Do you guys watch any games being played, like live streaming, casted games? I know gaming is an interactive form of media, but it can be watched passively as well, and with a good commentator it's quite interesting and fun to see skilled people duking it out.
I ask this because recently I've been watching a lot of crazy Korean starcraft on GOMTV (www.gomtv.net). I even hook it up to my TV and have friends come over to watch it live on Sundays.
So wondering if anyone else here is an avid watcher or games being played?
Gom Player
I tried to stream some of the Starcraft broadcasts via my Gom player, but it seems my "broadband" connection is too damn slow, so it pauses every 3 minutes for a minute at a time, making it impossible to view. I do watch some of the matches on youtube though, and it's highly entertaining stuff. As a Starcraft fan however, I would be too chicken shit to play any of those guys. They're just leagues and leagues beyond my capabilities, and as much as I love Starcraft, I really do suck at it. My basic strategy is to build as much defences as possible and "wait it out". XD
It's interesting that you bring up this topic though, as I find myself watching more and more games than playing them in recent times. I wrote a topic in the forum here ages ago about people in my predicament - those who love games but just don't have the time or the money to play them all, and whether there is a market to cater them where you can just view whole game experiences on DVD. This was before the whole youTube / video streaming thing got popular however, but youTube is filling up that void nicely for me. There are a few folks like this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/user/cubex55
..who upload entire walkthroughs and gaming experiences. I've finished Metal Gear Solid 1 and 2 on the PSX and PS2, and since I don't have a PS3, I watched the entire Metal Gear Solid 4 on youTube - incidently Konami got the user who uploaded those videos suspended for it. Anyway, this Cubex55 person has just uploaded an entire walkthrough of Metal Gear Solid 4, so it'll be interesting to see if Konami go after him as well. I hope they don't, I'm not through the Metal Gear Solid 3 walkthrough yet!
Gom Player
I've found that the lag experienced with the Gom player is more to do with their end rather than ours. I believe that the english commentary is streamed from the west coast of the USA. Last Sunday it was good, almost no laggy bits, but the weekend before that there was lots of lag, unwatchable.
Depends....
I can sit down and watch a couple of pros play soccer on css, but if its something like watching my girlfriends brother playing any game, then i usually get too frustrated (cos he sucks).
But yeah we all like watching people do what they're good at, i know i do.
I usually don't but those guys playing starcraft! Geez! I hate powergamers but if I was versing them I wouldn't play..
(What I consider a power gamer is someone that uses the hotkeys :P)
But, I usually beat powergamers.. Just I don't think I would beat them..