[+] didn't read.
















Yet.

omg i feel sick

tl;dr?

it's not a sport

You mean competitive gaming.

aligning with real sports is pretty silly and outdated..

it was a cry for legitimacy in the early days of gaming to get sponsors and outside viewers, but now that the gaming industry rivals/surpasses other forms of entertainment there is no stigma anymore associated with competitive gaming (or shouldn't be)

this corporate esports imagery/etiquette and obsession with growth is so forced, it sucks the fun out of it.

There are political implications though. In sweden sports get state funding. There is a pretty comprehensive political debate concerning competitive gaming going on right now. Some young parliamentarians proposes that competitive gamers should have the possibility to get state grants in the same manner as athletes do, meaning it shouldn't matter if you run a kids basketball team or a dota 2 team.

Bring back the shit talking!

Any eSport requires physical activity in the coordinated hand, eye and arm movement that is required.

Most people who try to call gaming a sport do so by using a definition of sport that doesn't mention a physical aspect. This guy though...

Yeah. With that definition "esports" is only elevated to pseudo sport status, just like darts or table football. Would be better to leave it as it is (separate) or to go full on saying that it is a sport because it is a competitive activity regardless of lack of physical activity (100% sport).

The history of chess is interesting in that regard, it got popular, people started tournaments and at one point it got officially recognized as sport, there certainly are parallels to the current development.

Chess is not sport....chess>>>>sports
Sports is not important....chess is important...

i like to shoot green robot

better than clay pigeon

Gotfrag no longer works and will re-direct you to ESEA website

Video games should never be recognized as sports. End of discussion.

Why? Because entire race of species of planet "Sports" depends on it?

Please elaborate why a highly competitive activity even with a mild physical element that depends on mastering skill and minimize luck cannot fit definition of "sport"

Sports are not characterized by the ability to be competitive alone. If video games can be sports, then people who play Guitar Hero might as well be musicians. Debates are highly competitive with the mild physical element of talking and gesturing while mastering the skills of articulation and persuasion. It's overdue to be recognized as a sport. The whole argument is flawed at the basis. It's ridiculous that people even want it to be considered. You can call it E-Sports. You can call it competitive gaming. You can call it anything for the sake of appeal, but do not confuse the actual discrepancies. Fucking retarded subject. End of discussion. For real, this time.

This guy gets it. Totally agree.

If you really would have tought about it, you would have noticed that guitar hero -> musicians analogy is broken.

hello_logic

plused for decent response, but the point here is that no matter how hard you feel about sport vs e-sport conundrum, we have already gotten to the point of applying this word within a very legitimate context. It fits all definitions of sport minus the stigma of being a video game, which is merely an odd medium for exercising this activity. And no matter how hard it is to push stigmas past conservative population, or how long it takes, the nature of competitive gaming has already been classified as e-sport, where "e" is only a clarification prefix

"sport
spɔːt
noun
1. an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

where's the physical exertion apart from moving your right hand and pressing buttons with your left hand fingers?
You might as well say that playing cards is a sport.

"physical exertion" in sports definition has been already challenged enough.

it can be as challenged as you want, it's the dictionary's definition though.
and also what most people associate with a sport.

Dictionary is something written by interpreters , not by all authoritative figures that decide what's correct. You can find multitudes of conflicting definitions for many words across different dictionaries.

ask your friends and family if they think playing quake is a sport. you'll see that physical exertion is commonly accepted as a factor for something being a sport.

Why would I ask opinion of people who know nothing about the subject? I'm sure they will side with most common perception "sport = sweat"

Anyway, my interest in your arguments is spent, you are moving in a wrong direction

let's put it that way, only gamers consider gaming a sport, or know the term e-sport.

100 +'s

100 +'s

Has nobody thought to ask why "sporting," the adjective form of "sport," was applied to any form of competition? E.g., "That wasn't very sporting of you!" within the context of any contest of wits, skill, or prowess.

Granted, it's an older usage, dating (in my mind) to a time when the sun never set upon the British empire, but doesn't an older use establish original meanings?

Jesus, I just got sucked into replying to this.

