60 Minutes special featuring John "Fatal1ty" Wendel! Did YOU see it?

Did anyone else just catch that 60 minutes special about LAN parties, the "cyberathelete" and John Wendel??! It was pretty darn cool. I can give a recap, if necessary, but in summary, it was coming from the perspective that with the average age of gamers being 30 and given that gaming has surpassed other forms of entertainment (financially), that the evolution of gaming into sport and competition was inevitable...and that John Wendel (professional gamer), LAN parties and all that stuff is bringing gaming mainstream...and that cyber sports (with people who only play games as their jobs) are inevitable. It was pretty awesome.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/19/60minutes/main1220146.shtml

So what do you guys think? Are we near the dawn of the gaming sport age? Will American and Europeans take to gaming like movies, making the best gamers in the world RockStars (like they are in Korea)?!??

DISCUSS.
adrian1480

its cool

I played him once or twice in CS:S. He is a beast...
soulkeeper90

I played him once or twice in CS:S. He is a beast...
soulkeeper90

I played him once or twice in CS:S. He is a beast...
soulkeeper90

sorry, it think treating video games as a sport and calling these people athletes is pathetic.

?

his game is UT2004,

hondacrx898

I thought his game was Quake 3/4 ?

sorry, it think treating video games as a sport and calling these people athletes is pathetic.

-Sora

You and me both. Can you believe people are lobbying to get Poker into the Olympics?

Fatal1ty is overrated, and doesn't come anywhere near most of the Koreans I've seen and played with in terms of gaming skill. Take some of the average BW players in Korea as an example, those guys are averaging 350+ legitimate actions per minute on an RTS on a game-to-game basis, and most of them can scroll/enter commands faster on the keyboard than 99% of the population can type. The best comparison I can make is: Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

Meh, Wendel is a beast in twitch based games like Quake and Unreal, but he was in TI for COD I think and boy was he average. I don't think competitive gaming has the kind of mainstream appeal equivalent to other sports. The reason? The personalities. Save two or three cool hosses, not many of them are star quality.Vandalvideo

exactly, most pro gamers are complete losers and the most boring people to talk to. Pro Gaming won't get notice in the U.S until gamers get their social skills together. Korea has it down already though, asian people are just more down to earth in my opinion.

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"]Meh, Wendel is a beast in twitch based games like Quake and Unreal, but he was in TI for COD I think and boy was he average. I don't think competitive gaming has the kind of mainstream appeal equivalent to other sports. The reason? The personalities. Save two or three cool hosses, not many of them are star quality.HoldThePhone

exactly, most pro gamers are complete losers and the most boring people to talk to. Pro Gaming won't get notice in the U.S until gamers get their social skills together. Korea has it down already though, asian people are just more down to earth in my opinion.

Hence why a part of me wishes I'd invest the time in trying to get good at some competitive games. Nothing draws attention like a loud mouth/trash talker, and that's something I do without recieving a paycheck. :lol:

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"]Meh, Wendel is a beast in twitch based games like Quake and Unreal, but he was in TI for COD I think and boy was he average. I don't think competitive gaming has the kind of mainstream appeal equivalent to other sports. The reason? The personalities. Save two or three cool hosses, not many of them are star quality.HoldThePhone

exactly, most pro gamers are complete losers and the most boring people to talk to. Pro Gaming won't get notice in the U.S until gamers get their social skills together. Korea has it down already though, asian people are just more down to earth in my opinion.

I think you just insulted PC gamers with that comment

[QUOTE="HoldThePhone"]

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"]Meh, Wendel is a beast in twitch based games like Quake and Unreal, but he was in TI for COD I think and boy was he average. I don't think competitive gaming has the kind of mainstream appeal equivalent to other sports. The reason? The personalities. Save two or three cool hosses, not many of them are star quality.primetime2121

exactly, most pro gamers are complete losers and the most boring people to talk to. Pro Gaming won't get notice in the U.S until gamers get their social skills together. Korea has it down already though, asian people are just more down to earth in my opinion.

I think you just insulted PC gamers with that comment

[QUOTE="HoldThePhone"]

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"]Meh, Wendel is a beast in twitch based games like Quake and Unreal, but he was in TI for COD I think and boy was he average. I don't think competitive gaming has the kind of mainstream appeal equivalent to other sports. The reason? The personalities. Save two or three cool hosses, not many of them are star quality.primetime2121

exactly, most pro gamers are complete losers and the most boring people to talk to. Pro Gaming won't get notice in the U.S until gamers get their social skills together. Korea has it down already though, asian people are just more down to earth in my opinion.

