eSC: Interview with TsN's Corey "dunN" Dunn
In a continuation of our interview series with those building the community, in all other ways then in-game combat, this latest edition of the eSports Chat talks with Team Sportscast Network's Corey "dunN" Dunn. Among his duties at TsN, dunN is a regular caster of the CEVO-Professional Match of the Week, and co-host of the weekly show called Game Point. Along with special guests, Game Point discusses issues current trends and issues in eSports for all of Counter-Strike (1.6 and Source). Read below for our exclusive interview with dunN to find out more about the man behind the voice and his thoughts on the future of eSports.

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Hi dunN, thank you so much for taking the time out to do this interview. In traditional form to start off, who is Corey Dunn?

I'm 19 years old from Dallas, Texas. I have been playing Counter-Strike for more than 7 years. I played varsity baseball in high school, and I'm now working on my masters in Sports Broadcasting, and Mass Communications. Like anyone else I hang out with groups of friends each week, and spend excessive amounts of time playing Counter-Strike. My position in the Team Sportscast Network is a Counter-Strike Broadcaster for both Counter-Strike 1.6 as well as Source.

In your very first casts for TsN, you were thrown to the sharks so to speak, as you casted to tens of thousands at CPL Winter 2004. How did you end up in the circumstance? What is your story on how you ended up working for TsN?

Well, a good story has come from it all. Before I was actually in TsN, I was driving back and forth from my home to the event during that time period. My first broadcast ever was at 10 in the morning. I was extremely nervous and tired, but the talents that I have practiced on for months had taken over. Although, it wasn.t one of my greatest broadcast I still did decent for my first time. Over the past year and few months, I have progressed my way through TsN to become one of the top quality broadcasters by broadcasting CPL Summer 2005 and Winter 2005, as well as GeForce LAN 2.0.

Now the actual story behind how I became a TsN broadcaster. Just like any other person in the community, I was listening to TsN with my favorite casters like Boomerman, and Violator. They had made a comment stating, "Do you think you can do what we can do, then fill out an application, and short demo." From that point I thought I would practice for at least a month, and then send in a demo. I did exactly that, and the rest is history.

What advice do you have for all those aspiring casters out there, hoping to make it big in this community as you have?

This is going to be corny, but practice and take heart into what you are doing. I practiced hours and hours, and even had fun broadcasting in public servers. If you don't believe me that I broadcasted in public servers go to Google Videos and search for "Counter-Strike Broadcaster." I think you might recognize the voice. Again for those who want to become a part of this broadcasting scene, practice until you feel it sounds good. You are your best critic.

Alongside Scott "Coltrane" Cole, you host a weekly eSports talk show called Game Point. The show brings up very interesting issues in eSports and I think it is great. I tune in to the show every opportunity I get. Unlike others who have been increasingly segregating the communities, Game Point is blended to include both Counter-Strike and CS: Source. What is the reasoning behind this?

The idea has been brought to my mind many times by our past broadcasters that use to be apart of the segregation of the two games. First you have to understand the concepts of the two games are the same, but the game play is extremely different. I wanted to bring this point out to the community full scale. I would like to take this time period and apologize for the show not airing each week, but I want to resolve some past issues and continue the show with quality content. The show should continue Thursday May 11th at 7pm EDT.

What do you think is the reason that gaming, despite its huge popularity with a key marketing demographic, has had so much difficulty acquiring .non-traditional., non-gaming sponsors, such as Coke or General Motors? After all, most of us are soda drinkers and in the market for vehicles.

At this point in time, the teams that exist right now usually do not maintain their players. One of the main things that will need to happen before gaming becomes "main stream" is consistency. Just as CEVO is doing, the matches need to be at set times and set dates. Also, another move that I believe will be great for gaming is blending console gaming and PC gaming together. This idea is kind of like choosing your weapon for battle within the gaming scene. If console gaming is not much different then PC gaming then why can they not play against each other on the same server. One thing I would love to see is watching a five person roster that has two console users and three PC users. Maybe describing it like the X-games would make more sense, say for instance we are talking about BMX racing, and one biker is using a "Mongoose" with chrome petals and another is using a "Huffy" with a light weight frame. Now they are still both racing in the same track, but different utensils. Those are just a few of my ideas for pushing the gaming scene.

Do you think that we are on the verge of a huge breakout for eSports? If mainstream popularity does finally come, do you think it will be come about from a sudden event, or that it will continue to develop only slowly step by step?

Well, I can't predict exactly what is going to happen, but I believe that if gaming blows up here in the near future it will die as quick as it started. My dad, who works for AT&T, brought up a very huge point though. There are two things that drive the internet, one is gaming, and two is something you could probably guess. Gaming has a chance, but if we want to make it mainstream then we will have to take these baby steps, and then blow up. Again, I will use the X-Games analogy. X-Games, and aggressive sports has always been around then blew up into something big, but is starting to die away in the viewers eyes.

Are you hoping to pursue a long-term career in broadcasting, be it mainstream media or (if things develop) eSports, or some other career path? If a career outside of eSports, do you see yourself staying involved with the community in some capacity?

There was a time period where I wanted to become an architect, but that phase has passed. I will one day be doing sports casting for either video games, or athletic events. The future of eSports will be the one that decides my fate. I believe this is just the beginning of me in this community, and I will be around as long as eSports community is around.

Thanks again for your time. Do you have any last comments or shout-outs?

I would like to thank CEVO for giving me the opportunity to be able to express my views and ideas in the interview. Finally, I would like to make sure everyone checks out www.tsncentral.com, for eSports coverage. Also, for those who are involved in the Counter-Strike scene be on the look out for Game Point on Thursdays on the Team Sportscast Network. Thanks again.