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Everyone has a profession. Some people are footballers, some are accountants, some are journalists... Everyone does.
But as time goes on, we all ways start to see new professions. But there is one that is in the early stages that I never thought I would see. Professional Gamers.
Now, for the first time ever, I actually did some research for this topic. It turns out that there is a whole world that I never new existed given over to professional gamers. There’s a Pro Gamers League, there are Pro Gamer World Championships... Of course I knew there were championships before I looked into this, I played in one, but what I never knew was that people could actually earn quite a decent living from gaming.
Take i8 for example. One of my sources (Err... that’d be Reaper then) informs me that there was a £2500 prize for the winner of the Quake 1v1 Tournament. I don’t care what footballers earn, that is quite a substantial amount of money. Especially considering that that can be won just by playing computer games.
After going roving on the web I found out more. There is a Tournament that offers prizes of $7500 to the winner. That’s roughly £3000. That’s a hell of a lot of money up for grabs. And it can be won for only 3 or 4 days play.
Think about it. You could earn a pretty decent amount by playing games professionally. Competitions are going on all the time. The i-Series, the Pro Gamers League, the World Championships, the UK Championships… There is a lot of money to be earned just by playing and winning on computer games... Which I do nearly every night.
If a gamer is good enough and can get to these events he could well be earning more than your average car salesman.
But of course it doesn’t end there. Companies can’t leave anything alone if there’s a chance that they could make money from it. Peripheral makers can, will and DO sponser gamers to use their products at events for some quick’n’easy advertising. This provides another source of income for the professional gamers.
Of course, it wouldn’t all be Easy Street. Oh no. I know how much I had to practice to get as good as I am at Excitebike. These people don’t just have their sister to beat, they have other gamers that probably practice as much as they do to contend with. I’d imagine you’d have to practice for roughly 14 or 15 hours a day to get to the stage when you can take on and beat your opponents.
This kind of lifestyle CANNOT be healthy. Stuck for 2 quarters of the day in front of a PC or console eating junk food is not good for your body. It would also destroy your social life. Your local social life that is. Of course you could go online and socialise with other gamers, maybe join a clan and meet up with your fellow members for matches every night.
My dream job would without a doubt be a Pro gamer, but that just aint gonna happen. For one I don’t have the amount of skill required. Sure these people practice and practice but that isn’t going to get you ANYWHERE unless you have some natural skill or talent. The people who make it big in the Pro gaming world are very skilful players, no one can doubt that.
As well as the fact that I don’t have enough skill to go into the profession, I couldn’t bring myself to sit in front of my computer for a huge part of the day. Sure, I enjoy playing my games and coming online to talk, but to do that for the whole day is something that I could never do.
With Pro Gamers becoming more and more common, and the companies picking up on it and pumping a huge amount of money back into it, this could one day become a recognised profession. It could one day, break out of the other world that it’s in at the moment. It could even be taught in schools. You train to be a journalist, so why not a gamer? Could children in the future really get taught how to play video games?
Hey! Anything’s possible! And this certainly is.
RBS
But as time goes on, we all ways start to see new professions. But there is one that is in the early stages that I never thought I would see. Professional Gamers.
Now, for the first time ever, I actually did some research for this topic. It turns out that there is a whole world that I never new existed given over to professional gamers. There’s a Pro Gamers League, there are Pro Gamer World Championships... Of course I knew there were championships before I looked into this, I played in one, but what I never knew was that people could actually earn quite a decent living from gaming.
Take i8 for example. One of my sources (Err... that’d be Reaper then) informs me that there was a £2500 prize for the winner of the Quake 1v1 Tournament. I don’t care what footballers earn, that is quite a substantial amount of money. Especially considering that that can be won just by playing computer games.
After going roving on the web I found out more. There is a Tournament that offers prizes of $7500 to the winner. That’s roughly £3000. That’s a hell of a lot of money up for grabs. And it can be won for only 3 or 4 days play.
Think about it. You could earn a pretty decent amount by playing games professionally. Competitions are going on all the time. The i-Series, the Pro Gamers League, the World Championships, the UK Championships… There is a lot of money to be earned just by playing and winning on computer games... Which I do nearly every night.
If a gamer is good enough and can get to these events he could well be earning more than your average car salesman.
But of course it doesn’t end there. Companies can’t leave anything alone if there’s a chance that they could make money from it. Peripheral makers can, will and DO sponser gamers to use their products at events for some quick’n’easy advertising. This provides another source of income for the professional gamers.
