Can "e-sports" be considered true sports?

[The Funslinger]

No they aren't. Sport is sport, it involves running around competing with people. Same way motorsport isn't a sport, it's motorsport.

Why take two really useful terms and combine them into one much less useful term? Why does calling games Esports make them more valid?

How about just calling it professional gaming, or even competitive gaming, or tournament gaming?

Fair answer, but I think, to be honest, certain games should be allowed the same watchable tournament attitude found in many sports. Look at Star Craft 2. I could sit down and watch a game of that the same way non-gamers would watch football. Even more so if a player I prefer is in it.

I was having an argument with a friend about "major-league gaming" and he said that no game (despite tournaments already existing) is good enough for an actual league. I used Star Craft 2 as an example, about how Star Craft has something akin to a league in Korea, and how it's also rising in America. However, the stubborn ass that he is, he wouldn't budge. He just kept saying it obviously wouldn't be balanced enough etc. No, he's never played it, he just likes having views and thinking they're the only ones that matter.

Edit: I will point out though, he is a gamer. He just thinks that games should somehow "peak" before they get tournaments. Really, you can't compare it to actual sports, because aside from tweaking regulations there's no way to improve them. Games have an infinite horizon for improvement.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

I am so happy to see the responses in this thread. A few months back, the exact same question was asked, and it quickly filled up with people saying "of course e-sports are real sports, and of course athleticism isn't a requirement to call something a sport." It gives me hope that we as gamers might eventually shed our collective inferiority complex.

Edit: oh, and if it wasn't obvious from the original version of this post, e-sports and sports are two very different things. To say otherwise is to say the sky is green and a spade is actually a pickaxe.

 

[pspman45]

Sure, call it art, call it a sport, call it what ever you want.

It won't be in the Olympics any time soon tho ; )

I don't see why not
now we move on to the Wii-mote toss, how far can you chuck those flimsy pieces of crap into lava!

 

[Axelhander]

There's no real debate about this, except amongst people who have no idea what "sport" is (including some dictionaries).

Sport = competition.

Is it competition? It's sport.

This includes, but is not limited to: soccer, hockey, baseball, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix, the Diablo III arena, Kirby's Avalanche, synchronized swimming, darts, golf, video game golf, Mario Kart time trial competitions, Smash Bros. Brawl, Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, the upcoming patched version of Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, thumb war, arm wrestling, paper-rock-scissors, locker room towel fights (no homo), rap battles, country music battles, guitar jousting, every Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 leaderboard, football, basketball, base-ketball, Bulletball, collectible card games, infinitely superior non-collectible card games like Sirlin's Yomi, Puzzle Strike, Puzzle Fighter, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, quidditch, dodgeball, etc.

Now what IS subjective is the merit of various sports. But what constitutes sport? That's not subject to personal opinion. Except in the case of Smash Bros. Brawl, which, while technically sport when played competitively, is also trash.

Everyone is this post is correct, true, and infallible. That's both my ego and real logic talking.

In fact I'm totally posting this on my blog. And yes I know you, <current reader #1381>, don't give two craps about that.

EDIT - Just saw the guy saying he's "happy we gamers can shed our inferiority complex" or something equally dumb: it's not about that. It's about properly defining what sport is, and not adding arbitrary rules like "well if it's a video game/not physically tiring then it can't be a sport" that exist in people's heads.

It's like people who get all hot under the collar when you tell them Star Wars isn't actually science-fiction. By the way, Star Wars isn't actually science-fiction. It's fantasy, pure and simple. This doesn't make it bad. Star Wars being bad makes it bad. E-sports being sports don't make them any less "E." Use brainpower.

 

[airrazor7]

I don't see why they can't be. Poker and its many variations are considered sports. There are already a lot of competitions with competitive players making a career out of it.

However if it becomes an issue with a lot of hassles just to be recognized by some national league that consists of people who don't care about gaming then don't bother.

