201107

Member Nations‟ News

In this Issue: Member Nations‟ News Global Standardization

Premio Videogame Milano Trend in the World Today

by Federico Bruneri

Different Perspectives on the Game

The Province of Milan and the

People of the month

Chamber of Commerce presented in Notice

May 2011 the "Premio Videogame Milano" (Milan Videogame Award), a single contest for the production of

videogames on the Milan area and for technical support to companies wishing to participate in the MIGS (a sort of "Market Briefing") for the regional allocation of vouchers.

An initiative established to support and promote small and medium-sized companies in the videogames industry in the Milan area, officially unveiled last May at the Museum of Science and Technology in Via San Vittore 21, Milan.

Through the contest will be selected the best proposals for the creation of interactive digital applications that enhance the city of Milan.

The competition provides a final ranking with a prize of 33,000 € for the first project awarded and three vouchers (2,000 €) for PMI (Public Medium-sized Enterprises) that are classified in the ranking from second to fourth position, as reimbursement for participation in the Montreal International Games Summit organized by the Embassy of Canada in November 2011.

On the official website www.mi.camcom.it you can find the regulation of the announcement, the project description and application forms for projects submitted by individual companies and the demand for projects submitted by groups (business groups, business groups and schools, groups of companies and professionals).

The final result of the "Premio Videogame Milano" will be available in the next months.

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In this Issue: Member Nations‟ News

E-Sport College Tour 2011

Global Standardization Trend in the World Today Different Perspectives on the Game

by Misha Krug

In a April, May and June the e-Sport School Tour 2011 was organized for

around 1.300 school pupils.The Dutch E-sports Federation formed a cooperation with eighteen different Elementary Schools in the Netherlands. The Community

People of the month Notice

from the city Enschede and the Official Dutch Sports Organization NOC*NSF funded by the Ministery of Sports and Health supported the Dutch e-Sports Federation to make this become possible.

Nowdays we can‟t ignore the popularity of gaming, gaming is growing fast. If we look at the numbers of the upcoming growth of Online Game Services and users at Figure 1 (More about Online Game Services in my next article). Many parents worry about the impact of games could have on their childeren their lives.

Because a lot of childeren play games at home there is a possible risk factor for social isolation. To prevent such isolation the Dutch e-Sports Federation organized the e-Sport School Tour. Childeren from the sixth, seventh and eigth grade were provided by gaming classes

from e-Sport representatives and

students whom are becoming professional sport instructors. The school pupils got introduced with the use of the Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 Kinect sports games were you have to move your body actively. The School Tour ended with a tournament with different school pupils from different Elementary Schools. The project was a great succes and we are looking forward to keep continuing this form of activities. The NOC*NSF responded in a great way on this project. The managers thought it is a great way for people to start moving. The Senior Project Manager of Marketing and Innovation said ”it proves that the youth would like 90,000,000 80,000,000 70,000,000 60,000,000 50,000,000 40,000,000 30,000,000 20,000,000 10,000,000 0

to

more

of

these

initiatives”.

2006

Playstation Network

see

2007

2008

2009

5,000,000 14,000,000 20,000,000

The NOC*NSF see‟s all kind of possibilities for the

future. This is a great step

Xbox Live

4,000,000 8,000,000 12,000,000 17,000,000

Steam

8,000,000 13,000,000 16,000,000 20,000,000

for

Battle.Net

13,000,000 12,000,000 12,000,000 23,500,000

Federation to become a

the

Dutch

eSports

Total Online Game Services with the amount of users.

more respected organization

Source: Misha Krug, Thesis: Do gamedevelopers need to use a e-Sportspolicy when developing a game?

in the Netherlands.

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In this Issue: Member Nationsâ€&#x; News

Swiss E-Sports Federation LAN Ambassador Global Standardization

by Dario Salice

Trend in the World Today Different Perspectives on the Game

With the appearance of LAN-Parties

People of the month

in the late 90s in Switzerland, the

Notice

enthusiasts of competitive gaming came up. Over many years Switzerland had a healthy and active LAN-event landscape, which consisted out of events from 50 up to a couple of hundreds of players.

Almost every weekend gamers had been fighting for prices, trophies and honor

at tournaments played on BYOC-Events (Brin Your Own Computer). The tournaments in disciplines like Counter-Strike, Warcraft 3, Quake and even Blobby Volley where the foundation of a healthy and growing e-sports community, which also started to spread over the Internet.

