The ESports Genre

Gaming Couch

Episode 43 of Gaming Couch on a great and happy Mother's Day!
Real quick, I did take the first few minutes of this episode to talk about Detective Pikachu. Even though it isn't anything major, and I mostly talk about the opening, I still feel there is some big plot stuff that happens in those opening minutes so SPOILER WARNINGS TO YE. If you don't want to hear that babble (either because spoilers or 'fuck that this a gaming show, not a movie review) skip to the 9:00 mark. That is when the game talk starts in.
Let's talk ESports. The whole area of gaming where people compete in a video game to usually win money and shiney things, as well as bragging rights. It isn't my thing but if it is your thing, cool. You do you fam. My one question is when does it stop being a 'video game' and turn into a 'sports game'. At the core these ESports are based in a video game world, which means the rules of a video game are still there. Is the game balanced? Is it playable? Are their bugs and glitches? Can people pick up the game and easily understand it but take time to master it? It's not just about the competition, it still has to be a video game.
Today we'll take time to look at AVARIAvs. (I STILL can't say that name right, so sorry about that). This game does so many things right, including making player effecting debuffs (inverted controls, static screens, and what not that the player has to work around while having hte debuff). And it's a very simple concept, have a team of 3 characters beat the shit out of another team of 3 characters. So why, after being pushed back about 6 months for development, was it released on May 9th, only has 7 reviews on Steam (at the time of posting this) and isn't really heard about online? I think it's because they focused on being an ESport. THe development was pushed back because they got some deal with a company, or something, that gave them more money, etc. The development got pushed back because more money=more game. I'm happy with that. They had an opportunity and took it. However, I think it lead to a downfall for the game because during that extra time of development, instead of having a BETA open for players, it was a focused closed BETA that was built like a Tournament. That really cut backs on the number of players you can get for testing.

Details are in the episode. Give it a listen. If you are a competitive player/ESports kind of person I still recommend the game to you. If you are more like me, interested in what the game offers the player instead of the competition, I wouldn't recommend it.
Take care, and happy Mother's Day to you if it applies to you. Otherwise, Happy Mother's Day to your mother,

Smartboy