103 replies to this topic

[travis]

There have been a handful of video games over the years that have displayed a level of depth allowing for a level of competition paralleling that of many professional physical sports. These games have been embraced by people worldwide in a variety of ways, from annual events that have grown from grassroots fan efforts to regularly corporate sponsored leagues with television coverage. Part of me is fascinated by competitive gaming, and I love watching two players (or two teams) of extremely high skill level clash. I figured I'd make a thread to not only help gather interest, but provide a place for everyone to share and discuss their favorite videos, interviews, etc.

Watching pro Korean Starcraft: Brood War matches was a near nightly occurrence for me between '09-'10. Tons of exciting chess-like play to watch while eating dinner or practicing music. Here's one of many examples -

[travis]

I've always been a fan of the fast paced deathmatch style first person shooter play offered by the Doom and Quake series, but this video is what really opened my eyes to Quake 3/Live as a competitive sport, and the sheer amount of thought that goes into every passing second of a pro level match.

If you watch any videos posted in this thread, I HIGHLY recommend setting aside the time to watch this one, as it is uniquely articulated and extremely clear -

[travis]

I've never really been able to get into fighting games in my life. Not that I dislike playing them, I suppose, but rather that I've never had the right group of friends to play them with (Smash Bros/Melee definitely got their fair share of attention when I was younger, but only at a lower level of play, and Smash Bros was never much of a "conventional" fighter anyway). However, that said, I've always enjoyed watching a few rounds of a good fighting game from a few guys who really know what they're doing. I know SF2 gets quite a bit of love from some of you dudes here on theshizz, so I'll just leave this here in case anyone hasn't seen it -

[Norrin_Radd]

I wish they would wise up and just start televising this stuff. It almost doesn't matter what game is being played, I love watching high level competition in gaming.

I could watch high level Street Fighter 2 forever.

I also really like FPS competition. Modern Warfare and Counter Strike are so fun to watch!

Even though I have never played an RTS, I really enjoy watching Star Craft 2 vids that have commentary.

Speaking of Commentary, I love commentary on games. It really helps you appreciate the skill being demonstrated.

[SenJ]

Greatest thread ever or greatest thread ever?

I watch a ton of E-sports related content from Pro BW to fighting games.

Starcraft 2 is still in it's infancy compared to BW, but it has the potential to create some truly amazing games already. It's been a little over a year since release and there's been a huge swell in the legitimacy of an E-sports scene in America.

http://www.youtube.c...u/8/_TxhLGF0gek


Hive tech ZvZ... After a decade BW is still evolving



I just recently started to get in to the fighting game scene. The Adventures of gootecks and Mike Ross series are hilarious.

Speaking of Commentary, I love commentary on games. It really helps you appreciate the skill being demonstrated.

It depends on the commentators. I could listen to the Koreans' excitement over BW forever and I can't understand a word they're saying. Likewise, the less I know about the game the more helpful I find commentary to be. Sometimes it's just nice to sit down and watch a major tourney game without any exterior influences on it.

[Norrin_Radd]

Oh, absolutely. If you know everything that is happening, the commentary is not always great. But the commentary will make a game you know nothing about seem super intense. I mean, especially in Star Craft where I have no clue why I should be impressed. The commentators paint a really good picture of just why it is impressive.

I would love to have tournament videos in file format or something, so I could watch them on my TV instead of my computer. Anyone know of a place that hosts files for Counter Strike, COD4, MW2, or Street Fighter 2?

[EBattousai]

From 2006-7 I watched a little competitive World of Warcraft because my friend was big into the Arena portion of the game (2v2, 3v3, 5v5 player battles in small battlefields) I moved on 2007-2009 to Starcraft, which was a nightly occurance. I downloaded media players, stayed up til the sun came up, just to watch some 18 year old Koreans battle each other out on the twilight plane of Shakuras. I eventually went to Korea to watch games in person. 2009-2010 was my Heroes of Newerth competitive period (shoutout to Leonidas), and currently I'm hooked on high level League of Legends livestreams. Pro level gaming is some of the most entertaining visuals in the world.