Aside of countless exciting tournaments those events where the source of new talented players in various disciplines. With the mass deployment of broadband Internet and focus on Online-Competition the LAN-Events lost a lot of attention

over the past few years.

Even though those event still take place on a regular basis, the attention is not as much as it was in the early years. This complicates it to sell tickets and get support from Sponsors.

The board of the Swiss E-Sports Federation (SESF) is still convinced, that a healthy and active LAN-Party Community is crucial for electronic sports. That's why the role of the "SESF LAN-Ambassador" has been created. The "SESF LAN-Ambassador" will build relations with the LAN-Organizations and help them to get more attention from the community and Media as well as to support them in all areas of their activity.

We are happy that Benjamin KĂźry will join the board at SESF and take over this important role in the organization.

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In this Issue: Member Nations‟ News

The Screen Golf Meets the New Era Global Standardization

by Alex Lim

Trend in the World Today Different Perspectives on the Game People of the month

As the “Virtual Reality Technology‟ has blossomed its fruition, the market, the

screen golf market has achieved its swift growth. Now, we can see screen golf places on almost every alley in Korea. This phenomenon reminds of PC cafes

Notice

sprang up everywhere at the beginning of e-sports market, which has accomplished enormous territory today.

With its extraordinary characteristics, the screen golf can be stated as “physical experience digital sports entertainment” showing up cutting-edge technology of IT. Since it is one of contents containing sports factors as well as both hardware and software, this content has potential to be utilized as e-sports

„Golf Time‟, one of the partners of International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) once operated screen golf tournament at the IeSF 2010 Grand Final, recently brought up with new franchise “OK On-golf” with the partnership with OK cashbag, and provide total solution including new business consulting, marketing support, sales management and A/S. The ultrahigh-speed camera sensor, “SPIN”, newly launched by OK On-Golf, precisely realizes every single shot as professional golfers concede its accuracy and efficiency.

You can test the efficiency of “SPIN” on October. As one of partners of IeSF,

Golf Time is organizing the global screen golf tournament at the IeSF 2011 World Championship as one of its demonstration titles. Beginning on July, the preliminaries will be held in every affiliated shop of Golf Time and OK On-golf.

Also, on September, global preliminaries will be held in U.S., Japan, Canada, China and etc with the total prize money over $ 30,000. For more details, please refer to the Golf Time homepage (www.theongolftime.com).

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In this Issue: Member Nations‟ News

1. Conference on “e-Sports, Problems and Prospects”

Global Standardization

by Constantine Surkont Trend in the World Today

In December 2010 we had the “E-Sports. Problems and

Different Perspectives on the Game

prospects” university conference in Russian State University

People of the month

of Physical Education, Sport and Tourism. finally we got the Notice

brochure with the conference materials printed.

The

brochure

contains

reports

about

the

e-sport

development in Russia and in the World, It‟s prospects, problems of the e-sport official recognition, e-sport experience in some regions of Russia and other issues connected to e-sport subjects, including RESF‟s officials speeches and general conference resolution of necessity to develop the e-sport under government support and monitoring.

The texts are, unfortunately, only in Russian. Russian e-Sports Federation will be happy to send it to those who are interested (either electronic version or paper exemplar).

2. Point Blank Cyber Series Finals, July 9

by Constantine Surkont

July 9, 2011 in Moscow there will take place Final competition of Point Blank Cyber Series 2011, the event that has been continuing for three last months.

I has already been held in 14 largest cities of Russian Federation, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan.

Point Blank is one of Counter-Strike-similar games, which is very popular in Russia and other CIS countries. Teams are of 5 players, they also change sides attack-defense during a match. The preliminaries gathered in total more than 450 teams (which is around 2500 players including “benchwarmers”). 16 best teams

will fight for 1 million rubles (about 35k USD) in Moscow. The Finals will be held in the “Arena-2 Moscow” computer entertainment facility.

Two promo-videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke80jEu1X6E&feature=player_embedded http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE5-kyc4dt0&feature=player_embedded

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In this Issue: Member Nations‟ News

3. E-Sport in Russian high school

by Constantine Surkont

Information technologies department of Russian State University of Physical

Global Standardization

Education, Sport and Tourism a few weeks ago achieved right to prepare

Trend in the World Today

bachelors. The department bachelors training course, “Applied computer science

Different Perspectives on the Game

in the social and sport spheres”, was elaborated with a small help of the Russian

People of the month

e-Sports Federation. Therefore, among other IT-subjects, it contains a few disciplines based on the e-sport – “organizing and producing e-sport events” and

Notice

“e-sport training methodology”.

