Should e-sports become an Olympic sport?

Haha, don't worry, I don't. I love sports and games for what each are, not for one to compensate for the other. Both have been a big part of my life for as far back as I can remember, and so I can recognize the boundaries of each. You sure you don't need anything to feel comfortable? Considering that you attacked me for my sig, I really don't buy any of it.

I didn't attack you for your sig and i apologize if you felt i did, i only commented on it because it didn't exactly match up with the opinion you shared in your post.

I don't actually care if gaming is considered a sport, but i think people completely dismissing it because it isn't athletic or because they consider consoles/PC's to be "toys" is silly.

I had a football when i was a kid, an object that for all intents and purposes was a toy to me, same as my skateboard etc., those toys are used by professionals in competitive sports. But a gamer thinking the device he uses to enjoy his hobby on could be used in a sport is him "looking for acceptance", yeah i don't buy that.

Fair enough, but like I previously wrote, I have games and sports there, which means I like both.

Why is it silly? Why can't video games just be, you know, video games? They don't need to be recognized as anything more than that, and I think it's silly for any gamer to try and sneak it in under other labels.

A toy by itself isn't the sport. To dumb it down to that level in order for a gamer to put his hobby under the sports umbrella is both disingenuous and most likely insulting to those that play Olympic and professional sports.

no, but we should have a gamer Olympics

I'm not lobbying for them to be recognized as such but i think people should be more open minded to the prospect.

The main difference between you and i seems to be that you hold sportsmen (and women) in a high regard, whereas they're just people to me, no better than joe gamer that won 250k in an gaming tourney, they're both at the top skill level of that particularly activity and they both get paid to do what they love.

Doesn't that sport include cross country skiing?

cranler mate are you thinking of the biathlon? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biathlon

Honestly, me not wanting to see competitive gaming in the olympics doesn't even have to do with whether it is technically a "sport" or not.

I just think the olympics should just stick with more physically demanding/more athletic activities. It would seem kind of silly to see a bunch of people snowboarding, ice skating, playing hockey, and then seeing a bunch of people sitting around playing video games. Competitive gaming is cool and all but it doesn't really need to be in the olympics. It's not any worse because of it and it not being in the olypmics doesn't invalidate it or anything, I just don't think video games and the olympics mesh together.

@Snugenz:

If people still like to argue about auto-racing and golf being sports, I don't think video games are worth discussing. The only reason we're doing it here is because it's a video game site, but do that on a general sports site, and you can imagine what would happen.

The day a gamer tears an ACL after playing a gross amount of hours of starcraft, we'll talk.

E-sports have a long way to go before they're taken seriously outside of the gaming community. Heck, they aren't even taken that seriously by the gaming community.

I do like watching some of them myself though. I watch the occasional LoL tournament, and sometimes some CS:GO.

LoL is hilariously imbalanced though which does make it hard to treat as a competitive game sometimes. Most games in e-sports are though. It's pretty gross what people treat as competitive gaming. Games where the maps are poorly balanced for certain teams, or there are weapons/characters that are really overpowered (or underpowered).

It'd be like watching a football game where one team gets a first down every 5 yards while the other team still has to get 10 yards. I bet most people would stop watching football at that point.

^This.

Is this a joke?

So if a gamer gets carpal tunnel or RSI from gaming we can talk?. Injury is the criteria, seriously?.

Actually don't bother, i was right in my last post in that we're of two very different opinions.

Yes, it's at least certainly part of it. Someone potentially putting their life on the line due to nature of the sport versus someone that needs to get off his or her ass and take a break from staring at a screen aren't even participating in the same realm of activities. So yes, I very much respect athletes.

Too late, buy you're right, we do have very different opinions.

eSports covers a legitimate aspect of warfare, that of strategy and on the fly thinking. That said, I don't think it should be an olympic sport for one reason only. Most games at best last only 10 years before it's replaced,

Urgh... This is just as bad as considering League of Legends as an Olympic sport (which is just plain silly, by the way), granted I don't have a problem with that game but it is beyond balanced when compared to DotA.

To the TC and those defending it, what do all the official Olympic sports have in common ?

doping scandels

Apart from that. >_>

E-sports are not sports in my book. I know there is a huge ass debate for it, but I still don't think it should be in that arena at all. Nor should chess for that matter. That's why I don't thik it should be an Olympic sport.

Curling is more viable since it does require a bit of skill and a balance of strength for it. E-sports aren't even in the same realm imo aside from occasional muscle memory. I guess that is similar to curling in a smaller fashion, but trust me... I was into it at one point but definitely could tell it was a far cry from anything like basketball, football, etc. Feel free to disagree.

Nintendo axed the wii mote,

and that was as close anyone was getting to athletic gaming,

next to hole in the wall on kinect

The olympics are boring enough as it is.

The moment someone sees the word sports written as esports should be when they realize it's not the same thing. It's like buying Soni TV's or Ray Bam sunglasses.

I agree. Some of that stuff is mind numbing to watch. Can't stand it, and for enjoyments sake I would rather just hear the end tally for my two favorite countries.

Gaming is not a sport, regardless of the competitive nature. There's no athleticism, little physical activity. The Olympics are for the spectacle of incredible specimen. Professional gamers are not object of spectacle. I'm all for professional gaming, and I don't want to deny anybody's right to enjoy it, but gaming is not a sport.

IMO chess should have never been called a sport. It's a competitive game. I'd have preferred if we had kept a clear distinction by agreeing that for something to be considered a sport it would have to entail some physical finesse or physicality in general. That would make things simpler IMO and would make the word sport more meaningful. Right now it's half that, and half 'when a game becomes serious enough'? I don't like definitions that aren't clear.

Here, I like this definition that google came up with:
an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.

I don't care about tradition and I don't mind 'Olympic Games' popping up in the Olympics in between the 'Olympic Sports'. So sure, have e-sports be represented by the Olympics. I was going to say that it looks silly, so it shouldn't be on TV. But then I thought of all the athletes there that look silly, in their rainbow coloured spandex, and I think shame is no longer an argument.

Well damn, this is probably the most lopsided poll I've ever done

Gaming is viewed very vague across the globe.

Well at least if video games were there I could actually give a shit about the Olympics for once. How's that?

I'm all for competitive gaming but it's not a sport. It's not physical and doesn't involve any athleticism.

As stupid as I think that curling is, it's a physical and athletic activity. You try sweeping a path on ice as quickly and accurately as they do. It's a lot harder than it looks.

What if I don't think video games are sports... and I also don't think chess is, either?

Poker is only considered a sport by idiots. The same kind of idiots who think video games should be considered sports, as well.

If they can put emotional and maniac gamers in the olympics then we can see a lot of thumbsmashing elbow body movements and screaming at the screen between fanboys. Would be entertaining. The olymics seem borinh these days. Need some drama to add spice