Streaming: A New Way to Identify Games

Today I wanted to introduce a new topic of discussion in the gaming world. There has quietly been a large movement in the video game industry which has not gotten the attention that I feel it deserves. One of the newest ways people have been branching out in the gaming community is streaming. Now to begin, streaming is a relatively new way for people to interact in the gaming world. The origin of streaming and broadcasting originated in the old speedrunning days. Think Quake and Half Life:

Yep,this was the type of game your parents were obsessed with (unless your in your 30's then probably not). But either way, these were the game being utilized by the speed running community. The idea behind speed-running is to post the fastest time possible completing a game. During the 90's this was considered difficult. Uploading these video online on forums were ways for people to see what to do and how to perfect their own run through the game. Now fast forward to the turn of the 21st century and the rise of Youtube. Gamers took the opportunity of the growth of Youtube and began to upload their videos showcasing play throughs of popular gaming titles. The video sharing site has been dominate in the online entertainment world. Here is a link to the top paid Youtube up-loader. In the link around 13 out of the 20 are video game uploaders. The number one spot also belongs to a video game up-loader. Youtube was also able to bring gaming to a mainstream audience with its ability to upload to gaming content to a central portal of information that people were able to access.

Evolution 2004

This video above features the one of the defining moments of competitive sports gaming history. The tournament Evolution featured two of the future's greatest fighting game players. On the left is Daigo who is playing the male character, while Justin is playing the female. The reason why this moment vaulted gaming history into a category previously only reserved for the likes of Superbowl or NBA Playoffs is the reaction from the crowd. In the past, during tournaments, when a "hyped" play was being executed, the audience would clap or maybe echo a few expletives, nothing that would be considered extraordinary. This reaction to the parry however rivals the euphoric reaction a sports fan would follow after a miraculous play, which the play above was. The parry, the block that is executed after the the woman character starts her kick motion, requires precise timing of a few frames (for reference each frame is 1/60 of a second, depending on whether the game is being played at 60 fps etc) so 3/60 of a second for each repeated block. Also the pressure to do this when your tournament life is on the line requires the ubiquitous calm nature that only a skilled individual like Daigo could possess.


Youtube and the video sharing juggernaut has dominated one sector of the online entertainment world. However another giant is slowing emerging from the shadows. Online streaming has been popular for some time, however it was relatively unknown. A new phenomenon has though has been created. Its name is Twitch. For those that do not know Twitch is an online broadcasting website that features exclusively video game content. The website features professional gaming and entertaining gaming. The beauty of online streaming and video games is that anyone can participate in this platform. Ordinary people are able to share their experiences with other people, sort of like Youtube, Now though, this experience is real time. People are able to ascend from ordinary people into a sort of entertainment personality within a community. While most people initially used this service to upload their breakthroughs people now are making serous money from it.