I think you just insulted PC gamers with that comment

some of my best friends are gamers, but they arnt hardcore. I absoultely hate hardcore gamers. you know, the kids who talk about halo during your math class but don't have any idea what they are talking about, buy you don't want to correct them because you'd be socializing with complete losers about videogames. those are the kinds of people who pro-game. they are some really cool players out there though, but the majority of gamers in general have awful social skills and arnt good at making themselves look pretty.

[QUOTE="soulkeeper90"]I played him once or twice in CS:S. He is a beast...
hondacrx898

[QUOTE="-Sora"]

sorry, it think treating video games as a sport and calling these people athletes is pathetic.

mattbbpl

You and me both. Can you believe people are lobbying to get Poker into the Olympics?

Yea , thats just really weird :P

[QUOTE="mattbbpl"][QUOTE="-Sora"]

sorry, it think treating video games as a sport and calling these people athletes is pathetic.

-Sora

You and me both. Can you believe people are lobbying to get Poker into the Olympics?

Yea , thats just really weird :P

[QUOTE="mattbbpl"][QUOTE="-Sora"]

sorry, it think treating video games as a sport and calling these people athletes is pathetic.

-Sora

You and me both. Can you believe people are lobbying to get Poker into the Olympics?

Yea , thats just really weird :P

to call them athletes is a no-no, but to recognize professional gaming as a sport is completly reasonable. Tell my why it isn't.

[QUOTE="-Sora"][QUOTE="mattbbpl"][QUOTE="-Sora"]

sorry, it think treating video games as a sport and calling these people athletes is pathetic.

Vandalvideo

You and me both. Can you believe people are lobbying to get Poker into the Olympics?

Yea , thats just really weird :P

what do anti-oxidants do? i need to boost my reaction time for CS

what do anti-oxidants do? i need to boost my reaction time for CSHoldThePhone

[QUOTE="HoldThePhone"]what do anti-oxidants do? i need to boost my reaction time for CSVandalvideo

mm, so carrots?

[QUOTE="-Sora"][QUOTE="mattbbpl"][QUOTE="-Sora"]

sorry, it think treating video games as a sport and calling these people athletes is pathetic.

Vandalvideo

You and me both. Can you believe people are lobbying to get Poker into the Olympics?

Yea , thats just really weird :P

thats interesting info. I mean im all for tournaments in stuff, just i dont see them as athletes imo

# Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

JzkBoxer

Which means what exactly? Most american sports aren't played by half the world and you still have the temerity to call many series "world" series???

Soccer is played by the majority of the world.

[QUOTE="JzkBoxer"]

# Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

Hoobinator

Which means what exactly? Most american sports aren't played by half the world and you still have the temerity to call many series "world" series???

Soccer is played by the majority of the world.

To call yourself the best at "soccer" means a hell of a lot more than any US centric sport, played by and only for americans.

all we have is american football thats american only, baseball is HUGE in japan.

[QUOTE="Vandalvideo"][QUOTE="HoldThePhone"]what do anti-oxidants do? i need to boost my reaction time for CSHoldThePhone

mm, so carrots?

[QUOTE="JzkBoxer"]

# Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

Hoobinator

Which means what exactly? Most american sports aren't played by half the world and you still have the temerity to call many series "world" series???

Soccer is played by the majority of the world.

To call yourself the best at "soccer" means a hell of a lot more than any US centric sport, played by and only for americans.

What I was saying was that soccer is a 3rd or 4th class sport here in the U.S., therefore our athletes don't compete in it, and if the Olympics are any indication, the U.S. is far and away the leader in producing athletes in summer sports. If our best athletes played and were trained their entire life in soccer, we'd dominate the sport on a scale never seen before. Why am I so confident in that? Probably because our 3rd and 4th class athletes are hanging in there against the other countries' best.

[QUOTE="Hoobinator"][QUOTE="JzkBoxer"]

# Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

HoldThePhone

Which means what exactly? Most american sports aren't played by half the world and you still have the temerity to call many series "world" series???

Soccer is played by the majority of the world.

To call yourself the best at "soccer" means a hell of a lot more than any US centric sport, played by and only for americans.

all we have is american football thats american only, baseball is HUGE in japan.

And why do you think the rest of the world doesn't even attempt to compete with us in it? Oh yeah, because they don't have anyone fast enough to stay within 25-30 yards of our wide recievers, nobody big and athletic enough to hold back a 280+ pound guy that can run the 40 in 4.6 seconds, etc.