Of course, it wouldn’t all be Easy Street. Oh no. I know how much I had to practice to get as good as I am at Excitebike. These people don’t just have their sister to beat, they have other gamers that probably practice as much as they do to contend with. I’d imagine you’d have to practice for roughly 14 or 15 hours a day to get to the stage when you can take on and beat your opponents.
This kind of lifestyle CANNOT be healthy. Stuck for 2 quarters of the day in front of a PC or console eating junk food is not good for your body. It would also destroy your social life. Your local social life that is. Of course you could go online and socialise with other gamers, maybe join a clan and meet up with your fellow members for matches every night.
My dream job would without a doubt be a Pro gamer, but that just aint gonna happen. For one I don’t have the amount of skill required. Sure these people practice and practice but that isn’t going to get you ANYWHERE unless you have some natural skill or talent. The people who make it big in the Pro gaming world are very skilful players, no one can doubt that.
As well as the fact that I don’t have enough skill to go into the profession, I couldn’t bring myself to sit in front of my computer for a huge part of the day. Sure, I enjoy playing my games and coming online to talk, but to do that for the whole day is something that I could never do.
With Pro Gamers becoming more and more common, and the companies picking up on it and pumping a huge amount of money back into it, this could one day become a recognised profession. It could one day, break out of the other world that it’s in at the moment. It could even be taught in schools. You train to be a journalist, so why not a gamer? Could children in the future really get taught how to play video games?
Hey! Anything’s possible! And this certainly is.
RBS
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All interesting points made so far, but I feel I need to add my bit as well.
Firstly, I personally don't think it's that unhealthy sitting in front of a computer for 10 hours or so a day. I spend 8 hours a say in front of a screen because of my job, and I normally pop on here for a couple of hours in the evening.
Obviously if you just sit there all day and eat 14 Big Mac Meals for lunch, then you may just put on some weight while training to be a "Cyber Athlete". However, if you just be sensible then there is nothing wrong with sitting down all day. I do it, as I've said, but I also going swimming 3+ times a week and do a mile+ each time, so that helps me out there.
Also, is it really a bad thing staying inside out of the sun, especially in summer, with all the health care warnings about skin cancer, I would have thought it would be a good move to stay out of the sun.
Moving on to the actual "Professional Gamer" point, I'd love to be one. I never will, as I don't have the time to practice, and you would need to practice, but 14 hours a day? I think that may be a little large...
But I do feel that gaming is something you don't need a natural talent at. I feel that if you practice enough, then you will keep getting better and better.
Of course, it depends if you have time to practice enough. There was a saying that if you were good at snooker it was " A sign of a mispent youth". In other words kids skived off school at went to a snooker hall instead.
But will the same be said of games in 10 years time?
Firstly, I personally don't think it's that unhealthy sitting in front of a computer for 10 hours or so a day. I spend 8 hours a say in front of a screen because of my job, and I normally pop on here for a couple of hours in the evening.
Obviously if you just sit there all day and eat 14 Big Mac Meals for lunch, then you may just put on some weight while training to be a "Cyber Athlete". However, if you just be sensible then there is nothing wrong with sitting down all day. I do it, as I've said, but I also going swimming 3+ times a week and do a mile+ each time, so that helps me out there.
Also, is it really a bad thing staying inside out of the sun, especially in summer, with all the health care warnings about skin cancer, I would have thought it would be a good move to stay out of the sun.
Moving on to the actual "Professional Gamer" point, I'd love to be one. I never will, as I don't have the time to practice, and you would need to practice, but 14 hours a day? I think that may be a little large...
But I do feel that gaming is something you don't need a natural talent at. I feel that if you practice enough, then you will keep getting better and better.
Of course, it depends if you have time to practice enough. There was a saying that if you were good at snooker it was " A sign of a mispent youth". In other words kids skived off school at went to a snooker hall instead.
But will the same be said of games in 10 years time?
I'd give my right arm to be a professional gamer.
No wait! That wouldn't be very clever would it!
No wait! That wouldn't be very clever would it!
Grandprix wrote:
> Professional gaming sounds so great! I'm really interested in
> gaming. Is there any websites I can look at about this subject?
There's loads of them. Just go to Google (.Co.uk's better because then you get the sites in English and not Japanese!) and type in Professional Gamers. It should come up with over 10 pages. It did when I did it,
> Professional gaming sounds so great! I'm really interested in
> gaming. Is there any websites I can look at about this subject?
