Watching Games – Video Gaming as a Spectator Sport

As video gaming continues to gain ground, working towards the forefront of our entertainment media, the way in which we consume and experience gaming has also evolved. With ever increasing popularity, not to mention social acceptance, the boundless player swarm drives the gaming industry, beyond the meager human computer interaction of yesterday, to our destination: a complete social experience. Though the effects of this transition have been numerous, the phenomenon of possibly greatest acceleration in recent years has been that of watching video games.

Traditionally, we think of video games distinguishing themselves from other media by yielding a higher level of user interactivity. There is generally one way to consume static media; we can listen to music, watch movies, read books, we are passengers along for the ride. Video games put us in the driver’s seat, giving us a direct impact on how the game plays out. We, through our actions, decide whether the princess is saved or the little Italian man tumbles forever down a bottomless pit.

Yet, as we progress forward, now able to create vast worlds for players to explore and delivering dynamic gameplay previously thought impossible, we concurrently seem to step backward. Gamers frequently leave their avatars on the sidelines, shying away from experiencing firsthand the rich, fantasy worlds offered before them in favour of sloth, being content merely to observe.

What could cause such behavior? Perhaps it’s as simple as human laziness, why go out of the way to slay the dragon when someone else will do it? Or possibly the player is merely overwhelmed, there being too much they can do across too many games. The case may be that more traditional media was not subverted by video games but instead supplemented and now games are so expansive and of such caliber that even static consumption is satisfying.

Whatever the reasons may be, it’s clear that video games have evolved beyond entertainment and into a full out spectator sport. The ways in which we spectate are numerous, but can be broken down into three main categories. To help illustrate just how pronounced this spectator sport has become we can use analogies to more traditional sports.

Live Broadcasts

Let’s begin with the form of game watching that is easiest to compare to watching sports: the live broadcast. In precisely the same way one would expect to watch a professional sport, such as football or hockey, gaming has also been made available under the name of e-sports. Indeed, turning on a television set in Korea, the world leader in e-sports coverage, one finds entire channels dedicated to live broadcasts of pro gaming or special matches for a host of games. Other countries where gaming is big, for instance Germany, are not far behind either. As one might expect from pro sports broadcasts, e-sports broadcasts even come complete with a panel of commentators to provide insight into the match, explanations of strategy, or information about players or teams beyond the current game.

Thankfully for us, gaming and e-sports coverage is not as limited as traditional sports with strict coverage and broadcast rights. Although certain regions favour television coverage, e-sports has remained off the radar of most television executives who don’t understand the market potential. Luckily, we have the internet. Thanks to fans, many of the televised gaming broadcasts are made available online through public sites, feeds, and streams, while some networks have even dabbled in live, online broadcasting themselves. The internet is also home to exclusive content not broadcast over television. Certain providers have even implemented the famous pay per view model online, selling access to content or a higher quality version of the content when it is already publically available.

Live broadcasting has always been the closest we come aside from actually being there, which brings us to the second class of spectating: observing from within the game itself.

In-Game Observeration

A feature that should already be familiar to most is that of being an in-game observer. This is akin to having a ticket and attending a live professional sporting event. Watching the action from the front row, the experience is as close to that of the players as it gets.

Many games have implemented dedicated observer modes, Guild Wars is one example. As an observer one does not participate in the game at all but, as the name suggests, simply watches the game as played by others. Some games, for instance Counterstrike, take this mode half way. Counterstrike is played as any first person shooter prior to the player dying at which point he becomes an observer until the next round. This is provided entirely to entertain the player while they wait. Starcraft was one of the first games with a widely popular observer feature. The upcoming sequel, aptly named Starcraft 2, promises to enhance the observer mode even further by offering a series of menus and overlays for observers to provide them with information and statistics beyond what the players themselves receive.

Next: Watching Games – Video Gaming as a Spectator Sport Part 2 »