Seriously, why do they think we don't care when they beat us at soccer? I'll tell you why, because the fact that our 3rd and 4th string athletes are hanging with them is a victory in itself.

[QUOTE="Hoobinator"][QUOTE="JzkBoxer"]

# Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

JzkBoxer

Which means what exactly? Most american sports aren't played by half the world and you still have the temerity to call many series "world" series???

Soccer is played by the majority of the world.

To call yourself the best at "soccer" means a hell of a lot more than any US centric sport, played by and only for americans.

What I was saying was that soccer is a 3rd or 4th class sport here in the U.S., therefore our athletes don't compete in it, and if the Olympics are any indication, the U.S. is far and away the leader in producing athletes in summer sports. If our best athletes played and were trained their entire life in soccer, we'd dominate the sport on a scale never seen before. Why am I so confident in that? Probably because our 3rd and 4th class athletes are hanging in there against the other countries' best.

The US is NOT far and away the leader in the olympics, look at China only marginally behind you and has been catching up fast. Take a look at Athens 2004 chart table. This table demolishes your idea of american supremacy at Olympics, the US is only marginally ahead.

Now here's the logic, combine all the soccer playing nations totals against the US and you'll see the world destroys the US in terms of medals earned at the olympics. The world plays soccer, therefore an athlete in soccer can justifiably call himself a world beater, since he plays regularly against world opponents.

The same can't be said for american sports. An american sport athlete cannot lay claim to be a world beater since he does not compete against the world.

Americans are the best at basketball. Canadians are the best at hovckey. Australians are the best at rugby.BumFluff122

Winter sports like hockey are a different story, but trust me when I say that we would dominate any summer sport if we took strides towards doing so. I ask myself daily: " I wonder if anyone in the entire continent of Europe could keep up with Ted Ginn or Reggie Bush in a footrace? " or " I wonder if anyone in Europe is capable of throwing a football 40 yards at close to 60 miles per hour? "

[QUOTE="HoldThePhone"][QUOTE="Hoobinator"][QUOTE="JzkBoxer"]

# Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

JzkBoxer

Which means what exactly? Most american sports aren't played by half the world and you still have the temerity to call many series "world" series???

Soccer is played by the majority of the world.

To call yourself the best at "soccer" means a hell of a lot more than any US centric sport, played by and only for americans.

all we have is american football thats american only, baseball is HUGE in japan.

Seriously, why do they think we don't care when they beat us at soccer? I'll tell you why, because the fact that our 3rd and 4th string athletes are hanging with them is a victory in itself.

:| The US soccer team is rubbish. It just got knocked out in the opening rounds of the Copa America, they're not "hanging out" with anyone, apart from hanging out in some bar drowing their sorrows.

Take off your patriotic glasses, they're blinding you from the truth.

[QUOTE="JzkBoxer"][QUOTE="Hoobinator"][QUOTE="JzkBoxer"]

# Fatal1ty is a world class soccer player, which is great and all, but not that special when you take into account that the world's best source of athletes ( America ) doesn't even encourage their best athletes to play that sport.

Hoobinator

Which means what exactly? Most american sports aren't played by half the world and you still have the temerity to call many series "world" series???

Soccer is played by the majority of the world.

To call yourself the best at "soccer" means a hell of a lot more than any US centric sport, played by and only for americans.

What I was saying was that soccer is a 3rd or 4th class sport here in the U.S., therefore our athletes don't compete in it, and if the Olympics are any indication, the U.S. is far and away the leader in producing athletes in summer sports. If our best athletes played and were trained their entire life in soccer, we'd dominate the sport on a scale never seen before. Why am I so confident in that? Probably because our 3rd and 4th class athletes are hanging in there against the other countries' best.

The US is NOT far and away the leader in the olympics, look at China only marginally behind you and has been catching up fast. Take a look at Athens 2004 chart table. This table demolishes your idea of american supremacy at Olympics, the US is only marginally ahead.

Now here's the logic, combine all the soccer playing nations totals against the US and you'll see the world destroys the US in terms of medals earned at the olympics. The world plays soccer, therefore an athlete in soccer can justifiably call himself a world beater, since he plays regularly against world opponents.

The same can't be said for american sports. An american sport athlete cannot lay claim to be a world beater since he does not compete against the world.

Dude, have you ever watched American sports? I have yet to see a European athlete that can keep up with some of the faster players in the NFL, or even college football.

By the way, as for the summer olympics: I think we just took every last medal in swimming again. :lol: