The Reason I agree with Paradise more than anyone (mostly his top 2) is for the following reasons.
Starcraft 2 is Starcraft 2. The streams go up, the numbers go up. It truly is International when it comes to that term. It has sponsors,backings,hundreds of different communities,personalities,faces and just pure love and dedication to the game. Starcraft 2 will never have one bad showing and even if that were the case and it did have a shotty event, the community backing behind it would give a complete 180 degree turn the next event. The same can't be said for weaker and immature communities such as Call of Duty and Gears. As much as I like the games it's pretty obvious they have the weaker and more immature communities. Like it or not. Halo is more advanced and mature but even seeing some of the shadiness of Pro teams at events and all the complaining when Star Craft 2 got Center Stage shows a tiny bit of instability.
MOBA Games: MOBA Games are highly rising as we have seen and the stream numbers,They are huge and also like Star Craft include a true international scene. LoL is the World of Warcraft of MOBAs. Anyone can play it,it has a good community and an interactive developer. Not to mention the fact reiterating my point before,Almost ANY Computer can play it. You don't need a somewhat high end computer such as Sc2 and HoN and other PC Games. It's accessible,easy to pick up and they aimed the game to make it different from HoN so it is more offensive and not so much the technical game play you see such as denying,hardcore jungle farming,Creep AI etc etc. Also like Paradise,Golden and Phoenix said, WCG and Dream Hack. Nuff said. Deep pockets seemed like afitting word to use.
DOTA2/HoN is where I see a toss up. The games are good,have a huge following (More so DOTA),are well made games, have a giant scene,personalities and even more so important a huge friction in communities and by friction I mean huge rivalries and bitterness between each other and in this case only makes each game more important. I say this in response to Jerry's High rage game concept. I think in this case it only makes HoN and other MOBAs that much better. Watching the fights between Honcast and DRD with people like Testie and Dagius is the most entertaining stuff and makes their games that much interesting if you truly follow the background story. On the flip side like said before, it is sometimes a slower game play,is more technical and can get very stalematey. Not to mention the High demand it cost's to get 5 v 5 set up and how many computer that would take.
All in All , I think the MOBA Games (More so LoL) are competitive Casual games. By this I mean, High end skill with good skill gaps, but also an accessible game to almost anyone and the Tactics used in the high end games aren't foreign to the casuals.
Mortal Kombat: Once again just Like I said for MOBAs and even Paradise's Reference. Mortal Kombat is a well made Competitive Casual Game. Who in the world doesn't know what Mortal Kombat is whether it is the Game,the movie,the art or the Arcade version. You find me someone. Fighters are a good foundation for any league because of the spirit of Competitive gaming. It truly is 1 v 1 aiming to kick the other one's Ass. There is no RNG or having to worry about Teammates etc. It is easy to pick up whether to play or watch. You don't have to be a video game expert to see Subzero destroy someone and freeze them and shatter their body to understand that character is winning. It's also fast paced ,High energy and has it's good placement of Gore. Overall, Fighters are a big deal for any Gaming League and with the unwillingness of other companies/Games ie Street Fighter and MvC3,MK appears to be a very good fit especially with all the good reviews it has.
Gears 3: The reason Gears 3 is important to MLG over Halo and Call of Duty. Is because like Sundance said, the pre orders are crazy. Not to mention the supposed cooperation of Cliffy B with MLG is a giant shining light for the whole community. The reason it is more important than Halo or Call of Duty is the fact, Gears 3 can either go incredible HUGE or falter like Gears 2. I think Halo is kind of stagnant. If the new Halos are good games that is fine. But I think Halo has hit it's peak as too who it is attracting. Anyone who likes Halo at this point, likes it. Anyone who is indifferent will stray away. Nothing will truly change people's opinions on Halo at this point. It is what it is. As far as Call of Duty goes, between Developer instability and lack of true support and the community being as immature as it is, Not to say Gears is better, leaves it in a spot where I can't really decide on it. I am not out right saying that Gears 3 will be the better game in comparison. I just think it has the most potential to grow and attract new players. It still remains that "different" shooter no matter how you look at it.
Halo/Call of Duty: I explained my reasoning in The Gears 3 explanation. The games too me are kind of where they are. Yes Call of Duty announced a 1 million dollar tournament, but the qualifying for it was based off of leaderboards in game and etc.. I think Call of Duty as a franchise still doesn't truly get the difference between Competitive Pro Players and Pub Stars and honestly I think they are still far from it. Like Golden Said, FourzeroTwo is a very shady developer and says a lot but does little. Activision has a track record of being Money hungry and with all the new CoD/Diablo 3 announcements I don't see that philosophy changing much from them.
As far as Halo like I said before. It is stagnant. I don't think it is truly possibly at this point to attract anybody else to Halo who doesn't already Love or Hate it. With a new developer coming in, it could do a complete 180 and make a diamond in the rough or it could be spoils. But I think it doesn't put Halo in a position to grow. I feel Halo has become Stale from the Halo 2 and somewhat Halo 3 games. The point where I agree with Jerry slightly here is his Hockey Analogy, teams are just changing too much and it's hard to identify anymore. Between too many team changes, a slower game pace,not to mention the WOW factor that the BxRs and Double Shots provided is pretty much gone and a lack of personalities truly performing is what I attribute this too. T2, our old pride and join of Halo,the guy who many people saw as the Poster Child, has fallen through the cracks and has messed his game up and isn't even solidifying his top 4 spots we are used to. Walshy, another man we all identified with, While on the rise at the moment, is in the same boat. I believe a lot of Identity has been lost in Halo with teams like STR8 Rippin,Final Boss and Carbon not really being the Str8,Final Boss and Carbon , we all truly knew.
Wrap up To say that PC games will dominate and soon run MLG is crazy,What can be said is, they are the key catalyst in getting the Console side bigger,motivating them and showing them what Competitive gaming really,how to build a brand, how to build a fan base and Finally how to interact and build as a community. Not a bunch of inside cliques,who call themselves a community , but are more out for personal gain and promotion. A community who excludes no one based on lack of gaming prowless, or what their previous background in gaming was. A true community where you can go up to players, get a picture and an autograph and have a nice chat without walking away and having to be nervous that the person you converse with is going to say "LOL What a random" when you walk away. Someone who embraces being adored and doesn't take it as a sign of superiority. Try doing that in some of the Gears and Call of Duty community and to an extent Halo. Good luck. I have talked to and been friends with a lot of "Pros" from the console games. I know what goes on, it isn't all butterflies.
Edited by .:Vero:., 04 August 2011 - 09:24 AM.
