Why is the US so bad at video games?

[Opiate]

It has occurred to many times that, across a variety of genres, the US is almost uniformly the worst region at gaming.

Whether it be RTS, FPS, Fighters, or MOBAs, the US is effectively the worst region across the board, even if we split up Asia in to smaller regions like China/Kor and not just treat it as a single uniform block.

It would be more understandable if the US simply did not play games, but we play a huge number of them and remain the number one market for games by revenue. I can imagine some explanations for this, but I thought I'd let others offer their thoughts before offering my own.

 

[Zee-Row]

Short attention spans is my guess.

 

[dab0ne]

We want everything handed to us. If it gets hard we say "fuck it" and forget about it.

Spoiler

I have no idea why we suck

 

[Mokubba]

US is the best in Marvel but not SF4 so it depends on the games for fighters.

I don't know about the rest.

 

[Salamando]

Gaming isn't nearly as much of a spectator "sport" here. Less fame and money in it.

 

[Swifty]

"I fear not the man who has practiced 10000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10000 times."

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

I'm curious as to how long American gamers play compared to other countries, as it is probably quite relevant. We buy tons and tons of video games, but do we log in as many hours?

 

[Iacobellis]

We still excel at FPS', don't we?

 

[shuri]

There's simply a bigger emphasis on having more balanced life style in North America than in those countries. It's pretty pathetic and disgusting how korean sc2 players are treated like objects and almost slaves behind the scene just for the training part.

 

[Pikma]

It's probably my fault, I suck at fighters, no matter how hard I try.

 

[Dresden]

Less sponsors, less money.

 

[Jinko]

Too busy bitching at people over voice chat ?

 

[Red Chocobo]

I've noticed it in racing games. US are always at the bottom of worldwide leaderbaords.

 

[revolverjgw]

Too busy enjoying other freedoms of all types

 

[thetrin]

I think the fact that America makes up such a large portion of the revenue is correlated with the poor performance of US gamers. US gamers tend to play a lot of different games, rather than buy a single game, and play nothing but that one game until they know everything about it.

Most people I know in any country that are pro level at any game only play that one game.

 

[Axispowers]

I think it's apart of our culture more then anything.

 

[Goldenroad]

I can't speak for everyone, and I'm in Canada not the U.S., but to me game's aren't about competition they are just about having fun.

 

[AnbaLeumas]

Maybe they just pick bad US players to play infront of audiences.

 

[szaromir]

Competitive video gaming shouldn't be taken too seriously.

 

[R215]

Eh, I thought we were pretty good at FPS's and Sports.

 

[Brofield]

Initially I would say because in years past before the rise of Western developed games North America is simply waiting for games in Japan to get localized, so naturally they would have a 6 month head start.

But as for now, and given how well Europe does...I just don't know.

I can't speak for everyone, and I'm in Canada not the U.S., but to me game's aren't about competition they are just about having fun.

"Sorry for hitting you with that blue shell."

Spoiler

Canadiana here

 

[Dr. Kenneth Noisewater]

Because we'd rather have fun than pretend like being perfect at and completely dedicating our lives to video games is some major accomplishment?

 

[Opiate]

US is the best in Marvel but not SF4 so it depends on the games for fighters.

I don't know about the rest.

Right, this isn't as simple as US literally being the worst at every single game ever invented, but the pattern is fairly clear. Using fighters as the example, US was worst at SFII, SFIII, and SFIV, which is considered the pre-eminent fighting game.

The US is also good at Halo, mostly because almost no one else plays it. But they are worst at CS (essentially all versions), worse at UT, and worse than EU at most modern shooters (e.g. Natural Selection 2).

 

[MightyKAC]

Are we the worst or just bad in comparison to those who spend like 10 hours a day training in the camps of their respective games. Last time I checked the only folks who were beating us consistently were the Asians and no one else really.

 

[James Coote]

Clearly there has been a massive underinvestment by the sport's governing body. They need to pump money into local sports clubs, improving facilities at both a local and national level, and creating world class academies that can nurture the best and brightest and act as feeders for our professional teams.

Undoubtedly, this has been due to endemic poor management practices over many years, resulting in a culture of neglect and apathy. It's not been helped by the big money swilling around the game, which has had a distorting effect on the talent market.

Really, the whole system needs a radical overhaul, from top to bottom, if we're able to achieve the level of performance expected by the country

Fake Edit: nvm, thought you were talking about football

 

[Zach]

You know how games are being dumbed down and made easier? Yeah, that's probably because of us. I think our gross sense of entitlement has overall made our games easier so we can "win" with less frustration or pushback. And that's why our skills are dwindling.

 

[Evolution_1ne]

more people playing = more bad players to interact with

 

[bigkrev]

The lack of centralization in the US.

I'll use Magic the Gathering as an example. Throughout the early 2000s, Japanese players domintated the tournament scene. Now, we have a resurgance of North Americans in the Top8 of tournaments. This is attributed by a concerted effort to have teams- ChannelFireball, SCGBlack, Manadeprived and others have brought together many of the best minds from across the continent, and through group interactions, they have been able to better test (practice), and take back the world crown.

The fact that America is so fucking huge with its population spread all over the place prevents the best players from finding the other best players and forming groups. Didn't Brad of Giantbomb go to Korea once and saw that there were groups of players living in the same house? That would never happen in America.

