Move over MLB, NFL, and NBA. Here comes the MLG and eSports!

It was only a matter of time before Major League Gaming (MLG) and eSports became a disruptive force in the video game industry. Live-streaming has continued to grow in popularity over the last few years.  Now with the proliferation of the console and PC market, it’s easier than ever for anyone to stream content from the PC or console of your choice.

Perhaps most interesting of all is watching the MLG organization build arenas dedicated to the sport! (Hold on a second… Is gaming really a “sport”? Ah, never mind. That’s a different post for a different day.) MLG now has several facilities throughout the world and recently expanded to Columbus, Ohio and Brazil.  If that’s not enough locations for you, they’re also building a third gaming arena on Hengin Island in China. So start getting your boat ship-shape!

Several large partnerships have been formed by companies such as CBS, Twitch.tv and various YouTube partners focused on eSports and MLG. 

Given the rising popularity of eSports and MLG, it was only of matter of time before eSports betting sites arrived on the scene.  

Before we go all-in and start rambling about gambling on eSports betting sites, let’s review some pretty impressive stats behind eSports and MLG (via Superdata’s eSports Market brief for 2015):

• Worldwide eSports Audience:     612,000,000
  
• eSports viewers in 2015:                134,287,236
  
• Prize Pool money in 2014:             $10,931,103
  

• Monthly active user base (at tournament time): 9,640,848
  
• Amount eSports fans spend on games/hardware: $200/month

To give you a better idea of the magnitude of Esports, we’ve included recent video coverage from South Korea:

Wherever teams and players build massive audiences, money follows. Clearly, there’s great revenue potential (whatever the currency) in eSports and MLG gaming. We’re still in the very early stages of things like endorsements, advertising, and promotions. So expect the numbers to get bigger.

Do you enjoy watching eSports or MLG? Maybe you’d like to make a little wager on the outcome!

If so, check out eSports betting sites where you can now bet on your favorite gaming team or player. Of course, there’s one small problem: eSports betting isn’t legal (yet) in the U.S. (Probably just a matter of time until that changes.) 

One noteworthy eSports betting site that’s gained a lot of attention lately is Unikryn in Seattle, Washington. The company earned a lot of P.R. buzz because investors like Mark Cuban are supporting the business. (If anyone knows about sports and startups, it’s Mark Cuban.) So that says a lot about the opportunities available to Unikryn now. Plus, the employees obviously know their stuff, with impressive backgrounds in hardware, software, video games, and advertising. Some even used to be professional gamers!

Besides being an avid gamer myself, I also happen to love real-live Sports, so for me this is like the proverbial perfect storm. (Or maybe I should say “trifecta” or “hat trick” or some other sporty metaphor… Grand slam?!)

Anyway, if you’re a true sports-gamer geek, then you also know about  online Fantasy Sports (baseball, football, ice hockey, you name it). The eSports betting idea is very similar in nature to Fantasy Sports. Granted, it’s not for everyone. But there’s no denying the amount of revenue being generated from the popularity of online gaming.

My sense is that this will become a new revenue stream for many companies, as more traditional types of advertising vehicles fade. Digital Darwinism is in full effect and now is the time for companies to explore alternative advertising mediums.

It’s exciting to see what Unikryn is up to and I’m thrilled that new jobs are being created! Best of luck, gang! I’m also looking forward to seeing what will happen next in eSports and eSports betting. Game on!

If you like competitive MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) games, also known as “action real-time strategy” games, then Heroes of the Storm should be right up your proverbial alley.

Pops and I got to try out Heroes of the Storm back in late April or so, when Blizzard opened the game by invitation-only to additional Beta testers. One of the core elements that sets Heroes of the Storm apart from other games is the appearance of Blizzard’s franchise characters from classics like Diablo, Starcraft, and Warcraft. If you’ve been a Blizzard fan since the beginning (like me), the nostalgic pull of the characters is all the reason you need to check out the game.