4. Ural Steel Finals, Moscow, June 18

by Constantine Surkont

On the 18th of June there took place the final competitions of the Ural Steel World tournament.

There are three WoT servers in the World: American, European and Russian, and three divisions ( in a manner of speaking, weight categories) on each server. One team in each division from each server (those who had won the preliminaries) came to the final competition. Russian server was presented by two teams in each division, as Russian server audience covers a territory with a big time shift. As most teams are international, summarily only the final competitions covered 22 countries. Mostly players came from Russia, Poland and the USA. The Finals took place in Universal Sport-Show center of Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport and Tourism. The stage was decorated in a military camp manner with “combat staff” special places for final matches. Matches were translated on two large screens (each for one rival) for the spectators. Estimated number of visitors exceeded 2000 people. Also the event was translated to the Internet. The public was entertained by show program between the matches. Participants also visited the tank museum in Kubinka near Moscow. Main sponsors of the events were Wargaming.net and Uralvagonzavod – one of the World largest tank producer.

Here are some video & photo reports from the Final (professional and amateur): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DayO_iYijQ&feature=player_embedded#at=529 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TERYkb5kdSs&feature=player_embedded#at=281 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IjwxmPbV5s http://blog.worldoftanks.eu/ural-steel-final-cut/

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In this Issue:

Global Standardization

by Alex Lim

Member Nations‟ News Global Standardization Trend in the World Today Different Perspectives on the Game People of the month

Summary of the Plan for Global Standardization As we reported the progress of IeSF‟s global standardization project, we would like to hereby share the progress and plan of global standardization project.

■ Referee / Player Committees In order to test the „Global Online League‟ which we have been designing to

Notice

operate from next year, with the Europe integration server of A.V.A, we are organizing Europe A.V.A online A-match as the continental preliminary of IeSF 2011 World Championship for A.V.A. Related to this issue, we are also testing the Referee and Player Committees as we would operate them at the Global Online League. The details are as follows:

1) Referee Committee The major roles of Referee Committee at the Online A-match are simply defined as Instruction for the referee and control of matches. First of all, the Referee Committee will take charge and conduct instruction for the referee on IeSF 2011 World Championship Rules of Tournament and A.V.A Match Rules & Operation Method. Second, as controlling matches, the referee will log in with IeSF designated ID and create a Room for the match. Then, the referee will check the entry time and setting for each player and observe the match with spectator mode

while players are playing in order to check the unusual factors and write result report. Also, they will be in charge of mediating conflict within the match including occurrence of bugs and disorders in accordance with Rules of Tournament and consult from IeSF. 2) Player Committee The major roles of Player Committee are defined as controlling the schedule of matches and operation of the Player Registration Management System. First of all, regarding the control of the schedule of matches, the Player Committee will collect the list of players from each nation and confirm the match schedule and time with each team. Then, the committee will distribute IeSF designated ID for each nation. Second, prior to commencement of the matches, the Player Committee will register the title, players and matches to the Player Registration Management System. Then, after all, they will input the match result, and it will be confirmed and approved by IeSF.

Cont. on next page.

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In this Issue: Member Nations‟ News Global Standardization Trend in the World Today Different Perspectives on the Game People of the month

Summary of the Plan for Global Standardization (Cont.)

■ Competition / Certification Committee IeSF is planning to collect the data on necessary factors for competition and certification, such as size and infra of stadiums and facilities, existing certification measures on player, referee, title, and facility in each member nation.

■ Title Committee

The statutes of Title Committee is planned to be shared with all members by end Notice

of July. Then, with the feedbacks on the statutes collected from members, the operation strategy for the Title Committee will be discussed at the IeSF 2011 General Meeting, and the result of research on the Title Standardization will be presented as well.

International e-Sports Referee Training Program IeSF is also planning to cultivate professional international e-sports referees, and promote the methodical development of e-sports through operating official international e-sports referee training program.

Starting on December 2011, this international referee training program will be conducted at Chung-Ang University. The programs and curriculum are designed by cooperation among IeSF, Neowiz Games as the publisher, and Chung-Ang University as academic support.

