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EVO SFV Top 8 to air on live on ESPN2

Crayolan said:
People always say put fighting games on TV, well there you go. Hope this does better than MOBA's.
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I can't imagine a more interesting genre for the layman to watch. And in this genre, no game more interesting than sf5. The characters are so eye-catching and they're faces so readable and expressive. You don't need to have ever played a videogame to follow the drama.
 
Interesting. I'll have to go to a bar to watch it. It's the best spot to watch people fight, anyway.

I wonder how the reception will be, though. I also wonder how they made it happen. It's not like SFV is some super popular game like Dota or Counter strike.
 
SolidSnakex said:
It'd be shocking if it's anyone other than UltraChen.
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Hasn't it been James and Seth the past two years though? They might keep that pair or maybe have Seth with David instead? Whoever they choose, it will probably be between those 3 so I'm definitely not counting on Zhi or Mike Ross to show up.

As for the viewers. I was hoping for 300k this year for SFV. But I wonder if it could do 1 million+ with the TV audience. I have no idea what kind of boost ESPN2 will give it. Anybody know what kind of number LOL did on ESPN? SFV may not beat that, but I don't know what else to compare it to besides competitive eating and spelling bee.
 
Wolfgunblood Garopa said:
Smash is going to need to wrap it up.
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Smash Top 4 only on Sunday.
 
Whatever numbers it does (will be huge just because people will watch paint dry on ESPN), it's going to benefit from Game of Thrones being finished. I don't think there's much to watch at 10pm on a Sunday. I just hope people are on their best behavior and we don't have Razr malfunctions or match pausing. I also hope there's strong variety in top 8.
 
It's the GGXrd Woshige/Ogawa moment narrated by Hunter/Hellpockets that got them on ESPN in the first place. They're more deserving than SFV personally speaking. But cool regardless.
 
qcf x2 said:
I wonder how the reception will be, though.
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Most likely as bad as any other game on television. This audience is on Twitch. I just don't see people who aren't into competitive gaming ever watching competitive gaming while channel surfing. This is happening because ESPN sees twitch numbers and money signs along with wanting that young audience but why does that audience want it on TV? Online streaming is a much richer experience.
 
I'd wager it'll probably be some combination of Ultradavid, James Chen, and/or Seth Killian on the mic, but I secretely hope Sajam and Tasty Steve are given the chance at doing top 8.
 
El Sloth said:
I'd wager it'll probably be some combination of Ultradavid, James Chen, and/or Seth Killian on the mic, but I secretely hope Sajam and Tasty Steve are given the chance at doing top 8.
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I'd love for another Mike Ross and Zhi session, but it's doubtful. However, they may commentate some pools/top 32/64 matches. Can't wait!

SargerusBR said:
Gonna watch my boi Tokido on ESPN2?
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Twokido on ESPN2*. J/k. Poor guy, but I'm glad he finally took 1st!
 
Sunday's line up has 5 games and will probably start at 10am EST. That gives each game an average of 3 hours each to stay on schedule for SFV's start time at 10pm. Yes I'm fully aware that Melee takes forever, but that will probably be offset by other games running quicker. Most traditional tournaments last 2 to 2 and half hours. As long as their are no problems like a power outage EVO should be able to stay on schedule or slightly ahead that even a really long Melee top 8 won't delay SFV. At least I hope so.

I wouldn't want the broadcast to start with Seth and James saying they're excited to start SFV top 8 but it will probably be another 30-40 minutes because it's Losers final in Melee(which they probably can't broadcast even if they wanted to).
 
Street Fighter is the best fighting game suited for mainstream viewing. I'm interested to see how the broadcast does because there's not much else on TV to watch at that time besides baseball.

Plus there's plenty of bars with plenty of television sets, so one is going to be set on ESPN2. I'll probably go to a bar just to watch it.

CountAntonius said:
Most likely as bad as any other game on television. This audience is on Twitch. I just don't see people who aren't into competitive gaming ever watching competitive gaming while channel surfing. This is happening because ESPN sees twitch numbers and money signs along with wanting that young audience but why does that audience want it on TV? Online streaming is a much richer experience.
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Twitch is going to offer the better experience, but ESPN is going to reach people outside of fighting games and gaming in general.

Dali said:
My crystal ball says Tokido, momochi, maybe diago, infiltration, fchamp and gootecks (lol) are sure-ins. Whoever it is I'm pretty sure 7/8ths will be from east Asia.
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I just hope Justin OHOHOHOHs his way it into top 8. It's going to suck having a top 8 without a rooting interest from 'Murica. 7/8 will be from East Asia one way or another.
 
Wow awesome. Well this is definitely a better game to show on tv than cs or hots. Doesn't get much simpler than two guys punching each other with life bars on screen.
 
Malice215 said:
Street Fighter is the best fighting game suited for mainstream viewing. I'm interested to see how the broadcast does because there's not much else on TV to watch at that time besides baseball.

Plus there's plenty of bars with plenty of television sets, so one is going to be set on ESPN2. I'll probably go to a bar just to watch it.
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That's a good point with the bars. Maybe I'll do that.
 
Malice215 said:
Twitch is going to offer the better experience, but ESPN is going to reach people outside of fighting games and gaming in general.
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I think that is a hope more than a reality. My guess is people who never had interest will keep changing the channel. It's the gamers who will blow this up. Nobody has interest in competitive gaming out of gamers and even amongst ourselves many don't care.

I think E-Sports will continue to blow up but I don't think it will ever capture that casual television audience.
 
sixteen-bit said:
I wonder if the plan is 'run matches off stream'
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That was actually my guess as well. The Smash salt on Twitter and the stream will probably be astronomical though lol. The sacrifice would have to be made though if it comes down to that. They can boycott EVO next year and just focus on making their events bigger and better, I won't mind. I'm sure the Smash 4 guys won't mind either as they'll just slide right in to replace Melee lol.

J/k, all jokes aside I trust them to get this thing started on time(without hurting other games) because it's a historic event for us.
 
The CEO finals was amazing, hope this just as good! I like it cause there is actual variety on SF V characters choices from pros! Will tune in to ESPN 2 this sunday!
 
That explains why they're going to be stricter than usual on coaching in Melee. They're going to be running a tight shift this year.
 
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