I think that Taylor touches on a lot of very important issues of computer gaming in this book. The issue that I gravitate towards the most is the further development of gaming as a franchised sport. In the Gaming as Industry chapter Taylor cooly debates whether or not computer gaming will become a “well oiled machine like the NFL or FIFA” (135). While talking to my roommate about this just now he said that professional video gaming is “impossible to ignore”, and I completely agree with him. There are millions of people who enjoy video-games, and there are certain tears of players who are leaps and bounds more skilled than the average player. This combination is a prime setting for franchised play.
I would even argue that computer gaming has already been becoming alot like conventional gaming, is twitch.tv not the ESPN of computer gaming? I just experienced Twitch for the first time this evening, and i was blown away. I was watching a dude play Counter Strike, but I could not keep my eyes off of the 8000+ person chat-log that was perpetually expanding off to the side of the video. Also, there is a cable channel dedicated to computer games for christs sake, which other sport has that privilege?
I thought that Taylor was too timid about making a claim concerning the future of computer gaming, it seems obvious to me that computer gamers will be viewed as professional athletes in the not too distant future.