 

[w9496]

Where's the physical contact in E-sports? There is none? then it's not a sport.

Maybe if it were some kind of virtual NFL game.

Like golf, and tennis, no physical contact. Totally not sports.

That being said, I'm not a big e-sports fanboy and don't really care what they're considered to be. Just don't go using arbitrary definitions of sports that would exclude dozens of established sports from being sports.

Well SORRY that I let those go, I geuss I'll change from now on.

Or not.

I thought since this is a discussion forum, that I would be able to input my two-cents. Thats my opinion and nothing is going to change it.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

There's no real debate about this, except amongst people who have no idea what "sport" is (including some dictionaries).

Sport = competition.

Is it competition? It's sport.

This includes, but is not limited to: soccer, hockey, baseball, Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix, the Diablo III arena, Kirby's Avalanche, synchronized swimming, darts, golf, video game golf, Mario Kart time trial competitions, Smash Bros. Brawl, Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, the upcoming patched version of Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition, thumb war, arm wrestling, paper-rock-scissors, locker room towel fights (no homo), rap battles, country music battles, guitar jousting, every Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 leaderboard, football, basketball, base-ketball, Bulletball, collectible card games, infinitely superior non-collectible card games like Sirlin's Yomi, Puzzle Strike, Puzzle Fighter, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, quidditch, dodgeball, etc.

Now what IS subjective is the merit of various sports. But what constitutes sport? That's not subject to personal opinion. Except in the case of Smash Bros. Brawl, which, while technically sport when played competitively, is also trash.

Everyone is this post is correct, true, and infallible. That's both my ego and real logic talking.

In fact I'm totally posting this on my blog. And yes I know you, <current reader #1381>, don't give two craps about that.

Nah. If you have a dictionary that throws out the athleticism requirement, that's a dictionary that doesn't get it. I understand that a lot of gamers feel a need to be validated by the mainstream, but calling games sports -- or even "e-sports[footnote]which is itself kind of silly; sure, it's competitive. So is monopoly, but you don't see people calling that a "board-sport."[/footnote]" -- is just not going to do it. As the Jim Sterling article posted above pointed out, the zeal with which gamers try to defend games as sports (and games as art) shows just why they are neither. If they were, gamers wouldn't need to defend them, because they wouldn't feel insecure about it.

 

[Realitycrash]

"Sport" is just another name for competition. And for you that claim "Actually the DICTIONARY says.." I'm going to reply: Doesn't matter. Football is an athletic competition, gaming is a non-athletic competition, you really going to nitpick because some competitions get more exercise?

 

[dillinger88]

Probably not, but it won't stop me from watching major fighting game tournaments.

Playing devil's advocate here but football etc are games too.

Oxford English definition of sport: an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

So by definition no it's not a classic sport. I think its allowed to be called e-sports though.

I believe that people who play SC2 professionally are just as skillful and legitimate as any who play football etc. Additionally, the events they put on are just as professional. Go watch a GSL and see what I mean.

As long as there is a stigma against games it won't be considered legitimate by the mainstream. But give it 50 years or so and that may not be the case.

Other e-sports, I don't follow so I can't comment.

I'm talking English football here by the way as that's what I can relate with.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

"Sport" is just another name for competition. And for you that claim "Actually the DICTIONARY says.." I'm going to reply: Doesn't matter. Football is an athletic competition, gaming is a non-athletic competition, you really going to nitpick because some competitions get more exercise?

Yes, because sports are athletic competitions, not competitions in general. To put it simply, all sports are games, but not all games are sports.

 

[Dimitriov]

No. Huh that's kind of short... HELL NO.

sport&#8194; &#8194;[spawrt, spohrt] noun

1.an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

 

[Trucken]

I personally will never consider gaming a sport. I love gaming, but it's not a sport. It's a form of entertainment. And yes, sports can also be a form of entertainment, but they are completely different.

