[Today's promoted blog on the topic of eSports is from Elsa, who argues that games aren't sports, and don't need to be classified as such to be legitimate. If you want to see your blog on the front page, make sure you write a CBlog on our current topic, East vs. West. -- JRo]
I've caught a few episodes of "Major League Gaming" on G4TV and it got me wondering if gaming could legitimately be called a "sport." I guess this is an old issue, but I remember a few years ago where the GGL (Global Gaming League) had actually tried to get videogaming into the 2008 China Olympic games as a demonstration sport. They were unsuccessful, but they argued that recognized sports such as golf relied more on hand/eye coordination and skill rather than athletics, and they also pointed to the fact that bridge, chess, bowling, and billiards were recognized by the Olympic committee as legitimate "sports."
I think most would agree that videogaming often requires an equivalent amount of teamwork, skill and strategy to the "sports" such as those mentioned above, and a few could even say that videogames such as DDR require physical exertion, artistic flair and skill -- like other more classic sports such as gymnastics. That being said, I personally don't think that bridge, chess, billiards, or videogames are actually sports. They are GAMES. Call them e-sports, or v-sports, or even "intellectual sports" (a phrase often found when talking about bridge or chess as sport) if you must, but they are not actually sports. Sport requires physical fitness and physical training, and I think that this is the dividing line between "sports" and "games. Sports contain a very real element of danger, that someone could be physically hurt or injured and somehow the mental agony of being teabagged just doesn't measure up.
Professional sports are also often big money. People will pay money to go to an event to watch physical competition. Apparently as a society we find it entertaining to watch two men beating each other up, or large groups of men or women chasing a ball or a puck around an enclosed area. Part of the attraction to this is the fact that an injury could occur -- these are the "ahhh" moments in sports. I don't know that masses of people would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars to go see a gaming event -- it simply lacks that physical sense of danger. Lots of people will watch if the viewing is free but really, honestly, would they pay money to attend?
The other thing is, everyone knows the rules in sports. One of the problems with videogames as either a sport or even as entertainment is that the rules vary from game to game. Virtual sport games such as football or racing tend to borrow the established rules of their real-life counterparts. But then there are also fighting games, shooters, and RTS games -- each with their own environment and rules. There are so many genres of videogames that it makes it difficult to offer them as a viable form of entertainment. There is no game that has arisen to international level as "THE competitive videogame" where everyone knows the game and knows the rules. In Korea, StarCraft might be that game, but in North America it might be Halo. Even StarCraft and Halo change too quickly for the casual observer to become interested because there are new editions that come out every few years. There is even the difficulty of viewing the event in that each player of a videogame has their own individual perspective and the entire "game" can't easily be viewed by an audience.
Videogames will likely never become as popular as true sports, very simply because they are not a sport -- they are a GAME. In my parent's era, they played billiards, darts, bowling, poker, bridge or Canasta. There was both a social and a competitive element. Today, people play videogames. Just as billiards, poker and bowling have all been televised, so too may gaming be televised, but it will never be the same as actual sporting events and because of the different genres involved. Gaming will, to some degree, always be a niche form of televised entertainment, unlikely to appeal to the broader masses.
That being said, competitive gaming will continue to evolve and increasingly it will likely be broadcast in some form. That form may not be on your TV, but maybe on your computer, your PS3 or your Xbox as a livestream. It may occasionally make a TV appearance, but will likely be relegated to the 2AM time slots previously occupied by poker, bowling and billiard events.
Gaming is gaming. Get over it. There is no need for gaming to be "sports" and the people that play games professionally are not "cyber athletes." They are gamers. Period. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.
[The blog author apologizes profusely for the use of the previous header picture and any offense it may have caused.]
Contest:
7:30 PM on 08.09.2011 | 
Sorry :P Well said, Elsa.
I can sorta see the appeal, getting together playing games for hours on end..it's the whole "competitive" aspect that always turns me off. I like to play games to have fun. If a game starts getting too serious or I find myself raging because I am taking the game too serious I log and walk away.
I have no problem with competitive gaming being considered a sport, if people want to compete then let them compete, I'm just not gonna sit there and watch, I especially wouldn't pay to watch someone play.
The one thing I never got about E-sports is the ones that separate men and women into different competitions. I mean, in real sports it makes sense, it’s just a fact of nature that men are physically stronger than women and therefore have an unfair advantage, but women can push buttons just as good as men?
