Starcraft II pro player NaNiwa leaves Quantic

Judging from the comments and all the generic avatars, Gamespot has been invaded by a pack of e-sports fans who are butthurt because average people dare to ask why it should be taken seriously.

I don't understand this stupid argument of 'SC2 not a sport because it does not require physical finesse.' Whenever I watch other sports I don't care at all how fit all the players are - I care only about which team wins and how they do it . SC2 having the depth to intrigue and surprise with it's players' performances - I see no reason to not call it a sport.

Open your minds people...

Whoa, video game drama? Whatever happened to playing a game for fun? These are grown ass men squabbling over nothing. Very sad.

Thanks for the great covarage Slasher

Great job Slasher, you are a gentleman and a scholar!

Thanks for the great covarage Slasher keep up the good work!

In related news, our IT guy came to our office yesterday and installed a new computer for a new hire that starts here Monday. We talked PC games while he worked. Guess this is stuff we all need to know. (oh -he has been playing Diablo3 - after he gets off work everyday...just like me.)

Call it what you want, but NaNiwa, to the SC2 community, is a big fucking deal, and any action he makes or accomplishes will peak the interest of anyone who follows him. To give those wondering a somewhat brief explanation to just why he is so popular, it all relatively stems from the GSL, the GOMTV Global Starcraft II League, widely-regarded as the biggest, most difficult, and most financed tournament/league currently in place for SC2.Traditionally, it's always been Koreans who have been the top dog fighters in Starcraft, whether it's been SC1 or SC2, and the Korean league GSL is no different. Every single winner so far has been a Korean, so to even see a "foreigner" getting through the round of 64, round of 32, round of 16, 8, etc., is a surprising feat. So NaNiwa, making it twice in row to the past two GSL quarterfinals, is now the seeming foreigner gem the community adores, trumping tradition while defeating well-favored players along the way.

SC2 has matured in gigantic leaps since its release, with the practice and knowledge of players growing ever higher and the skill-cap ceiling developing ever steeper by the month. On paper, NaNiwa's recent round of 8 placings may not seem so spectacular, but if you consider the fact that players have gotten so much better, that the stakes are now much higher, and that Korean dominance is still running so strong, NaNiwa's accomplishments are something to marvel and respect. To the SC2 community, and to his fans, he is essentially our foreigner hope.

He may disputedly have had a controversial past and perhaps even a somewhat controversial personality and background to unfortunately factor into that, but whatever the case may be, he is a clearly a strong if not one of the strongest foreign player, a GSL contender, and a man with pocketsful of tournaments winnings and placings supporting his back. It'll be interesting to see where a guy such as him goes, to which team that'll pick him up.

Team owners? Shady transfers? Falling outs? Egos clashing? I, for the life of me, had no idea starcraft (besides being a major RTS) was also emulating football preseason... PS. - Not critizing the news in itself.. I really just didn't know the depth starcraft went into...

Public service announcement: If you're here to comment on how stupid this article is and "why would anyone care?", go away. This article wasn't intended for you.

Who gives a crap about this? 99 percent of people don't even know who Starsky and Hutch here even are, and to make it even worse its about him leaving a team. Personally i wouldn't mind if its gaming news or what they have achieved, but one person leaving a team makes news?

Swedish AND Protoss in the same sentence.

People still debate over that match he threw against NesTea? Wow.

This is like debating religion: no matter how much people argue, nobody is convincing nobody. But, just to take this off my mind, I personally blame the tournament organization. Really, NaNiwa had had a shitty day, was out of the tournament and was going to walk away without a penny. Having him play a match just for the sake of it was BS.

You don't see this happening in other tournaments, because they actually arrange the prize pool and brackets so that every match gives players a chance to move forward and/or improve their prizes. 

But again, I know I'm not convincing anyone, I just thought I'd say this. Anyhow, I hope Naniwa finds a team soon. He's a nice guy, and not too bad a player.

TY slasher~!~

There is more to competitive gaming then getting a 10 kill streak in Modern Warfare 3. Thanks to Gamespot for releasing articles on the professional gaming scene too. I'd much rather read about this then the next big upcoming money sinking single player game :)

The people on this site are retarded. If you are posting on a "gaming website" you're just as much of a fucking nerd as anyone else here, quit trying to act like you aren't. By far the worst forum/site I have ever seen, and thats saying something.

Just to reiterate:

This is a story about someone who epically trolled an audience of thousands of anonymous people because he thought something they cared about was totally pointless.

Those of you saying "Why is this news?!" might be able to relate to this guy.

God, so funny to see this stuff reported like its some kind of sport.