As I reported here a few weeks ago, professional video gaming leagues and organizations are hoping that, over time, their industry can be seen as a sport on par with soccer, baseball, football, and so on.
The Championship Gaming Series says it will open a training center in Wuhan, China.
(Credit: Championship Gaming Series)Now, one of those leagues, the Championship Gaming Series, has decided to up the ante by creating a training facility and a dedicated game playing arena in the booming Chinese city of Wuhan.
I talked to Andy Reif, commissioner of the CGS, the other day, and he explained that the idea behind building the training center is essentially that you can't build a new sport without also having what amounts to an incubator for talent.
That's why the league is setting up its facility in Wuhan, a city that Reif told me has more than 50 universities and more than 1.5 million students. Truly.
The training center itself will be structured around bringing in potential players and testing them and training them on skills needed to compete at the highest levels of the nascent sport.
Really, that means looking for and developing players' hand-eye coordination, as well as training players on the games themselves.
In addition, the league is building a 1,000-seat arena that will be used exclusively for matches.
The CGS got started with an inaugural player draft at the Playboy Mansion in June 2007, and it did its second draft at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, earlier this month.
The Championship Gaming Series conducted its inaugural player draft at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles on June 12, 2007.
(Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com)And while the league has managed to pull off some high-profile events and has some big money behind it--Microsoft, DirecTV, and others--I'm a little skeptical of the idea of building an arena and a training center.
On the one hand, it's probably not that expensive to pursue such a venture in China, and it's a good place to look for new talent, given the high degree of interest in that country in video games.
On the other hand, I kind of think video gamers are the types of people who are self-taught and might not respond well to the kind of indoctrination of a training center.
For its part, Wuhan seems like it must be an interesting place these days. Not only is it the CGS' choice for setting up shop, it's also where Second Life land baroness Anshe Chung has set up headquarters for her growing business. Among other things, Chung is using her facilities to train people to create content for Second Life and other virtual worlds.
Disclaimer: My wife works for Second Life publisher Linden Lab.
Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
(Credit: Kurt Wolff)In case you haven't noticed, the Download Music crew is back in San Francisco after a massive week of music at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. We've been posting like crazy to Crossfade about some of our favorite shows; we picked a handful of top artists for our Best of SXSW playlist; and we cut a special SXSW episode of our weekly music show Crossfade TV as well, highlighting great performances by the likes of Duffy, Lou Reed, Ice Cube, Explorer's Club, These Are Powers, Enslaved, and Guilty Simpson.
Slide on over to CNET TV for the latest episode of Crossfade TV.
Enslaved
(Credit: Kurt Wolff)I have to admit, I know little about the current metal scene, black, death, or otherwise. Which is exactly why I was so blown away by the performances of two Norwegian metal bands during South By Southwest: Enslaved and 1349. They played back-to-back showcases at Red 7 last week, and while I didn't catch a full set of either band, it was enough to know I need to hear more.
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(Credit:
Kurt Wolff)
Every year at SXSW, you can hardly walk down Sixth Street without catching wind of some artist or another who's "the one" on the verge of a breakout. This year, though, one of the biggest buzz acts was definitely Duffy, a petite blond Welsh singer who's debut album, Rockferry, is currently No. 1 in the U.K. (it's scheduled to be released stateside in May). Because her first single, the hook-filled "Mercy," had just begun making the rounds, few in Austin had actually heard her music--but a lot had heard about her. Her showcase at Stubb's Saturday night was plenty full.
Duffy got an ear-catching 1960s pop-soul style that channels vintage singers such as Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, and Sammi Smith. Comparisons to Amy Winehouse (who made her U.S. debut at last year's SXSW) ran rampant, though truth is they're only vaguely justified: both artists have obvious love for a vintage '60s R&B sound, but Duffy's is big, wide, and lush--polished, even--while Winehouse keeps things funkier and more raw.
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AA Bondy live at SXSW
He's from upstate New York, but he fits right in here in Austin, Texas with his could-be-from-the-south songwriter style. This is a live shot of AA Bondy at the Creekside Lounge on Wednesday. There was a drunk heckler in the crowd who claimed he was "feelin' it" but his sincerity was questionable. Other fans (like myself) kept our comments to ourselves and quietly enjoyed his heartfelt performance, which was nice mellow break from all the chaos and "butt rock" blaring nearby on 6th street.
