Nick Plott and Korean Starcraft

It's hard to say whether or not professional Starcraft in Korea is indicative of future trends in the world of PC Gaming. Given that Starcraft has been huge in Korea for the last ten years, and nowhere else has there been such mainstream recognition for PC gaming skills, will this be a trend that fades away as Starcraft 2 nears its release? A one time PC game anomaly that will be remembered as a golden era, but not the beginning of something greater? Personally I hope this is not the case. I watched almost all of the matches in GOM TV's last Averatech-Intel Classic Tournament and thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.

As much as I now love and appreciate the intricacies of build-orders and dragoon micromanagement, there was only one real reason why I kept tuning in. I kept coming back because of Nick Plott, aka Tasteless, the english commentator for the tournament. His enthusiasm and vast knowlege of the 'sport' were the solid foundations for an otherwise totally hilarious personality. I am aware of Nick's undying loyalty to Starcraft as the 'manliest game ever made,' but we need him, or at least others like him, to commentate on other games if PC gaming as a competitive spectacle is ever to get off the ground in North America or Europe.

Here's a couple of quick highlight vids of the best commentator of all time to come out of Aiur.



Much's 'Scarab Syndrome'



I think part of what makes his casts so entertaining is the culture clash. It often seems like the Koreans barely know that Nick exists. He is clearly out of the loop on a lot of the technical issues at GOM TV, for example he always misses the cues for when games start. Nick makes it fun to discover quirks of Korean culture because you feel like you are learning about it along with him.

Rock on, Tasteless!