ESPN added CoD to Summer X-games

[tenks]

Very interesting...

For the first time in the history ESPN's X Games, pro gamers will compete for medals playing Call of Duty: Ghosts in Austin this June. Major League Gaming (MLG) has partnered with the sports broadcaster for the MLG X Games Invitational where the same hardware will be up for grabs as those athletes competing it skateboard, BMX, Moto X and other extreme sporting events.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/28/mlg- ... itational/

[ward]

Sounds like the potential ad revenue is in a place where ESPN is willing to take the gamble. This does not make gaming a legitimate sport, though.

[hypnotik_]

should be interesting to see espn drop the live cast due to the immature kids not knowing how to act appropriate for tv

[Fifty]

Why CoD though? Is it really bigger than LoL, Dota 2, and CS GO?

[acetamino]

Why CoD though? Is it really bigger than LoL, Dota 2, and CS GO?

easier to sell in america, to mainstream people, I believe. "Call of Duty" is more recognizable to a wide viewer range.

[Tin Bad]

Miller, Are you working at this event?!

[akiro]

waiting for the first fat asthma ridden kid to say he is an athlete.

[tenks]

Im mixed about this...

On one hand extreme athletes doing these awesome sports with crazy moves, contrasted to a bunch kids sitting down mashing controllers doesn't make much sense.

Oh the other hand, I see this as a legit opportunity for American gaming to maybe catch up to the international scene as far as exposure. I personally think they chose the wrong game, but ace is right, from the casual spectators point of view, CoD = America, so I can see why they chose it.

I don't know too much about MLG but the fact that this is console based is pretty GAY.

[element]

It being console based is probably still along the lines of conforming to the casual spectator. The people that watch X-Games are probably more likely to view PC games as "nerdier" and are more receptive to something that many of them have personal experience with and more socially prevalent in America. Almost every athlete I know plays on an Xbox and the vast majority of them play CoD.

[tenks]

It being console based is probably still along the lines of conforming to the casual spectator. The people that watch X-Games are probably more likely to view PC games as "nerdier" and are more receptive to something that many of them have personal experience with and more socially prevalent in America. Almost every athlete I know plays on an Xbox and the vast majority of them play CoD.

Agreed, thats the exact reason why they made this decision. Xbox is just as common as redbull to this demographic.

Doesn't mean I like it though. It's like picking up Arena football instead of NFL football. Everyone knows the best of the best are playing on PC.

[knockout]

CoD is also an infinitely simpler game than Dota 2, or even League of Legends. Learning the intracacies of Dota 2 took me, as a pretty active player, MONTHS. And I still get surprised by pro plays, and take a while to fully grasp what they are doing sometimes.

In one day of watching 1 game of CoD, you can pretty much figure out what the players are doing

[ward]

CoD is also an infinitely simpler game than Dota 2, or even League of Legends. Learning the intracacies of Dota 2 took me, as a pretty active player, MONTHS. And I still get surprised by pro plays, and take a while to fully grasp what they are doing sometimes.

In one day of watching 1 game of CoD, you can pretty much figure out what the players are doing

This. For a videogame to become a spectator sport, it needs to be spectator friendly. World of Warcraft arena matches were popular in tournaments for a short time, but died out because no one knew what the fuck was going on. Spectators have to be able to grasp the events that are happening.

[k4b00m]

haha, WoW arena matches still confuse the fuck out of me, and I still play it.

So much is going on at once, and the casters have to talk so damn fast just to keep up with the plays.

I just watch the health bars.. ;x

[knockout]

haha, WoW arena matches still confuse the fuck out of me, and I still play it.

So much is going on at once, and the casters have to talk so damn fast just to keep up with the plays.

I just watch the health bars.. ;x

personally, I just always felt WoW arenas were too much button mashing and RNG to be watchable (even to those "in the know") in the first place! I think CoD (or any FPS for that matter) is the most watchable video game. It's a shame CS:S had the randomness CS 1.6 didn't have in the time of CGS. CoD or CS:GO even are much more watchable games.

[tenks]

But do you feel the same way about watching Dota 2 and LoL and moba's in general? Im just curious, not getting at anything.

I know the people watching are usually casual players so they understand, but to me it seems like they are spectator friendly with how big the grand finals, and the arenas they take place in, are becoming for each respective game. I mean Staples center is pretty large and known. Granted you could argue it was just filled with enthusiasts and players...

[element]

Dota 2, LoL, and other such are pretty perfect for viewing if the viewer knows whats going on and is exactly why they have such a high amount of viewers. Games average somewhere in that 25 minute range; not too short and segmented kinda like CS, nor long as hell and waiting for only like 5 minutes of action. There's something continuously happening, and it's easy to see the big picture while still focusing on individual players. The last point is especially hard with team FPS games because the entertainment value is from first-person viewing but then the viewer doesn't really get a good idea of what else is going on simultaneously (like if that team is even winning). I'm guessing that Xgames is banking on the majority of viewers knowing the game already because for someone to start watching CoD from scratch, it can be a little confusing.

[Miller`]

Miller, Are you working at this event?!

I'm working on other things to happen. COD happened because a guy from MLG used to work on Cold Pizza and they got hooked up. Either way, this is a VERY good thing long term if people behave. I don't think COD is a cash cow, but could help them figure out to advertise and that there is some interest in key demos.

[Rob]

The problem with the CoD "pro" community is they are notorious for their awful behavior at LAN events. I forget the specifics but I believe an entire team lost their sponsorships/org affiliation recently for how they acted at a tournament.

http://www.giantbomb.com/forums/general ... e-1429495/

There's a link to some more on it. The video is ridiculous; DoD rage has nothing on it. League of Legends is where 'e-sports' is really taking off. This X-Games thing is just a one-time stunt. TV is a dying medium and e-sports doesn't need ESPN or X-Games to find its way into the mainstream. It already has the internet. Real Sports did an interesting segment on the LoL Season 3 World Championships back in November (although it was full of "look at these nerds!" potshots and incredulous guffawing by host Gumbel).

The recent All-Star event a month ago in Paris was massive: Korea set domestic viewership records with 750,000 concurrent viewers at one point. The World Championships back in November only had 400,000 peak concurrent viewers in Korea. So that's how fast the game is growing.

[Theworst]

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[nhoj]

The problem with the CoD "pro" community is they are notorious for their awful behavior at LAN events. I forget the specifics but I believe an entire team lost their sponsorships/org affiliation recently for how they acted at a tournament.

It was TeamOrbit who released their team in february this year
https://twitter.com/TeamOrbitPro/status ... 1155349504

Epsilon released their team in August 2013 for the same reason
http://www.epsilon-esports.com/news/eps ... ournament/

[Rob]

Those CS trash talking videos aren't even in the same league of the same universe of obnoxious trash talking as guys in the CoD vid.