So, you're pretty good at Gears of War 2, huh? Like, one of the best? Care to put some money on that? OMG, BRING IT.
Your crazy gaming skills are about to be rewarded. Billing itself as "the next generation of competitive video gaming," BringIt.com is a new site "where video gamers can put up money to challenge other players to matches, play their favorite games, and earn prize money by winning."
From the BringIt release:
BringIt works with any video game platform with online capabilities and with any game that supports online head-to-head competition. BringIt will support a diverse portfolio of popular games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and Nintendo Wii. Featured games during the beta period will include Madden NFL 2009, Gears of War 2, FIFA 2009, Halo 3, Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, Rock Band 2, Super Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kart, to name a few. Games will be added constantly with the help of feedback from the BringIt player community.
BringIt sidesteps international anti-gambling laws by maintaining that video games are games of skill, rather than luck. Players must be at least 18 years old and have a PayPal account or major credit card with which to fund their online exploits. Wagers can range from $1 to $100k and BringIt will happily step in with "neutral arbitration" should the need arise.
BringIt's beta has just opened and you can sign up here. Honestly, it sounds almost too good to be true. While I'm sure the BringIt team has done its fair share of legal research and wrangling, I can't help but feel a bit anxious for the other shoe to fall. In the meantime, I will be challenging fools to some Mario Kart.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
What happened to the days of just a little friendly competition without putting a wager on it. I personally think this is a step in the wrong direction and gives us a bad image.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Scott just doesn't want to lose money!
November 21st, 2008 at 3:31 pm
@Brendon OH BURN! IT'S ON!
@Scott I can totally see where you're coming from. BUT, you *already* get paid to play video games! For me, and for other people who play in their spare time, I think it's sort of been an inaccessible dream to get paid to play.
I dunno... isn't it awesome that all my hours and eventual mastery of Devil Dice could potentially pay off?! (Conceivably?)
November 21st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I’m with Brendon in spirit (game competition is pure and of limitless variety and unreachable skill cap in some games).
However, this place relies on a fundamentally flawed honor system with no concrete way to verify match results. Even the no-prize online PC leagues require more match result evidence than this.
November 21st, 2008 at 4:35 pm
@Brendon That is true. For me there is an added shame to not only losing in the game but also losing me moola.
@Marie The way I get paid to play games isn't really playing, it's called testing. It is playing a broken game until it is no longer broken and then letting someone else have fun with it.
November 21st, 2008 at 5:00 pm
@Scott You're right. I've been to the play-tests and I wouldn't exactly call them fun. I take it back.
Forgive me? Big hugs?
Now let's play some games for money.
November 21st, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Didn't they try this before with Tournament.com?
And didn't that venture crash and burn?