Gaming Goes To The Doggs

Posted Feb 22, 2006 by Wes Phillips

Updated Feb 23, 2006 at 11:39 AM

Competitive gaming has been fighting for legitimacy for a few years now. The fine folks over at the Cyberathlete Professional League have led the way. In the nine years since its inception, the CPL’s tournaments and leagues have catered to 160,000 gamers while shelling out $3,000,000 in prize money. If you think you are good enough, just sign up and put your mouse where your mouth is.

But the debate rages on. Can video games be considered a sport?

For all the inroads the CPL has made into legitimacy, here comes Snoop Dogg to put competitive gaming back a few years.

Last week he announced the formation of the Hip-Hop Gaming League. It doesn’t matter whether you consider yourself “hip-hop’’ or not, you’re not getting into this VIP lounge. You see, it’s a private league with hip-hop artists such as Twista and Paul Wall, NFL mouth Chad Johnson and NBA star Carmelo Anthony. The HPGL has a full roster of players on the Web site, but the real question is why?

What does Snoop Dogg get out of priming the PR machine? It could only be one of two things. To make competitive gaming ‘‘hot’’ then start a public league to rake in the cash playing off an image or this could simply be another avenue to stroke the egos of celebrities.

Either way, legit organizations like the CPL get caught in the wake. Interactive entertainment as spectator events will happen, hardcore gamers just have to hope the whims of celebrities don’t turn it into novelty.