Sometimes it's hard to comprehend just how much Koreans love StarCraft until you see it in action. That's why we're going to take a look at some of the best YouTube videos that have come out of the Korean StarCraft craze so far. Get read to laugh, cry, and be just plain confused.
#1 PLAAAAAAAAYGU
These gentlemen could not possibly sound more distressed if a literal plague had erupted across the auditorium, instantly turning the rabid fans into mindless zombies trying to consume one another. There are a lot of clips of Korean SC announcers freaking out (they seem to love to yell "aaaaaaaaaaaah!"), but this one shows their intense passion for the game in a way that only science vessels getting hit by a defiler's plague can.
#2 Ladies go wild for a man who can StarCraft...
I'm not sure if the fans or the announcers are more in love with Firebathero, but they're definitely all loving the show he's putting on for them. Only the top few celebrities in Hollywood get the time to play around like this on the red carpet. And take a good look at that crowd cheering him on--almost all women. In fact, the majority of fans that attend tournaments are female and often come bearing gifts and "tasty snacks" to attract their favorite player's attention. You can only imagine what happened when he was drafted into military service by the Korean Air Force. He became the ultimate national hero and symbol of patriotism (remember when Elvis was inducted into the military mid-career? It was pretty much like that). After his tour of duty, Firebathero returned to a team sponsored by the Korean Air Force (the only military division to sponsor a professional SC team, which makes them way cooler than the others).
#3 ...And spend their time composing video love letters
Now that shows true dedication. If I were SlayerS_BoxeR I'd be feeling pretty good about myself right now. And also a little creeped out that someone managed to take that much handheld video footage of me across so many different locations. That's gotta be approaching stalker status.
#4 GG
Professional sports need professional commentators, and this trio seems to be at all the big games, making sure that everyone watching from home knows when they should be yelling "G-Geeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" (the SC version of soccer's "GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAL") at their own televisions in response to the events. That's right, at their televisions--South Korea has an entire channel dedicated to replays of StarCraft games.
#5 Voice impressions
The guy isn't perfect, and the crowd gives him a really hard time for a couple of his lesser impressions, but come on! This is a South Korean guy imitating a Southern California Blizzard employee trying to imitate a weird alien monster that no one's ever heard before--let's cut him a little slack! At least give him some extra credit for throwing his whole body into the performance. And for all you Boxer lovers recruited by video #3, here's a video of him doing a few impressions of his own .
