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We were actually discussing the value of pro gamers versus professional athletes in IRC the other day. In my opinion, though I respect athletes more, professional gaming isn't something just anyone can do. Though it may not be as physically demanding, there is no doubt that professional gaming takes an exceptional time commitment towards honing your skills.
I am certain I could never match the hand-eye coordination, reflexes, or reaction time of a professional gamer, just as I could never throw as far, run as fast, or jump as high as a trained athlete. The average person can't win a Halo tournament any more than they can hit a 100 mph fastball. In fact, most people who pick up a controller for the first time have difficulty with the concept of moving with both thumbsticks simultaneously.
As I said, though it's not something I'd necessarily want my kids doing, I can still respect the time and commitment professional gamers put in to their chosen trade. No, it's not a sport, but like professional sports, it's not something just anyone can pick up and do. It's difficult to compare the two as they are in two completely different realms.
I am certain I could never match the hand-eye coordination, reflexes, or reaction time of a professional gamer, just as I could never throw as far, run as fast, or jump as high as a trained athlete. The average person can't win a Halo tournament any more than they can hit a 100 mph fastball. In fact, most people who pick up a controller for the first time have difficulty with the concept of moving with both thumbsticks simultaneously.
As I said, though it's not something I'd necessarily want my kids doing, I can still respect the time and commitment professional gamers put in to their chosen trade. No, it's not a sport, but like professional sports, it's not something just anyone can pick up and do. It's difficult to compare the two as they are in two completely different realms.
Okay, well I strongly disagree with this post.
I have been playing games like Halo, gears of war and Smash bros for a while now competitively. I would consider competitive gaming as a "sport" per se, but just something to compete about. I love competing whether it be sports or competitive gaming. I have been to MLG gaming events and placed semi-pro in gears of war, and have placed well in numerous Super Smash bros brawl tourneys across the midwest.
I don't consider organizations such as MLG sporting organizations, but competitive gaming organizations. They are there to give gamers who have the chance to do something with there skill. I usually try to get involved in whatever competitive scene there is for any game, whether it's just small clan matches, or major tournaments such s MLG.
Why? because it's very fun, I get to make money doing something I love, and the atmosphere is great.
And to say gaming isn't mainstream yet is a fucking understatement. I'm pretty sure giving out more than 1million dollars worth of prizes at an MLG event in mainstream enough, not to mention the 300,000 contracts some of the top Halo 3 players have for MLG.
There is also the WCG (World Cyber Games), which is like the fucking olympics for video games, if that's not mainstream, I don't know what is.
The truth of the matter is that people like to play games competitively. If you don't, then don't.
I have been playing games like Halo, gears of war and Smash bros for a while now competitively. I would consider competitive gaming as a "sport" per se, but just something to compete about. I love competing whether it be sports or competitive gaming. I have been to MLG gaming events and placed semi-pro in gears of war, and have placed well in numerous Super Smash bros brawl tourneys across the midwest.
I don't consider organizations such as MLG sporting organizations, but competitive gaming organizations. They are there to give gamers who have the chance to do something with there skill. I usually try to get involved in whatever competitive scene there is for any game, whether it's just small clan matches, or major tournaments such s MLG.
Why? because it's very fun, I get to make money doing something I love, and the atmosphere is great.
And to say gaming isn't mainstream yet is a fucking understatement. I'm pretty sure giving out more than 1million dollars worth of prizes at an MLG event in mainstream enough, not to mention the 300,000 contracts some of the top Halo 3 players have for MLG.
There is also the WCG (World Cyber Games), which is like the fucking olympics for video games, if that's not mainstream, I don't know what is.
The truth of the matter is that people like to play games competitively. If you don't, then don't.
To me a more interesting question than is it/is it not a sport is, "who's calling it a sport and WHY?" And related to that is, what are they doing to package it as a sport?
At GDC there was a panel of tv execs who were making their pitch to the audience of game developers, saying they needed their help to make gaming the next big spectator sport -- and to do that, these dudes said, game developers need to start making games with better camera angles, better replay features, better ways for "the spectator" to tell teams apart, etc. They kicked off their talk with a splashy promo spot featuring 'athletes' from their startup 'league', all talking about the importance of their 'team' and the adrenaline of intense competition. And they ended by suggesting that their goal is to eventually develop their own games -- games that are more built for spectatorship than play.
So we can yak about whether it is/isn't a sport all we want, but as we do so, dudes like these tv execs are pumping big bucks into actively selling the idea to sponsors, game developers, and kids, all of whom (particularly kids) seem ready to buy into the idea if it means they can make money.
