Starcraft in Africa - Page 7

On April 08 2012 08:08 Flonomenalz wrote:
Well I'm currently playing from Nigeria, and the lag to NA isn't too bad, some days it's pretty good, other days it's awful. The internet in Nigeria as a whole is pretty terrible, I should probably play on EU but I don't feel like making another account and getting to low Masters all over again (ugh, it was so hard with my connection t.t...)

Anyway, PC gaming here (in Nigeria) is pretty non existent, almost any gamer I know plays console games, predominantly FIFA/PES or shooters.

I can make a statement with almost near certainty that I am one of maybe, MAYBE 3-5 Nigerian SC2 players in the entire country, and that's being optimistic. There might be some foreigners on a visit to the country that play SC2, but that doesn't really count.

So yeah, don't expect SC in Africa to be going anywhere anytime soon.

On April 08 2012 04:35 Eiaco wrote:


The rich part of South Africa is much richer than South Korea. Ill try and keep race out of this but its very difficult to, 6 million South Africans live in western-like luxury whilst 44 million South Africans live in utter poverty. Some of the North African Countries are fairly oil rich. Everything in-between North of Arfica (Morrocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Egypt) and South Africa seems to be in complete and utter poverty though.

On April 09 2012 03:24 Xann wrote:
it isnt part of South African culture because the white supremacists occupied it and humiliated my african brothers

On April 07 2012 09:11 bblack wrote:
With the StarCraft II World Championship Series being announced there have been many questions about the way the world gets divided into 5 continents. Although most people are commenting on Asia-related divisions, to me the most remarkable observation lies in there not being an African continent representative.
While I follow the pro scene quite fanatically and am well aware that there aren't any African pro players, it did get me wondering.

I always figured that SC (and other skill / practice related professions like break-dancing) has grown so large in Korea because it's very difficult to develop a school and work career over there. Even if you're smart, you might have difficulty of being successful.
Then I imagine that the same goes for a lot of less developed countries in, for example, Africa. If you can make a living by becoming successful in SC, as it is right now, why don't any Africans seem to go train full time as a career path?
Is it something to do with technology and internet being unavailable, or lack of teams to support starting pro's, or just ignorance of the possibility, or.. ?

Looking at previous posts, there is some SC action going on in South Afrika, but that does overall seem to be the most 'western' country of the continent anyway.

So, it comes down to this:
I feel like there aren't many African SC players, am I right?
Why is that the case?

EDIT: lot's of people get bogged down on one-liners, saying Africans need food, not gaming, or that I'm retarded for even posting this.
Perhaps I've been unfortunate in my choice of words or the example of Korea (it was just something that got me thinking, not all that relevant to this post). So, to be more clear:

My point is, here in Europe everyone can get into college if you are intelligent enough and want to. You don't need to have money to back it up, and there are more than enough spots for everyone. If you happen to live somewhere where that is not the case, then it might be more tempting to pursue a career in gaming, if there is enough money to be gained by doing so.
If that's a risk that you are able to take, and the alternatives aren't all that safe either, I imagine more people would try to turn pro. The could go for people in some African countries.

I'm not suggesting anything here, merely posing a question. Africa isn't entirely as underdeveloped as you might think, and as it has been pointed out: a lot of African people get into soccer in hopes of being a paid pro.
So why not SC?

On April 09 2012 18:34 ScLogan wrote:
This has probably been said before and from what I can read on this, a lot of people here are so fucking ignorant it makes my skin crawl.

Then again, when the Miss America can't even point out where on the map America is, you have to wonder, and yes xann, I am talking to you. Your comments were the ones that stood out the most because you just don't know shit and making comments on what you THINK you know. Come down here and have a braai and a good dop, then we will take you to go and meet your 'African Brothers' as you call it. Trust me, you don't want to.

Now this does sound racist but unfortunately a lot of people don't realise what has happened here in the past or can comment on why we are not part of the world championships. All I know is this:
A few nights ago I had dinner with a freind of mine, black, named Joseph and his wife and two kids. We have been friends since high school and he has done well and pushed himself to succeed. However, his brother, feels that everything must be given to him and that he is owed a living. Joseph, has never been to jail, one of the greatest guys I know, but Thabo has been in and out of jail quite a bit, has never applied himself to succeed and like a lot of the rural community has been misinformed by their own governement, their own people, on how things work. This country needs more Josephs and less Africans like xann and Thabo cause they are the ones that create the stigma.

The other problem exists, as what redemption of US stated and thank you for that, is that South Africa does not have the proper infrastructure or 'awareness' of the potency of E-Sports as it is labeled more as a 'video game'. We relied primarily on a group of people who were more interested in their own gain on the money that E-Sports would line their pockets than actually doing something constructive with it. We have rules and regualtions just like any other country and we need to look at what is needed to grow the community of E-Sports and put people into tournaments and get the recognition. Sitting and hoping that it will happen is just what the rest of the workd expects. We are on a long road and a journey, and maybe this year or the next year we might not be there, but we will. We have some amazing players here in South Africa, PandaTank is one of them, but we also have Shase and Seem, all good players who could be potential competitors in the future.

We have jobs, lives, families that we have to look after and maybe the generation now cannot make an impact, but the future generation will. We have been held back by a lot of mistakes in our countries past based on decisions of men who were not even South African but we have come a lot further in 10 years or so to what America has come in 60. To label us is ignorant and extremely stupid. Browse the internet on news of South Africa rather than ASSUME you know something.

For me, what I see and what you don't see, is the future that is so exciting for us. I am an admin and co-owner of one of the largest MGO's in South Africa. With the potential base and player base that just oozes with good stuff. It is not my job that gets me out of bed every morning, it is the excitement and passion that I see over here, that will allow us to move forward, because we want to be able to take part in the Championship one day. Patience is a virtue and will take a lot of hard work - but I can't wait for when it happens. It is going to be sweet!

And now - just for the ignorant - I need to go and walk the 10kms to go get some water. I have no shoes and the dirt roads have quite a bit of thorns. The elephant is not feeling well and my pet lion needs a walk anyway. I would mow the grass in the back yard but I don't have a mower big enough for veld. THen I will come back to my mud hut, light a candle, wind up the generator and hopefully get enough power to turn on my PC to play some games. Hopefully the stringed cup we get our internet from will provide good enough single for a game or two, unless the string has frayed which will mean another 10 - 20km walk. Anyway, might see you online at around 10 tonight if all goes well

On April 09 2012 19:04 SoniC_eu wrote:
U need a good infrastructure to play sc2. South AFrica, Morocco, (perhaps) Kenya might have that..Maybe more? You need a good internet penetration, decent computer AND a steady supply of electricity and most of africa doesnt have that.
To play soccer u need a 2 posts and a ball...It's just easier for kids to play soccer & scout talents. And like it has been said before, Africans don't follow Esports atm. U would have to have a int'l team with int'l sponsors, which I am sure is possible...
Are there any sc2 african pros / teams atm? Can someone link to them ty

On April 10 2012 03:57 tdt wrote:
It's like selling snow cones on the North Pole.

On April 10 2012 04:23 FabledIntegral wrote:
Your edit makes things even worse. They try to get into soccer after showing promise on the streets. You think even a remote portion of the population can afford a computer that can run SC2? A computer that can even run SC2 on low is going to cost like $700 there minimum, assuming they know how to build hte sucker themselves, then they have to show promise. Most of them can't even afford the luxury of SC2, let alone try to go pro at it.