 Welcome to the wide world of eSports, a show devoted to all things eSports. I'm your host, Catherine Norr. Today we're talking about promoting eSports in Hawaii, HPU and the Hawaii eSports Alliance. With me today is Jordan Oliver, eSports Manager at Hawaii Pacific University eSports Arena. Welcome Jordan. Hi, thank you so much for having me. All right, so how long has HPU had an eSports arena? So 2017 is when we kicked open our doors at the HPU eSports arena here at Aloha Tower. That got started with John Gotanda, our president. He sort of had this vision of pushing forward the innovative experience and innovative aspects of education. Like how do we tie in innovation more and saw the writing on the wall that eSports was his perfect opportunity. So 2017 is when we officially opened up. You know, that's kind of early on because if you look at UCI, they opened around 2015. So you did not lag too far behind them. Not at all. Very pressure move really actually super impressive to be there that early. The first in the state of Hawaii to do the eSports arena and go with a collegiate presence in eSports. How did it come about? Really, I think a lot of strategic planning, looking at the strategic plan and sort of that long term vision of, you know, how do we connect these emerging industries, the trending emerging new jobs. How do we make sure that our students are ready for these industries? And how do we make sure that we're staying on trend with that, you know, innovating continuously, not just getting complacent in what we're offering here at HPU. So eSports was decided it was just a perfect fit and we had a great space and some generous amount of resources were put in to make it happen. Was there any kind of backlash or did anyone kind of think it wasn't a good idea or was it something that was widely considered a good fit? I think it's been seen as a great fit across the board. We've had a lot of support. The sort of elevator speech is enough to get people interested. But when you really look at the statistics and the numbers and how much value it adds to our students and the community around us, I think that it became apparent that this was a really good move. You know, Hawaii Pacific University is pretty unique because of its location. Tell us about its location. Yeah, so we're still sort of consolidating and part of our plan filling out that Aloha Tower marketplace area. It's beautiful. We're right on the water. We have our dorms are right above the arena, you know, for the most part, as far as the ATM aspect goes. So I can imagine a better experience as a college student honestly to have this amazing 3000 square foot arena downstairs on this downtown urban environment. And we have shuttles that connect to other campuses and Waikiki dorms over there as well, and our lower campus and yeah, it's a unique offering. It's such a diverse population of students. We have a lot of cool partnerships in the community. And then of course just what a more beautiful spot, right? Go to the beach after you're done with three East Forests and it's a pretty good deal. Aloha Tower is kind of it's a landmark that people have seen it's iconic and I think it's interesting for those people who have never been to Hawaii that this is a university that is taken over this area that's traditionally more of a tourist area where and where there were restaurants and there still are some restaurants there, but it is really like if I was a student, I would really seriously think about being a Hawaii Pacific University shark. So what is your background in East Forest Jordan. So yeah, my background in eSports, I kind of exist at this true crossroads of eSports gaming, but education, chiefly as well. So I started out marketing freelancing web design, a lifelong gamer tech enthusiast and travel junkie sort of so this really exists at that perfect spot of connecting those dots of this international industry tech and gaming centric so my clients tended to more and more skew towards that and I was also getting into journalism and writing so I ended up teaching high school Adobe certifications and taking on all kinds of jobs freelancing and writing for publications like game rant and doing some freelance editorial things so a lot of knowledge gaining there and sort of seeing it through and capping and off with eSports management tracked from from UCI to sort of after the writing was on the wall this industry is not going away right so being an education. So how much value I could add to my students really I think that this generation of students that's going to be graduating they're going to be the first wave of have existed with the eSports industry that you know existed as they were growing up you know it wasn't this oh this is new it's oh I can aim for this I can be a streamer I can be a to tournament organizer or you know whatever it's a pretty endless and we can talk about that but as I saw that being possible I said you know education is where I really wanted to be because I wanted to provide that value pass it pass it through the community and make eSports more equitable and representative and the education was a perfect fit so a couple of years later. Here I am at HP. Fantastic. So, let's go on a photo tour of the facility. Yes. Yeah, sorry, I'm excited about this so this is our current configuration configuration basically actually so you notice it's a little bit spread out for covid to keep it safe but we have our our our 12s here or our 12 computers from Alienware so those have 3080s in them rtx 3080s if that means anything pretty overkill for League of Legends we're ready to admit that, but it's pretty cool to be to be able to come and play like Halo or Elden Ring and blast the graphics up. And those monitors are all 240 hertz a millisecond refresh rate so you know, helping combat that pain rate that we're notorious for here in Hawaii with the best equipment we can to make up for latency and things like that. So yeah and the chairs are also Alienware and they are super comfortable really encourage you guys to stop by. So yeah we're open to the public, you can come in. As you can see lots of spaces here. We put the streams up on the walls we have a streaming booth off to the right and students can come in groups can come in varsity teams club teams local teams we encourage to come in sort of use this hub. I mean it's beautiful as