Gamers of all walks of life took part in Gaming Championship in Southern California. It's all about doing battle against humans and aliens for both gaming glory and cash prize.
From what we've come to understand, more than 1,000 gamers, known as eSports athletes, are taking part in the Major League Gaming Championships that is set to begin on Friday through to Sunday. It's a huge thing as players are hoping to win up to 150,000 in prize money.
Some players have practice regimens as long as 12 hours per day to keep their skills and their twitch fingers on high alert for those difficult matches. Contestants wear huge earphones and are placed in sound proof booths. Their chit chatting is broadcast live via an announcer who gives live play-by-play information to those who are looking on.
Several eSport gamers are disabled. One in particular, is Matthew Fink, a 25 year old male from. Minneapolis. He was born without a spleen that left him wheelchair ridden, he also lost his forearm and legs from due to infection when he was young.
Because of this issue, he's slower than most when using a mouse and keyboard, so he tends to play strategy games that have little to do with speed, and more to do with the mind. Games such as Starcraft 2 helps him to compete with those in better physical form on a level playing field.
"I'm a very competitive person, but I've always felt like I was at some sort of disadvantage at whatever activity I undertook," Fink said."'StarCraft' is a game about how fast you are, but only up to a certain point. Eventually it's no longer about how fast your fingers are but how fast your mind works."
The audience for eSports is massive, as over 2 million people are expected to tune in from across the world. Viewers can visit Major League Gaming free streaming website to tune in, though we are not certain if viewers can stream the matches on Twitch.
eSports has become one of the fastest growing sports, which has an audience ranging from 16 year olds to 34 years olds in around 175 countries.