In Korea, competitive Star Craft players are touted alongside any other national athlete...kind of sad to be honest. (Some exaggeration may have occurred, but seriously...Star Craft is televised there.)
All this being said, computer games taken to a professional level should be kept seperate and distinct from physical sports. They're two very different beasts, and we should regard them as such. No grouping together and certainly nothing like trying to get games into the Olympics.
Most of this does kinda come down to semantics from the points you've raised and there's a long ways to go before "eSports" can even come close to comparing to what we have with physical sports(outside of Korea at least), but i can see them possibly making the leap one day. To say otherwise can kinda downplay the time, energy and skills of people who dedicate themselves to getting professionally good at these 'games.'
Thanks for making me think Elsa, and as an aside, i actually think the word eSports is actually really dumb. I'm all for the idea of it, but there really has to be a better word for it.
However, my brain reminds me that the Olympics are referred to as the Olympic Games, not the Olympic Sports! And the Olympics are about as sport-like an activity as you can get, so it's not a totally clear-cut distinction.
That said, even if I WAS a competitive video game player, I would just have to slap anyone who called me an "eAthlete." I mean, seriously. I'm sure that pro poker and billiards players aren't really obsessed with creating a tie to "sports" either.
• "Sports contain a very real element of danger... that someone could be physically hurt or injured..." (Have you ever BEEN to a fighting game tournament?!lol)
• "Professional sports are also often big money. People will pay money to go to an event to watch physical competition. I don't know that masses of people would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars to go see a gaming event." (This year-and every year-'s EVO was just that, it costs a few hundred dollars to attend and quite a bit of money exchanges hands over the matches. What's more! After this year, specifically, the HYPE was so strong that my two best buds and I are going to EVO next year for the very first time, and we're not even hardcore fighting fans)
• "and part of the attraction to this is the fact that an injury could occur - these are the "ahhh" moments in sports." (I personally only think this applies to N.A.S.C.A.R. People don't really watch American Football to potentially see a spine shattered, they watch for the sportsmanship and skill of the players, in hopes that its better than the opposing team's players! Likewise with European Football, or 'footy', they watch more for the match itself, to see who can score more goals than the other team, etc.)
• "The other thing is, everyone knows the rules in sports." MEN know the rules, methinks you haven't had a woman in your ear asking so many questions it's downright annoying! I kid, I kid. :D
Overall I agree with your point that they aren't sports. I don't want videogames to be 'sports' in the traditional sense as I don't want videogames to be 'art' in the traditional sense. Art is non-interactive and has no replay-value and sports are boring and players are overpaid crybabies. :)
I do, however, feel a bit differently. I'm not going to go into all the bits I disagree with, as I'd probably just be echoing others who have already commented. The thing that jumped out at me, however, was your point that competitive gaming could not be lucrative, or generate interest enough that audiences would pay to attend. I feel like this is a little short-sighted, as anywhere where there's an enthusiastic following is bound to have people interested enough to pay to view. I mean, one case would be how incredibly popular it has become for COD players to watch other COD players on Youtube. These are people, by the thousands, actively seeking out others playing a game they already play themselves. Given the popularity of that, it would not be beyond anyones imagination to be going to a big event and seeing the same thing, only with the added buzz of competition and a live crowd.
But I think the market has room to grow. It may never be huge, but I certainly can see some action down the line. And I'm happy with that.
Starcraft 2 is huge internationally, and you need look no further then the GSL and MLG. Street fighter 4 is huge, and you need look no further then EVO. And personally, i'd rather pay to get into evo, then go see some ufc match. SSF4 and SC2 are both legit sporting events, plus, they are far and beyond entertaining compared to most physical sports.
@smurfee.. yeah, it's semantics... but terminology is important!
@bbain... thank you
@Law... they may be treated like athletes in Korea, but the fact is that they aren't. They don't do physical training. (Could a better analogy be TV stars?... entertainment personalities?)
@KingSigy... unless there is physical activity I don't think it will become a sport. Granted, with Kinect and the growth of motion gaming, I'm not ruling out that a sport could actually arise from gaming - but there would need to be a single competitive game that arises from motion gaming that contains competitive elements and becomes popular enough to go beyond gaming and into sport.
@jjenigma.. I do think you're right that gaming can make the leap to becoming a more popular form of televised entertainment... but we still need a "killer app" - a game that is cross platform and popular enough that people want to watch it.
@Hand Eye Foot... there is no doubt that gaming is competitive and has many of the same qualities as a sport - but so too do Bridge, Billiards and Poker. Being a game isn't a "lesser" thing than being sport.
