The following was written for Cadred, but the article never ran due to other stuff coming up. I've decided to post this on my blog. This is in response to the E3 presentation.
Also, you can find the presentation here
E-Sports
has always consisted of a wide variety of disciplines. RTS, FPS, Sport games,
almost every gametype that has ever existed has some form of competitiveness to
it. But the FPS genre has been lying dormant for a while. There aren't any big
titles coming out—CS: GO notwithstanding, and I'm conveniently forgetting Call
of Duty 2319038: Super Ultra Futuristic Warfare With Lasers—and the buzz that
has always hung around titles like that has dissipated into a bleak void. Okay,
so that might be a tad dramatic, but the fact remains that we haven't heard a
lot coming from any games. No massive tournaments have been announced, it's all
sort of low-key at the moment. It seems like the FPS scene is holding their
collective breath, waiting for CS: GO to release.
But wait!
Because there, on the horizon flies Nadeo. After the ridiculous success of
Trackmania Nations, the software developer based in France figured that they
could get yet another slice of the eSport pie by developing a shooter. This has
become Shootmania. A Quake-esque game that's based on simple mechanics and
mass-marketed for a broad appeal. They're hoping to capitalize on a still
budding market, and they're going in, guns blazing.
Beta keys
have been handed out, tournaments have been hosted, all with Shootmania on top
of the billing. If you're a top player in an FPS game, chances are you will
have had a go at the game already, and things are looking up for the game. This
all was brought to a pinnacle when UBISOFT presented the game at E3.
And that's
where it all went downhill.
Before we
go down this dark path, I want to make one thing clear. This is how I
experienced the presentation. I'm sure there are people who thought it was well
done, fun and informative as a whole. But from the people I've spoken to, it
seems that there are quite a few people who agree with me as well.
Whoever
thought up the concept of this show match, should be fired immediately.
It wasn't
the concept itself that I'm against. I love watching show matches. Seeing the
best players go at it in a fresh new game? Sign me up, I'll be there to watch.
And when I heard that they were doing an eSports segment on E3, the biggest
gaming exposition in the world? Oh man, the possibilities were endless and the
sky was the limit.
It started
off with a nice introduction and some facts and figures about eSports. Quite a
few watchers, it's getting bigger, very competitive, yada yada yada. The drill
we all know and love, really. But then... oh my God, then things just went
south. And I mean, nosedive south. Because there was some sort of contrived
play to get to the inevitable conclusion of a show match. The participants? A
Robin Givens lookalike and someone who sources—read: YouTube comments—describe
as a Toby. Sufficed to say, they wouldn't get close to Broadway. Even an
off-Broadway production seemed off limits to these two. The jokes should've
been accompanied by crickets chirping because they certainly weren't getting
anything from the audience.
But you
know what? I'll forgive them for it. I've had my fair share of experiences that
started out weak and became better with time. It's inevitable really. So my
expectations weren't really dented. Besides, who cared about the presenters? It
was all about the game, and given the people that would take part, as well as
commentate on it, we were in for a treat.
We were
introduced to the casters and I got excited when they introduced Joe Miller.
Who doesn't know and love this veteran of eSports commentating? Alongside him
was Miss Harvey, someone who I didn't really recognize or know really, but hey,
we got Joe Miller! What is better than getting Joe Miller?
 |
| The man, the myth, the legend himself |
The teams
were introduced—featuring awkward team names. It's just not eSports if there
aren't awkward team names—and we looked set to begin. Right from the get-go it
seemed obvious that the teams weren't fairly matched, to say the least. The
male team, featuring the talents of SpawN and stermy, and the WoW prowess (does
this count as experience in the eSport field?) of Swifty. The ladies were
represented by Marla, Venema and Ali. I'll be honest, I haven't really heard
from any of these ladies, but considering the accolades that Joe mentioned they
had won, I figure they're quite big. But it proved moot as SpawN came up big by
landing two early 'rockets' and winning the first round.
So, for
anyone not familiar with the game, or at least this showmatch, the game mode on
display was a variation of Capture the Flag. One player with a railgun versus
three with rocket launchers. A countdown timer is included and when it reaches
0, the objective can be caught for an instant round win for the solo player.
So after
the first round it was up to Stermy with the railgun, which I just thought was
an unfair matchup from the get-go. All the ladies had CS backgrounds which,
while still requires aim, just won't be on par with someone who has gotten so
used to a railgun in his or her hands through their Quake background. Joe tried to salvage it with professional
commentating, but I had the feeling that even he was longing to go back to
those simple days where he could take off his T-Shirt and show the world that
he was supporting e-Sahara.
 |
| The game
looks rather bland. |
This went
on until it was SpawN's turn, 2 – 1 in favour of the males. It came down to a
2v1 and I knew I was supposed to feel excitement... I just wasn't feeling it.
Then SpawN captured the control point, and the game was over. And it was dead
quiet, the only sound still remaining, Joe's voice blaring over the P.A. and
the intermittent 'Oohs' and 'Aahs' by Miss Harvey. It took me a while to
realize that the game was over, and I'm sure that the crowd had the same
head-scratching moment where they turned to their neighbour and went: "Was
that it?"
 |
| This fella would've stolen the show. |
And that
was when the serious flaws came up. Because it just wasn't exciting, despite
Joe, Miss Harvey and the players all giving it their best. And it didn't help
that the two presenters continued with their really awkward play after it was
all done. It seemed like they realized it too, as they made short work of it to
continue on with the main event of it all, the innovations that Ubisoft would
bring to the table in the near future.
I
understand that most people will see this as me looking a gift horse in the
mouth, but aren't we allowed to be critical about it, even if companies throw us
a bone? I feel that even in times where we're desperate—and we should be
considering the still limited appeal that eSports has, despite the glowing
numbers—we should still be able to critique things. And despite it not being
their intention, the skit looked to be ridiculing the entire idea, instead of
embracing it.
So in
short, I love that Ubisoft paid attention to it. But please, please, please
stop making it so cringe worthy. There is a time and place for theatrics, and
when you're presenting something that directly has to do with something as
unstable as eSports, it's just not the place for it. We had the chance to show
a large portion of gaming consumers that eSports could be taken serious, but
what we got was a play that made me want to yank my nails out with a pair of
pliers, followed by awkward introductions—which cannot be faulted to either
Miss Harvey or Joe, who both tried to keep it as professional as possible—and a
demolition job. Kudos to the players for not really caring about it, because if
I was there, I would've probably facepalmed myself so hard, I would end up with
a broken nose.
