We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – eSports is becoming mainstream. Whether you agree with video games being classified as a ‘real sport’ or not, there is no denying that through recent developments in the eSports scene, it’s becoming something very big and very real.
We reported recently of Valve’s Dota 2 international tournament being aired on ESPN which was only fitting given it’s massive 10 million dollar prize purse. But now eSports has reached another pinnacle – Dota 2 finds its way to the front page of the New York Times.
The story reported covers the rise of eSports and marks the beginning of a series detailing how computer games are being developed into a serious spectator sport.
Alongside Twitch.tv being recently purchased by Amazon for $970 million, ESPN airing The International finals on cable television and the amazing numbers that video game sales are generating today, we’re extremely keen to see where eSports is headed next.
Do you classify eSports as a real sport? What would change your view?
Image courtesy of Premium Times
I’m interested and worried at the same time.
Gaming is going through a real identity crisis
A lot of the older gamers are resisting the modern gamign industry, trying to go back to the in crowds and in jokes of pre 2006.
Myself included to an extent.
But that’s because we look back on when we were younger and can look through the rose tint of nostalgia.
Are things better now?
That’s a difficult question depending on your perspective.
There is a game for litterally anything these days, to borrow a phrase from apple
There’s a game for that.
however, more bussiness people are getting involved the gaming industry and games that were once designed to push the genre forward and be amazing turned into an anual money making machine (I’m looking at you, COD and Battlefield)
It’s funny that we’ve effectively recessed because a lot of the games that do well are the small teams with off the wall ideas which probably don’t have the graphical finess of BF4 with it’s large dev teams.
Its all getting more money oriented than ever before, and i believe somethings are better just the way they are
You have to get better at filtering the crap out of games these days.
I go on a rule of thumb that smaller games tend to be made with passion first.
Comparing games like COD and BF against UT or Diablo3 against Divinity: Original Sin.
Using Diablo3 as an example may be a little harsh today as it’s a lot better than when it was released.
it’s not a set rule as i think CS:GO is a good exception to that rule.
Isn’t money orientated a great thing? Now we can see more people making a ‘respectible’ living from this style of sport.
money orientated is good but imagine, you are playing your favorite video game online with others and every 2-3 mins the play gets paused… Why ? to show ad
would you not get pi**ed off and shut it off