interesting

I agree with a lot that you have to say, however I think in terms of gaming as a sport, it is relatively new. Games such as Rugby and Soccer have been around for years and generations, allowing people to recontribute towards the community. I hope that in South Africa's case, people will begin to realize that we have to make things happen ourselves.

Nice read.

"Well how does football and other leagues do it? Besides the huge amounts of money players are getting paid today, they make it "cool" to be a soccer player, famous, endorsement deals, fan goodies. Gaming and football can be compared directly"

I don't think that is a fair comparison to be honest. Don't get me wrong, I would love for it to be this way, but a big factor that prohibits pro-gaming becoming a household name is the fact that its extremely hard to identify with the people who are competing in these games. Its easy to see who Ronaldo is, to see his flair and analyze his style of play and the way he lights up a football field and entertains a crowd. Anyone can easily identify him as a talented individual, even if the particular audience isn't too interested in soccer.

This is a great problem that needs to be overcome for competitive gaming - allowing the audience to identify what sets one gamer apart from another. Currently if you spectate a game, you cant actually feel or experience the emotions that the players are expressing or projecting during an event. This is one of the greatest assets that sport has as an entertainment medium - to grab the imagination of the audience, and for them to be able to experience whatever it is that the player or team is going through at that moment in time.

Whether it be a goal being scored during a football match, a fly-half breaking from loose play through the opposition defense - evading 4 defenders to score a great try - or a baseball player hitting a home run, celebrating his way to home base. These are issues which greatly inhibit competitive gaming from ever reaching a mass audience, and it will be a key challenge for competitive gamers and organizations involved to overcome.

There are ways to do this, but unfortunately those tools are not available within the South African competitive gaming scene, and it will take a while for us to get there. What the South African community should rather focus on is building up community interaction between the big clans and MGO's to facilitate a bigger base for sponsors to actually get involved with the gamers themselves.

Wont be going too in depth into that, as its something that I would rather elaborate on in an article, along with the previously mentioned challenge in this post

MA DGL ACES WIL DRAW THE MASEES I PROMES

On a serious note. Good points. I think time will be our greatest asset. Gaming has grown a huge amount seeing as it is a very new sport.

And it can grow biggah!

"Anyone can easily identify him as a talented individual, even if the particular audience isn't too interested in soccer."

I agree fully and I agree with everything else you've said skillbill but maybe I phrased it wrong, when I said it can be compared directly to football.

Another thing is, racno, yes those sports have been around for decades, its the reason i said it would not happen overnight! With the world turning to technology in every sector, it's not going to be long till its constantly in your face. For gaming that is going to be a massive plus! We need time and dedication, the reason people can see Ronaldo is great on the ball is because everyone knows the game and knows what it takes but how did it get there? Time. If soccer started yesterday, every one would wonder why some idiots are kicking the ball into a rectangle net? Now with gaming, when you or I watch it, we know when something exciting happens because we've got experience in the field. We need to build our MGO's in such a way that people can identify with the games they are interested in. 3 deagle headshots, a random person is not going to know whats going on.