The economic system of Heroes is similar to other MOBA- type games where you have a basic Free-to-Play (F2P) model, then a freemium model in which you pay for skins, mounts, characters, and or XP/Gold boosts. Many games have gradually moved to this model, and from an economical standpoint, it makes sense. However, this begs the question: is this bottom line-focused model adversely affecting gameplay?

Heroes of the Storm launched on June 2, 2015. In the short amount of time since then, we’ve already seen several new character additions: Kael'thas, Johanna, and now the Butcher. Each time one of these characters is introduced, it seems to be extremely overpowered (OP’d). From a marketing standpoint, I’d say, “Bravo!” — you’ve replicated a model that has proven successful in other MOBA-type of games. The law of Supply and Demand will dictate this, and of course, those who want the best and or the strongest characters will be willing to pay the premium. However, what happens to those that don’t want to pay $10.00 for a new character?  Well, they’ll just have to be patient; sooner or later the Nerf bat will come around and open up the gate for new characters. After so much time passes, typically these characters will go on sale. But by then, five or six new characters will have been released!

So there seems to be a large audience segment that Blizzard may be missing: those who refuse to pay.

The Heroes of the Storm economic system is obviously limiting for those players who don’t want to pay. The cheapskates among us can complete daily quests to earn gold coins. So if a typical character costs 7,000 gold coins, and you’re making between 300–500 coins a day, it’ll take you 2 to 3 ½ weeks to add a character. The catch? That only works if you play every day.

There are other incentives you can use to help boost your earning power, like the stim packs, which speed up the process. Of course, you need to be playing a lot to leverage the stim packs. With new characters (The Butcher) now fetching as much as 15,000 gold pieces, the amount of time it takes to acquire a character can easily double (if not triple).

But let’s take a step back for a moment and focus on the core nucleus of the game. Heroes of the Storm is all about the multi-player action. With that in mind, we’ve included some suggestions that we’d love to see added from a multi-player standpoint, which should also help the core fundamentals of the game. 

Heroes League Rewards / Bonuses

• Tier incentive (based on level – could be an item, boost, or even a character)
  
• Win Streak Bonus – (Winning “X” amount of games in row)
  
• W/L Ratio Bonus – Having a certain win-percentage ratio (i.e. >85%)
  

Team League Rewards / Bonuses

• If it costs 500 gold coins to create a team league, where’s the incentive?  
  

Discipline system for Pickup Groups (Pugs)

• Enforce the discipline system!
  

Separate Tier Ranking System for Pugs 

Online Scoreboards via Blizzard — ego goes a long way for some players!)

Reward Opponent Players

• It’s okay to lose graciously and reward opponents who play well! ;)  
  

In-Game Spectator Mode

Skin-Editor (User submission contest)

• Allow certain skins to be published

Blizzard has had a reputation of creating some of the most innovative and creative games in the video game market place. Many of their early games have now become classics (Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft, etc). Some of the features from these earlier games could also be implemented in today’s video games. For instance, the marketplace has changed and flat-rate fees are becoming a thing of the past. The new model for gaming is still evolving and becoming a disruptive force in the videogame industry.

Our hope is that Blizzard doesn’t lose sight of the consumer experience.  With Heroes of the Storm, let’s hope the focus stays on multi-player interaction, and that those who don’t necessarily have the budget to pay for characters can still earn rewards.  

Finger-Pointing At Gamers 

Numerous tragic incidents in the past have prompted many a talking head or egghead to speculate that playing violent video games could be the root cause of various violent crimes.  Well, first of all, if you’re a kid reading this, you shouldn’t be playing games with an MA rating!  Got it?  Good.

Let’s try our own little informal research.  Quick show of hands: Ever killed any zombies?  Right.  Now how many of you have robbed a liquor store and then been pursued by police in a high-speed chase or shootout?  (If you have, please stop reading now and turn yourself in.)

Of course, scapegoating is always easier than determining the true cause of senseless acts. Video games have been a favorite target of those who would rather play the blame game than seek the actual motivation behind violence crimes.

So the question becomes, how can we determine the true cause of violent crime? According to several past studies, conclusions are often mixed or even contradictory from one report to the next, making it difficult to correlate violent video games to actual physical violence. 

