Blizzard wants Starcraft II to turn American e-sport into something more than a middle-aged compulsive popping quarters into a Pac-Man machine.  Starcraft already won over South Korea, and there’s little debate in whether the franchise boasts compelling high-level play.  Like countless before it, Starcraft II will be America’s professional gaming savior.

The game’s chances are too perfect.  As a game that simulates war, it can easily be compared to American football.  The original Starcraft sold four million units in the States.  As “the makers of World of Warcraft”, Blizzard will outdo those numbers.  The company has shown every indication they’ll back the game’s competitive aspect, and have limitless resources to get it done.  Previous ventures like the Championship Gaming Series lacked the balls to make the financial investment.  Well, what stronger backing than the game’s creators?

Sadly, there’s a reason Major League Gaming boasts Halo 3 as the crown jewel.  The organization accounted for the most compelling argument against Starcraft II’s viability as an American e-sport: Americans are some of the dumbest creatures going, and they’re proud of it.

Nothing wrong with being stupid.  No matter what part of the planet you throw a dart at, you’ll find stupid people.  However, there’s something special to be said about a country that ostracizes intelligence and disowns any competitive game they fall behind in.

Remember Bobby Fischer?  The one-man army who stood up to the Soviet chess machine?  We gave him God status for reasons beyond “commie basher”: He’s the only legendary chess player this country has built in fifty years.  His legacy of making American children want to learn the game of chess?  The world superpower with a population of 304 million boasts four of FIDE’s top 100 players, putting us on par with juggernauts like Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Hungary.

And if there’s one thing Americans won’t accept, it’s watching a game where the world kicks their ass.  We only care about soccer when we’re up on Brazil in the second half, and gave up on tennis when Sampras and Agassi ceded the torch to Nadal and Federer.  That means we won’t tolerate a Starcraft where the most prominent American is better known for his bad attitude than his macro-heavy Terran.  We won’t settle for a Warcraft III where GosuGamers’ highest-ranked American stands 75th. And if Americans quickly find a losing battle against the Korean e-sport war machine, it’ll do more damage to the product’s chances than a crappy matchmaking system or a broken balance patch.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 4:22 pm and is filed under E-Sports, Starcraft II. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.