WILL 121: Final

Read the following blog post from James Chen
http://jchensor.blogspot.com/2010/11/evolution-2010-season-wrap-up-part-2.html
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Discuss your opinions on fighting games as an e-sport (be sure to address James Chen's 3 points and your opinion on them). If you have any experience with any other forms of e-sports, be sure to draw in those experiences also!
Minimum 250 words.

The fighting genre in video games has become very popular over the past few years. It is no surprise that its player base is so high nowadays. Video games come in many different flavors and they all contain a competitive and skill-based aspect to them. The fighting game genre will easily maintain its place as a part of e-sports. I don't agree with James Chen that fighting games will overtake RTS and FPS games in popularity or that they will become the "greatest" eSport in history.

In almost any sport or esport, the viewer will have more information about the game than the players themselves: fighting games are an exception that James points out. Fighting games are unique in that all the information in the game is available at all times to both the players and the viewers. This has its advantages since it's impossible to miss anything since it is all on screen. James argues that the access to all of this information and the inability to miss any action increases the enjoyability of watching this esport. While the viewer only gains from this omniscient view, the players lose the ability to detain information from their opponent. The element of surprise plays a large part in RTS and FPS games. The limited vision in these type of games allows for strategy and clever tactics to beat opponents. Vision and information are a priceless resource in these games and players utilize means to attain it. RTS players must worry about enemy unit composition, obtained items/tech upgades, and positioning while the FPS player must worry about the enemies' weapon type and positioning.

I agree with James Chen that tangible action is very gratifying for viewers. He is right that FPS and fighting games have very easily discerned action. While RTS don't have very obvious tangible action, the players still perform actions that shock and awe the viewers. Highly skilled players in RTS games will have unparalleled micro and macro that fans will notice. Unit Micro in fights is vital to success good micro will have the "crowd" enthralled. While James Chen is right that this skill is not easily noticeable by a random non-gaming viewer, I would say that this type of person is inconsequential to the success and popularity of the game. I'll give a personal example. I actually enjoy watching Basketball but I still have no interest to watch it since I don't have a personal interest in the sport. I will only watch it if others want to watch but I would not watch it of my own volition. While tangible action allows for extraneous viewers to enjoy the show, in my opinion it doesn't actually attract many new viewers and this is the important part.

Well to be honest, I think his last point is rather naive. James Chen points out that RTS and FPS games have brief bursts of action and then long periods of non-action while fighting games have balanced pacing throughout the game. This is true and is simply a consequence of the game's genre. RTS, a real time strategy game, implies that strategy plays a large factor in this genre and in fact it does. The main "battle" that opponents have in these type of games are determining which units to build to counter their opponents and tactical decisions on timing their attacks. You win by amassing a more effective army than your opponent. FPS games on the other hand focus on the number of kills and this number is usually "large" comparatively to the number of matches in an RTS or fighting game: 15+. Naturally, players die very quickly in most FPS and usually the person to see the other first will take that kill. Fighting games, by design, have balanced pacing since the players see each other at all times and can not run away or hide from their opponent.

I think James Chen was a little too optimistic in his thoughts about fighting games becoming greater and more popular than RTS and FPS in the eSports scene. I only have small experience with the fighting gaming scene but I do keep updated with the HoN and SC2 eSports scene which is where I draw my opinions from. Chen is right though, and I think anyone would agree with him here, that fighting games are increasing in popularity and have established themselves in the eSports world.