The End of a "Empire"?

[fishjie]

Starcraft and Korea are very much an exceptional situation, that’s a fluke not what’s happening in general.

Nope things are definitely changing. What happened with Brood War and Korea was an exceptional situation that was the result of the perfect storm of events, but the esports is getting huge in the USA. Starcraft 2 alone has global tournaments and leagues with ever increasing prize pools. Just recently Valve had a one MILLION dollar DOTA 2 tournament. I think Riot sponsors six figure tournaments for LOL. Pro gaming was a niche before, but the viewership and interest has definitely increased drastically, which will result in even more sponsors. I remember my first evo that I went to in 2007 was nothing like the later ones after SF4 came out.

And yes, sponsors will only stick with games that are popular, but game companies will have incentives to keep coming out with new games such as the business opportunities, free advertising, and publicity they get when their games wind up at tournaments that get millions of live views. For a pro gamer that is not a bad thing, because skills within the same genre transfer over. All the top Starcraft 2 players are almost without exception, Brood War pros. Guys like Justin Wong dominate every fighting game they play, and so on.

[Nini_Heart]

What the fuck is a powerglove?

[acerbic]

i never liked the fact that these companies i never heard of came in and sponsored players. dont get me wrong im happy for the individual players especially Yipes,Justin and the other EC players and i hope they are getting the most out of their deals with their sponsorships but some of these sponsors didnt give a fuck about the scene or the skill levels of these players within it until SF4. which means the existing places did not have their shit together if someone else can just swoop in and start pumping on someone else’s block

I honestly thought in late 08’ that the EMP stable was going to have the best talent in the US and that they were gonna steam roll but it didnt go that way. i hope they rebuild bigger and smarter

i would of loved to see the already existing companies like EMP benefit from this boom as they’ve been around since the dark ages so to speak. Its a missed opportunity and i hope whatever mistakes are not repeated when this shit blows up again. cuz capcom WILL disappear again when this shit dies down so you gotta get the most out of it when its here

Nobody who’s sponsoring shit gives a flying fuck about the actual video games for the most part. That’s just how it is. It’s a business to these people. Sponsors want to sell shit, teams make money off of having sponsors. The major teams have been around for a while now, some longer than others. They already have major revenue streams and great relationships with sponsors, they simply recruit rosters and players for whatever is working now. Of course this changes constantly, because unless you’re talking about Counter Strike 1.6, Starcraft, or at times Quake, nothing lasts for that long.

It’s a catch 22 in some ways. You can’t have your shit together unless you’re dick riding what the most popular games are and where you have chances to get your sponsors attention. So by nature, you can’t make it work unless you swoop from game to game. Go look at the history of some of the more prominent teams that really make things work, take SK gaming. Constantly jumping into whatever game is hot at the moment and a rapidly changing roster.

Unless you’re playing Starcraft or Counter Strike, it’s not possible to make a one game or even one genre team work and actually do well.

[starkilled]

I believe you are only as good as the people you play with. honestly I dont have too many people to really practice with, so I have to figure things out for myself.

That’s not really true, you don’t always have to play good people to get better.

[BBQ]

I would like to know via links of success stories that are equivalent to actual professional athlete’s. I’m very interested to see how one guy can own very expensive luxuries by sitting on his ass playing a video game.

[Sabin]

i can’t wait for fighting games to get pushed by the wayside

people say this is the fighting game revival yet mortal kombat is treated as a serious fighting game. might as well give smash another try at evo. or maybe throw in a wrestling game.

mk is actually a decent game. come on now pherai i understand srk hates it though). i dont like 3s, but i can certainly respect the 10+ years of history around that game even when all the naysayers from the previous eras would jsut shit on it.

you’re probably not going to get a answer from anyone that was involved in the past or present. most of the players that were still around until the end are too mindfucked to say anything. that being said, there was a lot of decent talent that left, and i especially hope dieminion finds a actual sponsor, hes been killing it as of late.

Potter hit the nail right on the head. I think “esports” especially FGC popularity is going to wane down soon. I’m wondering myself when the market will get oversaturated. It’s almost like the mid 90’s all over again…People who were still playing from that era know what I’m talking about. But even in esports its top 5% get paid, FGC it’s barely even the top 1%. That’s why anyone who is trying to get “sponsored”, there are way better things you can do with yourself, like staying in school for one.

I saw Team Spooky brought up in this thread, so…thanks for the support. Even with the overwhelming support from the commnity, none of it would be possible without viewership donations. That’s how you guys should know, then and there that the business model that everone is thinkign of, isn’t viable, when one of the best streams in the country is supported by viewership donations, and it really shouldn’t be that way imo.