There's loads of them. Just go to Google (.Co.uk's better because then you get the sites in English and not Japanese!) and type in Professional Gamers. It should come up with over 10 pages. It did when I did it,
I have a magazine somewhere about jobs in the gaming industry, everything from the designers to the reviewers and testers.
It tells you thye sort of qualifications you need and what sort of things you could do to help build a carrer in videogames.
Methinks I will be digging that out soon :D
It tells you thye sort of qualifications you need and what sort of things you could do to help build a carrer in videogames.
Methinks I will be digging that out soon :D
Professional gaming sounds so great! I'm really interested in gaming. Is there any websites I can look at about this subject?
Professional gaming sounds good. I like the idea and in a way it would be a perfect game for most as it allows you to earn money and make a living doing something that you like to do and that isn't boring. We all would love to do it and it seems to good to be real.
But when you think about it more it doesn't really seem as special as it sounds. For one there are certain health risks with playing continuously on computer games. Also with sports like football you need a certain amount of skill and natural ability to play professionally, but with gaming all you have to do is practice and perform certain tasks over and over again. So little natural ability is required.
This could be seen as a good point to it though. It would allow people who are determined to succeed and do well even though they may not be as gifted as other people.
I read a story recently about people in Japan who are becoming professional gamers and that they are treated just like professional sportsmen and women. I don't see things like that happening over here as Europe have a different view on games than the Japanese.
But who knows? With On-line gaming set to improve and more and more people set to go on-line and play games we may see more competitions either nationally or even internationally to find the best gamers and with an industry worth more than $32 Billion ( a figure that will increase) it is almost certain the prize money will be quite a lot.
It could also be beneficial to developers to see some people become professional gamers, more advertising for one if their game is used and also more people will purchase their game in an attempt to try and become a professional.
The main problem is how to define a professional gamer. I remember a T.V program which everyday people went on and challenged so called professionals (one was called Big Boy Barry) they were good at most games but rubbish at others. Surely to be a professional you would have to be able to be good at any game you were given to play. Also who is going to pay them, sure they could enter competitions and try and will and overall prize money but what about in between? Maybe certain companies will have pro-gamers who they pay to try and win and if they win the company get some cash but I don't see that happening. Also the costs would be high as you would need lots of games to practice on and maybe different consoles to play.
I think we may see a lot of part-time gamers but I doubt we will see professional gamers. But I could be wrong. Maybe the winner at the special reserve shops could go on to become professional?
But when you think about it more it doesn't really seem as special as it sounds. For one there are certain health risks with playing continuously on computer games. Also with sports like football you need a certain amount of skill and natural ability to play professionally, but with gaming all you have to do is practice and perform certain tasks over and over again. So little natural ability is required.
This could be seen as a good point to it though. It would allow people who are determined to succeed and do well even though they may not be as gifted as other people.
I read a story recently about people in Japan who are becoming professional gamers and that they are treated just like professional sportsmen and women. I don't see things like that happening over here as Europe have a different view on games than the Japanese.
But who knows? With On-line gaming set to improve and more and more people set to go on-line and play games we may see more competitions either nationally or even internationally to find the best gamers and with an industry worth more than $32 Billion ( a figure that will increase) it is almost certain the prize money will be quite a lot.
It could also be beneficial to developers to see some people become professional gamers, more advertising for one if their game is used and also more people will purchase their game in an attempt to try and become a professional.
The main problem is how to define a professional gamer. I remember a T.V program which everyday people went on and challenged so called professionals (one was called Big Boy Barry) they were good at most games but rubbish at others. Surely to be a professional you would have to be able to be good at any game you were given to play. Also who is going to pay them, sure they could enter competitions and try and will and overall prize money but what about in between? Maybe certain companies will have pro-gamers who they pay to try and win and if they win the company get some cash but I don't see that happening. Also the costs would be high as you would need lots of games to practice on and maybe different consoles to play.
I think we may see a lot of part-time gamers but I doubt we will see professional gamers. But I could be wrong. Maybe the winner at the special reserve shops could go on to become professional?
Playing against the best gamers is something I'd like to try.
Multiplayer is one of my stronger points having 2 brothers to play at home on the N64.
I'm looking forward to broadband on the Gamecube so I can test my skills on top gamers aroud the world.
Multiplayer is one of my stronger points having 2 brothers to play at home on the N64.
I'm looking forward to broadband on the Gamecube so I can test my skills on top gamers aroud the world.
Nope, [email protected]
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