Sports Games and eSports
ESports has always had games that create competition amongst friends. Friends play sports, competitive shooter, and fighting games against each other that turn into heated battles. ESports has taken this competiveness to a new level, as there is an increase in worldwide events where gamers from all over play with and against each other. Intel Masters is one off these events. “The Intel Masters was founded in 2006, and Reichart puts its growth down to four factors: social media, live streaming, a faster Internet, and the longevity of more established games.”(Hattenstone). Social media and live streaming has made these events more known and accessible for anyone to watch. Longevity of the games is becoming more established. This is referring to games like Counter-Strike that people have been playing consistently for a couple years. Street Fighter is the best example of this as it has been around since the arcade era. Street Fighter has history that is still alive in many gamer’s hearts and has been making even more progress. They have hosted finals at Mandalay Bay Events Center and are doing country tours. “The passion of the community sprouted from the dark corners of arcades and laundromats, kids sitting at home grinding match-ups to beat their friends at the next meet-up.”(Allen). Street Fighter has always had a competitive nature to the game. Kids on arcade machines played it back in the day and people still are into it for its competitive nature amongst friends. Up-Down bar in Minneapolis has a entire row of Street Fighter arcade games that people still play today.
Other sports games like NHL, Madden football, and FIFA are played online and against friends. Players are able to play their favorite sports team and control their favorite players. It is also fun to play sports that you play in real life on a video game when you’re too tired or lazy to play in real life.
Allen, Eric Van. “Why Street Fighter Endures: Community.” Waypoint, 20 Jan. 2017, waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/788v7z/why-street-fighter-endures-community.
Hattenstone, Simon. “The Rise of ESports: Are Addiction and Corruption the Price of Its Success?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 16 June 2017, www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/16/top-addiction-young-people-gaming-esports.
Stuemke, Chpt. 11: “VoIP, Composition, and Membership: Constructing Working Identities through Collaborative Play”In Play/Write: Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games.Anderson, SC: Parlor Press.
Sherlock, Chpt. 7: “Data vs. Play: The Digital Rhetorics of Theorycrafting”In Play/Write: Digital Rhetoric, Writing, Games. Anderson, SC: Parlor Press.
