Coming to a TV near you...

[CSN NewsBot]

I'm not exactly sure what to file this one under. I mean, this does deal with esports, but not like you've ever seen it before. Major League Gaming was just picked up by the USA television network (a subsidiary of NBC Universal) for a season of televised competitive gaming.



The MLG and USA network partnership will allow for seven, hour long episodes to be aired that showcases the competitive esports scene. Sadly, the games they will showcase are not Counter-Strike in any of its forms, but rather Halo 2 and Super Smash Brothers Melee.

Major League Gaming, the world's largest organized video gaming league, on Monday will announce a programming deal in which USA Network will air seven one-hour episodes in the fall, featuring the pro circuit and its players.



Though video gaming fans have been able to follow competitions on game Web sites for years already, MLG's television deal marks the first time regular TV viewers would be able track the ups and downs of a pro tournament, watching video gaming as a new kind of extreme sport.



"This is the sign that pro gaming has finally arrived to the mass market," said Matthew Bromberg, MLG's president and chief operating officer. "It's like poker was two years ago, or NASCAR 15 years ago."



The upcoming televised series will aim to engage viewers with not only with the game play itself - featuring top players of "Halo 2" on Xbox and "Super Smash Bros. Melee" on Nintendo - but also sports-like commentary and profiles of the players.

Commentary? Player profiles? If this keeps up, you may very well see your favorite Counter-Strike players gracing the television set in your living room. As scary as that sounds, it could actually happen.



There's just one thing that concerns me with all of this. With the recent string of gaming appearances on television as of late (SpikeTV's gaming awards, and MTV's 360 pre-launch party), let's just hope there is no "extreme" theme to these televised events. Don't patronize us with that, just show us the gaming action.

[ZEROarmy]

...pitiful

[ph03nix(k)]

Halo 2.. so gay..

[meowmeow]

still waiting for that one prick to go HL@2 PWNZOURZ TEH HALO 2WO LOLZZzzLMAORFLg.



god i hate myself.

[Pan the Goat God]

Expect: Stupid rap. Flashy lights. "Hot" models bored out of their minds introducing gamers. Product placement. And of course HL@2 PWNZOURZ TEH HALO 2WO LOLZZzzLMAORFLg

[snkcube]

I wonder how good the Smash Bros. Melee players are...

[Zips]

snkcube wrote..

I wonder how good the Smash Bros. Melee players are...

About as good as button mashers can be I'd suppose.

[z00m-z00m h4x]

So Johnny Lunchbox will only watch faggy console games? GG.

[DJDarkViper]

How can it possibly be without Counter-Strike? How can they possibly ignore it? WHATS THIS WORLD COMING TOO!?!?!

[washuplushie]

I'm curious, why should we care if ANOTHER game is being played on TV?. G4 has had their shitty Arena show forever and I never gave a shit. Let us know when CSS or some HL2 related game goes on TV. Until then I could care less.

[DJDarkViper]

washuplushie wrote..

I'm curious, why should we care if ANOTHER game is being played on TV?. G4 has had their shitty Arena show forever and I never gave a shit. Let us know when CSS or some HL2 related game goes on TV. Until then I could care less.

sure you COULD care less, but can you really?



And i agree, theres tonnes of this kind of crap on TV, like Video and Arcade Top 10. (which is crappy because they STILL use N64 for christ sakes!)

[-:Nighthawk:-]

I'm not terribly surprised by this, though this will make USA the biggest network to air computer gaming in any sort of positive light. Really, though, with the gaming industry as large and lucritive as it's become... it was only a matter of time until somebody decided to run some pilot programs and see if there is a market for it.



Still, I don't know how large the appeal will be. Showing gameplay alone would be boring, as let's face it... we'd all rather just play the game ourselves, no matter how talented the player onscreen is. I can only really imagine it being successful if it's a combination of highlights from matches combined with some normal footage, using all of the psychology research that goes into network programming to create something your focus group wants to watch.



Then again, I don't even own a TV, so take my views with a grain of salt.

[ash-]

You guys gotta understand that as popular as CS and HL2 are, PC gaming is just a niche. Many many more people own console systems than PC gamers with "proper" rigs. A tv program aimed at the few hundreds of thousands of PC gamers would tank the moment the first commercial comes on. USA networks needs millions of views, not thousands.

[Gpig]

-:Nighthawk:- wrote..

I'm not terribly surprised by this, though this will make USA the biggest network to air computer gaming in any sort of positive light. Really, though, with the gaming industry as large and lucritive as it's become... it was only a matter of time until somebody decided to run some pilot programs and see if there is a market for it.

MLG paid USA networks to run it. I think that makes it basically an hour long informercial that just isn't on at a bad time. Not sure though. MLG gets to use their own sponsors and gets to put the episodes up on the web based on the deal.

[Bokuho]

Since when were Halo 2 and SSBM played professionally-competitively? It's not like they're that fun to watch either, the only people who'd bother watching them on TV are probably the same sad bastards that have been playing them long enough to play professionally for 'em anyway.



Screw that, get some TimeSplitters and Dead Or Alive on TV, much more entertaining.