Gaming Events on TV (in the US)

[Ronin Storm]

According to the BBC, a US satellite TV network called DirecTV is going to televise "a series of video game events".

Apparently more than 1.1 million people "watched the highlights of the tournament", meaning the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) Winter Event. I wonder what they were watching? Counterstrike: Source?

Not sure I'd watch other people play... I'd want to be playing myself. That said, I don't watch sports either so I'm probably a bad example.

 

[Fi$hy]

I probably would.

I know for a fact when I was little I used to love watching others play, and my Dad's been known to settle down and watch some BF2 or COD behind me.

I think it all depends on the game type, obviously watching CIV:IV is of little fun, but something like COD or BF2 where the gameplay looks like a first person action movie, I can see the appeal

 

[MadGinga]

I think it all depends on the game type, obviously watching CIV:IV is of little fun, but something like COD or BF2 where the gameplay looks like a first person action movie, I can see the appeal

Yeah, I agree with Fi$hy. People would watch it if it was a FPS game, but then again it depends on how they show it.

Would they show the games in a over the "shoulder-of-the-gamer" view and then switch between gamers. Would they take the feed direct from the game and then switch between gamer? Or would they set it up like digital TV coverage of sports so you can pick your event (or in this case gamer) so you can watch the game through your favourite gamers eyes?

Although I think games like civ4 and other RTS games (i.e. C&C) would not have the mass appeal to the general public, I think they would still receive a following, albeit a comparatively small one, mainly from aficionados of the genre and people who enjoy tactically complex and strategic games.

 

[Tetsuo_Shima]

I know for a fact when I was little I used to love watching others play

Agreed, I love watching my brother play games. Ever since we had our first console it's always been 'one plays, one watches' and I admit that watching is just as fun as, if not more so, than playing the game itself. Maybe that's just because my little bro is funny, I dunno (love watching him play PGR3 online and spinning people out on the straights, or when he plays CoD and gets really angry). Plus, nothing beats putting in a touchline tackle

 

[SgtFury]

They used to show some Team fortress classic games on an obscure sattelite channel, but you couldn't really get the gist of what was going on, it was too fast.