A British PC gaming blog talks about the merits of Starcraft 2 as e-sport while denouncing Street Fighter IV.
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he’s completely right, it is easier for spectators to follow sc2 than sf4. no argument here.
This guy didn’t even get into sf enough to learn what frame counting was. He calls sf a game of honed reflexs LOL. Clearly he has a great understanding of the mechanics of both games…
I don’t see how getting beaten in SC2 is more fun than getting beaten in SF4. Sounds like a gimmick. “Oh I got rushed by (insert new unit here) and I wasn’t prepared for that”. I think a lot of where the fun comes from is when you get dedicated to the game, and feel like you can prove yourself to other players. That’s universal among games and sports.
The person who wrote that article didn’t explain too well what he finds satisfying in the game starcraft itself, over SF4. Just that he feels like he can discuss matches/replays/tactics in depth (thus meaning it’s even more of an obsession) more than he could with SF4. That may be true, but that’s why I like SF4. When you did something wrong or right, it’s pretty straight-forward in showing you why.
And the irony of what I’m saying, is I came from an SC community before getting into SF4. If you don’t know, let me tell you that game has some dirty ass tactics. Like hiding essential tech buildings in a location you would never think of checking. Like most RTS, SC is a game about the fog of war, in which secrecy rules. I still like the game, but I don’t think it’s any more of an “e-sport” than sf4; aside from the fact that I’ve seen a few Korean matches where players sweat bullets.
That’s another reason SC is easier to follow: observers can see through the fog of war, so the ways in which players are trying to mislead each other are more obvious. Whereas a “psychic” DP can seem to be just simply “random”.
Opinions are for chumps.
Interesting comparison. I play both games competitively and I thought about this the other day; both games require massive skills to play at a top level. But SF is much more than “honed reflexes” and a lot of tactical thinking is required to win top tier players as we all know. But make no mistake those who don’t know SC and view it as slow-paced. The reflexes required to correctly micro-manage your units are insane and also a requirement to win top tier.
All in all, both are worthy to be called an e-Sport.