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| PLDT-Smart CyberCity at ESGS (Electronic Sports and Gaming Summit) 2019 (Image Source: GGNetwork.tv) |
Since the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 and the
continuing rise of PCs and arcades that began in the 70s, video games become a
popular pastime for many young and old Filipinos until now in today's modern
world. The undaunting growth and interest of video game communities would
eventually give birth to the professional gaming scene or simply known as
eSports. As more gamers are starting to showcase their own skills and rise up
to the ranks in various professional gaming tournaments, there are those who get
convenient access to these tilts.
Those who are not familiar with the new trend should familiarize
themselves on how it became what it is until now, whether it may be a newbie to
video games or a video game enthusiast who wants to learn more about the evolving
sport. With these in mind, here is a simple but comprehensive guide to eSports
for beginners.
What Is eSports?
Highly-skilled competitive players who are good at various video games
are trained and tuned to compete in top-level competitions against each other either
individually or in teams (depending on the game they are playing) for cash prizes,
titles and glory. There have been many professional gaming tournaments and multi-level
events being held in many countries around the globe through the years,
including the Philippines, with national or corporate-sponsored teams duking it
out against each other. These players are trained hard to be at their best and
eventually make a living. This is what eSports is all about - competitive video
gaming being held at a professional level.
What games are usually
played in eSports competitions?
There are many games of different genres that are featured in various
eSports events anywhere around the world including multiplayer online battle
arena (MOBA), fighting games, real-time strategy (RTS), first-person shooter
(FPS), sports games and card games. Here is what I know about these genres
which are considered among the most commonly featured in the professional gaming
scene.
* Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) - Arguably the most popular
eSports genre, it involves two teams of five trying to defeat the other by
destroying the opposing force's base in an arena-like map. These games are
accessible and casual-friendly in the Philippines with DOTA 2, League of
Legends and Mobile Legends Bang Bang as the most played in the country. Many professional
gaming events across the globe are centered on these games due to their sheer
popularity.
* Fighting Games - These need no introduction since these are the
oldest video game genres available in the market. Street Fighter V and Tekken
7, two of the most popular in the genre today, are without question the easiest
to watch because of their simple premise of trying to knock each other out in a
one-on-one encounter.
* Real-Time Strategy (RTS) - It is the most simple yet complex genre in
the professional gaming scene where a player gathers resources, build an army
and deploys them strategically to defeat his or her opponents. There is one game
that comes to mind when it comes to RTS and that would be the 1998 classic StarCraft
which believed to be where the gaming phenomenon all began. While SC remains
popular in South Korea, its sequel StarCraft II happens to be a highly popular
eSports title of such genre in the Philippines.
* First-Person Shooter (FPS) - Before the rise of MOBAs, these games
were the most popular and most played titles in the early 2000s because of
Valve's multiplayer FPS spectacle named Counter-Strike. A strong fanbase keeps
the genre intact in the eSports scene thanks to Blizzard's Overwatch and
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
* Sports Games - They may be the easiest to grasp considering that they
are digitized versions of live sporting events, but the likes of 2K Games' NBA
2K and EA Sports' FIFA franchises are gaining a huge following starting with
traditional sports fans.
* Card Games - Have you ever played Yugi-Oh! or Magic The Gathering
cards in the past? Well, though these have been around for more than a decade
or so, they have been translated to games that can be played on your PCs and
smartphones. Blizzard's Hearthstone may have refreshed the card games scene as
a new form of eSports but it seems to have a decent fan base in the Philippines.
On the other hand, Magic The Gathering is starting to pick up traction in the
scene thanks to its digital version Magic The Gathering Arena.
Where can you watch an
eSports event?
There are two ways of where you want to watch an eSports event, whether
it can be in person at a tournament or event or live online streaming via the
Internet. There are various conferences, conventions, tournaments and events
being held in the Philippines almost all year round that provide many
opportunities for eSports players and enthusiasts to experience the thrill of
professional gaming. On the other hand, online streaming is commonplace with
various platforms broadcasting live and on-demand games and tournaments
available such as Facebook, Twitch and YouTube.
Filipino gamers can experience the thrill of the professional gaming
circuit not just by being at events such as ESGS and watching players compete
against each other in a featured game or tournament but also by doing it within
the comforts of your own home or on-the-go with your devices powered by PLDT's
Home Fibr connection and Smart's nationwide LTE network which are hailed as the
fastest mobile internet services in the Philippines by third-party organizations
based on their crowdsource-based studies.