We've selected AA Bondy for our Best of SXSW feature, which will feature all of the best bands we see this week (coming soon). For now enjoy our free playlists and SXSW 2008 Pre-Party. Here's the Download Music review of AA Bondy:
"Bondy's "American Hearts" record is upstate alt-folk at its most wistful and, well, bighearted. Summoning the studio ghosts of the great '60s Dylan and Band sessions cut in those hills, Bondy winds up somewhere between the reedy Neil Young and the scuffed Jeff Tweedy."
Yeasayer's world/indie style sounds like Paul Simon...if he were a hipster from Brooklyn.
Here's a live shot of Yeasayer at Emo's IV in Austin, Texas late Thursday night (early Friday morning). This is just one of many showcases they're playing this week and despite having an on-the-fly "SWSW style sound check," they sounded amazing.
We've selected them for our Best of SXSW feature, which will feature all of the best (of the best) bands we see this week. For now enjoy our free playlists and SXSW 2008 Pre-Party. Here's the Download Music review of Yeasayer:
"In the pre-Vampire Weekend era (i.e., last month), indie world-rock was getting made most smartly by Brooklyn's Yeasayer. The group combines thumping non-Western rhythms with quite Western (read: hipster) fragile vocals. Impressively, it's NY world-tinged art-rock that doesn't ape David Byrne."
Cut Copy live at SXSW
Here's a live shot of Cut Copy at The Mohawk in Austin, Texas today for the Rhapsody day party. They get the dance party started early with their 2:30 P.M. set. They're a lot of buzz about them on the streets (literally) and their set was so good that we've selected them for our Best of SXSW feature, which will feature all of the great bands we see this week. For now check out our free playlists and SXSW 2008 Pre-Party. Here's the Download Music review of Cut Copy:
"Hipster bands have a hilariously hard time keeping LCD Soundsystem and Prince influences to a minimum these days. Somehow, though, Cut Copy is an anomaly where that's concerned. Despite having the typical indie-rock hair, electro-punk styling, and disco-fever slant to make things interesting, Cut Copy is churning out its own version of scummy disco framed by fluffy pop and dance-floor-friendly guitars."
The Most Serene Republic - one of 1,600 bands here at SXSW this year.
Here's a live shot of The Most Serene Republic at Emo's in Austin, Texas today (March 13th) for the Arts and Crafts Records day party. They rocked the early set at 12:30 P.M. and were so good that we've selected them for our Best of SXSW feature (coming soon), which will feature all of the great bands we see this week. For now check out our free playlists and SXSW 2008 Pre-Party. Here's the Download Music review of The Most Serene Republic:
"Even by Ontario standards, the latest from the Arts & Crafts top prospects is wildly eclectic. "Population" careers from clean neoclassical piano to earnest emo-punk vocalizing, and while the results are indie pop in allegiance, they don't feel scrawled so much as composed."
These New Puritans - one of 1,600 bands here at SXSW this year.
Here's a live shot of These New Puritans at Emo's in Austin, Texas today (March 12th) for the Terrorbird day party. They were so good that we have selected them for our Best of SXSW feature (coming soon), which will feature all of the great bands we see this week. For now check out our free playlists and SXSW 2008 Pre-Party. Here's the Download Music review of These New Puritans:
"In '08, the Arctic Monkeys are practically pensioners. Time for a new round of smart-aleck young Brits! These New Puritans smartly fit the bill of Latest Mojo Favorites, pounding out a neo-post-punk distinguished by deeper rhythms and a darker lyricism."
The sign outside Stubbs - where R.E.M. will headline tonight.
Today is the first day of South by Southwest 2008! And while many people who aren't in Austin could care less, music lovers and industry folks consider this event the real "March madness." A projected 1,600 bands will be in and out of Austin over the next four days, which will create a seemingly endless wall of sound which begins around noon each day and ends after last call. Yeah, sure it's a lot of fun but if long lines and Mardi Gras-size crowds aren't your thing, you can experience the bands of SXSW from the comforts of your own home or office with our free playlist below! Meanwhile, we'll do all the legwork here to scout out all the good bands that you should watch for this year (and filter out the bad ones--and believe me, there are plenty.)
