We’re focusing on the wrong things, ESPN will show SF4/Halo matches if it bring in viewers regardless if anyone thinks it’s a sport or not. It just needs some things to propel professional gaming to that level.
The prize pool. 1st place prize needs to be life-changing, like 100K or more. This is what primarily builds excitement to draw in a person who doesn’t usually play video games. 2 scrubs playing flowchart kens in grand finalsfor $100k first prize will be more exciting to an average viewer than Justin vs Daigo for $7k.
Some sort of riveting story. Think poker in this instance, they’ve been playing the WSOP for YEARS before any hint of public interest, then BAM a normal dude named Moneymaker wins a mil in 2003 and poker boom starts. This is very hard to orchestrate because unlike the WSOP, a nobody really can’t get just be decent (like Moneymaker) but get quite lucky to defeat pros (like Moneymaker). Networks can develop a riveting story out of nothing. Americans defending their pride, a traveling Japanese hero trying to win it all in a foreign land, a poor kid from the midwest whose parents hated his gaming habits, will he win the money and win over his parents?
A slew of heroes and villains for viewers to identify with. This one the SF4 community has, it’s very easy to paint charicatures with our current known players and infuse a lot of personality into them. Of course it helps if the players are interesting characters already and we have plenty of those.
I mean the formula is there, it’s the same formula for anything competitive to draw viewers. (poker, MMA, american idol, any reality show where they compete for a prize really)
I just think competitive gaming in general has not cross the gap in the US because so far nobody has gone about it the right way. They basically market it to gamers and for gamers, when it should be marketed towards everybody else first.
rts and fps would be up there if they didnt use mouses, keyboards, video cards, etc SPONSORS made them the way they are and that’s why SF will never get up there, unless it starts making computer releases too.
I don’t watch more than 3 hrs of TV in a month. Just not interested, and I’ve been that way for a few years now. I’m out of the loop and didn’t realize they now show porn on Cartoon Network, drag racing on Oxy, and Green Acres on BET. Relax. Relax!
Vs Fighters (and most sports games) are perfect for spectators as there is an easily identifiable area of focus; two characters hitting each other, a ball or a puck, etc.
It is easy to quickly understand and identify with what is going on even without the need for commentators.
RTS and FPS games have no central focus point so are not as suited to be shown to spectators. If you understand what’s happening you can watch them, but there is still no way of taking in everything at once.
A lot of you keep saying that fighters are better for spectating. That’s just not true, because RTS and FPS games draw in bigger crowds and more spectators than fighters. We all love fighters here, but you really can’t deny that.
Versus made a great point in that it’s just being marketed the wrong way. Too much elitism doesn’t come off as inviting to newer players and “scrubs”. Everyone started off at that level, so why does everyone look down on those same players now? Fighting game players also need to accept other fighting games and communities and stop with the “Everything that isn’t <insert your favorite fighter> sucks”
Look at actual sports as an example. The NBA, NFL and NHL don’t market just to people who are good at their sport. They market to people who don’t/can’t play at that level, because that group is much, much bigger.
tv stopped being good AGES ago. I have yet to watch anything aside from daily show/colbert report, cartoons, reruns, sports (REAL sports), or movies in over half a decade.
Modern TV? TV has always been “bad”. The fact that people have computers now just gives them another alternative. Though that is a different subject all together.
