Competitive Gaming Hits the Mainstream

thegamebiz writes "Amped eSports has a recap of the 60 minutes segment profiling gaming icon Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel, while also providing commentary on the effect it could have on the business as a whole. From the article: 'As millions of Americans sat with eyes affixed to their televisions during the second week of the NFL playoffs, a different type of sport was being birthed into the public spotlight merely a channel away ... It's time to wake up, America. eSports has hit the spotlight and with it comes the realization of a dream that has existed in the mind of every child since Fred Savage took his brother to California for a Nintendo tournament in The Wizard. Professional Gamer is now a valid career path.'"

Re:Not there yet, not there by a long way.

[_Sharp'r_]

So, for example, if they had a new HD channel entirely devoted to gaming [voom.com] with tournament coverage, strategy from game designers, etc... coming out Feb. 1st?

Of course, you need Dishnetwork and a new MPEG4 receiver (VIP622 is nice) to get the Voom channels right now, but over time that barrier to entry will ease.

You can watch CBS News 60 Minutes Video...

[antdude]

Click here [cbsnews.com] to read the article and watch the streaming video. It was posted on Digg [digg.com] earlier.

It hits the WESTERN mainstream maybe, a little bit

[GroeFaZ]

Gaming is very big in S-Korea, and has been at least since Starcraft came out. There is a huge industry with idols, fans, groupies, big sponsors, big money, regular TV shows, heck, even their own TV channel. THAT's what I call Mainstream. No problem with TFA, but don't give the impression that the US went there first.

Re:Spectator gaming...

[kamapuaa]

By every definition, PC/console gaming can be a sport like any other.

Looking on dictionary.com, every relevant definition involves the idea of "physical activity" taking place. Sorry but pressing keys on a keyboard doesn't fit the current definition.

Re:Hrmm?

[Tanamo]

You have hit the nail right on the head there.

This is what I think of as "baseless hype" or, more commonly, "all mouth and no trousers". I used to live with a marketing bod who explained such things to me, it is a way of claiming various successes and achievments where none actually exist - it's like lying, but in a positive way...

Take:
"As millions of Americans sat with eyes affixed to their televisions during the second week of the NFL playoffs, a different type of sport was being birthed into the public spotlight merely a channel away ..."
which means that millions of people were watching something on a different channel, and quite possibly nobody was watching the public birthing, but you've established the association of "millions of Americans" and "eyes affixed" with your "different type of sport", so it's all good!

or:
"whose face is recognizable to nearly every internet user"
which all depends on your interpretation of "nearly every", in this case they're taking it to mean "more than 1, but not actually that many"

or:
"Professional Gamer is now a valid career path."
it's really not.

see how easy it is...