~Opus/Funkitronian

Gaming shouldn't be a sport.
Having said that I don't agree with the definition of a sport:

"They also recognise that sport can be primarily physical (such as rugby or athletics), primarily mind (such as chess or go), predominantly motorised (such as Formula 1 or powerboating), primarily co-ordination (such as billiard sports), or primarily animal-supported (such as equestrian sport)"

Chess is not a sport, snooker (billiards) is not a sport, horse riding is not a sport.

I see sport as being like the old olympics, gladiators & shit. Anything other than primarily physical is a competitive activity

That is why competitive gaming is often referred to as "e-sport", does it really matter how we define it? I always failed to see the need to split hairs over some definitions and associations. The name and definition is not going define the nature of the defined.

It's irrelevant of how we call and define professional, competitive gaming, because it's getting bigger, wider and fatter all over the world. Recognition and acknowledgment with all the other benefits that comes with it is just a matter of time for the scene.

e-sports is for wannabes
Just call it gaming

You don't hear faggots saying "I'm going to play amateur football/watch professional football", it's just football and it's just gaming

It's likely going to be called what the majority of gamers are fine and comfortable with, something that the players around the world will simply grow fond of, or simply get used to with time. The definition is going to adjust accordingly to the trend of the majority.

I personally don't think there's anything wrong with "e-sport", it's short, catchy, easy to pronounce and works well for more official purposes to present it to a large audience. The tag "e-" is well established by itself. I find it hard to believe that the majority is going to stick to something as "competitive gaming", it's just not an intuitive selection of words for most countries that don't have problems with birth rate. "Pro gaming" is something that is more likely to work in the long run than "competitive".

Also type in Google "esport" and just... observe my friend.

iGaming
the future

Maybe definition of sport should be re-written based on your opinion then

I'm interested to hear why you don't think horse riding is a sport

The horse is the athlete. If they were doing tricks on top of the horses (handstand/summersault) like in Tibet or if they were jousting then OK, sport. Getting a horse to run quick/jump...no

Horse riding requires a huge amount of skill, strength and finesse, not to mention daring.

How you can you say that a jockey is not an athlete?

Them little fellas?
Snooker requires skill & finesse...so what? 10 year old girls can ride horses pretty fast...strength + daring?

Are you saying that 10 year old girls are incapable of playing a sport? That's like saying that because 5 year olds can play football, it's not a real sport.

Get on a horse and jump a 1.5m fence or whatever, and tell me it's not scary. Horse riders are always breaking bones, collarbone in particular.

gg no re

you could say the same about motor sports, formula 1, hell anything that you sit on and drive :)

Guess you didn't see the other thread recently when I said F1 wasn't a sport...doesn't mean it isn't cool though

well if you think driving a F1 isn't physically demanding, you don't know much about F1.
and I'm saying that as someone who's not a F1 fan.

just take 2 minutes to do some research, it's quite fascinating actually:

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/understandi.../5298.html

http://uk.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_400/...rkout.html

geforce, I know. riding rollercoasters isn't a sport though

you don't drive a roller-coaster, and you don't compete either. Also it usually lasts under 2 minutes unlike a F1 race.

if you want to argue back, at least find something decent.

but it has the geforce while sitting on your ass, your other 2 points could be related to chess/f1 on consoles

it's the combination of physical effort + competition that makes it a sport. one without the other isn't a sport.
F1 has both.

physical effort? meh
skydiving puts pressure on your body...wouldn't call it "effort" though

unless you're performing acrobatic manoeuvres during free fall, it isn't a sport.

I ain't seen alonso doing any backflips

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eKnqdxsEsw

esport makes me cringe like fuck, makes all of us sound like nerds desperately trying to get our hobby into the pantheon of what jocks approve of and like - who cares

just say competitive gaming.

the only problem when you say competitive gaming is it's often understood as gambler, poker player and such. at least in this country. but I also don't like the term esport.
As someone who actually practises sports, I can't call playing quake a sport, even at the highest level.

usually I just say 'competitive video games'

This was written in 2006?

*id

I don't have a strong opinion either way, I just want to throw in one thing: There is a model in cognitive science and linguistics, called 'Prototype theory', that basically proposes that members in a category are typical in different degrees in relation to the definition that defines the category.

