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Game Boys: Professional Videogaming's Rise Form the Basement To The Big Time
Author: Michael Kane
June 2008
Games Boys: Professional Videogaming's Rise from the Basement to the Big Time by Michael Kane is the best inside look at the competitive videogaming industry I have read to date. He peels back the layers of this very complex subculture and lays it all out there for anyone to read - from the gamers themselves to the parents who try to understand. Game Boys has it all - the celebratory victories, the heartbreaking losses, the passion of its supports and accompanies it all with backroom dirty laundry. This book is an informative, exciting read. Author Michael Kane has managed to translate the excitement of competition into his words, and sometimes I found myself reading faster through the competition gameplay to get to the moment of victory - even though I already knew the results of many of the matches he wrote about.
As a participant full of passion for the videogame industry, there were so many times I found myself identifying with CompLexity GM Jason Lake and harbouring feelings of resentment towards Craig Levine. Like Jason Lake, I believe in the grassroots foundation of this wonderful industry, and even though Craig Levine has done much to get competitive videogaming out there into the main stream of today's world, I often felt that Levine's tactics were less than honourable, and I am of the generation when honour was at the forefront of how you conducted your life. These are elements which make for a great book - eliciting emotion and appreciation from the reader, making the reader care about the characters in the story.
Michael Kane has artfully included every aspect of our advancing technological world - global friendships and rivalries, heroes and villains, supportive families and families who feel the gamer is wasting his or her time. Corporations who only look at the biggest and the best for exposure, instead of looking at and supporting the grassroots events and players who keep the industry churning forward on a daily basis. Event promoters who are in it for the dollar, and to heck with the injury they do to our industry by scamming the players who have poured their heart, soul and often their last dollar into feeding their passion for gaming in hopes of making it to the winner's circle.
I commend Michael for the honesty of his words, even the ones which cast a less than idyllic light on the e-sports industry, because the end result shows that our cyberathletes truly are no different from the mainstream sports athletes. They train, they play, they do things they shouldn't, but when it comes right down to the final seconds it's all about the game and the opponent in front of them. Game Boys shows how far we as a competitive market have come, but also shows how far we have yet to go. Michael touched very briefly on the girls in gaming, and while some things have changed since Game Boys went to print, much has stayed the same, from the disdain which meets many girl gamers head on, to the insults and unwelcome photos hurled at them on XBL. While the industry is still very much a boys' club, the girls are rapidly gaining ground - perhaps in the future we can look forward to a book on Gamer Girls to compliment Gamer Boys - what do you say, Michael?
Author: Michael Kane
June 2008
Games Boys: Professional Videogaming's Rise from the Basement to the Big Time by Michael Kane is the best inside look at the competitive videogaming industry I have read to date. He peels back the layers of this very complex subculture and lays it all out there for anyone to read - from the gamers themselves to the parents who try to understand. Game Boys has it all - the celebratory victories, the heartbreaking losses, the passion of its supports and accompanies it all with backroom dirty laundry. This book is an informative, exciting read. Author Michael Kane has managed to translate the excitement of competition into his words, and sometimes I found myself reading faster through the competition gameplay to get to the moment of victory - even though I already knew the results of many of the matches he wrote about.
As a participant full of passion for the videogame industry, there were so many times I found myself identifying with CompLexity GM Jason Lake and harbouring feelings of resentment towards Craig Levine. Like Jason Lake, I believe in the grassroots foundation of this wonderful industry, and even though Craig Levine has done much to get competitive videogaming out there into the main stream of today's world, I often felt that Levine's tactics were less than honourable, and I am of the generation when honour was at the forefront of how you conducted your life. These are elements which make for a great book - eliciting emotion and appreciation from the reader, making the reader care about the characters in the story.
Michael Kane has artfully included every aspect of our advancing technological world - global friendships and rivalries, heroes and villains, supportive families and families who feel the gamer is wasting his or her time. Corporations who only look at the biggest and the best for exposure, instead of looking at and supporting the grassroots events and players who keep the industry churning forward on a daily basis. Event promoters who are in it for the dollar, and to heck with the injury they do to our industry by scamming the players who have poured their heart, soul and often their last dollar into feeding their passion for gaming in hopes of making it to the winner's circle.
I commend Michael for the honesty of his words, even the ones which cast a less than idyllic light on the e-sports industry, because the end result shows that our cyberathletes truly are no different from the mainstream sports athletes. They train, they play, they do things they shouldn't, but when it comes right down to the final seconds it's all about the game and the opponent in front of them. Game Boys shows how far we as a competitive market have come, but also shows how far we have yet to go. Michael touched very briefly on the girls in gaming, and while some things have changed since Game Boys went to print, much has stayed the same, from the disdain which meets many girl gamers head on, to the insults and unwelcome photos hurled at them on XBL. While the industry is still very much a boys' club, the girls are rapidly gaining ground - perhaps in the future we can look forward to a book on Gamer Girls to compliment Gamer Boys - what do you say, Michael?
Time Warped Somewhere
First - thank you to every one for the faves, features and follows (I know it's watch, but I didn't want to break the flow). You've all been incredibly busy, and I'll make it around to all of your galleries at some point in the near future.
I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last updated my journal. I haven't had much time to get out and spend some quality time with my camera as I'd like - then again, time management has always been an issue. If I had more time to manage, there might be some improvement, though - and as a painful lesson over the past week brought to the forefront, we never know how much time we really have. I lo
North Devon - Are You Ready To Rock?
If you answered yes, then head out to the Agricultural Inn in Braunton, North Devon this coming Sunday, September 7 to catch some young musical artists put on a show that will move you. The show starts at 7:30pm with a door admission of £3 and will be featuring a sensory feast of live music, special effects and visual media. This is your chance to catch some very talented up-and-coming artists who are well on their way to topping the rock charts. Headlining group Mendella will be venturing into the studio this fall to record their first commercial CD, which is scheduled for release Spring 2009. Don't miss this chance to see the new gener
Coming Up For Air
Yes, I'm lazy - I stole the title of my last blog on my personal site (as those of you who read it know), and I'm going to steal most of my last blog off of there too, just because I can.
Anyway, as I said in the title....
Coming up for air
and taking a deep breath before rolling into the next list of projects. August has certainly been an incredible month - Digital Storm, Mendella here for a two week tour, the Abbotsford Airshow - busy, tiring, but oh so fun.
While the tournament component of Digital Storm wasn't as well attended as we'd hoped it would be, those who came to play had fun. It's too bad the weekend was marred by a thie
Still Waiting On Those Clones
Good thing I'm not holding my breath, though. Having three or four clones would make my life sooooooo much easier. One could work at the day job I hate, one could write all of the game and book reviews I have piling up... The other clone could be the maid, cook, laundress, gardener, etc. Then I could do all the fun stuff - shoot photos, go to conferences, work on the network stuff I like to work on, and read. And game. And game some more. Did I mention that we bought a Wii? It doesn't like it when I ignore it to play Call of Duty 4 or Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 or the dozens of other Xbox 360 games we have. And Scott just bought Quake Wars Enemy Terri
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I's afraid I's not a game player m'deer