In the following space I hope to outline some of my thoughts on the gaming world that center around one little buzzword: mainstream. This may take several installments, but this post will at least serve as a starting point in generating some discussion (add your comments, please!)
It seems to be overriding goal of most leading organizations in the eSports world to bring gaming 'to the mainstream.' The CPL, WSVG, MLG, even media organizations like MTV and TsN have used such language in reference to one of their key objectives in getting involved with organized competitive PC and console gaming. Yet with the CPL faltering somewhat (which cannot be argued with the upstart WSVG making major CPL events mere stops on their tour), and with coverage of these events clearly not garnering the kind of attention that they were intended to grab, that is, the attention of the mainstream (the last major competitive event that was telecasted was the CPL Winter event in New York by MTV), the question still remains if gaming can ever reach 'mainstream' status. Clearly the right formula has yet to be found. However, while that question is not a new inquiry, I feel I might be the first to ask whether gaming should be aiming to garner mainstream attention. But more on that later.
So what exactly is holding gaming back from recieving attention from the masses comparable to that of sports? It could easily be argued that this is the parallel that the trailblazers of competitive gaming are trying to reach. And while this parallel doesn't quite make sense on the 'amateur' online level as has been pointed out many a time on league forums everywhere, when it comes to thinking of gaming on the professional level, this comparison cannot be ignored; it is the model to be aimed for. I feel there are several things that competitive gaming lacks in its current state that is hampering its development as a cultural entity rather than just a novelty profession for some and a hobby for a few more.
One of these elements however is not the lack of 'superstar' personalities. This is clearly one of the things that is developing just fine - with top names signing endorsement deals, getting their names on equipment, etc. But while the public image of the 'gamer' is moving away from the painfully nerdy guy with glasses living in his basement due to these handful of true professional gamers, there's plenty of incidents like this one that could just as easily paint the gamer as an immature, unprofessional idiot. While much the same could be said about a few professional athletes, that is more the exception rather than the rule in pro sports. Browse the forums of any such 'professional' gaming organization, or any place where top gamers online gather for that matter, and you will see much the opposite. The issue here again is not the lack of personalities, but the lack of good personalities.
A more serious issue here, however, is the games themselves. With games becoming increasingly rich in graphics, sound quality, content, and gameplay, it would seem that the games should be the least of worries here; yet the games being played competitively are holding gaming back. No, it's not about the violence. Most games allow you to disable the gore, if any, and reduce the content to little more than a Nerf-gun fight with cartoon-like consequences, safe for any child to watch. The issue is spectatability, and carries two prongs: either the games themselves don't lend to passive spectating very well, or built-in support or mechanisms that make spectating easier are spotty at best, or both. Counter-strike arguably leads the way on the PC end as far as support for spectators with HLTV, which I think is one of the major factors keeping 1.6 on a far inferior engine more popular than its Source-based cousin. However, even so, is CS that fun to sit and watch? What about other games, such as Halo or BF2 or AA, that have less spectator tools; are they more spectator friendly?
Being around the eSports media scene for quite a while now and just through my own observations as well as talks with my colleagues in this field, it has become quite apparent to me that the games being played, while rich in the terms of gameplay and quite rewarding to the player to participate in, hold very little in terms of a rewarding for the gaming spectator, and holds even less for the casual spectator. In other words, you have to be a gamer to fully understand what's going on while spectating today's games. You would have to have played Quake 4 to know just what a crouch slide is and how it can be used. You would have had to have played BF2 to know just what prone spamming is or what squad hopping is and how it's used (or used to be used). Part of the task of fixing it does indeed lay on the shoulders of the developers; all it will take is one developer to build a game with the advancement of the sport in mind over making millions of dollars first (and then they'll make their money anyway) and build a game that is both deep enough to offer rewarding gameplay at the upper eschelons of competitive play while still being simple enough to be grasped and enjoyed by the casual spectator. This is a tall order and I realize is easier said than done on multiple counts. I still hold that it can be done, and it may require looking outside typical gaming genre molds to achieve.
The other part of this task, however, lies with myself and my colleagues in the media industry. Gaming media currently is dominated by gamers with their target audience being other gamers. Language used both in print and streaming medias has been largely directed towards the eSports-savvy crowd at the expense of alienating any part of the mainstream that may take interest. This is only compounded by the unnecessarily hostile and cliquish culture and mentality of the gaming community, who would just as easily cast off a newcomer as a 'n00b!' and flame the hell out of them before giving them a hand.
I will leave this entry here, but this topic still has much left to explore. As always, your comments and discussion here on this topic would be greatly appreciated - please post your views!
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2 comments:
Alrightohgodherewego...
The idea of eSports is a joke.
End of story.
As a competitive gamer I am the target audience for things such as shoutcasting, and all the demos and promo videos and yadda yadda. And you know what? It's not interesting, not in the least. I am unimpressed by someone who is able to hone their reflexes because they quit their job to be good at counter strike, and I don't think I ever will be. I think the system of cash prizes as it is setup at LANs is nice, but I can't believe all the shit talking and general idiocy that sets itself up because of this system. All the prima donnas and superstar personalities I see blossom before there's really much of a payday are just a hint of how stupid it's all going to get if this gets big.
