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Namibia takes esports for a test drive
When people hear Namibia they think sandy dunes and sublime sunsets, not esports, but that may change as the country gears up to put esports to the test.
By - 'shagrath' -
Dec 17, 2008 13:48
When people hear Namibia they think sandy dunes and sublime sunsets, not esports, but that may change as the country gears up to put esports to the test.Several governments have accredited e-sports as an official sport such as South Korea and China, which appointed e-sports as the 99th officially sanctioned sport of the nation.
Even Namibia's Southern neighbour, South Africa, has accredited e-sport as a national sport.
E-sports was prevalent in Asia, Korea especially, which gave the sport the attention it needed to catch the eye of the government.
Much like Korea and China, Namibia has decided to try it out before they buy into it, organizing a LAN event that can be used as a gauge, to see just how much enthusiasm Namibians have for e-sports.
NamLAN, the "LAN of the brave," will be held this Saturday and Sunday at the Windhoek Show Grounds boasting a prize pool of N$20,000 (€1,400) in cash and prizes and the opportunity to be part of largest e-sports movement in Namibia to date.
E-sports may well become a nationally sanctioned sport in Namibia, if all goes well.
Even Namibia's Southern neighbour, South Africa, has accredited e-sport as a national sport.
E-sports was prevalent in Asia, Korea especially, which gave the sport the attention it needed to catch the eye of the government.
Much like Korea and China, Namibia has decided to try it out before they buy into it, organizing a LAN event that can be used as a gauge, to see just how much enthusiasm Namibians have for e-sports.
NamLAN, the "LAN of the brave," will be held this Saturday and Sunday at the Windhoek Show Grounds boasting a prize pool of N$20,000 (€1,400) in cash and prizes and the opportunity to be part of largest e-sports movement in Namibia to date.
E-sports may well become a nationally sanctioned sport in Namibia, if all goes well.
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Though it's a shame to see more and more countries accepting eSport as an official sport but none of the so called "eSport countries" like Sweden, Germany, Denmark etc.
can anyone recognise the last game (2nd box art)?
Enjoy guys, and lol @ fingazz saying there is no gaming in Namibia? The retard plays on our servers with a 140 ping because "there are no Namib servers"
@luci, agreed.
there's probably long way to make this decision for poland ;/
There is an officially recognised National Federation for eSports in South Africa.
It is none other than Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) - yes the very organisation that brought the SK DotA and CS teams out to South Africa for Africon in December 2008.
Contact details for the MSSA are:
Mind Sports South Africa
P O Box 19275
FISHER'S HILL
1408
Tel: + 27 (0) 11 828 4994
Fax: + 27 (0) 86 672 1911
e-mail: mindsportssa@iafrica.com
URL: http://www.mssa-cgboc.org/ (eSports Gaming site)
URL: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9254840698 (Facebook)
Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee.
The MSSA is responsible for the good governance and promotion of Historical figure games (also known as wargames), Board games (such as Backgammon, Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc), and eSports (whether they are played on ‘cell phones, Sony® PSP’s, personal computers or similar).
This event is definetely the right step into the right direction, and I sincerely hope that events as these will let our government look into esport more.
It's a pitty that you guys from South Africa can't make it. (I am from Namibia btw, but SK does not have an option to put Namibia as your country : /) Does any official South African forum exist, where events as these could be advertised in future?
And yes we would like to go to events outside of Nam, but we have trouble funding those trips. You know the drill: No official sport, no gain for companies=no sponsors and therefore no money.
Anyways, thanks again for your support! The lan is going to be the first of it's kind here, and we are looking forward to it!
http://games.saix.net/cgi-bin/sgsbb/ikonboard.cgi?s=64315e5475581ba70ffb2d823167ce8e
The link I posted is to, arguably, the largest forum in SA, so if there is something happening in another African country, just tell us! :)