 

[Realitycrash]

"Sport" is just another name for competition. And for you that claim "Actually the DICTIONARY says.." I'm going to reply: Doesn't matter. Football is an athletic competition, gaming is a non-athletic competition, you really going to nitpick because some competitions get more exercise?

Yes, because sports are athletic competitions, not competitions in general. To put it simply, all sports are games, but not all games are sports.

Not true. The word "sport" has become so jumbled that it no longer simply means "athletic competition". It means so many more things now, and is applicable to other things. Chess is probably the prime example. Chess is a sport, and no matter how much you complain that "according to the dictionary, this isn't a sport!", noone is going to care or change how they view sport or what word they use to reference it.
Because you know what? Words change. All the time. They mutate. Dictionaries are there to serve language, not the other way around. They simply reflect how the language is TODAY, and soon, it won't say "athletic competition" any more.
I can give you several examples of this, but easiest is the word "Gay". Look up how it is described now, and how it was described a hundred years ago.

 

[Realitycrash]

No. Huh that's kind of short... HELL NO.

sport&#8194; &#8194;[spawrt, spohrt] noun

1.an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Not true. The word "sport" has become so jumbled that it no longer simply means "athletic competition". It means so many more things now, and is applicable to other things. Chess is probably the prime example. Chess is a sport, and no matter how much you complain that "according to the dictionary, this isn't a sport!", noone is going to care or change how they view sport or what word they use to reference it.
Because you know what? Words change. All the time. They mutate. Dictionaries are there to serve language, not the other way around. They simply reflect how the language is TODAY, and soon, it won't say "athletic competition" any more.
I can give you several examples of this, but easiest is the word "Gay". Look up how it is described now, and how it was described a hundred years ago.

 

[gee666]

well some esports require exceptional hand eye coordination (above what many have and require training to maintain) so hey why not

 

[Kargathia]

My main problem with them is that they might be exciting as hell and fun for the people playing, but pretty boring for those watching. It could be considered a sport by the players, but it certainly isn't gonna make primetime television for that main reason.

Cricket still qualifies as a sport, even though it is about as interesting to watch.

No. Huh that's kind of short... HELL NO.

sport&#8194; &#8194;[spawrt, spohrt] noun

1.an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Golf and bowling suddenly are athletic?

And hey, the athletic part of this description is getting a bit outdated, but "competitive activity requiring skill or physical prowess" certainly applies to e-sports.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

"Sport" is just another name for competition. And for you that claim "Actually the DICTIONARY says.." I'm going to reply: Doesn't matter. Football is an athletic competition, gaming is a non-athletic competition, you really going to nitpick because some competitions get more exercise?

Yes, because sports are athletic competitions, not competitions in general. To put it simply, all sports are games, but not all games are sports.

Not true. The word "sport" has become so jumbled that it no longer simply means "athletic competition". It means so many more things now, and is applicable to other things. Chess is probably the prime example. Chess is a sport, and no matter how much you complain that "according to the dictionary, this isn't a sport!", noone is going to care or change how they view sport or what word they use to reference it.
Because you know what? Words change. All the time. They mutate. Dictionaries are there to serve language, not the other way around. They simply reflect how the language is TODAY, and soon, it won't say "athletic competition" any more.
I can give you several examples of this, but easiest is the word "Gay". Look up how it is described now, and how it was described a hundred years ago.

Chess is a "mind-sport," a term almost as meaningless as e-sport. The only reason we are even having this debate is that there are a lot of insecure people in this world who think that having a game they enjoy classed as a "sport" will somehow make it more widely accepted. The rest of us just laugh at them and enjoy whatever it is we enjoy.

Edit: And it's not just the dictionary. If you go out and ask people on the street if videogames (or chess, for that matter) could be considered a sport, they'd laugh at you. The meaning of words change, yes, but this is a case where the only people who take it to mean what you take it to mean are people who have a specific insecurity that they want validated. The general population couldn't care less.

 

[gee666]

And darts. You forgot to mention darts.

exactly where the hand eye comment came from