Not to mention the paydays still, even at the peak levels, not that large. Don't believe me? Compare our "superstar" in Fatal1ty. Now compare his paycheck with another guru, hell, compare him with any pro sport salary not even figuring all the endorsements they'll get. Still impressed? Me neither.
I am generally disgusted with the idea that this could be considered sport. Football is a sport, Basketball is a sport, Curling is a sport in the loosest of terms, Gymnastics... These things are impressive because it's not about seeing how much you can stand behind a desk. In addition to the physical training, each involves a skill set that can be honed down. And... in the end, is entertaining to watch.
If you look at the model of CPL, there isn't much to cheer for either, at least not within the Counter Strike communitiy as far as i'm concerned. Why should I be interested in 5 guys who I don't know, aren't affiliated with me in any way by even geographic location, and who breakup and reform to different teams more often than transactions happen within professional sports. What's to cheer for?
Lastly, and most importantly... even if there were to be an esports scene that made it in the big time, you'd have to find a company out there to make the game. As i've stated, CS is about the closest anyone has come as far as a team game. But, with the terminology and maps constantly different, how can any casual spectator really get into it. There would have to be such a game designed from the ground up to take into consideration the competitive gaming scene, and there are remarkably few companies out there who would take that risk.
Remember, CS was a MOD originally, it doesn't count, and CS:Source is living proof you can take an excellent forumla and it's original developers and a great engine and still fuck it all up as a competitive game... At least til they get everything patched. I don't think any company is willing to take that risk, because to be honest it isolates their target audience at the expense of what is their bread and butter,the pub audience. What company would take the risk of not appealing to this crowd? And furthermore, what publisher is going to let them?
We might see some more guts out of the industry now that the Steam model is proving to be semi effective, but we might see ten tons more shit down the pipeline too.
Now then, this is not to say that competitive gaming can't blossom, but with it's current agenda there's not much (at least at the very top) to get behind. I just hope we don't see the checks get too much larger at events. The idea of more "Terrell Owens" in the realms of computer gaming that we'd undoubtedly see (and have seen) is more than I think I could take to make me shut off completely.
PS: This is a remarkably poorly written piece with not as much thought into it as i'd like. I'll hopefully still stand by it in a few hours when I'm more coherent.
I think its almost impossible to think of anything going professional in "esports" There just isnt a game out there that provides a team atmosphere as well as the same variables that make up a match. For instance hockey, basketball, baseball soccer, ect all use the same playing surface, its the skill of the team that determins the win. Right now there isnt a game that gives an even 50/50 chance on every map for a win. To make things worse when shoutcasts take place the map isnt laid out for someone who is not familiar with the game or map.
Lets take Dalian Planet in BF2 8v8 format. on 1st glance its a maze of roads and buildings. It looks overly complicated for such a straight foward map. but thats coming from eyes that have competively played it. Here in lies the problem, to cast an event publicly and get an audience you need to use the same "map" With homes and aways. To make esport appeling to the mainstream with have to give them something they can understand and appreciate.
So here are some of the main roadblocks for going mainstream as I see it.
1. Attitude-As most of us know the competive community has 3 types of players. Kids-Adults-Whores (absolutely not aimed at women gamers) What does this equal, well a whole lot of idiocy. Whats the 1st thing professionals of any sort do, well they act professional, and even the best representives in the respective gaming communities have a ways to go
2. Casting-The feeds are great, the announcers are good, but there is little to nothing there for imformation. all we get to know is who good each team is, and then which one will probably get raped. WTF, what about season standings, player stats, map stats & how about team interviews. People understand stats, they like to see who to root for, & they will get a better idea of where a team stands with the standings. All this will go a long ways to improving the face of gaming
3. Teams-Good players want to win. Its the one thing we all agree on, sadly many players that are good all flood to one or 2 teams, making 2 king teams, and 1-2 farm teams. I dont think any team in any game needs a farm team, if they do i truely beleive the should be fresh recruits, not players that could play starting for anyother team. All this does is make it hard for some teams to have a solid roster, which in turn ends up with teams droping.
4. Fans-What can i say, we need to make some. right now the only audience is ourselves, and on top of that we only watch casts of the game we play. Once we all learn to appreciate each others games, then we can work on growing a public fan base.
5. PG rating-thats right this is probably the most important thing. We all gotta clean up our mouths and our actions. No body humpin! No Cursing! & No GAY jokes! kids are the most likely to watch anything game based, and parents arent gonna let a 5 year old watch a game show thats 18+ plus cause we all do some of the above.
All this comes down to the fact that we are no where near turning gaming into a proffesion in North America. Its got a long way to go, and its in its infancy stages now because changes need to be made, as well as a solid competive game where everyone is on a level playing field. No hacks, no macros, no shit. Just the player, his mouse/keyboard/joystick and reaction timing.
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