you can see and it's even really more compelling at night as the lights go down we turn up the RGB and we get some of the projectors going. So as you can see in the background there a little bit more filled out so this would be an older configuration but this would be for tournaments so just a couple weeks ago we had a Super Smash Bros tournament and it looked like that except it was consoles all, you know switch it Nintendo switches in the background. So this would be a situation where we would have our tournament organizer or showcaster doing some commentary from our computer here time it was looked like overwatch or playing. So this is large enough and we have enough PCs that we can actually flex out like I said we have 18 gaming PCs on the floor right now but we can easily push that to 36. And beyond that as we sort of build out these community events. And then, as you'll see we also have some console gaming so sort of anywhere along the peripheral wall essentially is going to be filled in with non PC gaming so ps fives series x x ps for a Nintendo switch we have several. And then we also have like more fun party games that our students and community can come in and play like you know Mario Kart guitar hero those sort of sort of games for constantly adding more. Let's have air hockey by the way for freeway wants to jump in and maybe just a rattles and make some noise while they're whether friends are playing. And then we have VR so we have quest two out right now we have a couple of headsets, and we encourage people to come try new stuff if there's anything you're interested and want us to throw up on the, on the software wise we're happy to do it we're happy to download it and put it on things keep rolling out constantly, and we like to stay updated VR is a really really really interesting aspect it's not quite endemic to eSports yet but we'll see where that goes. We just like to stay current. No I think most people are, you know, kind of considering VR to be sort of in the wider scope. And that's kind of exciting that you have that there because I think, I think that eSports is kind of the first metaverse I mean when gaming is and, and that's where we've seen NFTs so a lot of the, a lot of where we are going technology wise, sort of eSports was the beginning and gaming is getting what do you think of that. Yeah, I really is this nexus of emerging technologies right and to keep people interested they have to stay competitive and the IPs are constantly shifting it's. It's not going anywhere that's for sure and I think eSports is going to double down on this dynamic of lean in entertainment versus lean back right like we don't want you to kick back kick back and watch the game we want you to be as involved in as possible as possible whether it's in chat or augmented reality or VR later. Absolutely yeah I think eSports was sort of the beginning of bringing people into it right like the metaverse fortnight epic games trying to make a push for it I mean obviously that was born out of competitive gaming and collaborative gaming so I think, well, we won't see that change anytime soon and VR is definitely a strong component of that because it's hard to place where it exists but the component of VR, at least the headset right it's going to be part of simulation eSports at the very least, you know you look at simulation driving and it really really hits home when you're able to put on that headset it's like well this is this is a whole new experience. Sure in a few weeks I'm going to have a guest talking about VR tennis and so I'm looking forward to that. So let's get back to the ping issue. Okay, you mentioned that Hawaii is sort of famous for the ping. Well, my guest last week, Johnny Ryan Weaver is a was a professional eSports athlete and then he now puts on events and he said that his strategy is that he might like just lose by a little bit because where he's located the ping is great he's in like more more rural Oklahoma. And so his strategy is that then when he's in person he just blows and his opponents away, because he has to be so much better than his opponents because of the ping. So, how does, how do players in Hawaii deal with that. Yeah, that's a really good point. So it's like sort of that high altitude training concept right when you're playing on C level you really just have that edge. Take the weights off here maybe we should put weights on our thumbs to and then we can take them off on game day and really get that extra edge. But yeah, I mean, there's definitely something to be said for it when you get that when we do get the opportunity to put our players on a even playing ground and sort of like a true equitable experience with like parody as far as pengos yeah I'd say there's that massive bump that's noticeable with local players. You know, you can lean into teaching fundamentals also and just really be heavy on that and knowing that boost is going to come and sort of strategizing on that end. There's probably so much you can do though and you know there's pluses and minuses I think that like anything we have on the other side of the coin we're when we're only playing against local players we're all we are playing with the same, you know, on the same playing field as far as that goes so we're all we are used to dealing with that with the pain and I think technology it was going to get better and better and it'll become less and less of an issue. What do you think about the Overwatch League coming to Hawaii and playing at UH. I think it's amazing I think anytime something that great can land on our shores it's good for us for the community of e sports. I think it just points to the opportunities that they're only going to continue growing here locally. The white e sports Alliance actually that that we're part of here is trying to push that forward right so you see more of these marquee events see more of the beautiful benefits of having events in Hawaii and connecting, you know Asian teams just across the Pacific actually and just having this sort of hub that we can come to to have these amazing matches. It's great I think it's only a sign of things to come I can tell you that it's only the beginning I think as far as what you're going to see roll So tell us about the Hawaii e sports Alliance what is that. So the Hawaii sports Alliance is sort of a nonprofit gathering stakeholders in