Online Gaming: E-Sports

 

The box art of StarCraft (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Major League Gaming (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Of recent times the gaming world has gone through as significant change. Gaming competitions are on a far larger scale, even televised in Korea with two E-Sports channels and competitors being rewarded quite well for their efforts.  This is a great achievement as people who are not overly athletic can now partake in sporting competitions, have their favourite teams and players and watch great games that are quite entertaining. 

Personally I’m a huge fan of the work that Blizzard does, in particular StarCraft 2, with the MLG tournaments, the GSL and other various competitions around the globe. There are even Bar Craft events where supporters can go to a bar, much like the common sports bar, and watch online gameplay. Though I’m from Australia and have not been able to find a venue like this the idea thrills me to bits. 

This is not just limited to games like StarCraft which is a Real Time Strategy (RTS’s) game but also to First Person Shooters (FPS’s) like Call of Duty and even Role Playing Games (RPG’s) like Diablo 3. 

Ultimately anyone who is willing to put in the hard work and time to practice to succeed in these types of games can become a professional and really ‘make it big’ in the E-Sports world.

But where does the “Average Joe” fit in?

Well like any sport you can play at home or with your friends, much like playing Marks Up (a small adaptation of Aussie Rules football). Although it’s a little more expensive than buying a football, you can play with a selection of players from right around the world and make some great friends at the same time. 

Feel free to look at some of the online replays through www.YouTube.com you can also check out www.Blizzard.com and see what other great games they have available. There are also some great Casters, commentators of E-Sports, who offer a great insight into strategies and gameplay allowing anyone to learn how to have a great gaming experience.

GLHF!!!

Related articles

• Blizzard: Starcraft 2 is bigger than the NHL (gimmegimmegames.com)
• StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm Expansion Review (techspot.com)