IT actually plays out like a sports match between two of StarCraft II's associate game balance designers, Matt Cooper and David Kim. The commentary is delivered by the game's lead designer Dustin Browder, along with e-Sports member Robert Simpson, who provide insight into the strategies employed by the two players. It's actually a rather interesting setup they have for commentating on matches, and despite the length of the video I found myself watching to the very end. I'm not a very big fan of StarCraft, but I could become of a fan of watching other people play it.

StarCraft II Battle Report 1 [StarCraft II via StarCraft Wire.Net]

She even warns readers not to snicker, seeing that ESPN broadcasts the even less athletic pro poker tourneys. It doesn't take long for the article to enter familiar territory, pinning the hopes of pro gaming on Johnathan "“Fatal1ty" Wendel, who wraps up the shortish story with this doozie of a quote:

“It’s the same way with the big rock-’n’-roll stars,” he says. “You think it’s all glitz and glamour, but it’s a lot of time on the road, away from your family, sleeping in strange places. It’s fun for now, but it’s also a lot of work.” But, he adds with a sly smile, “nobody can say video games are a waste of time anymore. I’m living proof of that.”

Sly smile? Yikes!

While I understand this was meant to be more of a gee-whiz article, it would have been nice to really dig into the world of pro-gaming and dredge up some sort of conclusion about the likelihood of its success. What about DISH Network's pro-gaming efforts?

Video-gaming strives for respect. Is it a sport?

NASCAR, apart from the NFL, is by far the biggest sport in this country. It's been around for 40 years or so. Only in the last 10 years or so did it really explode. We're really lucky because a lot more people play video games than drive stock cars. So we have a real opportunity to blow this up a lot quicker, but it is not going to happen in a day.

In the short term we will invest a lot of effort in the training courses that we will offer gamers. This is a new thing, we're offering, and we also have some things to learn here. Also, it's very important for us to get the entire infrastructure involved in our online activities to run really well right from the start. In the intermediate term we will be adding content as well as new courses to GaminGSchool and in that way open it to more people. We will arrange some great tournaments, and help develop a proper fan culture to give the gamers a real sense of being a part of something great. In the long term ... well. We might organise a national gaming league and even a world championship.

Perhaps even loftier aspirations than the usual 'teach using games!', which is what I thought of initially. It's an interesting interview - concepts like this usually get at least an eyebrow raise out of me, but it's making a little more sense in context.

The Gaming School - Rasmus Pedersen [ZoneRank]

Copenhagen eSports's Rasmus Pedersen has been working on this project for a while, but has only recently completed it after several meetings with representatives from the Korean E-sports Organization, KeSPA and Korean games industry executives. These meetings have helped Copenhagen eSports to make their goals clear and to reach them the best way possible. This school will be set up in the Danish capital Copenhagen and will have an area of 500 square meters.

The school will focus on important aspects of gaming, computers and personal development. Example topics that the school will work on are: how to play computer games with common sense, problem solving, how to handle conflicts and teaching how to learn through computers.

There's no scheduled opening date, but I'm curious to see how this pans out - there have been some fairly high profile American proposals for gaming-centered schools that are still in the planning stages. Will this be the start of a new wave of teaching methodology, or will we be reading articles about how it flopped - and how! - in the New York Times in a decade?

Copenhagen eSports Starts Gaming School [ZoneRank]

GMP wrote in a statement that "the continuing challenges of securing adequate revenues to sustain the production of the WSVG's large scale events and television programming, in a very crowded field of competitive gaming leagues, has prompted us to re-evaluate our direction as an organization." GGL Wire writes in its post on the subject that other well known pro-gaming leagues are also showing signs of financial difficulty.

WORLD SERIES OF VIDEO GAMES CANCELLED [via the GGL Wire]

Pro-gaming, which has been around for about nine years, is finally coming into its own. I spent time last month talking to some of the major players in eSports for a story on the current state of pro-gaming and the sudden surge of leagues.

The story ran today in the Rocky and includes interviews with the CPL's Angel Munoz, Ubisoft, Lil Poison's dad, the Frag Dolls, the general manager of DirecTV and the veep of pro-gaming site GotFrag.

I also wrote a sidebar about the art of video game color commentating.

The story's running today because DirecTV's mega pro-gaming invitational airs on their network today. The event was produced by 11-time Emmy Award winner Mike Burks and featured 17 high-def cameras.

DirecTV's latest sports special was produced by 11-time Emmy Award winner Mike Burks, included 17 high-definition cameras and featured $200,000 in prize money and hours of gunplay, car crashes and martial arts death matches. Filmed in a 16,000-square-foot arena built in an old hangar at the former Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco, the Championship Gaming Invitational is DirecTV's explosive entry into the burgeoning world of pro gaming and further proof that the once-obscure livelihood of video gaming is coming into its own. "It's been the perfect storm coming for the past 24 months," said Steven Roberts, vice president and general manager of DirecTV. "The state of the (game) industry, the state of gaming and the technology are all there."

Pro-Gaming Blows Up, Pro-Gaming Gets Color and A Few Leagues of Their Own

The Korea Times reports that starting next month, the country's Air Force will recruit pro online gamers as support personnel for the development of war-sim programs.

"Generally, professional gamers are very skilled in dealing with computer-related things. We're sure their capabilities will produce a substantial synergy effect for the military's online programs," says First Lieutenant Park Seung-yup.

Five pros will be selected and assigned to the Air Force's HQ in South Chungchong Province. They will go through basic training and take part in simulation development as "program testers." They can join domestic e-sporting events, but cannot win prize money. But, don't be surprised if all Korean Air Force sims start looking like StarCraft.

Story Here via the Raw Feed