Official Referee License level 3 will be issued to the participants who complete the course and pass the test. After all, these personnel will work as the referees as primarily selected for the tournaments hosted by IeSF and Neowiz, and get chances to challenge level 2 and level 1 licenses when qualified the requirements which are stipulated at Referee Committee Statutes.

We would like to contribute to establishment of infrastructure for essential human resources and systemization of training human resources through this referee training program.

The program will be operated for 6 weeks, and „introduction of e-sports‟, „introduction of refereeing method‟, „referee communication‟, „English‟, „theory of tournament rules‟, „theory of e-sports titles‟, „referee seminar‟, and „e-sports technology‟ are planned to be conducted as curriculums.

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In this Issue:

Trend in the World Today

Member Nations‟ News Global Standardization Trend in the World Today

edited by Alex Lim

At the section of „Trend in the World Today‟ this time, we are attempting to cover the stories from E3 2011 (Electronic Entertainment Expo). Please look

Different Perspectives on the Game

around how one of the biggest game shows in the world went, and see what are

People of the month

the new trends introduced at the exhibitions and conferences. The following

Notice

contents are quoted from the references below: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e74fd834-a0e3-11e0-adae-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1R7KvuMwS http://ogong15.blog.me/130249993 Chosunilbo on 17th of June 2011, D8

Trend reading from Outdoor Advertisements at E3 As per usual, all sorts of game advertisements covered LA convention center where holding E3. We can weigh up what games to be noteworthy with the huge outdoor poster, then, this year, Battlefield3 of EA decorated the main bulletin.

On the outer wall at other side of the convention center, the newest version of „Saints Row‟ and „Prey2‟ were located.

At the break area where snack bar is installed and people have lunch, „Assassin‟s Creed: Revelation‟ has occupied the place where „Assassin‟s Creed: Brotherhood‟ was hung in last year. The advertisements installed at Figueroa Hotel become issues every year, and „The Elder Scrolls 5‟ took the honor this year.

Cont. on next page.

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In this Issue:

Trend reading from outdoor advertisement at E3 (cont.)

Member Nations‟ News

Advertisement of Kinect has already been located in the bathroom of the hotel

Global Standardization

room. “There‟s no arguing over the remote when you are the controller.” It is

Trend in the World Today

such a witty copy. „War Hammer: Space Marine‟ was installed above the hallway of the center.

Different Perspectives on the Game People of the month Notice

Next-Generation Portable Console of „Sony‟ Sony showed up at E3 with „Play Station Vita‟. With 5-inch screen, it transmits HD level of image and embedded all kinds of necessary devices such as front touch screen, rear touch pad, acceleration sensor, gravity sensor, vibration motor, camera, speaker and etc. It allows more realistic gaming to operate game by shaking or touching the screen instead of operating the controller.

With the word, „Vita‟, meaning „life‟ in Latin, „Play Station Vita‟ contains the mission to transit all the dimensions in users‟ lives, not only for games, to one entertainment experience. Also, with installation of „G sensor‟ just as smart phones, it is expected to show up strong points on racing games.

Also, Sony has made through going preparations for game line-up of „Play Station Vita‟, and it is more than 30 kinds and still has al chance to expand the line-up. „Play Station Vita‟ supports the interface with „Play Station Suite‟ which is Sony‟s game support application for Android. So, it is also expected to have

high level of utilization.

10

In this Issue:

MS showed up more advanced evolution of „Kinect‟

Member Nations‟ News Global Standardization

edited by Alex Lim

Microsoft nominated the Kinect on the front line at the E3 2011. There was just

Trend in the World Today

certain extent of introduction conducted at the E3 last year, but it is insomuch to

Different Perspectives on the Game

say “Xbox360 = Kinect” at this year‟s E3.

People of the month Notice

Cliff Bleszinski, the producer of „Gears of War 3‟ from Epic Games, said, “I like Kinect so much. Couldn‟t apply it to Gears of War 3 due to the lack of time, I would love to make it for real good if I make a Kinect game.” Likewise, the reason why game developers are willing to develop new Kinect games is that it

allows the various new ideas, and these developers have started distributing revised version of these new ideas to Xbox Live for free. This is what we see as „Kinect Fun Labs‟.

Steve Anthony Ballmer, the CEO of MS, used the Avatar characters appeared in the presentation at the CEO 2011. „Avatar Kinect‟ which will be published on this July was used to operate this presentation. „Avatar Kinect‟ scans the user, and them, recommends the most similarly described character. Then, the user can change the character as one wished. Even using „Kinect Me‟, it allows the avatar

with more specifically scanned cloths and face definition.

