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Games Entertainment

America's Gaming Elite 41

Posted by Zonk from the for-citizenry-and-country dept.
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.
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America's Gaming Elite

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  • And who sees this sponsorship? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Godeke ( 32895 ) * on Monday September 12, 2005 @06:12PM (#13541683)

    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...
    • s/But there/But where/
      s/saying.//

      I hate why I cut and paste the wrong edit version.

    • Re:And who sees this sponsorship? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Idealius ( 688975 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @07:19PM (#13542225) Journal
      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.
      • 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...
    • 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
    • Who sees it?

      I think a lot of the people pay sponsorship money for the right to print "Used in the Cybergames!" on the packaging of their boxes. So now the average guy that walks into Best Buy to buy a mouse might gravitate toward the mondo mouse with twelve buttons and hardcore LEDs if he happens to be a gamer. And if the mouse is "used by the overall champions of the 2005 CyberGames!" that might be even more of a bonus. Sure, the mouse won't make the ultimate difference in Joe (or Jane) Doe's gameplayi

  • stupid (Score:3, Funny)

    by Gogo0 ( 877020 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @06:25PM (#13541794)
    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?
    • I can't believe they haven't already had televised Madden games! Hell, it would give G4TV something else to broadcast during its continual 4 hours worth of actual programming loop.
    • How long until there are televised Madden games?

      I dunno, but it sure would save the franchises from paying out million dollar contracts to players.

      But seriously... I see this like I see the rest of professional sports... Not that really big of a deal. It's basically men (or women) moving a ball across of field to a certain point under a ruleset. Not that big of a deal and I don't really understands why people want to watch it rather than go out and do it themselves.

      Of course thats why I enjoy playing video
      • Of course thats why I enjoy playing video games instead of watching someone play because I'll be jumping up and down screaming "NO NO NO!! Pick up the Redeemer! It's right there you fool!!!"

        People enjoy watching professional sports, even when they play those sports themselves, because it can be enjoyable to watch the sport played at a skill level that most people can never even hope to attain. You won't see a Michael Jordan on your local basketball court, or a Sammy Sosa in your recreational softball leagu

    • Re:stupid (Score:3, Informative)

      by Idealius ( 688975 )
      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 w

      • Re:stupid (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Gogo0 ( 877020 )
        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 durin
    • The most annoying thing about the Madden games is how they go to great lengths to make them sound as obnoxious as a real football game. Seriously, why would you go to great lengths to recreate the sound of the least audially appealing thing on television? You can't tell me you enjoy that constant buzzing in your ear.
    • ### How long until there are televised Madden games?

      Over here in germany we have a tv show sending four hours a week exclusivly about eSports, havn't seen Madden there, but plenty of Fifa, Pro Evolution Soccer and all those other games.

  • Is there a Liandri Corporation around? (Score:3, Funny)

    by WidescreenFreak ( 830043 ) on Monday September 12, 2005 @09:49PM (#13543135) Homepage Journal
    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.)
  • eSport/pro-gaming is not very mainstream in US nor in most of the world. A sponsorship of a top team in Korea is as valuable as sposnoring a top sports team. The events and teams have extremely good coverage in the press and the events themselves are often very well attended by supporters of the various teams. Sponsorships of individuals and teams in Korea are big money deals. Koreans look at esport on the same level many americans look at things such as College football. In the US, there is no real co
  • I shoulda went over to Korea with Starcraft as I rocked it worldclass. The problem with WCG is that you can only compete once a year at San Francisco. I think a real tournament system would involve 50+ games a year with rankings over time, and internet collaboratory. Us gamers typically pick video gaming because its cheap.
    • For the love of God, how many times must we hear how great you are at that stupid game, Jim? I swear, half your posts are about how you were some kind of freaking prodigy at Warcraft. The other half of your posts are about how you wish you could find a job. Here's an idea (maybe you can guess where I'm going with this): Spend more time looking for work and less time boasting about your bloody Warcraft expertise.

  • Shouldn't the title of the post be... (Score:3, Funny)

    by SkyWalk423 ( 661752 ) on Tuesday September 13, 2005 @04:16PM (#13550386) Homepage Journal
    "America's Gaming 1337"?

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