Apparently Jashin's not the only one who thinks Starcraft is serious business

Chade on 18/5/2010 at 02:41

Thank god someone said it! Flame wars can be fun, but we need more then the same old insults every. fucking. thread.

Articles about professional gaming always amaze me. Almost all my involvement in the industry comes form the artistic side. I play many of the same games, use many of the same game mechanics, and yet this feels like another world to me.

Does anyone involved in the scene know how heavily the industry is involved in professional gaming? Did Blizzard do anything to kick-start the professional scene? What about Valve and Counter-Strike? Do they gain any direct benefits from it? For that matter, how much does StarCraft sell in Korea nowadays?

Jason Moyer on 18/5/2010 at 04:01

I think we need more 4chan/somethingawful/jerkcity spamming, tbh.

gunsmoke on 18/5/2010 at 04:08

Quote Posted by dethtoll

Quit being such a colossal motherfucker.

Ah, it was just a zing.

june gloom on 18/5/2010 at 04:53

A stupid macro and some internet tough guy lingo from 1996? That's a zing now? Jesus Christ where's Koki, his abuse of 4chan macros didn't feel so goddamn forced.

Briareos H on 18/5/2010 at 07:09

will you just shut up

Matthew on 18/5/2010 at 10:00

In before the ... ohshi

Bluegrime on 18/5/2010 at 16:02

Quote Posted by Chade

Does anyone involved in the scene know how heavily the industry is involved in professional gaming? Did Blizzard do anything to kick-start the professional scene? What about Valve and Counter-Strike? Do they gain any direct benefits from it? For that matter, how much does StarCraft sell in Korea nowadays?

I am not an insider, but for the sake of carrying on an on topic discussion..

I don't think Blizzard did much to start out the Korean craze, but I'm pretty sure they at least put their logo on the big tournaments now. That said, I'm betting nobody at Blizzard thought that their game would reach the point of practically being a national sport for an entire country.

And no, Valve didn't do anything to boost up Counter Strike until after it got huge. That turned into quite the hit for something some dudes cobbled together in their basement. :laff:

Chade on 20/5/2010 at 00:31

I get the impression that the industry (and the gaming press as well) doesn't really do a good job of capitalizing on the upper echelons of competitive gaming.

Nameless Voice on 20/5/2010 at 00:44

Koreans sport - the only kind of sport I consider worthy.

I don't think Blizzard did anything towards promoting it for competitive gaming, at least not originally. They are certainly taking competitive gaming into account while working on Starcraft 2, however - they'd be fools not to capitalise on the opportunity.

And yes, the sniping/flaming is getting old. Nearly every thread in GenGaming is getting derailed by it now.

catbarf on 20/5/2010 at 02:52

I'll be very surprised if Starcraft 2 is much more than a cosmetic and balance upgrade of Starcraft- I can't imagine Blizzard risking the possibility of its biggest fanbase turning against a game different from its predecessor.