As I said last week I'm not the biggest football/world cup fan or supporter of Wimbledon. What I am a fan of however are e-sports, specifically watching Dota 2, Call of Duty and Battlefield 3 and 4 matches.
E-sports for anyone that doesn't know is basically the video game equivalent of normal sports competitions. Reading that sentence you'll most likely have one of two reactions, either; that's stupid video games can't be a sport, or that's amazing how do I get involved and where can I watch those competitions.
This first reaction seems to be the most prominent currently for many reasons; because people believe that games are antisocial, unhealthy, cause mental problems, etc... Just to address this reaction quickly Dota 2 players and StarCraft 2 players in places like South Korea are seen as celebrities, video game rock stars. I even heard that I popular Korean Dota 2 team was asked to go give a pep talk to the South Korean football team because they are seen as bigger and more important celebrities than even footballers.
Still unsure whether e-sports are legit? The winner of Wimbledon wins a million or two in prize money along with the cup. The winning team of The Dota 2 International, which is currently going on, will win just over five million, along with the aegis shield. For added validity The International 4 is also available to watch on ESPN.
For me, even though I still don't really follow teams other than when they are in these tournaments, I do try and get behind a team and watch their progression and support them. Even if they are knocked out, watching e-sports just seems far more interesting, and when you actually understand what's going on, you discover the sport is very complex and tactical.
I'm not too sure where I was going with this post, I mainly just wanted to talk about e-sports as I'm currently sat watching the Dota tournament, and would love for more people to know that these things exist. It's also a little addition to last weeks post, displaying another example of how myself and others are slightly different with regards to what sports we like to watch and support.
Has anyone heard of e-sports before? Willing to give them a watch or want to know more? The best part about e-sports, it basically lives on the internet.
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