As this blog and class come to an end I look back on this blog and am forced to really consider the role of video games in culture. Specifically, Starcraft II. I have seen video games ruin lives. In highschool my roommate senior year discovered World of Warcraft during spring finals week. He almost failed that semester and has since failed out of college. On the other hand, another one of my highschool friends is currently in a WoW league, sponsored by T-Mobile, making $35,000 a year.
A quick check of the Starcraft Prizemoney rank sheet on TeamLiquid's site shows the top two players earning alomst $100,000 each. And that's just from this year. The spread of I have seen several tournaments and many different replays. It's fascinating to watch and utterly exhilarating to win, especially in 1v1 matches. I watch replays and am interested in improving my play-- even spending a few nights awake this break playing the game. But I think it's clear that I will never pursue this game seriously. However, I do anticipate, with the rise of popularity in eSports in general and the rise in numbers of players around the world, that in the next few years the docket of video game tournaments will be seen on the side of ESPN. It will probably be at 2 in the morning but I'll see it. And I'll probably be able to take my kids to see legendary players play in stadiums like they do in South Korea. By then Starcraft 3 may be out, but knowing Blizzard I won't hold my breath.
Thanks to wikipedia for saving my life as always, and thanks to the casters who have helped my play immensely over the course of this blog.
-Ian
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