The gadgets of „Kinect Fun Labs‟ seem not to stop evolving for more fun.

Many game developers inspired by this project are planning to develop applications in these games, and have lines to willingly disclose how to realize these applications.

In addition, as ensuring the interlocking between Windows 8 and Kinect, it is expected that the infinite potential for the future of Kinect is quite settled.

Unimaginable results are coming up with the evolution of Kinect, and it seems like we have peeped the small part of the future for a little while at E3 2011 Conference.

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In this Issue:

Nintendo‟s next-generation console, Wii U

Member Nations‟ News

Nintendo, as struggled with being fell behind by smart phone games, made the

Global Standardization

maiden disclosure for the next-generation game console, Wii U. It is equipped

Trend in the World Today

with 6.2-inch LCD with the touch screen as well as the camera on the controller.

With these touch screen and camera, some new concepts can be appeared in the

Different Perspectives on the Game

games. This controller is somewhat light to life it with one hand even with the

People of the month

large-sized screen. Different from past versions of Wii, it supports to play games

Notice

only with controller and not connecting to TV. Moreover it allows controlling games in three dimensions with its touch panels in front and back. However, there are also negative appraisals which criticize shortage of game line-up compared to past version of Wii.

Kinect Disneyland Adventures, the living room transforms to the playground Kinect Disneyland Adventures, the new work of Kinect, is the upgrade

version

of

Kinect

Adventure. It assumed the form

that the users can enjoy the entertainment factors from the actual Disneyland as sitting at the living room. Two kids were playing it at the E3 2011 MS conference, and it seems to be one good alternative for communication and interaction between parents and children. „Of course, diverse characters of Disneyland are available to meet in this game, such as hugging the Snow White, slapping hi-fives with Mickey Mouse. In the game, each theme park is built just as actual Disneyland. It seems that one good partnership between Disney and MS has created one interesting product. It is also concerned as a good attempt, and there is much attention towards who will be the next partners.

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In this Issue:

Different Perspective on the Game

Member Nations‟ News Global Standardization

edited by Alex Lim

Recent verdict of U.S. Supreme Court which strikes down the California law

Trend in the World Today

that banned the sale or rental of violent video games to under ages has much of

Different Perspectives on the Game

implication for countries including Korea having contraction with the regulation

People of the month

on games. Certainly, different countries have different policies and institutions for the game issues. There are many of countries restrict violent games, and there

Notice

is, also, not for love or money to defend them. However, the noteworthy from the ruling of the Supreme Court is that they admitted the game as a subject to be guaranteed for its constitutional freedom of expression just as movie, play or publications. Also, it defined enforcing new regulation limited only for minors as unconstitutional.

In the past, under the curse that comics are detrimental for the youth, we let the comics industry die out. At the same time, it turned to be that we closed beforehand the development of other culture industries which would incline with the comics businesses as its basis. The game industry has an infinite potential to provide the basis for other contents industries such as movie or music industries.

The intent to protect the youth is quite understandable, but it is still a controversial issue to be thought if it is that evil to such an extent as to infringe our constitutional basic rights or to restrict the industrial basis.

The Article below is a related article quoted from „Financial Times‟ published on June 27.

US Supreme Court boost for video game industry

by Chris Nuttall

The US video game industry has received, with a key ruling in its favor, Supreme Court backing in the debate over whether its violent titles cause teens to act aggressively in real life. Judges of the US’s highest court voted 7 to 2 to strike

down as unconstitutional a 2005 California law that banned the sale or rental of violent video games to minors, backing the findings of lower court. Justice Antonin Scalia, delivering the court’s opinion, said psychological studies had not proved that exposure to violence in games caused minors to act aggressively.

“Any demonstrated effects are both small and indistinguishable from effects produced by other media,” he said.

Cont. on next page.

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In this Issue:

Different Perspective on the Game (cont.)

Member Nations‟ News

The possible effects on young people of

Global Standardization

playing violent video games have been argued for years. Incidents such as the 1999

Trend in the World Today

Columbine High School massacre, where the Different Perspectives on the Game

teenage gunmen were avid players of the

People of the month

Doom shooter game, have been cited by

Notice

pressure groups concerned that the interactive nature of video games make them more influential than other media.

