Video games a sport?!?

The other day I saw a preview of an upcoming segment on one of HBO's sport shows (Real Sports w/ Bryant Gumbel iirc) and one of the topics was discussing if video games are a sport or not. I thought it was pretty funny that they even suggested it as a possibility tbh. I consider a sport to be a team or individual objective based competition that requires some athletic quality- golf, football, soccer, basketball, hockey, baseball, boxing, UFC, rugby, etc.

Sure esports are competitive but require no athletic qualities whatsoever except for hand eye coordination. What does everyone else think?

I think the "sport" part refers to competitive play.

Not to athletics.

problem with it being a sport is that its very heavily dependent on the game, there is no universal game that people only play.

football everyone plays football. but in video games everyone plays a variety of different types of games all made by different companys.

Whilst I tend to agree with the thrust of your post, I was a little surprised that you listed golf first. Soccer and football are the same. nvm.

RTs games are a little like chess- and chess is not a sport.

problem with it being a sport is that its very heavily dependent on the game, there is no universal game that people only play.

football everyone plays football. but in video games everyone plays a variety of different types of games all made by different companys.

I disagree, I don't think it has that much to do with the wider range of games available. Obviously some games have higher skill requirements than others, but to me all games have in common that you play the game with physical input. This can be with the mouse, keyboard, gamepad, wiimote, you name it. Point being, controlling your game is a physical activity which rewards good motor skills, speed, thought and strategy.

Obviously gaming isn't like boxing or MMA, but if you compare gaming to less physically intense sports like golf or darts you'll see a lot of parallels to gaming: they too reward coordination and precision, just in different ways. Hell, a lot of team based computer games have at least as much strategic depth to them as team sports. Only here your apm is on your keyboard, not the pitch and instead of kicking the ball you're moving and clicking your mouse.

tl;dr if you consider darts a sport, then so is gaming

The irony of a sport which makes you fat.

Sport:

Sport (or sports) is all forms of usually competitive physical activity

Physical activity:

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness

So, the answer is no.
The fact that many sports are games doesn't make any game/videogame a sport

Sport:

Physical activity:


So, the answer is no.
The fact that many sports are games doesn't make any game/videogame a sport

Reading comprehension.

Sport:

Sport (or sports) is all forms of usually competitive physical activity

usually


Second paragraph on sports, from the same wiki article:

Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity.

So it depends on how you read line 1, since it implies something stated otherwise in paragraph 2.

Reading comprehension.


usually

"usually competitive"

Second paragraph on sports, from the same wiki article:

Sport is generally recognised as activities which are based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity.

So it depends on how you read line 1, since it implies something stated otherwise in paragraph 2.

I will help you out of your dream. Wikipedia does not determine what makes a sport, nor does the IOC.

Any international institution, recognized by seperate existing institutions of the aspiring sport in question, does.

I consider esports to be sports like any other.
It requires tons of practice, high mental finesse, and perfect hand/eye coordination in order to be on top. There are tournaments, teams and sponsors, trophy's and everything.

Sure esports are competitive but require no athletic qualities whatsoever except for hand eye coordination. What does everyone else think?

What about chess then?

I don't really think it matters what it's called. I played baseball in university and played a lot of vCoH tournaments. I was as competitive playing baseball as I was playing Company of Heroes. If you enjoy competition and you enjoy playing games, you'll enjoy competitive gaming no matter what it's called.

I think the one problem with calling it sports is how quickly people are ready to dismiss it as a result. Excelling at a competitive game is just as challenging and time-consuming as excelling at a sport, but when you call it a sport you put these preconceptions in peoples' heads (things like athleticism, popular appeal, etc.) that competitive gaming just isn't about.

@Wifidi: your new avatar.

@Greeb: Gaming doesnt "make" you fat. Consuming more calories per day than you expend, is all that makes you fat. Thats all there is to it.

I agree with Inverse. People these days care too much about nametags on things.

Are videogames art?

Are videogames a sport?

Who cares? The first and foremost goal of games is to have fun. Competitive games add a competitive layer to it, that's all.

The problem with fighting hard to call it a sport, is that they are going to try and emulate EVERYTHING about the sports industry: wearing blazers as a commentator, showing the swagger and trashtalking of boxing matches, etc. I wonder if they'd try to implement salary caps and drafts eventually...

I don't believe sports should require an athletic element per se, but they traditionally do. The reasoning for this is that sports require less and less natural atheltic ability form participants to perform the same feats, as technology permits us. Examples are: Better footwear in track competitions, lighter soccer balls, better golf clubs, overall better cars in Formula 1 as well as the controversial performance enhancing drugs.

