Spotlight on Gamers: The New TV Stars
April 18, 2006 by Ingrid Diaz
Filed under Gaming
Looks like us gamer geeks are going to be the new faces of Reality TV thanks to Major League Gaming. Our favorite organized gaming league has struck a deal with USA to air seven episodes featuring the pro-video blogging world this upcoming fall.
Though video gaming fans have been able to follow competitions on game Web sites for years already, MLG’s television deal marks the first time regular TV viewers would be able track the ups and downs of a pro tournament, watching video gaming as a new kind of extreme sport.
“This is the sign that pro gaming has finally arrived to the mass market,” said Matthew Bromberg, MLG’s president and chief operating officer. “It’s like poker was two years ago, or
NASCAR 15 years ago.”The upcoming televised series will aim to engage viewers with not only with the game play itself — featuring top players of “Halo 2″ on Xbox and “Super Smash Bros. Melee” on Nintendo — but also sports-like commentary and profiles of the players.
Who plans to tune in? I know Matt is a bit iffy on the subject, and I must admit that my first reaction was a bit like, “Oh, no… why… WHY??” But if done correctly, perhaps it might turn out to be the kind of positive exposure (some?) gamers have been looking for. Besides, I look forward to watching Bonnie “Xena” Burton kick some butt in Halo 2.
Will you tune in?
(source)
Despite being really skeptical that watching gaming on TV would be entertaining, I got to see an neat demo at GDC by a company called DreamCaster, who uses Olympic-quality cameramen to navigate the game environment (kind of like spec mode, for those familiar) and essentially film the match much like a standard sports game. The cyber athletes are much easier to identify with and relate to, the action was non-stop…
It was fab. I would watch it.
Erin,
Okay, that sounds good. I’d be willing to watch something like that.