The face of sports for the 21st century?

2 hrs.

Matthew Hawkins

The Major League Gaming Pro Circuit Winter Championships start Friday and run throughout the weekend. Taking place in Columbus, Ohio, the world's finest "StarCraft 2," "Halo: Reach," "Mortal Kombat," "Soulcalibur V" and "King of Fighter XIII" players have all converged to see who is the best professional gamer in their respective circles.

To reach this point, every player was a victor in various semi-final contests. In the case of the "StarCraft 2" players, all the participants were chosen as the result of the Winter Arena Feb. 24-26 at Major League Gaming's headquarters in New York City. MSNBC was on hand to view the event and to speak with those involved.

Advocates of the e-sports movement have long argued that it's on the same level as traditional sports, comparable to baseball, football and the rest. While many will concede that it's somewhat silly to compare someone who excels on the basketball court with someone who excels at "Street Fighter," becoming a serious competitor requires much hard work and dedication. And thus an appropriate amount of respect.

The challenges that athletes on both sides face are actually quite similar, including their parents. "It was a constant concern with mine, when I first became involved," said Andrew Dudynsky, a former professional "Halo" player, who has since retired and is currently pursing various career paths, all still related to e-sports, including commentating (which he'll be handing for "Reach" this weekend's event) .

Dudynsky's mother gave him a choice, he said: either continue professional gaming and go to community college, or stop playing entirely to attend a major school. He was confident that he'd be able to dedicate himself to both serious gaming and a major university, and eventually did so. His average GPA was 3.97.

One curious consistent trait among all the participants?interviewed is how every single one proudly stressed the high marks they were able to achieve in school while competing. An understandable point of pride, given all the hard work and discipline, even when one is "simply playing a game."

Like many professions, there's little glory at first. Dudynsky described all the time and money he spent while trying to establish himself early on. It's especially difficult to maintain a personal life, like friends and girlfriends, because of the grueling schedule.

During the height of his pro gaming career, he said he would spend every waking moment that wasn't dedicated to studies to playing. Or traveling to whatever part of the world a competition was taking place. Often he'd take a red eye back, to arrive just in time for his first class in the morning. But his perseverance paid off.?

While he didn't say specifically how much money he made during his heyday, he said, with confidence in his voice, that it was a good amount, enough to pay for college at the very least.

These days, Dudynsky is no longer an active competitor, but instead coaches for the current crop of players. He also explained how, in addition to the hefty cash prizes that contests can provide, a good deal of income stems from sponsorships. "Professional gaming is still young enough in which advertising for someone still matters."

He elaborated: ?If a winning gamer is seen wearing the logo of a particular kind of video card or keyboard and mouse, that company will see an immediate return. But if Tiger Woods is seen with a particular kind of golf club, the effect is not nearly as strong.?

Another form of income?is live-streams, he said. Almost all are found on Twitch.tv, a relatively recent offshoot of Justin.tv. Not only does it broadcast all of Major League Gaming's programming, but it's where anyone who is anyone in the scene has a presence. Not only do pro gamers share strategies and commentary, but it helps to get them better-known, which enhances the brands they represent even further.

Justin Kan, co-founder of Justin.tv, explains: "We consider it like ESPN for video games, except for having ESPN 1, 2, and Classic, we have Twitch.tv 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way to 700." Programming ranges from content provided by the sponsors themselves, to just candid, fly-on-the-wall looks at the lives of pro gamers, many of whom live and train together under one roof.

Some of these personalities bring in about "$5,000 to $7,000 a month, from just streaming their game playing," Kan said. "Some earn high five figures ? I think we might have one or two who are bringing in six figures on the site,"?just from people watching them play "StarCraft" or "Halo." Kan believes such numbers are encouraging the business.

And it's one that is clearly growing; Kan knew such numbers were possible. He simply didn't anticipate that they would be achieved just six months into Twitch.tv's existence.

But despite the healthy profit margins, it will take much more for many to take e-sports seriously.

"People often ask how it's going to become mainstream next to traditional sports," said Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO of Major League Gaming.?

"The real answer to that is how we define sports, which changes with the times. The 8-year-olds of today, when they grow up, what is going to be sports to them? Just as people had concerns with mixed martial arts, even extreme sports, it's not up to the old guard. It's up to the next generation to define what is entertainment to them."

The Pro Circuit Winter Championships can be viewed all weekend via Twitch.tv, which is being streamed for free in standard definition. For high-definition streams, simply head to Major League Gaming.

Matthew Hawkins is an NYC-based game journalist who has also written for EGM, GameSetWatch, Gamasutra, Giant Robot and numerous others. He also self-publishes his own game culture zine, is part of?Attract Mode, and co-hosts?The Fangamer Podcast. You can keep tabs on him via?Twitter,?or his personal home-base,?FORT90.com.

Source: http://www.ingame.msnbc.msn.com/technology/ingame/face-sports-21st-century-537809

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