The Entertainment Software Association, which had led opposition to the California law by more than 180 groups, welcomed the decision in a statement.

“It is time for elected officials to stop wasting time and public funds seeking unconstitutional restrictions on video games,” said Michael Gallagher, ESA president.

The Supreme Court justices ruled the law contravened the first amendment of the constitution, protecting free speech. Video games qualified for this protection the same as books, plays and films, said Justice Scalia. California had declined to restrict other media, such as Saturday morning cartoons, once held responsible for influencing real-life violence, raising concerns it was discriminating against video games.

He also said the state could not claim it was meeting the needs of parents who wanted to restrict their children’s access to violent videos. The industry’s rating system for games already largely accomplished that.

Common Sense Media, a children’s advocacy group, described the Supreme Court decision as “a disappointing one for parents, educators and all who care about kids”.

“Millions of kids are not able to judge the impact of ultra-violence on their own.

Today the multibillion-dollar video game industry is celebrating the fact that their profits have been protected,” said James Steyer, its chief executive.

The dissenting judges, Justices Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer, interpreted the first amendment implications differently. Justice Thomas said the founding fathers would have wanted controls for their children, while Justice Breyer said the first amendment does not disable government from helping parents make the choice of not having their children buy violent video games.

Quote: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e74fd834-a0e3-11e0-adae-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1R7KvuMwS

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In this Issue:

People of the month

Member Nations‟ News

edited by Alex Lim

Global Standardization

We are introducing Colin Webster, the president of Mind Sports South Africa. We would like to share his

Trend in the World Today

vision and passion toward e-sports.

Different Perspectives on the Game

1. What is your mission & vision for the e-sports?

People of the month

I was one of the founder members of Mind Sports Notice

South Africa (MSSA) back in 1984 when computer gaming was in its infancy. At that time, computer games were seen to be an aid to the more traditional war games and board games. Who would have thought back then how sophisticated

computer games would become? The vision that the MSSA has for eSports is as the same as for the more traditional games for which the MSSA is the authority in South Africa, and that is to have the games recognized as any other sport.

Through the MSSA's membership of the International e-Sports Federation (IeSF) the MSSA hopes to see Computer Gaming established and accredited as an international sport by the General Assembly of International Sport Federations (GAISF). When the GAISF accepts Computer Gaming as an international Sport, a whole new era will be ushered in for Computer Gaming in that Computer Gaming will be allowed to participate in the International Mind Sports Association‟s Games, and be included in the All Africa Games, the Commonwealth Games, and possibly even in the Olympic Games.

2. Please introduce “Mind Sports South Africa” and major projects of it.

The MSSA is a “Universitas” and as such is constituted in terms of South African legislation. As such no-one owns the MSSA and all member clubs, from around the country, have a direct influence on who is elected to the different committees. The MSSA has a number of major projects, one of the most important projects that the MSSA has is its development project. Many readers will be aware of the disparity of wealth in South Africa. Through eSports gamers are able to earn bursaries that allow them to attend university. In such way, eSports becomes more than just a game, it becomes a tool to help gamers educate themselves and become productive members of society. Other projects include the continual promotion of our inter-school league, and another is to establish at least one club in every one of the 287 municipalities in South Africa.

Cont. on next page.

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In this Issue: Member Nationsâ€&#x; News

People of the month (cont.)

3. Please tell us briefly about beginning, history (how it grew up), and current status of e-sports market in South Africa.

Global Standardization Trend in the World Today

From the day that the MSSA was founded (1984), the MSSA has had to fight to have the games that the MSSA promotes to be recognized to be accredited as

Different Perspectives on the Game People of the month Notice

equals to any of the other sports that exist in South Africa.

The breakthrough happened in 1991 when the MSSA was allowed to award Springbok Colours to its wargames team. The Springbok was awarded for the period 1991 to 1993 and the Protea was awarded from 1994 until today. In 1997, the MSSA awarded Protea Colours to its Morabaraba team, and in 2001 the MSSA was allowed to award Protea Colours to the players who represented South Africa for Checkers.

However, it was not until 2005 that the MSSA was granted permission by the Protea Colours Board for Computer Gaming. It should be noted that the Protea Colours awarded are the same as awarded to cricket, rugby, swimming, etc.

