wrong. chess is not “popular”. but if you love it enough, you can make a living off it. its one of those games where the top 1% make all the money, but that’s true for sports too. however, games such as chess are “popular” enough that you can make money not by playing, but by transitioning into stuff such as writing books, coaching, and etc.
this is true for other games such as poker, pool, bowling, and so on. people love doing it, and there’s a large enough fan base to support this passion. not everyones gonna be rich, but that’s OK. its win/win for everyone. spectators get to watch high level play of their favorite hobby, and pros get to get paid for what they love.
right now in USA you cant quite make a living off it yet. that’s more in korea where you can make a salary on a team and get free room, food and board. they have monthly tourneys with 80k USD pots. once esports takes off more, then more sponsorship money will start flowing in and its gonna be sexcellent.
yeah barcraft is sweeping the nation, chao bistro was like the first, but there’s no fucking parking on capitol hill.
People like Bisu making millions off BW and that ele dude making millions off Dungeon and Fighter, but yea, sponsorship is where it’s at. Plus those Korean guys are at such an insane level being able to not only mentally store and process so much data at such a small instance of time but also capable of physically carrying out multiple data at what seems to be an instantaneous rate.
More tech companies need to get behind American players to push their products but first American players need to start carrying a more professional image, which might not be exactly in the interest of the fighting game community and what they refer to as hype.
Society would also have to modify its behavioral contract standards. Things such as “games are for kids” would have to be modified to “it’s acceptable for adults to play video games.”
I’m tired so I might post a lot more on this subject at another day/time. You guys should be able to analyze the obstacles to advancing the game community and how to surpass them on your own though.
The main problem is that the old generation still thinks video games are for kids. that’s because they are stupid. our generation is a gamer generation and know better. only shitty games such as WOW are for kids. there are plenty of deep competitive games out there. sure there will be haters of esports, but its going to happen regardless.
already there are teams like evil geniuses that are getting sponsors and whose members are salaried (granted not very high salary but this is a start). i can only imagine this situation will only improve with time.
Personally I think competitive video gaming will eventually plateau as far as the scene, the market, the revenue and cash, etc. People, in general , are still going to value being physically active more than sitting on their asses all day trying to master a certain combo or what ever. And speaking of which, if you look at other niche interests, such as action sports, those are showing signs of decline and the worst scenario would be aggressive inline skating which has digressed back to their underground roots.
Also further more, just because a few lucky people are able to live, not only a comfortable lifestyles, but maybe even lavish ones(the Koreans), does not mean eventually good chunk of the participants are going to do the same, that would be wishful thinking and delusional to some degree.
Again this my personal thoughts on this. People hype this shit up more than they should IMO, like a fat kid hyping up on a new box of Little Debby Star Crunches. Yeah I can understand that it doesn’t hurt to make some moves that will help the community, get more than some local tournaments in, give to those that put in the time to be good at what they enjoy, but, it’s annoying as fuck when people over exaggerate on some shit that shouldn’t be.
On a side note: I got over people calling competitive gaming “E-sports” but if people start claiming they are “E-athletes,” no you are just an E-retard.
Triforce is such a fuckin tool its embarrassing. Also, he is a pedophile desperate to stick his dick in anything at this point.
[media=youtube]EF5vSTRdmY4[/media]
First of all, aggressive Inline never really got major. It’s always been WELL behind skateboarding and BMX. That’s a really, really, awful example. Beyond that, recognize the fact that you’re looking at an increasingly obese country (let’s face it, most all of us are speaking about America here), who now has a major gaming generation coming into their prime. I’m 25 and started on an NES, but fell in love when I convinced my dad to get me a Super Nintendo with SFII. Anyone younger than me grew up with video games even more ingrained than I did.
Wake the fuck up and look around. When frats are filled (and have been for 8 years) with Halo and CoD players, you know it’s time for E-Sports (yes I too hate that term) to erupt.
I can’t believe someone said “popularity doesn’t matter.” I’m pretty sure that’s how things make $$$. I hate to say it, but if geeks still think this way, it seems the jocks grew up back in High School and we never did. FML
While I see how sponsorships work for other sports, I don’t see how it works for video games. While the average football fan just gets every bit of paraphernalia his team or a hot chick endorses/sponsors, I don’t think that happens in the electronics business. How many of you have (or would) take the word of a hot celebrity and her “motherboard” over doing some google searching and asking for opinions on the best deal? Do you even care whether Robert Downey Jr has a 360 or PS3? Or what games he plays?
