Case in point:
Sad to see some SRK members getting up in arms at something that is obviously not aimed at them, kind of like 28 year old males getting upset that Justin Bieber isn’t catering to their demographic. Not surprising though.
I find the idea that fighting games should not be done in the sportscast style to be curious. Let’s be honest, you have quite a few bad commentators, as in, they have no formal training, can’t get through a sentence without stumbling, are incapable of filling deadair. This isn’t just my opinion, your community expresses it time and again, your pros express it. So are you suggesting that this is the only way fighting games should be commentated? If that’s the case, I assume you just want competitive fighters to remain a small niche audience with minimal sponsorship revenue coming in. Excessive discussion of the metagame rather than actual play-by-play for a casual audience, will drive people away and it has. Starcraft 2 has a much wider audience because from it’s beta, it had popular play-by-play casters to cater to a casual audience. You don’t have that and as such your audience is small.
At the end of the day I’m not interested in commentating any “big tournaments” (though it’s interesting that you should say I would be bashed for casting a major tournament, people have made similar remarks about SC2 and yet I cast big tournaments regularly there without such nonsense), the commentary remains on my channel and you not only don’t have to watch it, but probably shouldn’t be. If you already know the game and you’re not interested in play-by-play, why watch a play-by-play caster? Nobody is forcing you to do it. I guess I just don’t get the hate, it sounds like a handful of very angry resentful nerds who are even getting criticised by their peers for their immature behaviour.
The sportscast model is proven and is beyond dispute. It supports a multi-billion dollar industry across the world. Thanks to those in this thread who also get it and to those that don’t, it’s probably not worth getting angry over. It’s videogames on the internet and nobody is forcing you to watch them
To conclude, here are a few words from one of your own, who also seems to get it.
http://twitter.com/#!/ThatMikeRossGuy/status/90720643670216704
http://twitter.com/#!/ThatMikeRossGuy/status/90721611656859648
http://twitter.com/#!/ThatMikeRossGuy/status/90725042572374016
This can only add to the scene. It’s not like all professional casters/commentators will disappear because of this. More exposure seems like a good thing. Will you quit playing SSF4 because you didn’t like TotalBiscuits casting style? All it can do is bring flesh blood, and that is always a good thing. If those viewers try the game out they can always seek more professional resources later. It is you who controls what you consume, after all. At least that’s what it should be like. :blah:
“There ya go folks, first ever Street Fighter cast. Pfft. No idea if it was any good, let me know.”
People watched it and gave you their opinions.
Maybe you’re the one that doesn’t ‘get it’, TB.
Yep, and the vast majority of them liked it, what’s your point?
No point, but now I can tell all my friends that TB replied to me on the forums. ^.^
lol… I hope no one on here is “TrU3Ta1ent” who’s trying to troll that video on YT.
It seems pretty obvious to me that TB is commentating for his regular viewers, i.e. people that might not know a lot about fighting games. In that regard he seems to be doing a good job. His “WTF is…” series also made me buy Frozen Synapse.
Wouldn’t be surprised if that vid made a few more people interested in Street Fighter for PC.
Except fighting game stream viewership has been going nothing but up, a major can easily break 10-15k (simultaneous viewers) nowadays and I’ll be surprised if the Evo stream peaks at less than 50k. They might not be comparable to SC2 numbers, but they’re not bad either compared to just about any other game/genre. And we got there by doing things how we like them, not by stressing over sponsorship revenue (though that’s been growing lately as well).
And is anyone going to complain if it gets bigger? Doubtful. I am not forcing myself into your community, I am commentating a game I enjoy and presenting it in a basic, entry-level format. Unless you are somehow elitist enough to think that the “unwashed masses” knowing about your game will ruin everything, you’re only going to benefit from more exposure. It’s not as if a couple of angry people on SRK are going to stop me from making the videos I want to make.
I’m not objecting the thought of having entry-level play-by-play commentary, but if it comes to deciding between that and how things current are, it’s a really easy choice for anyone in the community. Of course ideally a tournament stream could have two commentary channels, one for the more in-depth metagame commentary and one for a more traditional sportscast. However it’s not only about the content of the commentary, it’s who does it. If you watch almost any fighting game stream you’ll notice that the commentators rotate a lot, and there’s a lot of top players and community figures dropping in to do a bit of commentary here and there. This is what makes it enjoyable for me, and if it was replaced by two guys in suits talking for three days in a row, I’d drop out pretty fast.
Well that’s the wonderful thing about the fact that eSports exists through streaming not through television, you have an effectively unlimited number of choices as regards to the style of commentary and who commentates it. You aren’t forced to watch one way or the other.
TotalBiscuit, I’ve been watching your “I suck at SC2” series lately and have been enjoying it quite a lot even though i watch a lot of high level streams as well. The contributions you do for the SC2 community are fantastic and people recognize it; just look at all the people defending you and showing their respect to you in that iNcontrol interview thread and on SCReddit! So if you’re interested in SSF4 and want to make videos of it I know that’s a very good thing for the community.
So good on you Totalbiscuit and keep it up mate.
PS. You should totally get more pros to coach you at SC2. That d.Apollo coaching video was highly entertaining and enlightening!
I could care less about commentary, but he wasn’t that bad. Seems like it was pretty good commentary for people who don’t know much about the game, which almost all of his viewers seem to be.
haters gonna hate
EDIT: Also, he did say in the beginning “I will not do any analysis, it will all be play-by-play.”
That was your cue to leave if you were expecting something like s-kill commentating on grand finals at EVO.
Welcome to SRK. This place has become as bad as stream chats or youtube comments.
WOW!
these forums have become utter trash compared to back when I used to lurk in 2006. 90% of people here are elitist assholes who take this game a little too seriously.
Do these elitists know that 99% of them will NOT be pro and that this game is pure entertainment? Jesus, suddenly every time a casual player remarks (god forbid it could be incorrect) he or she is a complete dumbass that’s just a stream monster.
lol, get a life.
@TB, you did a fine job bro. would watch more if you continued to release more SF vids.
lol again,
Just keep doing whatcha doing. Not everyone gets it; they feel like it’s being tampered with, but really don’t understand that in the big picture that it’s useful for different demographs outside of the average player.
/support
Ultimately, what TB does is actively helping the community. That’s more than most of you ranting here will ever do. He’s popular over youtube, so whatever he does is influential. And that’s why this is awesome news, not just from an entertainment standpoint, but because of how many new players he might actually bring into the game.
Hell, I was brought to Street Fighter thanks to DSP’s early vids (who’s also pretty hated here) and I bet I’m not the only one. So I more than welcome other people like TB trying to bring the game to a wider audience.
In the worst case, if you’re still sceptical; it’s more noobs for you to harvest for additional PP/BP.
The last few years have brought on a new wave of people who are basically casual players on their knees for the top players. Despite them sucking majorly, they hang on to the every word of the top players and their way of being. This is the result.
And as I said when I first heard the commentary, I thought TB did a good job. Have skisonic give you a short class on some of the inner workings of the game and you’d be great. Then again I’m guessing the same people who think TB sucks also think Chris Hu is a great commentator.