@Jaded... I too love gaming, but like yourself, I just have no interest in watching it as a form of entertainment, but would rather being doing it! :)
@Fulldamage... good point on it being the Olympic "Games"! LOL!
@Byronic Man... ewww... that movie was AWFUL!
@Rammstein.. I just checked EVO's home page and it was apparently free to watch the games... though I guess people do pay hundreds of dollars for hotel and travel expenses... but still would people pay an actual fee to simply watch the game. I don't know that they would (though I'm sure people would pay a fee to participate as expenses have to be covered). In regards to injuries.... do footy players not get injuries? I know that hockey players certainly do (and the fights certainly get people riled up). I'm sure that there must be pile ups in American football where everyone goes "ahhhh" and wonders if an injury occured.
.... then again, I'm a woman with no interest in sports and I haven't a clue about the rules! LOL! (in fact I had every opportunity to attend the Stanley Cup Hockey playoffs and didn't bother going). :)
You also make a good point that video games are part art, part sport... but primarily they are all "video games". They are unique and I just think that they should celebrate their uniqueness without trying to be something they aren't!
@Lou Chou... even if some game came along (a killer app) that everyone played and everyone wanted to watch... unless it was a motion-game, I dont' think it would be "sport" - but instead would simply be "entertainment". I don't know what the current stats are, but just a few years ago, not even 50% of gamers played online games. Even many of those that bought the COD games never played the online competitive portion... so while thousands might be interested in watching gaming at this time, that number has to grow... a lot... to become more than a niche interest.
@Wrenchfarm... exactly.
@Kaggen... video gaming does contain elements of sport... but also elements of art, of performance art (DDR), of entertainment... it really is something quite unique!
@Caiters... I agree. "competitive gaming" sounds so much better than "esports" or "vsports" (virtual sports).
@Lenigod... I too would rather pay to go see a gaming event rather than a sporting event... but that still doesn't make video games into sports. On their own, video gaming may eventually become a profitable entertainment force that even outdoes sport (again, going back to that "killer app" or game that everyone knows and understands... and it's NOT Starcraft which still has limited worldwide appeal), but that time is certainly not here yet. Also as noted, possibly an active game will eventually capture the imagination of the masses and evolve into an actual sport with physical training and physcial requirements in addition to strategy, etc. - but that time is not here yet. Video games are currently not sport... and I just don't understand why we want them to become sport. In addition to the player there are the devs - the people who create the art, the environment, the rules. This is another aspect that differentiates video gaming from sport and I think we owe it to the devs to celebrate gaming as gaming.
Still... this has been an interesting conversation with varying points of view... and maybe the discussion of gaming as sport is good for parents or others who don't understand gaming. If little Johnny is head of the Chess club, he's regarded as smart. If little Billy is head of the football team, he's regarded as athletic. If little Mark is head of his Halo team - he's usually regarded as problematic. Maybe discussions of this sort will encourage parents to understand that Mark has to use strategy, teamwork intelligence, skill - qualities found in both gaming and sport, and more importantly, the qualities that people take with them and can use in everyday life.
Dictionary.com defines it as
an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature
The highlight of that should be an activity requiring skill or physical prowess. I'd find it a jest to argue that high level Starcraft 2 or Street fighter 4 play, is not under that definition. The likes of both those games are undoubtedly competitive to the highest degree. And I would agree that Starcraft doesn't have world wide appeal, but I feel that point is moot. No sport truly does. People guffaw at the prospect of Nascar, and look the other way when a Tennis match is on. There are people who don't understand the rules of hockey, or the ins and outs of football. There isn't a sport, perhaps besides fighting, that everyone knows.
To add to this, I like your example of how people enjoy watching people fight. UFC seems to be huge now-a-days, and I guess I can sort of see why. It's easy to know whos winning, it's the guy getting all the punches in. To that same point, isn't a game of street fighter or soul calibur just as easy to follow? While the games are fast paced, the big health bars at the top give you an easy reading on to who is doing better, and it doubles the tension in a close fight if you are able to see that both players are near death. If there is any game that has world wide spectator appeal, it would have to be a fighting game.
There are already training camps for starcraft
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=124561
There are already wikipedia pages for some of gamings 'greats'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daigo_Umehara
And e-sports has already had some of it's greatest moments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS5peqApgUA
Surely, e-sports has broken this mass-media market, it has world wide appeal. Evo brings in the likes of Japanese, American, Canadian, Taiwanese, to one place to participate in Fighting games. And the GSL does something similar for starcraft 2. It's everywhere, countless streams, blogs, websites, world wide events are all supporting e-sports.
