Successful Players Earn Cash Playing Video Game Tournaments

The world of video game tournaments is chock full of tales of conquest. Computer experts who got one over on us all by going in nerds and coming away with plump bank accounts. Traditionally these "nerds" are young people, teenagers and young adults. People too young to purchase alcohol or even cigarettes have led the video gaming industry. But the industry has matured, and so has its players. Never fear, video games are still all the rage - someone in more than 65 percent of all households plays, according to the Entertainment Software Association.

Electronic Sports are video games belonging to Real Time Strategy, First Person Shooter games, and Racing Games. Having started their life as home gaming consoles, video games have made the journey to join online leagues, allowing players to engage others around the globe. Massively Multiple-player Online Role Playing Games, hosting play-offs for cash awards, offered as much as ,000, this for first place in the World of War-craft Global Arena. That's a brawny trophy to bring home for a sport played from your sofa.

Professional level skills were, in the beginning, sharpened in places such as dorm rooms, basements and Electronics stores. When corporations began to realize the immense potential for marketing products directly to this rapidly growing segment of society, video gaming became a sport.

Massively Multiple-player Online Role Playing Games are computer based games which occur online with thousands of other players world-wide. A player creates a character to represent himself, called an Avatar, which interacts with others in the game. The player then controls his character, or Avatar, as it moves through the game, fighting monsters, terrorists, or other enemies, and collecting objects and prizes that are hidden within the game environment. While there are many "experts" playing in these tournaments, it is not necessary to have experience to join in the fun. Some people have wondered whether the currency played for in these video games is genuine. It is indeed - players deposit real money into a trust fund on the gaming site using their bank cards, and e-check, or Pay Pal. Because these games require actual skill to win, and aren't games of chance, they are perfectly legal in most places.

Some expert gamers have earned beefy nest eggs by quitting their regular jobs and playing video game tournaments full time. In a growth industry earning over million in sales in 2008, there seems to be an abundance of opportunities for gamers with snake-like reflexes and speedy fingers.

Another area in which there is growing demand is Video Game Testers. Because video game popularity is at an all time high, video game companies are under a lot of pressure to thrust new games out to the public in record times. This means they do not have enough time to thoroughly test them. This is where Video Game Testers come in. Gaming Geeks volunteer to play and test the newest games before they are released to the general public and report to the publisher any glitches in the games. They get to play new games before anybody else, and the publishers get their games tested - it's a win-win situation.

With the immense popularity of video game tournaments, it's no wonder Electronic Sports has been evaluated by the International Olympic Committee for inclusion as an Olympic sport.