Alex

Damn, I got this same problem last night. I started playing MGS4 on The Boss mode, and when i pulled up a menu it just froze up. I can't even get the game to start anymore

I think #2 is completely wrong. Me and a lot of my friends, who i consider to be casual gamers, really love watching professional starcraft players and high caliber fighting game players from asia. Why do people like to watch sports like basketball on tv? people like watching athletes with incredible skill perform their best, while also learning more about the games to help themselves play. To say gamers wont like to watch professional players because there is no interactivity is the same as saying playing basketball yourself is more fun than watching professionals, so the NBA obviously has no spectators. Do you think any sport was created with spectators in mind? Lets see.. if we set up a big court with two baskets on either end, and toss in 10 people with 1 ball, i think people will love watching them run around fighting for it and throwing it around.

The real problem the tv shows will encounter is not from the gamers'. True gamers will enjoy watching high caliber players of games they know, and even be able to appreciate professionals playing games theyve only seen, if they can demonstrate true skill and teamwork. The problem will come from the rest of america's mainstream population. Even though gaming is more widespread than ever, its still considered a "nerdy" activity, who wants to watch a bunch of nerds playing some stupid fake game? the culture in the US is just completely different from asia. In korea, people flock into stadiums to watch the final rounds of starcraft tournaments, and whole auditoriums are sometimes rented out for the biggest fighting tournaments in japan.

I think itll be worth a shot, but honestly i dont think it will be very successful. american culture simply will categorize watching professional gaming as "nerdy", and that will be the end of widely televised gaming.