BBC Begins Broadcasting eSports, but Ignorant Old Farts Aren’t Happy

Megalith

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The BBC has announced that it will begin broadcasting eSports through its online-only BBC Three channel, starting with a run of Gfinity’s Elite Series: those who tune in will be treated to four hours of Rocket League, CS:GO, and Street Fighter V on iPlayer every weekend for the next six weeks. Some folks have already begun mocking the endeavor, however, encouraging gamers to get off their lawn.

As part of a wider commitment to eSports across the BBC network, BBC Three begins showing Street Fighter 5, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Rocket League matches at weekends from this evening at 9pm. Although a traditional TV network jumping on the eSports bandwagon isn’t necessarily new, the fact that it’s coming from a public service broadcasting network with nearly 100 years of history has certainly shocked some of its more conservative viewers.
 
lol, love the comments, get out in the air and exercise. Yea right, those yobbos have done neither of those things their entire life, spending weekends at the pub watching the tv sports they've never done for one second in their lives.
 
good...a little variety...but the moniker "eSports" ?...hahaha...there are only 3 sports , bull fighting , mountain climbing , and motor racing...everything else is just a game
 
Sport used to be defined by having an opposing opponent directly effecting your performance. So in this regards Esport are more on the spot than the 3 mentionen examples ;)
 
It's not a sport in my opinion. But what I think doesnt matter. The purpose of the BBC is to serve the public and if enough of the public want it then it should be shown.

That said, I'm watching it live right now. It's fucking cringeworthy and embarassing, bunch of sweaty nerds playing games. The commentators are trying desperately to make it seem thrilling, but to me it just seems sad. Still not a sport in my opinon. Sport is performed by athletes, and these guys DEFINITELY aren't that.
 
"Ignorant old farts" you mean the primary demographic for all broadcast television?

Idk why they bother, vast majority are just going to watch online anyway.
 
"Ignorant old farts" you mean the primary demographic for all broadcast television?

Idk why they bother, vast majority are just going to watch online anyway.

"The BBC has announced that it will begin broadcasting eSports through its ONLINE-ONLY BBC Three channel"
 
I love playing games, but I'd rather watch paint dry than watch "esports".
I guess if you suck at gaming, you can now armchair quarterback these nerds while they play.
 
good...a little variety...but the moniker "eSports" ?...hahaha...there are only 3 sports , bull fighting , mountain climbing , and motor racing...everything else is just a game

You sound like Hemmingway or something, I like it.

I agree though, that name really could use a change.
 
It's not a sport in my opinion. But what I think doesnt matter. The purpose of the BBC is to serve the public and if enough of the public want it then it should be shown.

That said, I'm watching it live right now. It's fucking cringeworthy and embarassing, bunch of sweaty nerds playing games. The commentators are trying desperately to make it seem thrilling, but to me it just seems sad. Still not a sport in my opinon. Sport is performed by athletes, and these guys DEFINITELY aren't that.

Yup.

I'm an avid gamer - Have been for four decades. At the end of the day though 'eSports' are terrible to watch. Buffalo WildWings started playing eSports on certain days of the week and it makes the place unbearable to sit in with the volume on. The commentary and hearing a bunch of teenagers shouting is obnoxious.
 
I guess I'm one of those old farts.

I find the whole concept of games as a "sport" preposterous, and I don't get streaming at all.

Don't get me wrong, I love my games. I've been building PC's and playing games on them for over 25 years, and I even competed in a few competitions at LAN parties back in the original CS days before Source, but I would never call them sports, and I would never have any interest in watching someone else play in a stream.

The whole concept of Esports, and game streaming on Youtube or Twitch is just utterly retarded to me.
 
Whilst it is possible these people complaining are ignorant, abuse of people by calling them old farts seems a little over the top. At least these people got to old aged. I suspect many 'gamers' ,especially those who spend large amounts of time sitting down eating very unhealthy snacks, will suffer cardiovascular problems well before their time. Young farts may not get to be old farts. And even if they do, they may end up very unhealthy old farts.

However playing many online games myself, I realise that too many gamers are boring ignorant trolls. So I am not surprised an abusive, troll like headline, has been used for this 'article'. It only seems appropriate.
 
How cute, it's the non-interactive entertainment people whining about the interactive entertainment people again.
 
I guess I'm one of those old farts.

I find the whole concept of games as a "sport" preposterous, and I don't get streaming at all.

Don't get me wrong, I love my games. I've been building PC's and playing games on them for over 25 years, and I even competed in a few competitions at LAN parties back in the original CS days before Source, but I would never call them sports, and I would never have any interest in watching someone else play in a stream.

The whole concept of Esports, and game streaming on Youtube or Twitch is just utterly retarded to me.

Games like football are just that, games. In the real world it's still just a talking point, entertainment that does as much for society as winning a game in cs.

Anyway, I like the live streams of games like fo4 and bl2 where the guy playing it will just go along and interact with the viewers on the live chat.
 
...as we move closer to e-spots being taken to the olympics. Dont believe that its "that" real of a sport, but with the pressure of social apps making things unheard of possible, just wait and see zeus turn over in his grave.
 
theres been peeps at the beeb trying to do this for years, when games master was big, they tried to do a dm tourney show based around doom in the 90s,
 
It's not a sport in my opinion. But what I think doesnt matter. The purpose of the BBC is to serve the public and if enough of the public want it then it should be shown.

That said, I'm watching it live right now. It's fucking cringeworthy and embarassing, bunch of sweaty nerds playing games. The commentators are trying desperately to make it seem thrilling, but to me it just seems sad. Still not a sport in my opinon. Sport is performed by athletes, and these guys DEFINITELY aren't that.

They should have called it eCompetitions. A more fitting name. I still wouldn't watch it. I was watching the Starcraft competitions in S.Korea back in 2004 and I got bored watching that too.
 
Well then I'm officially an old fart. As I have zero interest in esports. And I won't be happy if it takes away screen time from actual sports that are already under represented on not represented at all in broadcasting.
Thankfully youtube does offer some coverage on less popularized sports but getting actual full broadcasts is often impossible. I'd pay any money for a service where I get access to sports feeds from all over the world for all sporting events.
 
I reminisce at times and check out old and more recent Q3 competitions found on the net. When quake champions goes fully live, I will check out vids of the better players. Not much into the mmorpg variety. Fps's are cool also.
 
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