'sport' is usually defined along those lines (taken from the Cambridge Dictionary and Wiktionary, respectively):

1. a game, competition, or similar activity, done for enjoyment or as a job, that takes physical effort and skill and is played or done by following particular rules

2. Any activity that uses physical exertion or skills competitively under a set of rules that is not based on aesthetics.

Now, if somebody proposes that gaming as well as chess and other activities do not count as sports, because they miss the feature of "physical effort" or "physical exertion", then by that logic, to jog is not a sport, because it misses the feature of "following particular rules" or being based "under a set of rules".

On the other hand, one could say that both of these sides are sports, though both of them are less typical in relation to the prototype than what earlier commenters refered to as 'real' sports.

Basically, what I am saying is: Both sides like to focus on features from common definitions of 'sport' that support their intuitive opinion or disagree with their opponent's opinion, ignoring the reality of cognitive concepts, language and definitions, all of which aren't very precise in many instances, expecially in a broad-spectrum concept like 'sport'.

I know, tl;dr :P

Also, I didn't even read the article above, just wanted to throw in my two cents worth of opinion (Which - alongside porn - is what the internet is for, right?).

should have used this pic instead

http://www.chess.com/article/view/is-chess-a-sport

same day, same sh*t

i don't see why some in the gaming community are seeking approval to have video gaming considered a "sport"

it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a doctor
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a computer programmer
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a CEO
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a teacher
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be scientist
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a prostitute
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a network admin (except for the ones who takes those exam/brain dumps for 15$ f*ck y'all)
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a game designer and win a bafta

yet they are not considered "sports"


but y dedicate your life into playing a ded geme

it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication asking for help on stackoverflow to be a computer programmer

Sorry but that's a terrible list of comparisons, none of them are competitive aspirations, all of them are vocations. It's hardly even worth pointing it out but I'm in shock so here you go.

Oh here you go, you've got my creative juices going...

What about these!:
* being a duck
* being a tree
* eating a house
* pissing your pants

it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to piss your pants (except for the ones who takes those dumps for $15)
it takes a lot of hard-work & dedication to be a bin man and win a bin award.

yet they are not considered "sports"

So there!!! lol :)

dunno, prostitution can get pretty competitive in my experience

Kappa

if its gonna be useful r u for real ? ZIS IS GOOD

Only if you are among the 0,001% best League of Legends players.

I'm honored that you included me in your article!

Just a note, it's Malekani (no 'e' in the end).

So awesome to see you playing some quake live recently Cyrus. It'll be awesome if you were interested in doing some TDM analysis videos similar to how ddk does his duel analysis videos. I'll edit your surname sorry about that :) keep up the good work man :)

I actually read this and wrote a page long reply about why this article is crap, but decided against publishing it. So, here's the short version:

Only thing that gaming has in common with real sports is the competitive aspect. And that's where all the similarities end. Everything you wrote after page 3 is just bullshit propaganda I could read off some hardware manufacturer's website (e.g. razer). I'm guessing first 3 pages you wrote are good because they're based on facts, and all the rest pages are based on your subjective opinion along with the opinion of likeminded people.

Thanks :)

Thanks for sharing storm. It was interesting, and it's nice to see some content on ESR. Even if it's nine years old . . .

No mention of WSBN: The Web Sports Broadcast Network, TsN: The Team Sportscast Network and then later RadioITG: Inside The Game.

These were the three organizations that took Nullsoft Shoutcast and ran away with the eSports commentary concept, paving the way for the big shows we have today.

Even now, big names like Joe Miller, Marcus "djWheat" Graham and Corey Dunn all started out casting for TsN. Marcus went on to found radioITG, and Joe had a hand in the formation of QuadV - an EU-centric casting team.

ODB Productions

gayming

Nice and thanks for sharing

Great overview of competitive gaming that still holds true despite being 9 years old. I'd like to see you write more storm :)

-cerno

Why do some stupid people respect sports so much ?!?I know most of people dont care about sports Its for stupid animal like people....

chess>>>>sports

Feeling like it's 2005/06. Back in the days nerds and gamers was looking for acceptance but now?! The Industrie ist big and fully accepted.

The french government twitter about competitive gaming, etc.

I wrote this in 2006 but didn't publish it until now

FAPPING FOR FUN... OR REAL SPORT?