I don't think it's a question of when well we see Street fighter as a sport in the Olympics. Or when is starcraft going to be on american t.v. I don't think those well ever happen, however, nor do I think that be a necessity to call two of the most competitive e-sports, sports.
I understand where you are coming from. That you have a set of requirements for sports to meet and games simply don't meet them. But while I see your point that games just simply are not physical, or active, I don't see why that is one of your requirements for a sport, as not all sports adhere to that.
refrence
Sports and games share a lot of commonality, but I think that athletics tend to more appropriately differentiate between the two of them.
You can play a game of hockey without being an athlete, and just consider that it's just a fun game to play. You can dedicate your life to it, and eventually if you are lucky you can earn money off of it, and make a career out of the game.
You can play a game of Starcraft without being an athlete, and just consider that it's just a fun game to play. You can also dedicate your life to it, and if you are extremely talented, and extremely lucky you can earn money off of it, and make a career out of the game.
An immense amount of dedication, practice, and skill are required for both things, so much so that they become everything you do and take up the majority of your life. Both bring in crowds, have advertising behind them, follow a season-playoff structure, have tournaments, have big name players, and have 'moments' that well be remembered by those who follow the sport.
The only argument I can see being made that would prevent one being grouped with the other, is that hockey (and other sports), demands a physically prepared body, where as starcraft (and most competitive games) demands a mentally prepared mind. But why should a vigorously active body (that sounds soooo dirty lol) be held at a higher pedestal then a vigorously active mind. Just as Stamkos, Suban, or Crosby have all spent an enormous amount of time and energy to be great at hockey, so has the likes of Diago, JustinWong, Momochi in accordance to be great at Street Fighter.
... and my argument is that there is no need for video gaming to be considered sports. It could still be successful as a form of entertainment and in fact at some point it might even be more successful (because it is more accessible than sports as it doesn't require the physical factor). I just think games should celebrate that they are games. It's not all about the gamer... there is the developer and the publisher. The music and audio. There is artistry in the creation of a game and inventiveness in how people play a game (often creating and using exploits that eventually become an accepted part of the game like rocket jumping). There are so many other aspects to a video game than just the "cyber athletes"
I also like the transience of games. While hockey is pretty much the same game of a generation ago, video gaming changes at a much faster pace.. and will likely continue to do so. A game may hold the attention of gamers for several years - but eventually it is transient and will be replaced as the hardware to run it becomes obsolete. This is not a bad thing and is one of the things that differentiates video gaming from both more classic games and sports.
In the gaming world... it's not just the gamers who are stars. So too are the developers, the publishers, the pundits. It's just a totally different world from sports and while I can see that people might want the money, fame and endorsements that sports stars get, gaming is so totally different that I think it needs to be thought of in a different way. One of the failures in trying to create gaming as entertainment may in fact be this current focus on trying to claim gaming is a sport. ... because video games aren't sports! :)
Maybe people need to look at different ways to present video gaming as a viable form of entertainment. It's not strictly a sport, nor is it strictly a game, nor is "art" like movies and film. It's something entirely new and new ways of presenting it might need to be found. With TV's becoming more and more connected, maybe this will become one of the first forms of "interactive" entertainment where we could cycle through various views of different gamers playing the game - on our TV. I dunno... I just think that viewing video games as sports is doing it a disservice.
This is what it boils down to for me:
If someone were to ask you if you play any sports, you'd say, "Yes. Video games." and be serious?
I am not a professional, and I don't play in tournaments, but I play sports. I play basketball. I would answer that question, "Yes." If the only way you think video games are sports is for the high-level competitors who play in tournaments and are in a league, then the logic fails there. It can't be a sport for some people but not for everyone. You can play a couple games of hoops and not consider yourself an athlete, but you still played a sport, just like the pros who get paid for it (ok not just like them).
Regardless, I agree with Elsa and your own definition of sport, it needs to be athletic.
I also have an issue with your "only" argument as well. Athletes need to be as mentally prepared as they are physically prepared. Brawn without brains is useless in sports. Understanding techniques, formations and strategies and being able to properly apply those skills while under physical duress takes extreme mental preparedness and toughness. It's true that some gamers spend lots of time and energy getting good at games, but that doesn't mean it's a sport. It also doesn't mean they should be disrespected, but referring to playing a video game as a "sport" is just ridiculous.