Good things about triforce = he saw that there was a value in marketing players way before anyone picked them up. for example, ricky, justin, etc. now look at them, theyre in the 1% of players getting salary. good for them. I remember specifically when ricky joined emp, he owed a large debt to the acnnons (from old usa vs japan trip in 2000) which trifoce paid off, without question. it really wasnt that bad. things just got extremely stagnant over the yearrs from 2k3 on, and noon ewanted to be the first to jump ship.

Bad things about triforce = delusions/manipulation obviously, but even after leaving for a year, I still don’t think he’s a bad guy. Just doesn’t know how to execute. It’s been 7 yeas and EMP still doesn’t really have anything to sell.

I f you guys watched King of Chinatown, it doesn’t even explain 1% of the actual story. It is kind of fabricated in a lot of ways, but it’s a movie…what do you expect. Shoutouts to Calvin though.

[Shin_Oni]

That’s why there is an “e” in front of it. There is no physical aspect of the training required, except dexterity, but you are clueless if you think it does not require mental fortitude, discipline, and dedication. We’re not talking about bums pressing buttons on a stick signing up for a tourney, we are talking about the highest levels of competition. You think you can be as good as Justin Wong without years of training? You are an idiot who is full of shit. By all means, show up at evo and show everyone how easy it is.

I get both sides of the argument here and I do agree that the mental exhaustion kicks in with fighters when it comes to higher play and against characters that frustrate you or simply a style of play you’re not used to playing against. But no one is going to pick up a physical demanding sport one day, play a week, have a good run, then decide they want to sign up for tryouts. Just doesn’t work like that. But games, since it’s clearly not the same, any joe barniby can pick up a controller or buy a stick, watch a combo video or tutorial, test them out in training, then go enter a tournament and think they’re hot cause they beat a few other players. It actually happens now with SF4. The Ego rate has skyrocketed past that random dude in this arcade who had a 10 game win streak and think he’s the best in the game. Now it’s hundreds of xbox live kids thinking they’re hot shit cause they can “do that new desk combo” or “that hot Wesker setup” because they practiced it nostop in training and never trying it out in a actual match.

Again, I get both sides here, but most of this comes down to how dumbed down and casual catered the games are going. A SF4 player doesn’t have that power to say I can go toe to toe with a top player in a past game even if they’ve dabbled a bit with it before SF4.

[Mno]

i paid 10 dollars a week for a month and got my black belt. i sparred once.

competitive martial artist too then. dat easy

[P.Gorath]

So basically anything can be a sport huh?

Obviously you’ve never watched the olympics?

[P.Gorath]

Seriously people, we live in a world with competitive eating. Eating.

“Sport” is not some sacred word. Nascar is a sport. The girls who clap for the people playing a sport are a sport.

Stop ghettoizing yourselves already.

[BBQ]

http://instantrimshot.com/classic/?sound=rimshot I stand corrected.

[Eshmasesh]

Obviously you’ve never watched the olympics?

Personally I hope that Pole Dancing becomes a sport some day, that shit’s hard to do well.

[Dj_Hyper_Kid]

That’s not really true, you don’t always have to play good people to get better.

I am not saying you have to play good people to become a better player, but it sure does help. For example if you and your friend have been playing each other for years and never really changing up your tactics, you will eventually form bad habits that can be lethal in tourney matches. Like I have to basically practice alone because I can’ really meet up with a lot of the guys in my scene, and I like to think I do okay.

[Warpticon]

…and that’s why “eSports” is such a stupid term–because it always turns into a big argument over semantics, which is totally beside the point.

[Pertho]

The girls who clap for the people playing a sport are a sport

Nothing but respect for cheerleaders; being good at it is incredibly hard and they do some dangerous shit. Honestly though, fuck any sport that is decided by a judge; shitty way to go for any competitive event imo.

[pherai]

mk is actually a decent game. come on now pherai i understand srk hates it though). i dont like 3s, but i can certainly respect the 10+ years of history around that game even when all the naysayers from the previous eras would jsut shit on it.

oh im just trollin man. i give respect to mk and its scene for sure. you makin it out to sbo this year?

[Buster_Cannon]

Seriously people, we live in a world with competitive eating. Eating.

This is exactly how I feel. Anything remotely competitive (no matter how dumb/gross it is) is considered a sport nowadays. Eating contests are shown on ESPN now for crying out loud! Fighting games can easily qualify as a “sport”.

That said, with fighting games it’s not something you can just start beasting in when you first start out. No matter how many match vids/streams you watch, nothing will hone your skills more than plain experience and knowledge of the fundamentals. All sports, no matter how physically/mentally demanding they are, require hard work to get good at.

[Sabin]

oh im just trollin man. i give respect to mk and its scene for sure. you makin it out to sbo this year?

we had plans to go, but i got blown up at sbo quals and the exchange rate is ass. so i wont be making it this year. good luck at sbo tho and have fun!

[Koop]

Thanks for you postin arturo!

[AkumaTX]

Why does this guy still sound like a shit head after all these years?