My biggest worry if EVO ever did end up on TV is that the sponsors will want to be hands on with it. They could end up changing the game roster. Bright side is we could end up with a bigger a venue, maybe something on the strip? Wooo~
The best chance I think for SF on tv imho is to put it on cartoon network and pair game news with the anime.
If I were capcom this would be what I would be working towards.
“SF the Anime, presented by SF4”
And maybe a deal to run some of the SF V or whatever series to keep the hype up.
I definitely think fighting games could carry their own show eventually. The genre has gone a bit too heavily in the anime direction as of late, though, which is why I hope HD Remix & SF4 succeed.
But what mainly stand out to me are the characters in this scene - hell, a typical East Coast tournament probably contains more personality than the entire world of high-stakes poker. Just look at how the MAHVEL BAYBEE video became an instant Internet meme…
The potential downside to this is more shit happening like the Dark Prince incident, and fighters getting stuck with the “thug” label ala the NBA. That will have to remain a top concern for the Cannons or anyone else who may step into a leadership position.
But overall, I think we have a real chance.
-Josh
They can’t televise it. Too many thugs at EVO these days.
Ebonics = Yellow card?
Ah but really… You could just not focus on that. That or who’s to say that image won’t make it MORE popular?
I can just picture the madden esque marvel commericials
“It’s all about Dat Mahvel”
This is what you’re looking for. Not pictured is the other 95% of this interview that was scrapped because CrackPr0n wouldn’t stop humping my leg. Also pictured: TacoChan, Rina Morse, AK, Duc Do and…some white guy who was making a fool of himself so omni and James Chen pulled me away from thrilling CvS1 action and made me do an interview.
–Jay Snyder
Viscant@aol.com
Aha, the GSN coverage was linked off the B5 coverage. DO NOT let anyone similar to these people cover evo again! 
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vMVHR703pWU
ahaha is that clayton
edit: im fairly sure if you just televised the MB/GG scene youd have a great soap opera.
the legendary vest never gets old viscant. hahaha. memories
great topic. man i’d seriously love to flip g4 on and if it was leila keighley or kristen holt, id die to see evo on there
OMG There are girls in this video. 
Believe it or not…
I was contracted to cover Evo for G4 a minute ago. (The one evo I actually went
to.) I don’t remember which one but anyway I got paid and they never let the
footage see the light of day. I talked to one of the producers and they said “It looks
good but its to niche’.” Now if I tried it again but with a color commentator it could possibly be more martketable. At the time I was just doing “coverage.”
I doubt Evo would be popular if aired on TV.
People don’t understand fighting games. As one of my roommates says “You just push some buttons.” The Daigo Parry video is one of the most popular and exciting FG videos out there, the majority of people don’t really find that interesting or exciting. It’s like, OK, that dude blocked that girl’s kicks… alright? You can try to explain that you have to tap forward with strict timing and that one messup or just blocking would have lead to a loss, but people’s eyes just glaze over.
And that’s an exciting FG moment. The majority of matches are not nearly as exciting to watch. Look at your average 3s match - Chun vs Chun or Yun vs Chun or some other permutation of Yun/Chun/Ken - it’s all about footsies, safe combos and pokes to build meter, then land a poke into super or activate Genei-Jin and do some generic looking combo.
If you understand something about the game, it can be pretty exciting to watch great players do that - how people bait moves, predict parries, blocking well, getting that poke to hit confirm into super - awesome stuff. However, if you’re someone who knows nothing about fighting games, let alone 3s, it’s just Chun Li and some guy you don’t recognize wiggling back and forth and doing the same shit.
Marvel matches are more exciting to some degree because there’s just so much more happening on screen, and many of the characters are more recognizable. At the same time though, the fact that the game is so busy can also turn people off - they can’t figure out what’s going on, most of the mechanics don’t necessarily make sense (assists? what?), people don’t understand the reasoning behind many tactics (I showed Justin Wong’s Cyclops comeback to a few people, they either didn’t notice or were confused by Cyke jumping around whiffing kicks to build meter) and it just turns into a visual mess that quickly becomes boring and meaningless.
Competitive FPS is very different from fighters because FPS is much more accessible, everybody can easily understand running around, taking advantage of map design and cover, the skill required to get off accurate shots. If somebody runs behind cover and rocket jumps to a good vantage point and gets a no-scope headshot, people are obviously impressed, and might even be interested because it’s easier to comprehend the training and skill that goes into that. Playing footsies, baiting an attack, and doing a Genei-Jin combo just doesn’t offer the same level of “oh that was awesome.”
Edit: Plus there’s no equivalent of PMS Clan or the Frag Dolls or something like that.
Eh… Someone took that joke a little too seriously. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. Seriously. I’m not being sarcastic here.
Gaming already is a niche. I’d think that showing some fighting game tournaments, maybe explaining the technical aspect, and a supportive community could help to shed the negative image of people who play games. I’d say that the fighting game genre is one of the most interesting because of this… But people are lazy.
Is there any way for you to get that footage, UnCauzi? It may be interesting.
just make a live webcast dammit…
I agree. I’ll be watching some SF3 ranbats on my laptop, and sometimes my brother will come over and watch with me. He doesn’t really understand all the strategy and what not behind what’s going on, but he’ll be excited over certain things happening, like close matches,come backs and big combos.
Then what do you do with just about every other game. I hate people with this dumbass logic
All you need a reasonably knowledgeable commentator to explain the action.
Even better… have them play the games