On The Bright Side

Before you get too bummed out, let’s try a different approach and change the conversation by spotlighting the positive effects of playing video games. There’s good news!

Positive effects of Playing Video Games

The truth is that video games can have a lot of benefits for the people who play them. According to a recent study, numerous benefits can be attributed to gaming: “Action Video Game (AVG) experts had enhanced functional connectivity and grey matter volume in insular subregions. Furthermore, AVG experts exhibited increased functional connectivity between the attentional and sensorimotor networks, and the experience-related enhancement was predominantly evident in the left insula, an understudied brain area”.

What does it all mean in layman terms? Basically, people who play videogames have better attention and coordination than non-video game players. But that’s just the start! Everyone loves lists, so here are some more benefits from playing video games.    

Enhanced Perception

Each game holds numerous challenges within it, which provide us with better perception and sharper attention. Based on the video action seen above, gamers can typically track 6–7 objects at a time, while non-gamers typically can track 3–4 objects on average. In addition, gamers are 58% more likely to perceive fine differences in contrast, which diminishes with age.

Increased Social Interaction

Many video games are social in nature, especially online games. Shared experiences encourage people to connect, work with each another, and make friendships. Oftentimes, games require you be part of a team, and in order to overcome objectives and win you need to work with others. For more details, check out our previous Gaming With Pops post, Life Lessons from Plants Vs. Zombies, about working with others. For individuals who might normally be shy in person, video games provide an environment in which they can work on their social skills without the in-person intimidation factor. Many games are so social that they simply wouldn’t exist without the communities behind them.

Better Memory

A recent article from the game Cut the Rope reported that studies have concluded that gamers are better at thinking on their feet. In addition to enhanced attention and visual-perception (as noted above), action video-gamers typically possess better memory skills. A good memory is a valuable attribute, as it allows us to retain and remember facts more quickly and easily, making life a lot simpler.  After all, who wants to keep forgetting where they left their keys last night?     

Stress Relief

As the old song goes, every day we’re under pressure, right? Obviously, life can be stressful. (I mean really stressful at times!) Stuff happens, so it’s good to have different outlets to vent your frustrations.

Over the years, one of the things Pops and I have always enjoyed is to fire up the console or PC after a hard day’s work and play our cares away. In fact, science has demonstrated that gaming actually reduces the stress-related hormone “cortisol” in the brain! In case you didn’t know, cortisol is bad news, especially since it can suppress your body’s natural immune system and has been attributed to reduced bone formation.

If all that still isn’t enough reason to get your game on, video games have also been linked to fighting depression. So to recap, depending on which games you play, you can help yourself to relieve pressure, maintain better health overall, and potentially prevent depression, all by playing video games. 

Moderation is Key

Like most things in life, you can always have too much of a good thing. Always strive for a balance in what you do, including playing video games.

Don’t go too long without breaking up your gaming streaks with some sort of (real) physical activity. Go outside and break up your virtual routine with some actual action in meat space! 

Now it’s time to go play a game, then run around the block and come back and tell us how you feel in the comments!

I was practically raised with a joystick in my hands, so I’ve seen my share of stupid gaming tricks and crazy antics over the years.  And with so much strife in the world these days, it’s important that gamers know how to play well with each other.  Because even when you’re at war with the rest of the world in a multi-player, first-person shooter game, there’s right way and a wrong way to annihilate your opponent.

This seemed like as good a time as any to talk about how we can all help improve the gaming community as well as our own individual experience. So gather the little grommet gamers and read this one aloud.

As I’ve grown up and hopefully matured a little, I’ve come to realize that Pops always had my best interests at heart. Even when chewing me out, he did it because I needed to learn basic life lessons about how to behave and use manners (except for chick stuff like curtsying) for my own good. 

It’s important to have some standard rules in place when we’re gaming and/or streaming online. Otherwise it’s anarchy out there.  Think about it.  A game without rules isn’t much of a game —that’s just chaos, a random free-for-all.

