Image Credit: Everett CollectionRemember The Wizard, the Nintendo advertisement movie starring Fred Savage and Christian Slater? Remember how that film ended with a gladiator-style Super Mario III showdown, complete with ravenous fans and a futuristic arena? Did you find yourself thinking, “This seems a bit unrealistic”? Well, think again! Today, videogames took one step closer to becoming an epic audience bloodsport, with the announcement by online bookmaker Paddy Power that they’ll be accepting bets on an upcoming Super Street Fighter IV championship.
The consensus seems to be that this is the first time a videogame competition will be opened for public betting. The players, Ryan Hart and Femi Adeboye, are apparently the two best Street Fighter players in the UK – and the betting is live!
Of course, this raises many troubling questions for the videogame industry. Does this mean that the mob will start rigging matches in Fight Night? Will children now supplement their allowance money with illicit after-school excursions into shady arcades where one round of Virtua Fighter can earn a prizefighter five bucks and a soda? When will Jean-Claude Van Damme star in a film about illegal underground videogame fighting? How will Wall Street use this new revenue source to further destroy the global economic system? And does this mean that the semester I spent mastering Super Smash Brothers Melee was not just a delirious waste of time and money?
More importantly, PopWatchers, would you actually bet on the outcome of a videogame? It has to be easier than figuring out how to bet on the Kentucky Derby, right? Although they probably don’t serve mint juleps at Super Street Fighter IV championships…
“Remember how that film ended with a gladiator-style Super Mario III showdown, complete with ravenous fans and a futuristic arena? Did you find yourself thinking, “This seems a bit unrealistic”?
…actually, as a total Nintendo-nut at the time, I thought to myself “This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” (In regards to both the competition AND Super Mario Bros III.)
I don’t know that I’d ever bet on the outcome between two OTHER gamers on the other side of the world…I don’t know a thing about those two “Street Fighter” dudes, so how can I make an informed bet?
However, I also wasted WAY too many hours playing “Melee” in college. I’ve got $20 that says I can whoop anybody who wants some.
I remember thinking the same thing, because that was the first any of us had seen of SMB 3. It remains my single favorite NES game of all time.
Would I place a bet…? uncertain
Would I line up and pay an entry fee to participate…? probably
So… where are these SF4 championships taking place?
I LOVE that movie. I just watched it with my kids a few months ago, and it was as good as I remember. My brother and I were obsessed, and thought the end video game competition was perhaps the single coolest thing in existence.
Because of “The Wizard” I actually thought awesome video game contests like the one in the film existed. This movie was the most expensive and coolest video game advertisement ever.
“I love the power glove.”
I totally would!!!
The Wizard is a very good movie. It has heart and of course the awesome Super Mario Bros. 3.
As much as the possibility of video game-related betting piques my interest, “audience bloodsport” sounds like a massive overstatement. While gamers can be very fanatical, the last time I checked, none of them have sparked off destructive riots the same way football and hockey have in the US and Canada. A few fistfights, maybe, but not events that would live up to that phrase. I’m just saying.
The only way I see such bets working is if the game in question isn’t horribly unbalanced. No way would I bank on Marvel vs. Capcom 2 or Modern Warfare 2 matches.
I’m just thrilled you mentioned The Wizard. That movie is still amazing.