David Austin Byrd

Dr. Blaire
UWRT 1103
1/5/2016
The Secondary Discourse of Competitive Gaming
Before you cast the nets of judgement upon the players of video games, take a moment to
imagine the values of a sports team. You might envision teamwork, coordination, perseverance, focus,
and many other traits similar to these. The interesting part is that professional video game players share
many of these same values. Playing video games competitively embodies the creative spirit and
encourages social behavior. Some people might scoff at this claim, but the largest prize pool for a team
based video game tournament was 12 million dollars. Obviously, incredible chemistry and teamwork
between players would be required. I am fortunate enough to have participated in tournaments with
monetary prizes and associate myself with professional video game players such as my best friend. I
believe that I have become acclimated with the secondary discourse of professional gaming through
attending tournaments, casually playing with others involved in the discourse, and through experiencing
the lifestyle with Josh, my closest friend.
To me, language is the most crucial part of assimilating with a secondary discourse. The ability to
carry on a conversation with members of the discourse is one of the most obvious indicators of whether
or not they are familiar with the discourse. A personal experience that pertains to insufficient
knowledge was when I found myself completely lost while talking among a group of other 4th graders
about a then popular game called World of Warcraft. I had a basic understanding of what the game was
like, but lacked the money to own it. To accurately paint this picture, I should explain that if you were

good at this game you would be popular in my elementary school. The mingling continued until
someone asked me a fairly basic question about the game. Whats your favorite raid? was the inquiry.
As my mind went blank and I became more and more uncomfortable, my face grew as red as I was
embarrassed. My tongue fumbled the first lie that I could scavenge from the depths of my mind, You
know, the one with the lava and stuff Towards the end of the game. After a brief awkward silence
that felt like an eternity, the crowd pushed on with the conversation and I was excluded to a great
extent. It was an unfortunate recess, but now I understand the majority of the terms and words
necessary to talk about any of todays popular games. No Johns is a term used in the Super Smash Bros
community that refers to a player making an excuse for his loss. . Reading an opponent would refer to
predicting their actions (to an extent) and reacting appropriately. For professional gamers, important
Callouts are used during tournament matches to pass information to other players quickly. These
callouts are numerous and vary greatly between the genres of video games but they are frequently used
in any situation that requires teamwork. In Smash, there is a tournament style that involves teams of
two. It is a very fast-paced game so I may only have time to throw the callout f-air at my teammate
(ign). Then, he would hopefully perform a forward-aerial move to secure victory. The meta refers to
the current norm of a video game (ign). The balance of characters or items is constantly changing;
therefore, new metas are created. One exception however is Super Smash Brothers: Melee. Melee is a
game that has been around since 2001 that has a constantly evolving meta with no updates. Keeping
up with the current meta is one of the most important things an E-Sports member can do. ESports refers to the community based around competitive gaming. As games become more and more
popular, the teams that play them may gain sponsors. One of the most significant recent sponsors is
Geiko, the insurance company. Hopefully the significance of such a sponsor will help convey the validity
of E-Sports as an actual sport.

My introduction to video games came from an early birthday of mine. If I had to guess, I would
say I was about eight years old. I had a bit of a struggle with socializing and making friends due to
shyness. My brother, being the social butterfly that he is, decided that he would give me his old
Nintendo 64 that he had no need for. To this day, I remember the giddy feeling that rushed over me for
the hour or two I was allowed to play video games. For some odd reason, having that escape helped
me develop enough confidence to start being more outgoing. Eventually I started to use video games as
a segue for conversation. In third grade I met a fellow video game enthusiast: Josh. Weve been friends
ever since and Josh even became a professional gamer. Due to our close relationship, I know a decent
amount about what its like to play video games for a living. Every weekend there are tournaments that
he participates in and earns a certain amount based on how well his team performed. The atmosphere
changes greatly between when he is playing for fun and when money is on the line. Casually, laughter is
frequent and conversations are sparked regularly. During a tournament there is tension in the room and
no words are spoken beyond what is necessary (accompanied by cursing when something goes wrong).
Watching him perform in tournaments with 100,000 viewers makes it seem as if I have famous friends!
One of my favorite parts about video games is the characters. Attire is a great way to show off
who your favorite character is or represent your favorite team. The gear you can expect to see the
crowd wearing at a tournament is very relaxed clothing. Graphic shirts and jeans are common and
occasionally costumes will be worn that represent a character. Casual gamers dont really have any
standardized attire, but a recognizable exception might be sponsored teams that wear the attire

