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Reader Discussion: Do You Watch E-Sports?
The eSports community likes to tout how much it grow every year. Are you one of the gamers who's jumped on board? If not, what would it take to make you watch other people play games?
Super Smash Bros. Melee recently broke streaming records at this years EVO fighting tournament. Nintendo's premier fighting game boasted around 100,000 concurrent viewers. This is still a far cry from traditional sports viewership (108 million Americans watched this year's Super Bowl), but as video games become more ingrained in our lives, those live streaming records are bound to continue to climb.
Personally, I still don't watch eSports. I once thought I never would, but recently I've warmed to the idea. However, I do enjoy watching a good boxing match or UFC championship from time-to-time, so someday I could see myself watching some fighting game livestreams. If I could go get a beer and some wings at BW3 while watching the games that would be even better! Fighting game tournaments haven't built up a level of pageantry that can compare to organizations like UFC, but as more and more people get into the sports, I could see that changing.
All that to say, I think I'm talking myself into watching some video game tournaments. Which ones should I start with? Do you watch video game tournaments online? Why or why not? What would it take to make you get into eSports? What kinds of games do you think are best for livestreaming? Fighting and strategy games seem to be most popular, but are there any other genres that you think would be great for viewing? Leave your ideas in the comments below.
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