So with all that in mind, here are five simple rules that will help create a more vibrant and positive gaming experience.  Start using them yourself, and help other people learn by your example.  (Remember to use a gentle hand when passing them on to others!)

We’re social animals, so it’s always more fun to game with others than it is alone. But people, people… let’s have some consideration for other players!  Here’s an example:  You may be starving, but that’s no excuse for chewing with your mouth open, right?  (Right!)

Whenever you’re gaming and eating, remember: nobody wants to hear your crunching, munching, slurping and belching over the microphone!  Maybe you’re doing a gaming marathon.  Fine. Just don’t inflict the sound of your bodily functions (not to mention toilet flushing) on the rest of us!  Learn to put the mic on mute when you eat, flush, rinse, wash or whatever else it is that you’re noisily multitasking while gaming.  Nobody wants to play “Name That Food” while you munch your Doritos with Tapatio.

Same goes for you heavy mouth-breathers: please, please MUTE THE MIC!  (Oops, sorry… didn’t mean to shout. We’ll talk about that later.)  The sound of loud panting into a microphone is kinda creepy, to be honest. Let’s not scare the little ones out there!

Finally, the same general rule applies if you need to have an outside conversation.  Whenever you speak to other family members, just put your mic on mute so the rest of us don’t have to hear it.  If you’re a younger gamer who still lives with Mom and Dad, try to remember that when you’re online, you’re sharing with everyone else who’s watching and/or gaming with you. 

Did your mom ever wash your mouth out with soap?  No?  Maybe moms need to bring that type of punishment back! 

Trust me, I know it can be tough to think before you blurt out a choice epithet.  It feels good to let loose with a colorful *expletive deleted*, right?  Because when you’re in the heat of the moment, taking enemy fire, it’s easy to let your excitement (or frustration) take over.

Yes, I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been known to drop an F-Bomb (with a capital F) from time to time.  It’s not something I’m proud of, but then, nobody’s perfect.  What’s important to remember is that you need to use language that’s appropriate for the type of audience, depending on the type of game.

Some gamers only have one mode of speaking! Nevertheless, be mindful that some of your fellow gamers may be under the age of 18. Younger kids are like parrots who repeat whatever they hear. So have a heart for the parents and keep it clean!

Of course not!  People with bad attitudes are no fun.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen a team disintegrate because of someone’s toxic negative attitude.  It affects everyone. Don’t be a Debbie Downer, because nobody wants to be around that person. 

Life’s too short, so be a good sport when gaming. It’s easier to do if you remember to keep an attitude of gratitude. And regardless of whether you win or lose, it’s important to thank everyone.

Have you ever played on a team that rallied from behind to win? I have, and it’s a pretty cool feeling! I believe a lot of that resilience is linked to the collective attitude of the team. If you go into a game (or any activity) with a proper positive outlook, chances are it will serve you better than a negative attitude.

Remember the first time you learned to ride a bike?  I’m pretty sure you weren’t popping wheelies or saying “Look ma, no hands!” on Day One.

It’s the same way with videogames.  We all have to start from somewhere.  Of course, there will always be those naturally talented among us who are just better at some things.  But most people need a little help from someone with experience to learn the ropes.

If a noobie makes a mistake, it’s okay to point out where and how they could improve.  But go easy on them.  No need to flame a person for messing up. Also, there’s no need to virtually shout at someone in type by using ALL CAPITAL LETTERS! (Sheesh!)

Sure, I’ve had some pretty epic screw-ups when gaming. (Heck, in life, too!) But once in a while we all need to take a step back and remind ourselves it’s only a game! ;)

Here’s one more suggestion if you’re playing a new game: try researching “walk-throughs” and or tips on gaming websites.  You know how to Google, right? Just type in the name of the game and the word “tips” or “walkthrough” in the search window.   

Life’s short, so eat dessert first, and have fun!  And if it ever stops being fun, maybe it’s time to do something else.

Don’t get me wrong; I like to win as much as Pops and the next guy. It’s okay to be a hardcore gamer and all. Just don’t take it too seriously—even if gaming becomes a career! 