ascribed to them by the owner of the team. These uniforms are similar to jerseys that sports
teams would wear. One professional team named Cloud 9 boasts a light blue t-shirt with their
sponsors emblems scattered throughout the mid-section and white accents surrounding their
teams logo (cloud9). Casters, or the people who commentate live during tournaments, will
usually be dressed in formal attire consisting of blazers, suits, ties, and clothing you would

expect to see a sports commentator in. By dressing professionally, casters appear as

representatives of their respective games.
I would say that literacy in the secondary discourse of professional video games is
learned socially. By this I mean that studying the terms and understanding the games youre
talking about is not enough. There are two reasons why I believe this to be true. There is a large
amount of slang used by gamers and the reactions to certain events are fairly unique and
consistent throughout a group (Gee). Ill be focusing on Super Smash Bros, since it is the
community I am most involved in. You can learn the moves of all the characters without ever
playing the game. Style, however, is something that comes with experience in the community. In
many games, style and creativity are just as important as winning. Im having trouble putting to
writing the sheer level of hype that is embodied at these events; yet, the crowds reactions are all
the same without any hesitation or variance. One tournament I was in was the release of Smash
4. I went to the GameStop it was being held at paid the entrance fee of five dollars. There were
around 35 to 40 people in attendance including my friend James who I knew to be an excellent
player. By pure luck, I was pitted against James in the very first match and immediately lost all
hope for that beautiful 100 dollar prize. Im not sure if he was sick, tired, or any other impairing
status but I absolutely stomped him. I move on in the bracket and manage to win my next
couple games. Finally, I check where Ive placed and I made it to the final pairing (which would
be a best of 5 set). I was incredibly nervous that I would lose horribly and make a fool of myself.
My prediction held true. I played horribly the first game, only managing to take one stock (the
amount of lives a player has left) before losing the match. The second match is a repeat of the
first. At this point, I decide that I would just have some fun and play my best. To our surprise, I
manage to win in a stylish display of precision that I would call the highlight of the night. Its

now 2-1 in his favor. We continue to the second game as I cant help but smile. Its a repeat in
my favor this time. I had no idea what was happening or why I ended up taking the lead. All I
knew was I wanted to win now more than ever. I didnt really care about any prizes anymore.
The satisfaction that came from winning under the impression of inevitable defeat was
wonderful. Were now on the final match and I spectacularly win without losing a single stock!
Everyone there is wildly cheering as their hype levels skyrocket. The audience knew what was
considered impressive and reacted appropriately. They reacted in a way that someone who is
foreign to the discourse would let pass by. This is why the discourse of competitive gaming is
learned socially.
Literacy in the discourse of competitive gaming is surprisingly valuable. Over 70% of
teenagers play video games daily. The social aspect of gaming is often overlooked by media.
Being able to express yourself freely among others with similar interests is the whole concept
behind this sort of gaming. It is now a thriving community with active members willing to accept
anyone whos interested. Im happy to say that I am literate in this discourse.

Works Cited
Latorre. Oliver. The Social Discourse of Video Games Analysis Model and Case Study: GTA
IV sagepub.com. 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 11 April. 2016.
Gee, James E. What Video Games have to Teach Us About Learning and literacy. Palgrave
Macmillan. 2003. Print.
The Terminology of Smash 3DS ign.com. IGN, 11 Aug. 2015. Web. 9 May, 2016.
Flander, Danan. Meet the Players cloud9.gg. Cloud 9, 3 May 2016. Web. 9 May, 2016.