 

[Opiate]

Eh, I thought we were pretty good at FPS's and Sports.

Worse than EU and (more recently) China at FPS, and sports I hadn't considered. I don't think they're considered a major part of competitive gaming. I mean, obviously we're the best at Madden, because 4 copies of Madden are sold outside the US annually.

 

[Ultratech]

Perhaps they apply a different way of thinking when it comes to playing those games?

Beyond that, I honestly have no idea.

 

[gfunkera]

Eh, I thought we were pretty good at FPS's and Sports.

Inorite!!!




Probably because we play a wide variety of games maybe.

 

[2MF]

Are we the worst or just bad in comparison to those who spend like 10 hours a day training in the camps of their respective games. Last time I checked the only folks who were beating us consistently were the Asians and no one else really.

Are you saying USA > EU in Starcraft and Quake?

 

[KojiKnight]

It has occurred to many times that, across a variety of genres, the US is almost uniformly the worst region at gaming.

Whether it be RTS, FPS, Fighters, or MOBAs, the US is effectively the worst region across the board, even if we split up Asia in to smaller regions like China/Kor and not just treat it as a single uniform block.

It would be more understandable if the US simply did not play games, but we play a huge number of them and remain the number one market for games by revenue. I can imagine some explanations for this, but I thought I'd let others offer their thoughts before offering my own.

We get more games with fewer delays, we are also a nation of spenders. Put those together and we spend, on average, less time on each game and therefore don't have the time to "mature" on said games. It's kind of WHY we see more games and get releases earlier (in general)

 

[thetrin]

Eh, I thought we were pretty good at FPS's and Sports.

If you look at worldwide leaderboards, the only games where american players dominate are those where the worldwide audience is either very small, or non-existent.

Plus, if you watch gaming tournaments, a lot of those games are dominated by Japan, Korea, or China.

I know I'll never be amazing at any game, because I just play to many other games. I'd probably be a lot better if I dedicated myself to one game.

 

[Atomski]

We still excel at FPS', don't we?

What competitive FPS? COD and Halo?

 

[Opiate]

Because we'd rather have fun than pretend like being perfect at and completely dedicating our lives to video games is some major accomplishment?

First, many people have fun by being good at games. As one of my friends said back in my competitive TFC days, "I don't pay 50 dollars to suck at a game."

If you don't fit that description, that's fine. Obviously casual gamers exist everywhere, though.

 

[The Omega Man]

Because we'd rather have fun than pretend like being perfect at and completely dedicating our lives to video games is some major accomplishment?

The thing is, they are US gamers completely dedicated to it, that compete and play in different leagues, however, the moment they are pit against another country they're usually obliterated.

 

[VeryGooster]

I think the fact that America makes up such a large portion of the revenue is correlated with the poor performance of US gamers. US gamers tend to play a lot of different games, rather than buy a single game, and play nothing but that one game until they know everything about it.

Most people I know in any country that are pro level at any game only play that one game.

This is the feeling I get. Although I'm kind of surprised if the US was bad at FPSes. From a broad perspective, I don't really get the feeling other genres like RTS and fighters just don't have the investment like in past generations.

 

[Ken]

Stream money too good. Who wants to actually practice as a team off stream.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

We're too busy studying math and science.

 

[Kurita]

Inorite!!!




Probably because we play a wide variety of games maybe.

So do other countries.

 

[Lunchbox]

play me at COD

ill change your opinion

 

[Opiate]

Are we the worst or just bad in comparison to those who spend like 10 hours a day training in the camps of their respective games. Last time I checked the only folks who were beating us consistently were the Asians and no one else really.

EU beats us at pretty much everything, with the possible exception of fighting games. They' beat us in most of the major FPS (Quake, CS, CS:S, etc.) beat us at RTS, beat us at MOBAs, even beat us in WoW.

 

[Zwei]

I'd say that's a compliment. There are way better things to become skilled at, like sex.

 

[antitrop]

The StarCraft community has been trying to figure this out for 13 years.

As a StarCraft fan and a resident of the United States, it's laziness and lack of dedication/practice.

 

[RM8]

US is the best in Marvel

But Asia kind of doesn't care about Marvel I'm pretty sure US is also the best in Injustice.

 

[oneils]

My own thinking is that the incentives are not quite there to become a pro gamer in North America. If there were more incentives, it would become more popular and competition would increase. Then we would probably start to see more high level players.

 

[vocab]

We want instant gratification. If I want to get to high levels in certain games I have to put the time into them. I get bored easily, and just want to play it casually/not serious. I don't care that I'm "bad" to some people because all I care about is having fun. Most games that are played competitively rip the fun out of it, and is no longer worth playing to some.

Plus my life style of having no life, being always depressed, and not wanting to go to tournaments/locals kind of gets in the way of all that.

 

[Opiate]

We get more games with fewer delays, we are also a nation of spenders. Put those together and we spend, on average, less time on each game and therefore don't have the time to "mature" on said games. It's kind of WHY we see more games and get releases earlier (in general)

"I may suck at video games, but I'm great at spending lots of money on them!"

In seriousness, it's a plausible explanation.

 

[Mileena]

It does appear to be that way. We weren't that bad at Counter Strike with teams like compLexity, 3D and Rival but those damn Swedish are just too good. For fighting games that other countries actually play, man we suck pretty bad.