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WSVG president breaks down what happened
GameDaily BIZ tracked down Matt Ringel the (former?) president of the World Series of Videogames, to figure out just what the hell happened last week.As you can see from our own interview with Ringel earlier this year, things seems to be rolling along great for the WSVG-- they were working with Blizzard to make presentation much better for Arena PvP, and they had gotten a deal together with CBS to show their videogame tournaments in a series of specials. But Ringel says the WSVG wasn't alone in the space-- the CPL is another big player, and one who many have cited as a successor to the WSVG-- and advertisers had a big problem determining what the differences were between all the organizations. Ringel doesn't add much more, except to say that the WSVG is really, truly dead: Games Media is going to focus on their online properties, including Gameriot.com.As we said on the podcast last Saturday, this doesn't mean professional gaming is over-- it just means the WSVG didn't do it right. But considering the WSVG was working hand-in-hand with Blizzard to promote Arena PvP, it might mean the end of non-Blizzard professional Arena matches. My guess is that instead of partnering with another organization to run professional tournaments, Blizzard will be much more inclined to just run their own, at BlizzCon and other Blizzard-related events.[ via Joystiq ]
Why the World Series of Video Games ended
Following the death of the World Series of Video Games the guys at GameDaily BIZ spoke with Matt Ringel, president of Games Media Properties, and asked what went wrong. Ringel says there are a number of organizers competing for advertising dollars and the ad agencies are still trying to work our the merits of the different competitions. He says that Games Media Properties is making money off its websites (like GameRiot.com) and is going to focus solely on where they can make business work now.Boiling it down: Too much work, too little profit. Perfectly understandable given the complicated nature of dealing with television, setting up competitions and the absolute hell of trying to get sponsorship with a new concept. It's so much easier to just have your little corner of the internet and work there. We like it, although we do dream of one day hosting the Joystiq International Gaming Competition and having it simul-cast on all the networks while we roll in our disgusting mountain of cash -- one day it may come true, one day.
WoW Insider interviews WSVG President Matthew Ringel
This Sunday afternoon, July 29th, the WSVG is coming to network television. Starting at noon, CBS is showing an hourlong special of WSVG events, including their recent tournament in Louisville, as well as other events in this, their second season, leading up to the December finals in Sweden.WoW Insider got to chat with WSVG President and Commissioner Matthew Ringel about how he's trying to turn videogames into a spectator sport, what the real standard for Arena combat is, and how you can explain a fight between six people with different specs and different classes to an audience who's never seen this game before. No easy task, to be sure. The entire exclusive interview starts right after the jump.
