Or at least, I wasn't before yesterday.
This past weekend, I went down to Dallas to attend the first MLG Pro Circuit event of the year. It's an three day e-sports event where gamers compete in Starcraft 2, Halo: Reach, and Call of Duty Black Ops. Rows of computers and televisions were set up around a giant dark conference room lit mostly by the blue glow of those screens and a few dim spot lights, and people gathered in masses to play and watch.
Dr. Pepper was handed out for free (though by day three, I swearing off soda for the rest of my life), and Sony set up a few booths to show off their newest technology - primarily Socom 4 and the Move accessories, the 3D glasses/tvs, and the Xperia PLAY.
My friends and I played a co-op game with the Move guns, which turned out to be way more fun than expected (and I expected it to be pretty fun since my brother recently got Killzone 3 for the Move and I found out that I might suck at FPSs in general, but I totally kick ass at them when using the gun accessory), and later in the weekend I tried out the Xperia PLAY and 3D glasses, both of which, while nice pieces of technology, weren't really my thing.
But you don't come to see what few booths are set up, that's just kind of a bonus.
You come to watch the games.
At the very back of the conference room are five projectors and large screens set up for the main stage competitions - this is where the big games are held. In the center, three screens are dedicated to Halo: Reach. To the right of that is a screen set up for Call of Duty Black Ops, and to the left of Halo is what my friends and I came to watch: Starcraft 2.
Now, like I said, I didn't go into the convention a Starcraft fan. I went in as a Day [9] fan, who I've watched along with my friends who play the game regularly. Day [9] is the handle of Starcraft caster Sean Plott, a charming fellow and a very excellent speaker. Really, even if you refuse to play Starcraft, some of his shows are just great to watch to listen to him for the hell of it.
After some of the games Friday evening, my boyfriend and I were the first to greet Day [9] when he came out onto the main floor. He was just as friendly and sweet in real life as he is on his shows. He is also unexpectedly tall.
(Me and Day [9])I'm 5'7". Not exceptionally tall, but no one would ever call me short. Except maybe Day [9]. Watching his videos, I probably would have guessed he was 6'0" max. Now I know the truth: Day [9], you slouch a lot. Haha.
Despite having very little interest in Starcraft at first, I quickly got swept up in the excitement. I learned a lot about the professional gamers quickly and got caught up in rooting for my favorites (I adore HuK <3).
I even made a new friend who was competing named Brad! (aka RedFang, aka Dr.NightOwl) It was awesome watching him play and even though he didn't win, he seemed to be having a blast, which made watching his game even more fun.
(Brad and me)When he kicks ass next year, I've got this picture to show I was one of his first fans before he went big. :D
The whole weekend was just a fun experience. There were some issues on the second day with the internet connect causing lag - it got so bad that they couldn't show games on the main stage for much of the afternoon and evening, but the best part of the whole event was the atmosphere, and if you just stayed chill and let yourself be a part of it, it didn't really matter what you were doing.
The amazing thing was when you stopped to just look around and realize what exactly was going on. Yes, this was a competition, but it was also just a convention of people who all shared a love for these video games. Everyone was excited to be there, to be seeing other people who made playing video games their career and were amazing at it.
It's such an inspiring thing - to know that games have taken on this level of importance, maybe not to everyone in the world, but we're moving forward and it's wonderful. Seeing the dedication and love every single person in that convention center shared just made you proud to be a part of that culture.
And I will say, I learned a great deal about Starcraft this weekend. Primarily that I want to play, too. The strategy and focus involved the game is pretty thrilling. When I got back home yesterday, I promptly stole one of my friend's Starcraft 2 buddy passes, created my account and played a while, then went out and bought the full version earlier this evening. I suck at the game right now, but it'll be fun learning and playing with people. I'm generally not too competitive, but the Starcraft crowd seems friendly and welcoming, and I'd like to be a part of it.
All in all, though, the weekend was really great. If you ever get a chance to go to a live professional gaming event, definitely give it a try. It may not seem all that exciting at first, but if you relax and let yourself get involved, it's really incredible.
The whole weekend was just a fun experience. There were some issues on the second day with the internet connect causing lag - it got so bad that they couldn't show games on the main stage for much of the afternoon and evening, but the best part of the whole event was the atmosphere, and if you just stayed chill and let yourself be a part of it, it didn't really matter what you were doing.
The amazing thing was when you stopped to just look around and realize what exactly was going on. Yes, this was a competition, but it was also just a convention of people who all shared a love for these video games. Everyone was excited to be there, to be seeing other people who made playing video games their career and were amazing at it.
It's such an inspiring thing - to know that games have taken on this level of importance, maybe not to everyone in the world, but we're moving forward and it's wonderful. Seeing the dedication and love every single person in that convention center shared just made you proud to be a part of that culture.
And I will say, I learned a great deal about Starcraft this weekend. Primarily that I want to play, too. The strategy and focus involved the game is pretty thrilling. When I got back home yesterday, I promptly stole one of my friend's Starcraft 2 buddy passes, created my account and played a while, then went out and bought the full version earlier this evening. I suck at the game right now, but it'll be fun learning and playing with people. I'm generally not too competitive, but the Starcraft crowd seems friendly and welcoming, and I'd like to be a part of it.
All in all, though, the weekend was really great. If you ever get a chance to go to a live professional gaming event, definitely give it a try. It may not seem all that exciting at first, but if you relax and let yourself get involved, it's really incredible.