Players who receive such colours are enable to apply for, and receive, bursaries at universities. As a recognized sports code, the MSSA was thus accepted into

membership of the following: - The Confederation of South African Sport (COSAS) in 1991 - The National Olympic Sports Council of South Africa (NOCSA) in 1991 - The National Sports Council (NSC) in 1994 - The South African Sports Commission (SASC) 1999 until dissolved in 2005.

- The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) in 2005.

Today, Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is recognised by the Department of Sport and Recreation as the national controlling body in terms of the Sport and Recreation Act of 1998 (as amended). Such Act recognises Mind Sports South Africa as the only authority for eSports as a sport and/or as a recreation in the Republic.

4. Please tell us briefly about the policy and governmental strategy related to e-sports in South Africa.

Since the MSSA is a fully recognised national federation, the policies apropos eSports is exactly the same as with any other sport. As such the MSSA, from time to time, qualifies for government grants as well as for funding from the National Lottery. However, it must be noted the the government places more emphasis on sports that are played at the Olympics than those that do not.

Cont. on next page.

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In this Issue: Member Nationsâ€&#x; News Global Standardization

People of the month (cont.)

5. If there is any difficulties to operate leagues and the national federation?

There are many problems that affect the proper functioning of a national federation in South Africa. The most important are the low levels of employment,

Trend in the World Today

and the low levels of education. The distances between cities does not help either.

Different Perspectives on the Game

Johannesburg is 1600km's away from Cape Town, 1400km's away from Port

People of the month

Elizabeth, 600 km's away from Durban, and 450km's away from Bloemfontein.

Notice

The distances add significantly to the cost of a national programme as well as the ability of gamers to travel from one event to another. Then there is the issue of connectivity to servers outside of Arica.....

6. What do you think is crucial to make a national federation better?

It really depends on how far advanced the federation is. The MSSA was founded in 1984, so it has been around for a while. Generally though, secure financial streams would help every national federation. Another important factor is to have a robust international federation. Football is a good example, because of the strength of FIFA, all football national federations are strengthened.

7. What do you think is necessary to develop e-sports in Africa?

To raise and develop eSports in Africa, other African states need to see the importance of eSports and how it can lead to the transformation of an economy.

However, it must be realized that in Africa, some cities have intermittent electricity supply, and many countries have to rely on donor aid – eSports is very low on the agenda. Countries like Kenya tend to promote sports that require little investment (like running) due to financial constraints.

8. If there is comment on IeSF for being the global leader of e-sports?

The need for the IeSF is undisputed. For any sport to grow and prosper, such sport needs an international federation where the member federations can combine their joint experiences to build something greater than the individual member. Through a democratic structure of an International Federation, members are able to influence companies and even countries in order to protect the gamer and to promote the game.

9. Finally, please tell us your goal for your life related to e-sports.

My goal is simple, while I am an elected official of the MSSA I have to best represent the views of the gamers affiliated to the MSSA, and to be the best possible administrator that I can be.

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Notice

In this Issue: Member Nations‟ News Global Standardization

1. Submission of Players‟ Information and National Qualifier result.

In order to clarify the flight ticket, we would like to courteously ask all of our

Trend in the World Today

respectful members to submit information of the winners including copies of

Different Perspectives on the Game

passports as soon as the national

People of the month

qualifier is done. All the information of

participants including representatives should be submitted by 6th of Sep to clarify the flight tickets. So, please note not to miss the due date.

Notice

2. Request for the status of e-sports market and policies in your countries.

For IeSF HQ‟s research for status of global e-sports and game, we would like to ask you to research below:  The Size of e-Sports Market and Game Market (Capital size of the markets by

years, Major activities in the markets and etc.)  The policies of Government related to e-Sports and Game. (Major policies and projects of Government, Attitude of Government toward e-sports and game) Please be so kind and share your valuable information with other members. We will send the result of the research in English version to who send us the information.

3. Recruit for interviewee for special promotion article of IeSF. Related to IeSF 2011 World Championship, we will publish some special promotion article about IeSF on Kyunhyang Games which is weekly newspaper.

We are planning to release some introduction of our member nations through these articles. So, if you are interested in having interview and globally introduce your organization or country, please contact Alex Lim via limcw@ie-sf.org. The topics will be the interview for the representative of member association, and member nation and its association‟s history of development.

[Contact] General Manager Noha Park noha@ie-sf.org

Deputy Manager Sungchul Byun byunsch@ie-sf.org

Deputy Manager Alex Lim limcw@ie-sf.org

webpage: www.ie-sf.org

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