I love competition. Sports and video games are pretty close to me in that regard.

[Rize]

I watched the quake 3 one. I could relate to that somewhat. When I was playing that for a while on PC and started to really learn the level lay outs for some of the smaller levels, it was really fun to make the kind of moves they were making knowing exactly where they would land and such. My aim has always sucked to bad to consider doing anything competitive though. Watching this, I see that these guys know the path that the jump plates send you on well enough to track the other guy the whole through the air should they make the mistake of stepping on a plate while exposed. And that is such a basic competitive skill it wasn't even worth talking about in the video. Crazy.

[TV's Frink]

So this thread isn't about sports games? 'Cause I was in a Cyberball tournament about 3,000 years ago...

[kemco]

I hear Big Buck Hunter can get pretty intense

[Spookmeister C]

Did you read my mind, Travy? I've been wanting to start a "gaming tournaments" thread for a while, but I had a different way of handling the thread in mind.
I think a ton of us on here are super talented, yet I only know a few of us who have considered entering gaming competitions for real. I mean it's cool watching these comps online but it's much more satisfying going out to one yourself and getting social. They don't have to be huge big time events ,either, they can be smaller local ones. You'd be surprised just how many exist out there, just have to look in the right place. There's really no better way to tell just how good you are until you enter one, and I'm happy to say I've finally been active and doing a couple myself.
If anyone wants to read on my exploits, do check out the MvC 3 thread. Short story - I've only been in two tournaments so far (first was awful, second was better) but I'm training hard and working my way up the ladder on a weekly basis, with one of the larger scale competitions happening in a month from now (pretty nervous about that). Maybe I'll start posting in here with my progress, gauging interest?

Fighting game fans - Make sure to check out http://frame-advantage.com/, it's a great archive full of matches from every "new era" fighter you can think of.

I hear Big Buck Hunter can get pretty intense

Especially when it's World! Ultimate bar game, for sure.

[Norrin_Radd]

SPOOK! THANKS!!!!!

[Eric Dude]

Love this thread, love BW replays. I could watch this all day, just like the rest of you.

I used to play BW pretty competitively, but never in an actual tourney or anything. I was never 'gosu'.

I played a lot of Magic Online, and actually had a pretty decent limited rating at one point, pretty much going infinite for several months off of drafts. Some of those matches would be soooooooo intense, and damn did it feel good to perfectly lay out a the next 3-4 turns and win the game according to plan!

Just got my butt kicked in a Tecmo Super Bowl tourney a few days ago, but I had never played it much against real people.

Gonna try my hand at Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo this weekend. Of all the games I'm good at, that might be my best. I'm actually going to practice, and already have started.

[thebiggameover]

crazy world of warcraft 3v3 arena tourny. this dude pulls a win out of a no win deal. good part starts at 3:22. even the anouncers are like "its over", and this dude turns it around...



this shows what happend

[Zoast]

The crowd reaction in the diago comeback video gives me the chills. Beautiful stuff.

So, I'm gonna make two posts with what I think are the best starcraft vids ever and then I'll shut up about it after that

Here is the longest translated video I know of korean starcraft. It's very entertaining, plus you get to see the first person view of pro playing. This guy is normally a terran player.


"To all battle.net users, I want them to fear Progamers. I want them to KNOW it, and I will make them feel it. That's why I'm here. There are many that think they, themselves, can be a (starcraft) progamer and win some games. I want those people NEVER to even THINK about such foolishness"
(play starts at 6:45)


I posted the next game in the starcraft thread but it deserves a repost..

Boxer is probably the most legendary starcraft player ever. The strategy he uses in this game is absolutely unheard of. The subtitled commentary does a pretty good job of explaining it though.