Hawaii interested in moving forward e sports community aspect building a building an industry, you know on islands. And we really want to give support education and resources to people looking to build out that he sports pipeline, you know we won't we don't want anybody left behind so definitely check them out. But I feel like the idea is to give that support where it's needed, make sure that from, you know, elementary school through our middle school to high school. Leagues and students that their support that there's opportunity and that we can, you know, safely build out this this e sports experience take something they're doing and really really carefully make sure that we're adding value and we're legitimizing these sports, not only as as an industry but as an experience right because this is valuable time in their lives we want to make sure that we are bettering our students and the community members and giving them something that at the end of this journey whether they go through higher education or straight into the workforce. They're going to be ready for what's coming and not only that they're going to be a part of building what's coming and making sure that it's coming here you know we want to make sure that that he sports industry grows as it should and that these are not just events that roll through. We want them to be sourced and locally, you know, people employed locally that are running these events and bringing them to us so that's that's sort of the idea of the alliance and something that is happy to be on board with you age is a part of, and it's really it's going to continue to grow and I think we're going to see a lot of really great things coming from it. So what you're going to hear now is the legislative or any legislators, legislators, members of the Hawaii Sports Alliance. Not in the fish capacity but we are definitely looking at and talking to everybody I mean we're, it's, it's early days right so it's very early days for that for the Alliance. Yeah, absolutely we're hoping to bring through some some good showcases and really show the opportunity and make sure that we do get those people on board with what we're trying to do and the messaging is clear. You know we want to we want to absolutely carefully craft this whole project and make sure that, you know, from a parents on up from the students on up from the parents to the legislature like we want to make sure that we're not just starting at the top we're literally going through through everything. Sure. And a previous guest was Heather Blair who's with Cinema eSports Alliance and they promote having eSports events in cinemas. Have you seen that in Hawaii at all. I can't say I've seen it locally it is funny that you mentioned I was thinking about this last week, just in personal time in conversation with a couple other eSports colleagues about the opportunity that like these community spaces and these sort of community centric spaces as we get post covid or into at least a modern covid era, where we can have events open up. Yeah, that's an important thing right making sure that we're taking community available resource whether privately owned or not but running these community centric programs of eSports and utilizing these empty spaces that's just a really great example of what eSports can provide. You know it's a new genre of culture, not just industry. So there's going to be these chances for these like pop up opportunities we can really use this. These tournaments and these events and like empty theaters as a call to action to reinvigorate these spaces bring people out and push out forward other industries. There's a great spaces for vendors and new things and education programs. And that's just a great space like libraries, community centers, all of these areas that we can we can reinvigorate with eSports that's sort of the idea I love that. And where we've seen covid impact those spaces like we've definitely seen movie theaters close in Hawaii and and you know if to make it a more profitable industry or space to have other opportunities like eSports in that space. I could see that could work. 100%. Yeah, I mean it's been tough weathering covid I even I can speak for the, you know, HP is eSports arena. You know, takes a huge hit and you really are committing to sort of trying to see this through whether whether that storm, and we've lost some eSports spaces and gaming spaces locally, you know, throughout the pandemic. So it's important to sort of fulfill that commitment to double down we're going to you know we're going to go back out there we're still here. We want these opportunities to grow I can tell you anecdotally that there's a lot of business interest in eSports spaces event spaces broadcast locally on island and in state, and I think we're going to see more and more that happen. So, yeah, I would love to see these, these sort of people that could use that almost lifeline as they're listening to, you know, think tech and wide world of eSports and go, maybe I'm a good fit for that you know reach out reach out via this channel or our channels because there are a lot of people looking to connect these dots and make this happen. There's a lot of great talent out there and I think there's a lot of money and funding opportunities out there as well. And I could even see there being a tie in with restaurants or with malls, because, you know, it isn't easy to make a living purely on retail, or, or selling food and drink, so, and combining them does make sense even though it kind of goes back to that land center situation, but you know it was very successful in South Korea. Yeah, yeah, you really take a holistic approach to these industries, give the people what they want and what they need right, and you have to sort of have your listening to the polls locally at least in the community and say what can we what can we do here what can we do to make sure that this we do take an approach that we're being safe and we're taking a look at COVID and ongoing restrictions and things but planning for not only opening up but getting people to come out to feel safe and to feel like oh I have a place here or maybe I'm going to go try this you know or I'm going to tip my hand into this, it's been a couple of years right so it's going to take a lot of support so yeah we're here for the long term and we want to connect those dots bring in