Holy shit, THIS. I'm sick and fucking tired of people calling any physical sport "mindless" or shallow.
But, yeah, semantics, philosophy, etc. lol.
I like video games, I like sports, I like competitive gaming, but I fucking disagree with "eSports". Elsa pretty much said everything that needs to be said. "Sport" is defined as "an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature". Nothing very physical about sitting on your ass all day.
I'm sure it gets tiring and has that mental toll but it doesn't incorporate enough physical activity to be considered a sport. If it was like Dance Dance Revolution, I would consider that an actual sport since the players are physically active enough to sweat.
I don't really see the need to turn video games as a a sport to "legitimize" our hobby. Its a hobby where we can have fun and interact with friends, how about we show people that we're all nice people that are very social and not weird shut-ins?
As a side thought, I don't really watch sports on TV so I'm not really likely to tune in to competitive gaming either... but you know what... not all gaming is competitive. I think I WOULD watch a one hour weekly series where 3 or 4 intrepid and highly entertaining gamers followed a massive game story line like Fallout 3 or Oblivion.... but better. Seeing a sense of story, but overlaid with the personalities of the gamers playing the story and making their choices would just be more interesting to me.
... and that's one of the things that makes video gaming special! :)
I want such a show but its just really hard to market such a thing to the masses. We'll probably see one someday, just not on TV but maybe on the internet.
They have kinda done that in Japan. A show called Retro Game Master (Game Center CX in Japan) recently came to Kotaku, it follows a well known Japanese comedian playing old games on old consoles. Its almost like a documentary where a guy plays a game for hours trying to beat it. The games are old and archaic leading to endless frustration. It does get boring since there isn't much excitement except when he dies and tries again. Though the best part is when he beats the game and you can feel the host's joy in beating that game.
To be an athlete (in any sport) you have to trained for years and years, even if you are naturally good. To be a gamer, you need money to buy games and time on your hands. To be a competitive gamer, you have to have a lot of time on your hands.
Who would bother watching COD on the Olympics?
No one in the progaming scene has called themselves a cyber athlete. Ever. And you are right, they are gamers. Gamers who happen to be the best in the world at their chosen game. Just because you don't like or understand it doesn't mean it shouldn't be a thing.
Great blog nonetheless. I figured it was only a matter of time until someone posted a piece like this after the "evo moments" video.
I scoffed at the idea of professional gaming for a long time, but that's because I was ignorant and had never watch or been involved in it in any way. To really appreciate a sport bet it football, golf, soccer, you have to participate in it.
Thanks to the likes of Day9 and Tasteosis I have been converted. Now I watch gomtv.net on a daily basis and I'm never looking back. EVO, GSL all of it. eSports is where its at!
And everyone knows the objective of games after seeing them for 5 minutes. Beat the other guy by draining his life bar/destroying his base. Mechanics change, the objective and rules do not. And despite sports being far more commonplace there are plenty of people who know only the basic rules of play. I've loosely watched hockey most of my life and didn't understand what an "offside" was until I was 13-14.
Again, I do agree with the idea that professional gaming shouldn't try and be something with national teams, stadiums, and whatever but I don't agree with the assumed point of "Calling videogames 'sports' is dumb because they'd be 'videosports'".
I have, however, come to understand that another very important component of the word is the competitive aspect, and e-Sports are very competitive indeed. Denying them the word of "sports" simply because you are too small-minded to accept that this meaning can be the predominant one doesn't make sense to me anymore.
I see where you are coming from and a few years ago I would've agreed with you, but now the argument seems just petty to me.
@Janklogs... no, I wasn't a jock (though I did compete in figure skating for many years!) There were no game-playing nerds when I was in school... though we did have a Space Invaders arcade machine at a local mall!! I'm old... and I graduated high school from a small town in 1980! :)
@TheRemedy... you have a short memory! The CPL ran for many years... the full name of the CPL is the "Cyberathlete Professional League" - they ran professional gaming tournaments.
@Stephanie.. I wasn't aware of that... and you're right, I just did a google search for a picture of a gaming tournament. My apologies if the use of his picture offended anyone. :(
@Loud... I don't debate the technicality that video gaming can be a sport - especially if bowling, bridge and chess are sports... but I personally don't think that any of those are sports either and I think that video games need to stand on their own and not try to be something else.
@SayWord... and people might pay money to watch that sport! LOL!