Xtreme Paintball: Beyond the Paint

[Anjin3515]

Has anyone watched this? I Tivoed a few and wow...its hard to watch.

The "life style" part seems kind of silly, almost an after thought. Like a half hearted "Real World" wannbe...but far worse.

As for the games they show(all taken from one tournament form what I read).....they confuse the smart parts out of me. I cant follow it to save my life. Maybe I am dense...but I have played paintball and I find it almost impossible to watch....how can they expect someone with zero knowledge of the game to understand whats going on.

The commentator is...umm...not so good.
Camera work is fair...but you cant really see the action, and its really hard to tell when someone got shot.
The "kill counter" on the top of the screen...takes like 1/3 of the screen space!
Uggghhh.


If this is what paintball on TV is supposed to be...then no thanks.
I don't claim to have any clue as to how to make paintball owrk on TV....but I do know this is NOT it.

[RogueFactor]

Let me preface what Im about to say with....Ive never seen the show.

With that out of the way....your viewpoint does not surprise me. Here is the thing: This industry has been trying REAL hard for the last 20+ years to make the sport legitimate--and has failed.

There is no unified effort. And the reason for that is, whats cool right now will be lucky if it lasts a year. Which ultimately means, whoever is on top, likely wont be for long.

Nobody in this industry takes a long term approach. Since they know their time is limited, they want results now. Problem is, no great endeavor is instant.

So, every effort is at best a half-*** attempt, with little planning and a whole lotta work. Many of those folks dont understand the saying "Work smarter, not harder".

And every attempt they make assures that the next attempt at success will be even more difficult. Why? Because anybody looking at the track record of paintball has a history-list of failures.

My point? This TV show is yet another half-*** attempt at hoping paintball on TV will be a success, because some retard thinks that just because its on TV will generate the same feelings for the sport we all have. When in fact, like you, nobody can figure it out because this sport has a bunch of retards at the helm steering this ship right into the perfect storm.

And this show is a perfect example:twocents:

[Anjin3515]

Well said Rogue.
I would much rather NOT have paintball on TV...then have this show as a representative of the sport.

[RogueFactor]

Well said Rogue.
I would much rather NOT have paintball on TV...then have this show as a representative of the sport.

Yep. But you gotta understand, these guys see this as their 1 shot at huge success. If they can be the 'first' to successfully televise paintball, theyve found the holy grail.

Its like watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. Those who fail, die. But they do keep on trying.:evillaugh:

[Anjin3515]

After seeing this....I don't know if paintball can work on TV. It may be just to different a type of sport for it to work. I can understand why they are trying...but this attempt leaves a lot to be desired.
I look at the version of the sport they are trying to promote...and I just cant think of a way for it to be a good match for TV.
Who knows....maybe one day someone will find the right formula.

Now that I think of it...I don't even care if its on TV. Id rather they spend that time and money on innovation,saftey and growing the sport from the fields on up.

[MedicDVG]

The problem with paintball on TV is that speedball is fundamentally boring to watch.

The backs run to the corners, the mids try to get to the carwash and the fronts go to the 50 or the snake.... every damned game... Its a snoozer. X-ball at least tried to make it more of a strategic sport, with penalties, and a faster format with many more games.

Even watching some of the better produced vids such as the XSV one "Hero's for a day" (I won a copy from PBN -- yay me) it is only interesting becuase they did a decent job of making the people the story and not the game. The game footage was made more interesting by slow motion, hard rocking sound tracks, and creative editing. When they actually showed the 'real time' tourney.. it was snoozerville.

I am not sure that TV and paintball will ever meet in the middle and produce something visual enough to entertain, and recreational enough to show why we love this sport. I mean it would be like watching the world hide and go seek championships on TV.

Paintball is a player's sport.. not a spectator sport. Tournament paintball even more so.

Well I think I put out more then :twocents: so Rouge, you will have to paypal me some change.. :smarty:

[p8ntball72]

Now here is an Excellent example of how Television can Launce a game into legitimacy..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I9gHVlXnm0