non endemics. I mean that's really the beauty of it I can't say enough to sponsorship opportunities and and crossover, whether it's interdisciplinary in school and education, or just like you're saying hey here's some retail there's a food outlet. All of these things they really have a place here go watch a League of Legends World Championships just Google any one of those things and really just pause it and any given scene and look at all the people in the room, all those jobs that are being created. It's astounding. So speaking of League of Legends World Championships, the Aloha Stadium is going to be basically rebuilt into an entertainment kind of center, and I understand that there's opportunities for esports there. Thoughts on that. Yeah, I think that if there is not some sort of gaming or esports space there it's an opportunity for somebody else I can, I can put leave it at that if I if I needed to but yeah it should 100% be on the, on the table and the planning board. I think that this is not going to go away I was I was saying and that's a great opportunity to bring in new events, new planning. We look at these, you know opportunities like COVID where a lot of things did shut down full stop and you incorporate other aspects for opportunity like esports and there's a lot of events that could have been running throughout that and you only need to know a minimal amount of space to host some virtual events and programming through esports and I think it's again it's this sort of peripheral that a lot of people maybe weren't thinking of, or maybe they were too eager even a couple years ago and coven provided this early or early correction and esports where people said okay where can we carefully spend our money to make sure we're getting this value so I think as you see these sort of important hallmark spaces being built rebuilt and rededicated like a lot of stadium I think you're going to see. Yeah that how can it not be involved. It would be a it would be shocking if it wasn't. I'd love to be that that conversation. Yeah, and you know, people in Hawaii know a very famous event promoter who passed away fairly recently and that was Tom Moffitt. And so I often think that we sort of need a Tom Moffitt of esports someone who is, you know, an event promoter and if we had some amazing facilities. You know, I mean we've got your facility but like some even bigger facilities, we could have some incredible events in Hawaii. Absolutely yeah I think I think we'll see those those are coming I really do I think we have, you know, I think HPU like you said sees the writing on the wall opportunity for let's let's really see if we can build these events out kick this up and I think that's going to happen but then again you have the esports coming into coming into fruition here and that's no coincidence and that's against to make sure that when we do bring these events here as they are coming there you know they're coming right now people are bidding for them. And they're going to get bigger and better that we're providing for the community and that the money as much hopefully you know money and education experience maybe stays on island as we can as we can you know and we can provide these things. So that if we do have these triple A companies coming they say hey we want to get a bid for this, how much is going to cost we can turn around and say this is the production company of talented esports broadcasters and in crew we have and we can provide them for this and here's the food and here's the vendors for shirts and everything and here's the, here's the spaces so that's the idea and it's coming. And so, how, how does esports in Hawaii compared to esports on the mainland do you think or in Asia. Well, I think that that is a great question I think in a couple of aspects were sort of an early earlier stages in development than a lot of esports. You know, presences are on the mainland, but I think that's good I think that people are taking a little bit more of a careful approach with the questions are asking to do we want to commit to having esports. And just as an example, I put that through the lens of a parent right so am I making sure my student and my child is getting value by having this in their school, you know, like just that question alone those are the questions that we're making sure we answer now, even before you know, the big money questions and, and how are we going to make sure that this thing gets as big as it began and all those, all those aspects, we really are taking a careful approach to making sure that this is legitimate and setting value to the students right to the people that need it most maybe the people that if, if this esports community program didn't exist, they might not have gotten into esports right we don't necessarily want to serve the people that are at the top of their rank already so we're we're happy to be that vehicle for them to grow and become the best esports player and professional they can but we do also want to make sure we're grabbing, you know that student that maybe they never would have got their hands on a controller otherwise we want that as well. So how can people find out more about Hawaii esports Alliance. Absolutely yeah Hawaii esports alliance.org would be the best way to check out them learn some more information, and you're going to see a lot more coming out there we got some cool stuff coming up in the future. So be sure to check that out get involved. If you have any sports, call the action mission something you'd like to happen, reach out for sure. And you can also find the information about HP on our socials, HP esports twitch.tv slash HP esports or HP.edu slash esports to get all kinds of deals we're running promotions at the arena all the time and we're open to the public every day at 11 so stop by for sure. All right well I'm looking forward to going to HP you and checking out your arena and playing a few games. So, anyway, thank you so much Jordan, appreciate you coming on and telling us all about HP you and the Hawaii esports Alliance. Thank you we really appreciate it. All right and thank you to our viewers for joining us today next week my guest will be Brandon Boosman partner and director of government affairs of global market advisors to talk about esports gambling. See you then. Thank you so much for joining us and I'll see you in the next video.