Tuesday, April 28, 2015

A Different type of Game

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/viewers-freak-espn2-airs-video-game-tournament-article-1.2200403

Last Sunday ESPN2 aired a tournament for the new popular video game called Heroes of the Storm. The winner of the tournament was able to get a full paid education to the college of their choice, the tournament was christened Heroes of the Dorm. Fan feedback was mixed throughout some were outraged and others were confused. Some people found that the commentary by the other gamers or shout casters, was engrossing and the viewers were completely absorbed by it despite not understanding what's going on. Others were calling this a farce complaining about how there should be actual sports on the channel. But this wasn't a new thing the creators of the game started this agreement with ESPN.

I personally like these so called “e-sports” and do watch these types of events from time to time, but I don’t really like to watch these types of games which fall in the MOBA genre. I also might be a little biased but I do think that having this type of programming is a valid form of entertainment, I don’t consider it a sport but I wouldn't consider poker a sport either. There is also a precedent for these types of event because during the summer ESPN also conducted a broadcast for a 11 million dollar tournament on their website for a game called DOTA 2 which is similar to Heroes of the Storm. I think that while the outcry is justified as it is not  a known form of entertainment, it is still a valid form. Thousands of people play literally hundreds of different games every day, there is already an established network of these types of games with or without ESPN. I believe that “e-sports” is a prominent part of this society and will continue to grow in popularity.

1 comment:

  1. excellent, Jay. make sure make your article a hyperlink

    ReplyDelete