I may get beat down or looked at strange for this but hey I never bite my tongue:
I don’t like the sponsored player.
I understand we are finally at a time where we should be getting recognition for the fighting game community but I honestly feel since the insurgence of SF4 it has really changed the attitude and outlook of the community as a whole. From DMG to MADcatz to EG the whole ‘sponsored’ player overall makes no sense and I think when the ‘hype’ calms down I really want to see the continuation and ability to sustain happen.
Personally I have always felt the Tournament organizers should be the ones receiving sponsorship before the player. Our organizers outside of EVO (im sorry i just dont get the EVO title as help for said tournament) have enough to deal with simply getting said venue, support, and equipment. It is hard as hell getting this items together and seeing the frustrations on some of their faces trying to make sure we all enjoy the festivities is enough to say damn is anyone investing into this to try to not only help but get something back out? I also feel that (even though slowly they are gaining some sort of ‘sponsorship’) Team Spooky and any other ‘streamer’ type crew should get sponorship before a said player. If Spooky had a true definitive term of a sponsor… the incident with Homeland Security would have never occurred.
When I had a convo with Keits and Ski before a interview on the Wakeup show speaking on sponsored players I do remember stating this can only last but so long cause I do not see the ‘return factor’. Being in the music industry and like Azurewolf understanding how sponsorship work on many levels I just don’t see how say Justin Wong or even a Wolfkrone (again no disrespect) can bring in a financial plus for said sponsor/company over a course of time after the ‘hype’ of said series has calmed itself and/or said player time has essentially passed/lowered [via patches, new games, loss of popularity]. Why would I need to ‘support’ the sponsor that is backing said player just cause he/she is wearing said labeled jersey/tshirt. I have 2 madcatz sticks along with old ones from back in the day (mas). I don’t need to continue to purchase a item from madcatz and since this here site have people selling arcade sticks and building their own how is the turn around rate looking (regardless of the ‘special deal’ of the day). The extras in the Fighting Game Community are limited thus it gives me that ‘how long can it (sponsoring) last’
Claiming to be a “professional gamer” leaves me puzzled. I see gamers suddenly proclaiming this title yet I can’t see the level of professionalism that will allow you to make it life sustainable. I mean can this said profession carry you over for a year on your own. None of that I am living with multiple people, I have nothing to truly worry about (girlfriend, bills, personal essentials). Hell I believe Justin Wong, whom is one of a (small) FEW that can be be taken seriously and has a record of longevity, popularity, and notoriety, had to eventually get a “9 to 5” [shoutouts to triforce].
E-sports… hey if you want to call it that fine. I have no problem in what YOU as a player want to call it [its a new generation anyway]. Me… I am sorry but its a hobby that when done right can help bring some pocket money via betting or tournament winnings. Essentially its equal to going to the casinos in my eyes. Again my opinion. As I stated on the Wakeup SRK show I really hope gamers have a plan b and not putting their all into this.
It’s imagination like this that gives people false and unrealistic hope. And then when they go bust they cry.
You draw a parallel between chess and UFC: Yes, people want to see high level chess. Yes, people want to see UFC fighters kicking eachothers skull in. Do people want to see Ryu vs Ken on a gigantic screen? Be it sponsored or paid or what not?
Please be realistic.
Ask your friends and relatives outside of the FG community if they want to see this. You know, what SRK refer to as the casual mainstream crowd. The parents and females that play Wii games and such. And then when you have their answer, ask them if they would PAY for it, like how they would pay for tickets to baseball or UFC.
The only people that would actually pay for it are your fellow FG players, and you’re probably the last person I would have to tell how wonderful yet fucked at the same time the hardcore FG community is. Money is an issue for a lot of these people, especially if they let their emotions for the game stand in the way of realism.
But, as with all things, some idiot will come up with a completely ludicrous idea, promote it, and then when he does not get any return he will say: “Nah man, you all haterz”.
You misunderstood my post. I’m talking about popularity in terms of “cool” and “not cool”. dungeons and dragons is “not cool” but it allows wizards of the cost to rake in tons of $$$. Its “popular” (among millions of nerds), but “not cool”. In other words, the people who played D&D in highschool were not “popular” among the classmates. But the high school social hiearchy is irrelevant once you enter the real world. That’s what I meant when I said “high school ended years ago, popularity doesn’t matter anymore”. Hope that makes sense.
Video gaming is now “popular” in that every guy that has grown up since the 80s is a gamer. Those that are not, are outliers. However, there is still a negative stigma attached to it, from the old generation of adults. Those people will die off.
