Pornstars & gaming

This video is in response to the news announcement that porn site Brazzers had expressed interest in sponsoring players, such as LI|Joe, and possibly events in the future. The news was met with mixed reactions from players, tournament organisers and spectators alike. For practical reasons, such as widening the potential sponsor pool, I can see this as a good thing.

I understand that people don't want kids who attend fighting game tournaments to be exposed to sites such as Brazzers. However, if it is simply a logo on a t-shirt, then it's like any other logo and when was the last time you investigated a logo that you had never heard of before. Dirty magazines are drifting off the top shelf in newsagents and every second magazine aimed at women has tips on how to please their man. This is all in plain sight. The internet has become more and more accessible for everyone and if you want to seek something out, it is very possible to do so regardless of barriers put in the way.

Of course, I don't want explicit material to appear on every second stream or for people to be encouraged to visit these sites. If handled correctly and done properly, the partnership of Brazzers and members of the fighting game community could be a positive thing.

This announcement has placed the fighting game community in an awkward spot. The largest tournament, EVO, has already said that it will not be referencing the sponsor at its tournament. What other tournaments will follow suit? The Fighting Game Community is heading towards the problem that has faced eSports for years. There are no organising bodies outside of individual tournament organisers, which means that there is no way to centrally agree on something.

Formula 1, for example, was put under pressure regarding tobacco advertising years ago. Individual grand prixs would not allow it and then eventually the governing body put a rule in place. Nothing like this exists for competitive gaming. For example, rule sets are based on what has happened before, even if a change might do some good.

It's unlikely that LI|Joe will find himself unable to compete in tournaments bearing the Brazzers or BRZ tag, but what will the prize pots be like at these events? There has been a shift towards bigger events with streaming and professional coverage and professional players have linked up with eSports brands. The smaller, possibly underground, scene still exists and still allows commentators to say whatever floats into their head, trash talk, blow-ups and so on. But on the flip side, the money isn't in these events.

George Hook on gaming

Where were the illogical arguments? Where were the sweeping generalisations? George Hook's discussion on gaming was a disgrace. There was nothing to be angry about! Now I've all this pent up annoyance that I had brought to the surface, because you have to be prepared. But there is nowhere for it to go.

I have to say, the radio show was a breath of fresh air. He admitted that he wasn't a gamer in any way, and treated it like a discussion. In reality, there was quite a bit of explanation. When he put some of the general fears to the experts, he allowed them to voice their opinion and use actual research that has been conducted.

Yes, there are idiots in the world. People who get sucked into the world of games (or some other activity) and forget to take care of themselves or others. Those people have problems. It should not be used as a barometer or standard for all gamers.

Popcap's representative, Cathy Orr, came across very well. She had a variety of facts and statistics to utilise, and really knew her stuff. It helps that Popcap are loved by most gamers. They don't seem to put a foot wrong! I also appreciated that she put across the point of "everything in moderation". I, and many other gamers, manage to do other stuff with our lives but we do like to game.

Going to dock her points because, while she made reference to how some people like to watch TV, she didn't use a line mentioning how people use their Sky+ box and then watch those shows all night. Golden opportunity that people are presented with so rarely.

While it wasn't the deepest discussion, it avoided pointless arguments, etc. Many others could take note that this is how you approach the subject of gaming (I'm looking at you Joe Duffy or Panorama).