Omni Arena
For those who don't know, the Omni Arena is a multiplayer, multi Omnis game where people compete against each other in an arena-type virtual battle-space.
The main reason I'm excited about this is there is an idea in the sports community that esport is not a "real sport". They criticize our medium because they perceive our lack of drastic body movements as sub-par to their own respective notion of what active sport really is. I think this event and what Virtuix refers to as "active VR" has the potential to really change people's perception of what VR can be: not just solo gaming but as a gateway to social, active. immersive experiences that can one day be mentioned with other major sports with an enthusiastic fan base. Just my thoughts, anyways.
The main reason I'm excited about this is there is an idea in the sports community that esport is not a "real sport". They criticize our medium because they perceive our lack of drastic body movements as sub-par to their own respective notion of what active sport really is. I think this event and what Virtuix refers to as "active VR" has the potential to really change people's perception of what VR can be: not just solo gaming but as a gateway to social, active. immersive experiences that can one day be mentioned with other major sports with an enthusiastic fan base. Just my thoughts, anyways.
Comments
- Must have 2 or more teams
- Must have 1 or more people on a team
- Each team attempts to complete a objective
- Each team attempts to prevent the other team of completing that objective
So by my, what most would consider odd, definition. Baseball, Hockey, Chess, Team Fortress 2, StarCraft1/2, Magic the Gathering and Omni Arena are all sports. Now things like Golf, Nascar, F1 racing(pretty much any racing), TRAVR Ops training, Track and Field would be considered competitions because none of them meet the 4th and in my opinion most important point that makes a sport a sport.Anyway those are my crazy thoughts on what a sport is.
@xxann5. I agree with those criterias but my issue is the sports/general public won't see e-sport as a real sporting event even if those criterias are in effect. Those COD or CS competition are entertaining for us hardcore gamers but they're not covered/talked about by the sport community with as much intensity as other major sports (basketball, football, etc.). What I'm hoping to see is this Omni Arena, and especially when all people get their Omnis and start uploading/sharing their experiences online, that the sport broadcasters will say "Oh, this is 'a real sport now' and we should give it some air time like other sports because it will appeal to a broader audience now."
Another point I'll make about this is Virtuix has some very influential people as advisers: specifically Mark Cuban, owners of the Mavericks, and Mike Griffith, Vice Chairman of Activision. With them on board I see the potential in the not to distant future where a competitive e-sport tournament will be started to test the feedback it will get from not only gamers, but the sport community as well. And if it is really successful then who knows, maybe we'll have high salary professional Omni players like we do with other major sports. That's my long term vision on this as it relates to e-sport.
It would be awesome if they somehow hung this old version on the wall and the new one next to it.
I'm not joking when I say this: I would pay pay-per-view level money to watch tournament like this. As a viewer it's just so much more fun to watch guys running around than seeing them sitting with keyboard and mouse/controller in other e-sport.
This event is an important moment in VR gaming as it's the first ever competitive VR tournament so I'm sure your first-hand experience will provide insightful and vivid personal analysis -- can't wait!
I'm really hoping Virtuix has tapped and will upload the entire tournament from beginning to end so we can get a visual taste for what it was like there.