Rage-quitters, or people who flame others because they’re losing (See Rule #2) need to take a chill pill and relax! It is possible to be competitive and have fun without resorting to name-calling.

If you want to add to your fun, just add players — the more the merrier!  When you’re streaming, get your audience involved; you can try crowd-sourcing suggestions to figure out what games they want to see you play.  Better yet, let them determine the fate of the game! 

I’ll be expanding on Gaming Etiquette in the future, but for now these are enough words to live by.  What rules of etiquette or manners would you add?  Sound off (without swearing!) in the comments section!

The Rising Trend of First-Person Shooters

Boom! The rise of First-Person Shooter (FPS) games over the last few years has been a sight for sore bloodshot geek-eyes. New generations of grommet gamers are becoming familiar with First-Person-Shooters, often at the expense of Pops, opening a full can of whup-*$% on him in the process. 

As a genre, First-Person Shooters have proliferated through the gaming world like weapons of mass destruction. Within the category of First-Person Shooters, multiple sub-genres of games have sprung up around different playing styles, ranging from realistic military adventures such as Call of Duty and Counterstrike to mythic science fiction-style games like Titanfall and Destiny. 

With the spread of FPS games, the field is wide open for gamers and the popularity of the genre has elevated the quality to a new level. It was only a matter of time before the trend of FPS and MLG games caught on! Let’s take a look through our scope-sight and draw a bead on some of the more notorious FPS games and gear over time.

Major League Gaming - Top 5: Best plays from the Grand Finals at Anaheim

Arcade fever has remained in full swing ever since it swaggered on the scene in the late 1970s (unlike Disco Fever). People have always been attracted to these social gaming centers in dimly lit rooms, like teenage-zombie moths to a glowing screen.

Arcade venues didn’t have to be especially fancy or techie back then, and the same is true today. In fact, often it’s quite the opposite: arcades can be in pizza parlors, bowling alleys, skating rinks, you name it. It doesn’t matter. See, gamers are looking at the game, not the room! Basically, as long as a room has power, it can become an arcade. (Of course, air conditioning is a definite plus.) And back in the day, if you had a roll of quarters, then you were good to go!

Over time, the concept of the arcade has evolved from a communal type of place to a communal style of gaming console.  

The first types of First-Person Shooter games (before the term came into widespread use) used vector graphics, which offered users a 3D simulation feel. The roots of the FPS genre go back as early as 1973, with Maze War.

The very first 3D multiplayer game, Spasim (short for Space Simulation), launched in 1974. Spasim creator Jim Bowery has since offered a $500 reward to anyone who could document an earlier example of a multiplayer 3D virtual reality game!

As technology caught up, eventually this style of game caught on and achieved mass popularity.

According to the Wikipedia entry, Wolfenstein 3D is credited with creating the First-Person Shooter genre proper in 1992 and “the basic archetype upon which subsequent titles were based.” 

FPS games today offer a different-player perspective, which was revolutionary at the time it was introduced and helped boost the reputation of the games in general, which spread across the globe. 

With multiplayer games, every trigger-happy first-person shooter could get in on the action with guns blazing.

Advances in graphics and faster processing power turned 3D gaming into a more immersive, believable experience. In addition, the ability of networking online provides players with exciting and fresh opportunities to compete with one another through virtual gaming communities.

The First-Person Shooter genre has come a lot way from its origins in vector 3D gaming. Part of the success has come from incorporating innovations introduced by other genres. It’s now possible for FPS games to take advantage of features such as:

• Cooperative play
• Character progression systems
• Unlockable weaponry
• Additional game-play modes

These features also complement social networking, voice chat, and others that made First-Person Shooters very dynamic. 

Today, there First-Person Shooter games can involve giant battles and superb on-foot movement innovations that illustrate the technological advances of the genre.

Modern First-Person Shooter games represent both a collaboration of various leading technologies and an evolution of early pioneering ideas.

No doubt we can expect many more technological conquests from this genre, with games developed for all types players.