Competitive gaming in Ireland

KoKane

What do you think it would take to get it off the ground and start the ball rolling towards televised events.

Apart from better broadband access.


Can I have peoples views and opinions in general towards the Irish gaming scene.

Sabre0001

Hmm big question... I'll give you some opinions in return for a sig link


OK - I have done out a couple of rants, will have to get back to you with a response that actually makes sense and is possible to read

Hercule

So far ive seen most televised events involve large financial backing from microsoft which results in xleague TV style coverage of things -

im 100% sure people would watch top irish teams playing matches even onliners and such if it was televised on say channel 6 and shoutcasted by someone that didnt have an infuriatingly high pitched or annoying voice - might be worth a pitch to some TV execs as its high-yield homegrown TV which requires very low amounts of capital to get moving -in theory anyone with a PC and a mic could make a program - However it brings me back to seeing that rubbish coverage of team fortress classic on game-network on sky digital

unfortunately most of these events are geared towards selling something be it some specific game or hardware - and not done with the intention of progressing the whole E-sports movement

Sabre0001

Can't say that the Irish scene is in a terrible state - Sent teams to the WCG two years in a row, LANs every year (and smaller ones quite frequently), a representative in the CGS, etc...

As you say, Broadband access is a must - builds the pool of potential players and aids competitiveness in general.

I like the idea of the major Irish LAN that has been suggested...Would take time, effort and quite a bit of planning but I think it could work! If there were a way to convince sponsors to part with money it would be even more beneficial!

I can't really comment on the LAN scene - only been to two. Don't have much access with transport (and can't just up and leave with the computer ) - the one's I was at had rental PCs. Great idea but I understand that it's too difficult cost wise and logistically if the LAN isn't at a gaming centre.

I had a longer response done but Boards signed me out and I'm not going to do it again Hopefully, there is some discussion and I'll pipe back up...

Placebo

it is fairly terrible !
people are mostly concerned with playing their favourite game alone at home !
there is no scene. Those few fps lans dont count for much, theres no 2d/3d fighters comps, no racing game comps, no ranbats, no nothing.

Kinetic^

Placebo wrote: »

it is fairly terrible !
people are mostly concerned with playing their favourite game alone at home !
there is no scene. Those few fps lans dont count for much, theres no 2d/3d fighters comps, no racing game comps, no ranbats, no nothing.

I agree tbh, this is why I suggested making a large LAN that caters for everyone. Check out my signature.

Sabre0001

Placebo wrote: »

it is fairly terrible !
people are mostly concerned with playing their favourite game alone at home !
there is no scene. Those few fps lans dont count for much, theres no 2d/3d fighters comps, no racing game comps, no ranbats, no nothing.

Vicious circle it seems unfortunately - if people are happier playing the games at home, the demand isn't there so the LANs wont implement various games which in turn forces people to stay at home....hmm...

I thought some of the LANs had started to run Fight Night & Street Fighter tourneys (I know its small in the scheme of things but a start right?)

I personally would love to see some racing comps - BIG fan of the Need For Speed series (have avoided ProStreet so far though, sounds a bit dodgy!)

FPS Lans have to be run - that seems to be where the demand is...CS (and now COD) more than anything! It's the only way that they can (attempt) to cover the costs of running LANs.

Pugsley

Used to be a fairly active CS scene about 4 years ago, but since theres just too many good multiplayer games out that the community playing any single one is too diluted to form any sort of 'hardcore' base of players needed to start a pro-scene in Ireland.

KoKane

Hmm.. I dunno.

I think it might be a case of "if you build it, they will come".


Does Ireland have a LAN arena / centre?

I mean a big WCG worthy arena?

Sabre0001

KoKane wrote: »

Hmm.. I dunno.

I think it might be a case of "if you build it, they will come".


Does Ireland have a LAN arena / centre?

I mean a big WCG worthy arena?

Hitting territory being discussed over here now...There are a few centres but small in comparison to the European arenas that you see hosting competitions!

TheDoc

i dont know if its a "competitive" scene but there are some lan things going around, most net cafes i go to are pretty full, although mostly playing wow.

I have to say i was never pushed on playing lans, ive had broadband for god knows how long, and was never in need of faster connection or pcs, and found the standard alot higher online, which was obviously better.

