Geeks beat jocks in bar fight
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From The Wall Street Journal[^]:
SAN FRANCISCO—One Sunday afternoon last month, a hundred boisterous patrons crowded into Mad Dog in the Fog, a British sports bar here, to watch a live broadcast. Half the flat-screen TVs were tuned to a blood-filled match between two Korean competitors, "MC" and "Puma." The crowd erupted in chants of "M-C! M-C!" when the favorite started a comeback. The pub is known for showing European soccer and other sports, but Puma and MC aren't athletes. They are 20-year-old professional videogame players who were leading computerized armies of humans and aliens in a science-fiction war game called "Starcraft II" from a Los Angeles convention center. The Koreans were fighting over a tournament prize of $50,000. This summer, "Starcraft II" has become the newest barroom spectator sport. Fans organize so-called Barcraft events, taking over pubs and bistros from Honolulu to Florida and switching big-screen TV sets to Internet broadcasts of professional game matches happening often thousands of miles away.
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From The Wall Street Journal[^]:
SAN FRANCISCO—One Sunday afternoon last month, a hundred boisterous patrons crowded into Mad Dog in the Fog, a British sports bar here, to watch a live broadcast. Half the flat-screen TVs were tuned to a blood-filled match between two Korean competitors, "MC" and "Puma." The crowd erupted in chants of "M-C! M-C!" when the favorite started a comeback. The pub is known for showing European soccer and other sports, but Puma and MC aren't athletes. They are 20-year-old professional videogame players who were leading computerized armies of humans and aliens in a science-fiction war game called "Starcraft II" from a Los Angeles convention center. The Koreans were fighting over a tournament prize of $50,000. This summer, "Starcraft II" has become the newest barroom spectator sport. Fans organize so-called Barcraft events, taking over pubs and bistros from Honolulu to Florida and switching big-screen TV sets to Internet broadcasts of professional game matches happening often thousands of miles away.
I've heard before that this may be the future, but I can't believe it's already manifesting in such frequency. There was a similar event locally not too long ago. I'm just not wired for this, though. I mean, come on, being a voyeur into a digital window of a virtual space with simulated characters crafted by complete strangers? I'd prefer to lace up the skates and shoot some pucks at the community centre, myself. Like, with real humans.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
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I've heard before that this may be the future, but I can't believe it's already manifesting in such frequency. There was a similar event locally not too long ago. I'm just not wired for this, though. I mean, come on, being a voyeur into a digital window of a virtual space with simulated characters crafted by complete strangers? I'd prefer to lace up the skates and shoot some pucks at the community centre, myself. Like, with real humans.
My Latest: How quickly is the Government spending your money? Tech blog: They Call me Mister James
This has long been the norm in countries such as Korea. They take their MMO gaming VERY seriously. They have also had WoW events, warcraft3 events, starcraft, Diablo, you name it if its a big game, its big events there.
Programming is a race between programmers trying to build bigger and better idiot proof programs, and the universe trying to build bigger and better idiots, so far... the universe is winning. Be careful which toes you step on today, they might be connected to the foot that kicks your butt tomorrow. You can't scare me, I have children.