Are E-sports Legit?

[SpaceGuitarist]

I have nothing against competitive gaming becoming a thing, but I think it's silly that they actually want to pass it for a sport, or even have it at the Olympic Games, which is utterly laughable.
Yes there's big money in competitive gaming (although I have no idea where the money comes from - do that many people really sit and watch a bunch of guys playing Starcraft for hours? Has any of you really watched more than 10 minutes of competitive Street Fighter V matches without thinking you were wasting your life?) but so there is in poker, blackjack and slot machines, yet you don't see them at the Olympics.

Some people point out that professional gamers go through a lot of mental stress and train as much as professional athletes, but this is true of everything that requires some kind of public/competitive performance: violin players practice as much as athletes, so do professional magicians, dancers, actors, stand up comedians...

[ptdebate]

Is chess a sport? Some countries, like the UK, do not consider chess a sport, but the international Olympic committee does. Some things cited are the concentration and need to handle the stress, which e-sports would share. However, another major reason cited for chess is how well established and stable the game is - something e-sports cannot claim.

I've always considered chess a game - not a sport. There is nothing pejorative in being a game. Chess grandmasters are people who have risen to the top of their game. I would put things like professional poker players in here too - they are not 'athletes', but masters of their game.

With professional fishermen, its neither a game nor a sport, just a contest. I think America's Cup Racing, where countries can bring vastly different technologies to the race, is just a contest to win the race.

E-sports is played on ephemeral software and hardware, and it seems as much marketing as anything (such as the infamous Atari Swordquest Contest - and 'Contest' seems an apt word). Even if the transient and marketing nature is removed, such as competing for King of Donkey Kong, its a contest to be best at a game, not a sport.

I think the English language is strong enough to differentiate sport with a great deal of physicality vs game with that may require only a much more limited form of physicality. E-sports are games. They are contests.

I agree with you 100%. I think the problem with the term E-sports is that it calls up an association that's perhaps not appropriate to the type of activity gaming is. It's essentially a semantic problem. Unless the definition of "sport" broadens, the cognitive dissonance mentioned by the Critic will continue to surround the term.

Competitive video gaming is a respectable and "legit" form of activity just as much as any other game or contest of skill, but maybe it's wrong to call it a "sport."

[VideoGameCritic]

E-sports is played on ephemeral software and hardware, and it seems as much marketing as anything (such as the infamous Atari Swordquest Contest - and 'Contest' seems an apt word). Even if the transient and marketing nature is removed, such as competing for King of Donkey Kong, its a contest to be best at a game, not a sport.

I think this line says it all. It's all about marketing. I believe the "sports" in e-sports is just a way to lend it some legitimacy.

[David]

E-sports is played on ephemeral software and hardware, and it seems as much marketing as anything (such as the infamous Atari Swordquest Contest - and 'Contest' seems an apt word). Even if the transient and marketing nature is removed, such as competing for King of Donkey Kong, its a contest to be best at a game, not a sport.

I think this line says it all. It's all about marketing. I believe the "sports" in e-sports is just a way to lend it some legitimacy.

Yeah, I prefer the NFL, brought to you by Bud Light. Dilly dilly! To go with the Bud Light, how about a slice of pizza from Pizza Hut - no one out pizzas The Hut.

I hate the term “eSports” because for one, they’re not sports; and two, it just seems very insecure that they have to add “sports” to the title when it’s unnecessary. It’s competitive gaming, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

[ptdebate]

E-sports is played on ephemeral software and hardware, and it seems as much marketing as anything (such as the infamous Atari Swordquest Contest - and 'Contest' seems an apt word). Even if the transient and marketing nature is removed, such as competing for King of Donkey Kong, its a contest to be best at a game, not a sport.

I think this line says it all. It's all about marketing. I believe the "sports" in e-sports is just a way to lend it some legitimacy.

Yeah, I prefer the NFL, brought to you by Bud Light. Dilly dilly! To go with the Bud Light, how about a slice of pizza from Pizza Hut - no one out pizzas The Hut.

I hate the term “eSports” because for one, they’re not sports; and two, it just seems very insecure that they have to add “sports” to the title when it’s unnecessary. It’s competitive gaming, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

I just want to take this moment to say that I LOVE your comments, David. Absolutely spot-on that sports themselves led the way to what "eSports" have become.