Gaming Tourneys Coming to U.S. Television

greig writes "DirecTV is aiming to bring to the states what the South Koreans have been enjoying for years: regular broadcasts of videogaming tournaments. Games at the first tournament were Battlefield 2, Counterstrike 1.6, Halo 2, Project Gothem Racing and Dead or Alive 4. The initial broadcasts of the exhibition invitational are on the free DirecTV channel 101 this weekend. Is this the first step to escalating videogames to the status of the X-Games and poker?" Taken from the about section: "The Championship Gaming Series will launch as a league starting 2007; however, in 2006, we will broadcast 3 television events: Championship Gaming Invitational, the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) Winter Finals and an event that will be announced shortly."

Not long now guys, warm up your Shock rifles.

[LiquidCoooled]

In 2291, in an attempt to control violence among deep space miners the New Earth Government legalized no-holds-barred fighting.

Liandri Mining Corporation, working with the NEG, established a series of leagues and bloody public exhibitions.

The fight's popularity grew with their brutality. Soon, Liandri discovered that the public matches were their most profitable enterprise.

The professional league was formed; a cabal of the most violent and skilled warriors in known space, selected to fight in a Grand Tournament.

Now it is 2341, 50 years have passed since founding of DeathMatch. Profits from the Tournament number in the hundreds of billions.

You have been selected to fight in the professional league by the Liandri Rules Board. Your strength and brutality are legendary.

The time has come to prove you are the best; to crush your enemies; to win the Tournament.

Re:Is there really a market for this?

[addie]

Does anyone see a market for this sort of event?

Well, I live in South Korea. There is definitely a market for this, but the question is... is there a western market? There are two channels on my basic cable setup that show live gaming competitions exclusively. There's no gaming news, no gaming documentaries, nothing but live gaming action. One of the channels is StarCraft almost 24/7, but the other one varies quite a bit. Counterstrike and FIFA are popular, but I've also seen such strange stuff as 1v1 WoW duels, and ping pong. When I first moved here, I watched some of it out of interest, but it gets old very, very fast. That may be because my Korean isn't great, and I can't fully understand the commentary. Or it may just be what the parent poster says, "gaming ... does not lend itself well to passive viewing". I'd tend to agree.

As with anything, money is what matters. Some of these kids make upwards of six figures and do nothing but game. They live together and play together. This is serious stuff. As soon as some advertisers in the US figure out how much branding they can stick on these gamers' uniforms, rigs, headsets, etc then I predict things may start happening. But don't expect me to watch it.

That all said, when I walk past the studio in the COEX mall and see a huge crowd (of males AND females) cheering, oohing, and ahhhing as the headshots fly... well who am I to judge?

Airing information

[Caduceus1]

Since there are so many questions:

- This is only on DirecTV. Don't have DirecTV? You ain't gonna see it.

- It airs on Channel 101 (normally CDUSA) in the late evening.

- Tonight (9/10), you can catch all three episodes, plus some animated shorts in between, starting at 6PM ET. Check your EPG to be sure - the west coast may have second feed that would air it later.

Re:Is there really a market for this?

[Txiasaeia]

I just arrived in South Korea two weeks ago from Canada, so perhaps I'm in a position to comment. I was shocked to see that my cable package included not one, but two games dedicated to PC gaming. One of these channels shows StarCraft games 24/7. Believe it or not, it's actually entertaining to watch these Korean kids duke it out in SC: there's no turtling, no slow and ponderous building of bases, but a fast-paced, exciting game in which both players execute multiple faints, ripostes, hit-and-run attacks, and finally the crushing defeat when one player's last nexus or hive comes crashing down. They usually don't go on for too long, but it's fascinating to see the dexterity and skill of these players. It's also very interesting to see reaction shots from the players when one of their strategies is foiled by their opponents, or when they mop up that last straggler on the map.

It's very, very interesting to watch. I'm not into StarCraft in a big way, but I can stand to watch a few games per week. I never thought I'd enjoy watching live games of a video game, but once you take in a few, it's hard not to see the appeal.