I'd say just about everybody here plays games for fun, but I was wondering how many people have stepped over the line to play games competitvely? I played the Quake series in various leagues and tournaments, and I'm still an active participant in the Street Fighter scene.
I fondly remember the older days of high score competitions at the local arcades, and it seems that's a lost art these days. Looking across the sea at Japan, you see competitions beind held in huge auditoriums, in games from Ikaruga to Third Strike to Pink Fluffy Bunnies Underwear Attack. Think we'll ever see anything like that in this country? I've always thought no, but after attending Evolution this past year, I'm not so sure.
What's disappointing is that companies really don't take any part in holding competitions that do nothing but promote their games. Capcom and id are infamous for their lack of attention to their communities, although I'd say that id is light years ahead of Capcom.
With more games going online, I wonder if we'll see more competitions being held. Sports games are the first obvious choice, but fighters and FPS games aren't too far behind there (lag problems aside) Ideally, there could be regional qualifiers and tournaments, culminating with a central tournament somewhere, for whatever game...or games!
I'd love to see more gaming competitions, and not just the "Take a picture of the final scene and win a t-shirt!" ones in the back of the manual :)
