that, first of all, the general public will have to overcome the stigma of "video games are nerdy". Honestly, a large portion of e-gamers really do fit the idea of a nerd stereotype. And even then, the appeal of watching people playing video games at an extremely competitive level is, to me at least, kind of...grating. I have never really enjoyed any kind of PvP gameplay in any game at all (excluding WoW battlegrounds, but that's more open-ended and there's less riding on individual players, not to mention there's little consequence to losing). I used to play Starcraft II a lot, but I never became very good at all, and now I don't even feel like reinstalling it, because I know how just flat out [I]unfun[/I] playing on a ladder is. Watching people play on a ladder is even less fun. The learning curve of a competitive video game is steeper than a real, physical sport overall - the latter mostly just requires practice and more practice and more practice, but the former requires metagaming, spreadsheets, memorizing small seemingly insignificant facts, build orders/camping locations/spawn locations/weapon spawns/resource costs. You have to know all of the rules and all of the strategies in a video game, while in a physical sport you have a coach/leader and (hopefully) a referee to keep track of strategies and rules.
Poker is a sport, Why can't video games be one?
Basically what makes up a sport is skill and knowledge.
A physical sport example:
In an American football game, the quaterback has to have the knowledge of the opposing team's line-up, and call plays out accordingly. You also need to have the skill to of course get the ball down the field.
A video-game example:
Starcraft is a game of Chess on steroids. You need to know the game inside out to become successful high up in the ladder, being able to exploit every matchup. You also need to have the skill to execute massive amounts of commands within a minute.
Of course FPS will always have more skill than brains, takes no thought into playing one. Competitive Real Time Strategies and Action RTS' will always have the knowledge come first.
And remember, knowing is half the battle.
[QUOTE=usaokay;33777431]Fast forward to when you have kids:
Do you want your child to become heavily influenced by video games and end up in the same boat as you are now or worse?
OR
Do you want your child to get into physical sports and exercise?[/QUOTE]
I want my child to be heavily influenced by video games while still maintaining a healthy amount of exercise, so yeah the same boat as me I guess.
Personally I think the argument you are trying to make is silly.
[QUOTE=usaokay;33777431]Fast forward to when you have kids:
Do you want your child to become heavily influenced by video games and end up in the same boat as you are now or worse?
OR
Do you want your child to get into physical sports and exercise?[/QUOTE]
How about neither, I would want my child to be successful in any of his dreams. If my child does not want to exercise, fine he won't. I'm not going to shove my children's dreams down their throats because for instance I say I want my son to become a physician.
[QUOTE=usaokay;33777489]Yeah, I forgot to use that as an option too. But still, it would be better for physical sports to be a bigger influence than e-sports.[/QUOTE]
What I take though from your statement is that video games completely destroy your mind and getting exercise is much better. The key word is video games, not everything is point and shoot half assed ability. Starcraft like I said is much more intellectual power than skill power, and it being played more competitively allows people to think outside of the box.
The point i'm trying to make is that the statement is like comparing a Peanut Butter and Jam sandwich to a BLT. Though they are related to each other, they are still two different things. The bread is the "child" and the insides are the difference between physicality/video games. If you said Physical versus Mental, that would make more sense.
As Starcraft is an E-sport, people are learning while they are watching. Call of Duty, it's basically running around and shooting shit with auto respawn, nothing of value is gained.
[QUOTE=iwirthless;33777550]What I take though from your statement is that video games completely destroy your mind and getting exercise is much better. The key word is video games, not everything is point and shoot half assed ability. Starcraft like I said is much more intellectual power than skill power, and it being played more competitively allows people to think outside of the box.[/QUOTE]
Sorry but at the end of the day you're still sitting on your ass in front of a screen.
I mean, some games definitely take more mental capacity than others, but you can't compare that amount of activity to anything other than video games.
[QUOTE=usaokay;33777431]Fast forward to when you have kids:
Do you want your child to become heavily influenced by video games and end up in the same boat as you are now or worse?
OR
Do you want your child to get into physical sports and exercise?[/QUOTE]
You can do both. I play comp TF2 at the same time as I play ice-hockey.
[QUOTE=n0cturni;33777847]Sorry but at the end of the day you're still sitting on your ass in front of a screen.
I mean, some games definitely take more mental capacity than others, but you can't compare that amount of activity to anything other than video games.[/QUOTE]
You're on your ass a lot of the time if you're reading a book, or studying. What makes that exempt from a video game?
In my mind, it's a sport to the same level that Pool and Darts and Snooker and Chess are sports.. in other words, a game, not a sport
A sport denotes physical exertion and athleticism.. even if you're going nuts on the keyboard, that's not really all that physical
I'd watch it if I knew what the fuck was going on.
I'd feel I'd need to buy the game to be able to watch it comfortably and enjoy it.
It'd be sweet to go to a bar and watch some FPS' though.
[QUOTE=iwirthless;33782028]You're on your ass a lot of the time if you're reading a book, or studying. What makes that exempt from a video game?[/QUOTE]
Nothing exemplifies it from a video game. It's the same reason why reading books and studying aren't sports.
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