At GDC there was a panel of tv execs who were making their pitch to the audience of game developers, saying they needed their help to make gaming the next big spectator sport -- and to do that, these dudes said, game developers need to start making games with better camera angles, better replay features, better ways for "the spectator" to tell teams apart, etc. They kicked off their talk with a splashy promo spot featuring 'athletes' from their startup 'league', all talking about the importance of their 'team' and the adrenaline of intense competition. And they ended by suggesting that their goal is to eventually develop their own games -- games that are more built for spectatorship than play.
So we can yak about whether it is/isn't a sport all we want, but as we do so, dudes like these tv execs are pumping big bucks into actively selling the idea to sponsors, game developers, and kids, all of whom (particularly kids) seem ready to buy into the idea if it means they can make money.
Agreed, while games may require skill, they don't require athleticism, and therefore aren't a sport which by definition an athletic competition. The fact their not sports doesn't demerit them in any way though, A respected game like Chess or Poker may take just as much work to get good as football does, but no one tries to claim they're sports, so why are video games any different.
I've never really payed attention to competitive gaming though, so this may be way off base :P
I've never really payed attention to competitive gaming though, so this may be way off base :P
While I see competitive gaming as a very valid pursuit and something that requires a commitment of time and effort to excel at, it really isn't a 'sport' in the same way you wouldn't call chess a sport.
I don't even think it's so much whether or not it is a sport as we traditionally call them that we should be concerned with, but instead we should think of what this movement is doing. 1. People are able to compete and have fun for prizes on a serious level doing something that they love. 2. Video games are brought to the public's attention by these events and made more "mainstream". 3. They become viable concerns for many individuals involved who then bring about changes and improvements in gaming styles, graphics, and even hardware. All of this, I believe, is positive. Whether they are sports or not, or some other name for a competitive get-together that either doesn't exist or escapes me right now is beyond the point. The point is that it's making gaming a socially acceptable and mainstream activity and honestly, it's a beneficial thing.
@ XDAYTIME
Do you even somehow think in some small part of your brain that the amount of money used in a mlg or wcg event comes to even 10% of whats used at a football game? If you do i would go back and add up advertising costs, sponsorship deals and even just the player's salary alone would dwarf any mlg event. Unless you look for it on purpose there is little to no chance of seeing an mlg event on tv or in real life or on the radio
the sad truth is that games have not yet reached mainstream levels. Noone thinks about games the way they think of tv, books, or even radio for that matter and radio is considered the bastard child of media.
The contracts given out by the mlg for the most part come out to less than minimum wage an hour, really mlg is doing nothing but taking advantage of these players.
you do have a point in that not everyone can play competitively but on that same notion not everyone can belch the abc's or make masks out of people's like ed gein* but i wouldn't consider those sports either, just because theres a diparity in difficulty doesn't qualify it as a sport.
As an aside i have attended many competitions as well even came away first place in unreal tourney 2004 in a competition in texas but theres no way i would consider it a sport.
it's a fun competition..... but not a sport in my opinion.
*ed gein reference from the fresh prince
Do you even somehow think in some small part of your brain that the amount of money used in a mlg or wcg event comes to even 10% of whats used at a football game? If you do i would go back and add up advertising costs, sponsorship deals and even just the player's salary alone would dwarf any mlg event. Unless you look for it on purpose there is little to no chance of seeing an mlg event on tv or in real life or on the radio
the sad truth is that games have not yet reached mainstream levels. Noone thinks about games the way they think of tv, books, or even radio for that matter and radio is considered the bastard child of media.
The contracts given out by the mlg for the most part come out to less than minimum wage an hour, really mlg is doing nothing but taking advantage of these players.
you do have a point in that not everyone can play competitively but on that same notion not everyone can belch the abc's or make masks out of people's like ed gein* but i wouldn't consider those sports either, just because theres a diparity in difficulty doesn't qualify it as a sport.
As an aside i have attended many competitions as well even came away first place in unreal tourney 2004 in a competition in texas but theres no way i would consider it a sport.
it's a fun competition..... but not a sport in my opinion.
*ed gein reference from the fresh prince
@Mecha Monkey
When was this pro gaming IRC discussion I missed out on?
i used to play Battlefield games competitively, and right now it is simply not worth getting into "professional" gaming. The amount of time you have to put into the game to even get recognized is ridiculous, and then you have to climb to the top of all the leagues and ladders before you can even have a chance at winning in a paying league like CEVO (which you have to pay to join, and you only get money if your in the top 3 for the season. not to mention the cost of having a server and ventrilo for your team.) Sure, your team will win $2,500, but even if you have sponsors to pay for your expenses, how much of that will you actually see on 6 man team? not a lot
When was this pro gaming IRC discussion I missed out on?
i used to play Battlefield games competitively, and right now it is simply not worth getting into "professional" gaming. The amount of time you have to put into the game to even get recognized is ridiculous, and then you have to climb to the top of all the leagues and ladders before you can even have a chance at winning in a paying league like CEVO (which you have to pay to join, and you only get money if your in the top 3 for the season. not to mention the cost of having a server and ventrilo for your team.) Sure, your team will win $2,500, but even if you have sponsors to pay for your expenses, how much of that will you actually see on 6 man team? not a lot
@XDAYTIME
Vexed Alex was pretty spot on. I worked for MLG for just over a season. You kids need to take showers -_- I suggested that MLG gets Axe as a sponsor, i'd rather smell that crap than the gamers there.
