V-Sports & V-Sports Commentators
The popularity of online gaming is increasing every day. Gamers who play in leagues are starting to get fans and some of the competitions even have cash prizes that total thousands of thousands of dollars. Online gaming events are even getting a "name", V-sports.
With the increased popularity comes all the "stuff" that surrounds normal sports. Fans, promotion, and even commentators. The commentators need a sound & concise grasp of the maps for the games they are announcing for - and with some games involving more than 32 players they also need to be able to read a situation quickly and communicate it to the listeners clearly and quickly. Many of the commentaries resemble a typical American sports broadcast - but at 10 times the speed. When you have 32+ players all directly involved in the action it's a lot harder to announce than a typical sporting event where 1 or 2 players are involved in each play. In Counter Strike for example, you can have people spread all over the map completing objectives, hiding in wait for the opposing team or just flat out rushing through the map fraggin' everyone in their path.
I'm an avid gamer, but have never really embraced the concept of watching other people play. A lot of people watch traditional sports because they can't play. They are out of shape or just lack the physical ability to compete at a high level. Video games on the other hand...anyone with two hands and a set of eyes can play. To me, watching someone play a game is one of the most frustrating things one can do, especially if I know the game already. I get and uncontrollable urge to yell out "go that way" or "shoot at the head" every time I watch someone else play.
Professionally organized leagues and competitions are fun but if you're like me you have a lot more fun hanging out in front of your pc fraggin' away without thousands of people watching you and a commentator announcing your every move.
Here's some more reading on the subject if you're interested.
With the increased popularity comes all the "stuff" that surrounds normal sports. Fans, promotion, and even commentators. The commentators need a sound & concise grasp of the maps for the games they are announcing for - and with some games involving more than 32 players they also need to be able to read a situation quickly and communicate it to the listeners clearly and quickly. Many of the commentaries resemble a typical American sports broadcast - but at 10 times the speed. When you have 32+ players all directly involved in the action it's a lot harder to announce than a typical sporting event where 1 or 2 players are involved in each play. In Counter Strike for example, you can have people spread all over the map completing objectives, hiding in wait for the opposing team or just flat out rushing through the map fraggin' everyone in their path.
I'm an avid gamer, but have never really embraced the concept of watching other people play. A lot of people watch traditional sports because they can't play. They are out of shape or just lack the physical ability to compete at a high level. Video games on the other hand...anyone with two hands and a set of eyes can play. To me, watching someone play a game is one of the most frustrating things one can do, especially if I know the game already. I get and uncontrollable urge to yell out "go that way" or "shoot at the head" every time I watch someone else play.
Professionally organized leagues and competitions are fun but if you're like me you have a lot more fun hanging out in front of your pc fraggin' away without thousands of people watching you and a commentator announcing your every move.
Here's some more reading on the subject if you're interested.
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