I think a good route would be through xbox live and ps3, the xbox live centre sounds intriguing and i must give a visit, boards cod tournament anyone :P

ive been avitally involved in pro gaming for some years, and although yes we hve sent teams to wcg...you just have to look at how long it took us, and results on that scale to see how far we are beihnd everyone else.

Cant ever really see it going anywhere fast, going to take alot of time. Ireland being i nthe shape it is financially, new gaming centres ( for pcs) usually fold or get dated pretty fast due to demands for high systems, that we can all now afford ourselves.

I think the major competitive games we have had in the last few years we have had scenes and some others.

I was a major wc3 player, and there was no irish scene, and met like 1-3 people through battlenet through like 4-5 years of playing.

Counter-strike was a craze but the skill gape was absolutely enormous, went to some lan tournies with friends and we would constantly stroll to second place, but could never beat first

(remembering ghm lan we didnt drop a round till the last match against spud and co.)

We live in a country where we dont have a want, we dont need someone to supply broadband, we have it ourselves, we dont want for fast pcs, we can buy them ourselves.


Console centres seem the way foward, as they dont diminish as fast.

COD console scene has some nice people with good players as our recent boards night showed, seems the way foward for ireland imo.

joe dillon

i think xbox and ps3 lans should be looked at first because its easier to bring your own xbox or ps3 with you because bringing a whole pc is just to time consuming...maybe some halo3 ffa's and team comps and fifa 09 pro evo cod4 and 5 etc....the games that are more appealing to the not so hardcore fans and slowly build it up from there????

Sabre0001

Wow! There's a blast from the past...I think one of the main problems is awareness (I may be agreeing with my younger self here). I mean it's funny, even the other day, the lads in work were talking about organising a Pro Evo Tournament for the work crew and saying how great it is playing tournaments or when a match means something. Then you have all the people who play ranked matches (or complain about quitters - in tournaments, you get that win!)...But yet, there is a gap or missing link between the two.

Maybe it's because there is an official title on it...LANs should be somewhat more popular too. I have mentioned Rental PCs when LANs are brought up but this appears to be less feasible in Ireland for one reason or another.

I think Kinetic said it before, Ireland needs a success story - everyone supports a winner - the Cricket team, the soccer team, the rugby team....the eSports representatives?

Cunny-Funt

Lads , a good starting point, as silly as this may sound, would be to make your own show and put it on youtube. Host tourneys and stuff and FILM a show around it, yes it'll be low budget, yes they wont be professional presenters/hosts, but if done right the content* will be there, meaning people will watch. It can only get better per episode, and hell eventually could be picked up as a foundation for a TV show.

*content being, people who know wtf they are talking about, good professional gameplay, Irish craic you'll only see among irish gamers.

Dustaz

wow, thread necro or what.


This thread started with a complete misnomer which needs to be corrected.

Televised Gaming.

Is it REALLY what you want?

What we'd all LIKE to see is a show which features sk, fnatic and the other pro teams as well as Irish gamers playing competitive titles like any version of cs, cod, wc3, halo, SF4. Whatever - games that have some sort of comepetitive platform.

Sorry, but thats never going to happen unless its a podcast. There just isn't and never will be the demand for that.

What you'd actually GET is a show on TG4 featuring 12 year olds playing off on mario kart while some presenter who has no interest in games whatsoever talks about AWESUM GRAPHICS.

Discounting Korea (lets face it, its the only place it happens. Anywhere), The only time theres ever been a serious attempt at it has been the CGS and that dumbed down one of the most enduring competitive titles to such an extent that even the people who played it didnt like it.

Competitive gaming is already televised and its available in Ireland. Its called the internet. Intel EM, The ESL, Kode5, WCG are all brilliantly streamed with really good commentary that borders on insighful and thats just the PC titles. These are essentially free tv shows that are better than anything that a major channel will pick up.

In short you won't see Televised events untill these events are so big that a demand is created for television. At the moment we are a million miles away from that (and the reasons for that are another post altogether.)

Jazzy

What Dustaz said.

for the best game everest played at a pr0 level with commentaries done by guys who know their stuff and arent annoying, check the links below.
Klazart is Irish btw, and is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/user/klazartsc?blend=1&ob=4

http://www.youtube.com/user/violetak?blend=1&ob=4