Most sport are just games, too. Chess is also widely considered a sport and it is probably even less physically challenging than most video games.

I guess you can make nearly everything in a competition and therefore a sport.

problem with it being a sport is that its very heavily dependent on the game, there is no universal game that people only play.

football everyone plays football. but in video games everyone plays a variety of different types of games all made by different companys.

This plays a role, too. Although in a different manner. Of course people think about football (and American Eggball), the Olympic Games etc. first when talking about Sports. But just because less popular sports like curling, polo or whatever do not come to the minds of people that quickly, this does not mean they are no sports.
Going by that logic, this kind of means that "video games" is no sport. Instead, Starcraft is a sport. Dota is a sport, LoL is a sport. Maybe even CoH2
There is no "champion of eSports" just like there is no "champion of sports". In fact, very few pro-athletes participate in other sports (e.g. Football and Handball or whatever). Even although some of them may be very similar (e.g. MOBAs), they are still their own sports.
To someone who does not know the rules, Rugby and American Football might sound very similar when explained to them as well.

Another aspect is complexity. When it comes to eSports, often it is argued that many of them aren't very approachable to the casual observer, too convoluted to understand etc.
But how many of you know all the rules and all aspects of most sports? People might understand that to win at Football, the ball needs to be kicked into the goal and they will still be excited and cheer when a goal is scored.
However, many of them will not understand the intricacies of formations, tactics, strategies, switching players etc. that are related to it and they probably will not enjoy watching the ball being passed around as much as someone who is very interested into said intricacies.
Likewise, casual observers of eSports may as well enjoy big flashy team battles in LoL or several tanks blowing up in CoH2. Likewise, most will not understand everything that goes on and likewise they may very well not enjoy certain aspects of the game (e.g. laning phase in LoL) they are watching whereas someone else may understand and enjoy more of it.


@CombatMuffin: I think that -sadly- the influence of some sports is already too high spread in some eSports. However, this is also the consequence of there either being no or not enough behavioral rules that are actually enforced in eSports. Many sports clubs/federations have penalties for shit-talking, insulting others etc. and others can even be described as having a high focus on discipline.
Doesn't seem to be the case in some eSports.

I agree with Inverse. People these days care too much about nametags on things.

Are videogames art?

Are videogames a sport?

Who cares? The first and foremost goal of games is to have fun. Competitive games add a competitive layer to it, that's all.

The problem with fighting hard to call it a sport, is that they are going to try and emulate EVERYTHING about the sports industry: wearing blazers as a commentator, showing the swagger and trashtalking of boxing matches, etc. I wonder if they'd try to implement salary caps and drafts eventually...

I don't believe sports should require an athletic element per se, but they traditionally do. The reasoning for this is that sports require less and less natural atheltic ability form participants to perform the same feats, as technology permits us. Examples are: Better footwear in track competitions, lighter soccer balls, better golf clubs, overall better cars in Formula 1 as well as the controversial performance enhancing drugs.

+1

"Any international institution, recognized by seperate existing institutions of the aspiring sport in question, does."

Basically when several people or organizations agree together?

I know that you already state your thoughts about IOC (International Olympics Comitee), but what other people think about Chess-Bridge considered sports?

What´s the difference between Chess and Go, Bridge and Poker, or any other cardgame or board game with videogames?

What about shooting sports?

the etymology of sports goes to physical competition, but as time culture and people. words also change with time. and sports has included the gaming scene to its definition.

Who cares?

Labelling is very important for the following reasons:

-Exclusion; if a game is not labelled as a sport, it is excluded from all sort of big events and audiences.

-Laws; national and international laws define sport for a variety of reasons. For instance: tax regulations of particular sports and games.

-Recognition; the competitive elements of a game are generally deemed less important in comparison to a sport, hence the term "game". Recognition has a high correlation with financial rewards.

Labelling is very important for the following reasons:

-Exclusion; if a game is not labelled as a sport, it is excluded from all sort of big events and audiences.

-Laws; national and international laws define sport for a variety of reasons. For instance: tax regulations of particular sports and games.

-Recognition; the competitive elements of a game are generally deemed less important in comparison to a sport, hence the term "game". Recognition has a high correlation with financial rewards.

Yeah, those are important, too.

A few days ago it was a pretty big deal that a SC2 player got a sports athlete's visum:
http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/15/5212798/starcraft-2-player-receives-the-sports-first-us-athlete-visa