E-Sport is the word which has come to collectively represent the world of competitive online and offline gaming. Playing video games is not just a hobby anymore, it’s a full on legitimate sport. With multinational corporations literally pouring money into online and offline tournaments, this hobby just got a very real facelift.
The world of E-Sports is an extremely cutthroat, competitive industry with sponsorships and contracts just like any rl sport. Watching a “professional gamer” playing his reigning game of choice is nearly unrecognizable to a group of friends cheerfully playing Wii. Top tier player’s travel around the world to compete in tournaments from South Korea to Sweden. These Cyber Athletes train for eight hours or more per day, mastering the game; increasing their skills and “strats” (slang for strategy).
While anybody can hop online and play these games, most never take it to the competitive level. Real competition begins when you join a clan or a guild. You usually join a clan to bring a much more competitive and social aspect to the game. By joining a clan you gain the ability to play in scrimmages and matches versus other clans. There are various online leagues and ladders in which your team can sign up and compete in. Arguably the most popular for high level competition would be CAL or Cyber Athlete Amateur league. This is where the big boys play for hard earned respect and low level prizes. If you do really in CAL and move up to the Invite division, the next step is attending a LAN to have a try at offline competition for your chance at the prize pot. The prizes are currently averaging anywhere from $30 thousand to $1 million. A LAN (local area network) party is when a group of people get together and hook their computers up to duke it out in their favorite games and file share. This can be as small as a few friends staying up all night in their garage, to ten thousand people in a warehouse surrounded by sponsors and industry officials.
Lan’s have come a long way since the days of dialup. Now there are Fortune 500 companies such Intel throwing their own Lan parties to promote product lines. Although many gamers dislike some of these corporate lans, the shear amount of shwag given away will draw in even the most discerning of gamers. Some of the more notable competitive lans would be Quakecon, World Series of Video Games (WSVG) and the Cyber Professional League (CPL). Quakecon would be the Woodstock of lan parties. One of the very first large scale tournaments, it has been around for over a decade. The other two were built from the ground up to tailor to two parties: sponsors and professional gamers. These lan’s would be the number one stop for an amateur gamer looking to test their meddle against the best players in the world.
This is just what a young man by the name of Johnathan Wendel did. Gamers know him as Fatal1ty, which is his infamous gamertag. Fatal1ty went to a lan, won $4,000 and was asked to play for the US team in global lan tournaments. The rest as they say, is history. To say he is the Michael Jordan of E-Sports would be a rash understatement. He’s played nearly every PC game you could compete in and has been a world champion in them all. He makes his living tearing people to shreds in the virtual world and is bought and sold by more companies then Jessica Simpson. At this point he’s more or less his own business entity; with the Fatal1ty moniker on all kinds of computer products including processor fans, motherboards, gaming mice and computer cases. High and low, he is the most established gamer in the world and has amassed over $500,000 dollars from winnings alone. Not bad for playing a silly video game.
Professional gaming is not without its faults however. As the sport continues to evolve, inconsistency plagues the industry. Imagine being a professional basketball player when the rules of the game are suddenly changed; the three point line is moved back 25 feet and now you’re allowed to carry the ball. Then they suddenly change again. Your new goal is to put the ball through the hoop three times in a row and you are not allowed to walk. This is what it is like for a professional gamer trying put together a living. You become accomplished in a game, only to have it dropped from competition for a newer one. You can either call it quits or move to the new game, which in all likelihood you are not as supreme at. You’re also dealing with the fact that most teams will be quick to cut you should they find a better player. Regardless, the world of E-Sports is growing globally each day and the money to be had is beginning to ripen into a tempting dish.
E-Sports are hitting it big. The prize pots are increasing each year and tournaments are now being featured on major television networks. CBS and MTV have both featured professional tournaments with surprising viewership. In South Korea professional gamers are dating models and matches are watched regularly on primetime television. High profile gamers can’t walk down the streets without being recognized and asked for an autograph. They are celebrities with adoring fans.
Many would laugh at this becoming a reality in the US. Well, fifteen years ago the prospect of touring the world to play video games likely would have gotten quite the laugh as well. Keep your eyes peeled for tournaments, as soon enough they will be coming to a television near you. gg.
Gamer slang wiki
Youtube video of gaming in South Korea
Video game players score big money in South Korea
My article on gaming terminology
No comments:
Post a Comment