It might have been behind skateboarding and a foot behind bmx, but if you recall(your a couple years younger than me) they had as much media coverage as the other action sports, had as many people getting paid to do what they do, products(skates, hardware, clothing, etc). But ok, if that example doesn’t float your boat, I can pick on BMX(which I’ve been a part almost 18 years now), the industry for bmx is on a slow downward spiral, what once was a new bmx company every month is now down to the original companies that started after the revival in the mid 90’s. And the professionals are still outnumbered by the number of people that can do the same amount of tricks and can stay as consistent as their paid peers. Nobody like to be fat and unless being a lard ass becomes widely acceptable, people are going to prioritize being fit than sitting on a couch all day getting their eyes strained. You say we are coming to our “prime” well the acrades had their prime, and look what happened to that.
I’m wide fucking a wake, but it seems like a lot of people are in this dream state thinking that they can have a solid chance of getting paid like Tiger Woods by playing video games ATM. Hate to wake you up but it’s a pipe dream, and if you looked outside of the hit box, you too can understand that the masses aren’t going to drastically switch what ever activity/interest they are doing, and go to pick up the latest Crapcom game. This is still a niche hobby, it may be big in it’s own way, but don’t fool yourself.
Actually, they wouldn’t have to pay to watch video games, just like you don’t have to pay to watch baseball on TV. The advertising pays for it.
Here’s one good business model that is already working. Stream the games online for free. Sponsors pay for advertising. People if they want to, can opt to pay extra for 1080p stream, and/or HD versions of the VODs. Its quite simple. There’s no need to make it a PPV. The PPV works for UFC because there is hype buildup. Fights are infrequent. Fighters need downtime to recover after a match, and they need a long time to train for the next one. Each event is more “special”, hence people are more willing to shell out big bucks for it. This is not really the case for video games. But they don’t need to use the same business model.
The only real concern is what Koop brought up about the sponsorships. New video games come out all the time, which makes things volatile. However, this is counter balanced by the fact that the old generation of nerdy gamers such as myself now work their white collar jobs, and have money to spare. And I’d much rather shell out money to watch video games than ever watch a live sporting event or even on TV. So long as the audience for esports in general is large (and it will grow larger), the sponsors will be there. However, they will not stick with the same games.
So this makes it difficult for the players. The onus is on them to make themselves marketable. Its not just enough to be good at the game, you have to have an interesting personality. This can be used to build up storylines. The UFC does this all the time. But there is plenty of drama in the video game community that can exploit this as well. Example: Darkprince vs Clockwork drama years ago.
So pro gaming is definitely a risky carreer choice: I agree 100% with Koop there. Only the top 1% will ever make a living off it. But that’s true of sports too. You might be good in high school but you’d be a fool to think its some cakewalk to become pro. But the existence of the sports industry allows plenty of side jobs to spring up and exist: Casting, coaching, books, DVDs, and so on. Just as in esports.
tldr: There are already successful business models out there that show how the industry can sustain itself. The key is to be flexible and its not far fetched that gamers can make money doing what they love, and nerds can jerk off to high level play and pay for it. They’re nerds, they have white collar jobs, hell yes they’d pay for it. Untapped market. These guys definitely aren’t watching football.
My drunken pipe dreams aside, the fact remains that our society as a whole is only becoming more and more of a gaming society. The difference between extreme sports and gaming is rather simple. While the younger generation may have fallen head over heels for it, and the older generation may have enjoyed watching (I’m using my father and I as a basis here), they couldn’t really connect on it. Parents, teachers, etc, could talk to their kids about what they saw on tv, but couldn’t regale them with stories about the extreme sports that they participated in as kids. They also weren’t going home from work and hitting the half pipe/trails. Now where video games are concerned, that’s a completely different story. Teachers, parents, the people set to run the world, etc, grew up (obviously I’m speaking of our generation) playing games and continue to do so. Kids now can’t remember a time when video games weren’t available to the masses. Anyone with $30 can get on Craigslist and buy a PS2 with a hundred games. Video games are now a bigger part of our society than any sport ever has been (if we’re looking at sheer number of people actively participating).
No, Evo and MLG events aren’t going to replace the Superbowl anytime soon. The masses as a whole probably can’t imagine sitting down and devoting a couple of days to watching huge pools whittle themselves down to grand finals. Most can’t fathom spending a couple of hours watching 8 teams (or players) play an invitational. At the same time, most have never tried. While Nike isn’t on the verge of giving gamers major contracts, it doesn’t mean we aren’t in a society that has the potential to accept professional gaming.