Vexed Alex was pretty spot on. I worked for MLG for just over a season. You kids need to take showers -_- I suggested that MLG gets Axe as a sponsor, i'd rather smell that crap than the gamers there.
Gaming competitions are more than fine, and there's no problem as taking up such a mindset.
When you begin calling it a sport, however, you have lost your goddamned mind. Video gaming is not a friggin' sport, nor is chess, nor is anything else that isn't physically or athletically-demanding.
When you begin calling it a sport, however, you have lost your goddamned mind. Video gaming is not a friggin' sport, nor is chess, nor is anything else that isn't physically or athletically-demanding.
@EVIL CHAD
Obviously you don't know what you're talking about because the 2006 MLG season was featured on USA.
And I didn't say it was considered a sport you dumbfuck. I said it was mainstream, and yes, it is. Halo 3 has a MLG playlist, which allows all 1million + players to participate in MLG. look at gamebattles.com. A shit ton of people play competitively on that website.
Just learn your fucking shit before you make a post just for attention.
Obviously you don't know what you're talking about because the 2006 MLG season was featured on USA.
And I didn't say it was considered a sport you dumbfuck. I said it was mainstream, and yes, it is. Halo 3 has a MLG playlist, which allows all 1million + players to participate in MLG. look at gamebattles.com. A shit ton of people play competitively on that website.
Just learn your fucking shit before you make a post just for attention.
True Games aren't Sports. But Sports are Games!
I Got U Thar! LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL! (sorry, I couldn't resist making a stupid comment)
I Got U Thar! LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL LAWL! (sorry, I couldn't resist making a stupid comment)
@xdaytime:
Jesus Christ calm down dude! If you asked a random person on the street if they have ever heard of MLG or WCG how many of them do you think would say yes? Of course not a lot of them and therefore how can you say that games are mainstream? It doesn't matter if it's being shown on TV and the cash prize is irrelevant. Sure they are bigger than ever but that doesn't mean that everyone will know about them.
One thing I don't understand is how people can regard gaming as a sport when the games are always changing? That being said to compete in any game takes a lot of dedication, training and a lot of mental agility and strength just like in mainstream sports. However I think they are too different to compare to one another.
But if darts is considered a sport then I guess games can be as well! and let's not forget how crazy the Koreans are for competitive games like StarCraft which is televised (gets huge ratings) and followed like a mainstream sports event
Jesus Christ calm down dude! If you asked a random person on the street if they have ever heard of MLG or WCG how many of them do you think would say yes? Of course not a lot of them and therefore how can you say that games are mainstream? It doesn't matter if it's being shown on TV and the cash prize is irrelevant. Sure they are bigger than ever but that doesn't mean that everyone will know about them.
One thing I don't understand is how people can regard gaming as a sport when the games are always changing? That being said to compete in any game takes a lot of dedication, training and a lot of mental agility and strength just like in mainstream sports. However I think they are too different to compare to one another.
But if darts is considered a sport then I guess games can be as well! and let's not forget how crazy the Koreans are for competitive games like StarCraft which is televised (gets huge ratings) and followed like a mainstream sports event
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport does video games follow the those guidelines? Personally I don't believe they are, but by the Wiki page they are. People that tell me Texas Holdem is a sport, I ask if the CCG Yu gi Oh is a sport, and most shut up. Its a grey line, who cares honestly. As games become more popular it will become more mainstream and then more and more will consider video games a sport. It makes sense honestly, as we the human species create better and better technology this is just an evolutionary step for "sports" back in the old day they saw who could throw a rock the furtherest and that was their sport. Sports now WILL become video games, and vice versa, its inevitable.
wikipedia does not equal reality. wikipedia is just a bunch of self important people who make posts about topics noone is knowledgeable enough to dispute.
i do agree, it IS inevitable. my whole post is based upon the present. games are NOT mainstream, they are NOT sports but there will one day be a time where they are sports and people won't be ashamed to say " i play video games."
it's one of my dreams i hope will come true in the near future.
i do agree, it IS inevitable. my whole post is based upon the present. games are NOT mainstream, they are NOT sports but there will one day be a time where they are sports and people won't be ashamed to say " i play video games."
it's one of my dreams i hope will come true in the near future.
