Gaming Rant – July 12th, 2011
Carl Armstrong / Jul 12th, 2011 No Comments
The recent Columbus Event showcased a lot of new talent versus veterans as another successful MLG session shows how competitive gaming, if given the right venues, can attract crowds and open up the doors for something bigger. Instinct took the HALO Reach bracket, while Optic Gaming took over Call of Duty. The Koreans, as expected, dominated Starcraft 2 as they overpowered the competition. In a recent Forbes article with pro gamer Hastro you can check out these amazing facts, the recent Columbus MLG event received a whooping 22.5 million streaming views. Okay, so what does that mean? When compared to the biggest sport in America, the NFL, and one of the their most highly viewed events in the draft, we see that this event “only” received 11.5 million views (insert some Rex Ryan or Vince Lombardi line here), not to mention those numbers go up every year especially now that the draft was moved to the weekdays to attract more viewers. E-sports has come an extremely long way and who know how soon we could have stations dedicated just to competitive gaming, such as we see in Korea.
Vs Congress
It’s not an option in many games, but it seems like lately gamers are queued up against more than that 21 year old who puts vodka in his YooHoo and beats you in Reach. A few weeks ago the Supreme court threw out a proposed law that would ban the sale of violent games to minors and would punish offenders with a $1,000 fine, basically saying it violates our 1st Amendment rights. Now there are some pros and cons to this:
- Why its good:
Keeping up our first Amendment rights and keep the Gov’t in check is always a good thing, since retailers wouldn’t be forced to hide their violent titles like if your in a convenient store and they are hiding the naughty magazines in the back. Also you wouldn’t see sales in major violent titles deterred because they aren’t hidden from us. Finally it will make the parents responsible for what games their kid can and cant get without having to leave retailers to do the policing
- Why its Bad:
How many of us get annoyed when you find yourself throwing down online on COD/Halo reach and next thing you know your in the pregame lobby with some kid who sounds like he’s 5 years from getting his learners permit on the other end and he’s driving you nuts. Jeff Goldblum said it best, life will find a way, and in this case kids will get their violent games anyway and you’ll have those who aren’t ready to process the intensity of these games from getting them. I remember being 11 years old back in the early nineties and reading Batman Death in the Family comic where Robin (Jason Todd) was killed. The first time I saw that I was literally messed up for that day … I ended up throwing up before I went to bed and almost missed school the following day so I know how graphic images can affect a person. I think in a way it would be refreshing to see violent game purchasing for minors fall under tobacco, alcohol and voting rights, as you have be 18 or 21 to enjoy those freedoms. I’m a lot of gamers would appreciate the proposed law from that standpoint.
Vs Rudy Gay / Drew Storen
Rudy Gay of the Memphis Grizzlies came on Jim Rome show a little over a week ago, (for those of you who don’t know who Jim Rome is he’s on ESPN and he hosts “Rome is Burning” as well as having his own radio show which is nationally syndicated) and the topic came up about Rudy playing COD and Mr.Gay proceeded to describe himself as a camper. An innocent comment to some, but to us gaming purists it opened a can of worms that I have to say caught Jim off guard like no other subject matter I’ve heard him talk about in my 12 years of listening to him. He was immediately barraged with COD fan emails and twitter messages calling Rudy out. Rudy went from lovable NBA player to sh*tlist in a matter of a few seconds. Jim later had on Washington Nationals pitcher Drew Storen who reacted by saying campers were “Straight up punks”.
Carl Armstrong
Latest posts by Carl Armstrong (see all)
- Walking Dead Season 3 Finale Review (Spoilers) - April 3, 2013
- Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Introduction Impressions - February 11, 2013
- Guardians of Middle Earth Interview - November 9, 2012
tags: channer gaming rant , mlg
SUBSCRIBE BY RSS