eSports: The Future
of Competition
eSports to me looks like the future of sport. If we take, for example,
Major League Gaming, their viewers have increased year on year by
80%-115%. Major League Gaming hosts competitions for games such
as Starcraft and League of Legends.
There isn’t a clear definition of “eSports”. Is two people playing
Basketball a sport in itself? They are at least part of a culture of sport.
So, is two people playing Halo in a room a sport? Again they are part
of a culture of gaming. eSports to me is just like any other sport; you
train and enter competitions for prizes.
To be the best gamer you also have to have the best equipment. In
football you nee the best shoes. In computer gaming you need good
keyboards, mice, headsets and even mouse mats. Not to mention a
good computer.
The modern generation is being influenced by technology; so are
therefore spending less time outdoors and more time communicating
with friends on the consoles such as PC, Xbox and PS3. We should
embrace the change with open arms. When the first TV came out
should you not watch it because it was not at a theatre?
Gaming is not only a sport in which you take part; but one that is
viewed by spectators instantly and anywhere. Day[9] (Sean Plott) in
the Starcraft community does a daily; a daily is something he does
every Sunday to Thursday about Starcraft tactics, strategies and how
to be a better gamer! He goes and commentates on Starcraft 2
competitions around the world. Each month oh his daily he gets
between 7 and 11 million people in total tuning in to watch him. His
viewer count in 2011 increased by 30% each month; so he says.
Streaming is also a big factor in gaming. People enjoy watching people
play. The difference between watching a football match and watching
a Starcraft 2 stream is that you can talk to people from all over the
world in the chat. The player can be talking about what is going
through his mind at that moment in time and you can say such
things as “Why have you done x” and the streamer can respond
instantly. Whilst in football the person playing cannot say what
they’re doing at the time; only once the game is finished when the
footballer has forgotten most of what he has done. The commentator
in football is there to just say what is going on not what is going
through the players mind.
There isn’t just MLG. There are competitions around the globe, all the
time. At Starcraft One’s peak it had two television channels in Korea
constantly playing competitions and was named a sport. Players
would move there for the vast community empire.
Since MLG started the number of viewers has increased by 80%-115%
each year. The average viewer spent 3 hours from the moment they
clicked on to the moment they clicked off. 2011 was a phenomenal
year for gaming.
The stereotypical gamer is a hunched over a keyboard, unhygienic,
has moobs and is anti-social. Sadly that is wrong. I am the complete
opposite. Thanks to gaming I have a friend connection all across
Europe.
To be a gamer requires not only mental skill, but the training of your
hands to do what your mind wants them to do. If you look at
professional gamers they have to train for months, possibly years to
get to the skill level they’re at. For Starcraft you have to learn to “read”
what the opponent is doing by their building timings and how many
units they create at x amount of time.
To be a professional gamer requires immense mental skill; far more
than the average sport. It is growing rapidly in number and is set to
take the world by storm in the years to come.
Our Survey Results
From our survey we can see that the majority of older people think
that gaming is a waste of time and time could be used doing things
such as reading. They think this because they have not grown up with
videogames and don’t understand the variety of the community and
the competition embedded in it.
However the younger generation think that gaming is a good way of
socializing and having fun. The thing they would improve would be
exterminating all hackers to enhance the experience for those who
want to play properly.