GS News Top 5 - ESPN Says Dota/LoL Are ‘Not Sports’; Destiny Perfume?!

I'm actually amazed that there's even a debate as to whether 'e-sports' are 'sports'. To my mind, the name 'e-sports' is simply a gen Y buzzword that arose out of the feelings of many, who due to either insecurity or a wish to have their favourite pastime held in a similar regard by the rest of society, view competitive video games as something that transcends other competitions and hobbies. If you like watching/playing competitive video games, good for you, I respect your choice of interests. How worthwhile an activity it is does not, and should not, depend on its classification in reference to other interests, pastimes, or hobbies.

Other comments have (rightly) made reference to the definition of sport. The key phrase is 'physical exertion'. If you honestly think that twitch reflexes while holding a computer mouse constitutes 'physical exertion' then you need a better grasp of the English language. For the record, Google defines 'physical exertion' as 'any activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness'. So yeah, good luck with that one.

Anyone who argues that car racing does not involve physical exertion needs to get themselves in a racing car and experience the G-forces that make turning the steering wheel a task of itself. Racing actually requires immense bodily strength and fitness. Likewise golf, try asking Tiger Woods why his back is stuffed, and also do some research into the kind of training regimes the top players undertake to perform at their physical peak. That successful athletes in both sports might have a body image that doesn't conform to your typical view of an athlete, does not mean that the essential activity they undertake does not involve a use of their muscles which uses sufficient energy to enhance their fitness.

For those of you who'd respond by saying it's just semantics. Can you imagine how damaging it would be for the physical well-being of our kids if mastering an e-sport (as an extra-curricular activity) was seen as equally beneficial to partaking in physical activity? I'm all for a child taking up video games (I did, and still play them), but common sense dictates that we retain the distinction between physical and mental pastimes for this reason alone.

Finally, poker is not a sport. It is a card game. One of quite a few out there actually. Chess is a game of mental skill, and therefore not a sport. Monopoly is a game. And so on.

I would say it could be considered a sport considering that golf , bowling , and NASCAR are considered sports and those sports don't require a player to have an athletic body, instead they would need reflexes and metal know how.

I will say though that LOL and DOTA will never have the same amount of audience as normal sports. When one looks at all the spectators at tournaments you realize that all the spectators are also hardcore players while normal sports spectators could be anyone because the games are simpler and everyone doesn't have to memorize small details like items/ champions abilities to understand what is happening.

Sport tag seems the curse where few players for the logo (and value)

needs to relax spectators for the television program, as to fail the virtual reality where exercise is a copyright business.

Single Player is nice and cool to play the game, must know something about random like in Blizzard games,

so whatever the story to the plot to not be restricted by the player. which randomness (thinking of fps) would not appear all the same.

That would work perfect in a virtual reality to what fails in the spot to shoot enemies for too long with same actions.

ESPN is right tho, it's a competition not a sport and won't be in the olympic games any time soon.

Does anyone know what song is in the background of this video?

Sports are not real Sports!

Pooey Jocks

Thank you beautiful Jess. You're the best, everyday.

They could market that DESTINY perfume as the new Love Potion Number 9.

Neither is half the crap they have on their channel.

ESPN will change it mind when it see's how much money is being lost.

Gaming is more of a sport than chess or poker. Gaming requires reaction time and manual dexterity, hand eye coordination, forethought. Those other things do not, they are 100% chance and intellect.

ESPN are arrogant assholes and egomaniacs just like all contemporary pro athletes, especially the NFL.

Why are there orcs in the video image? Looks like Orcs Must Die Unchained maybe?

"an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment." - google's definition of Sport. I'd say espn doesn't know what their own industry's definition is lol. (it also depends, however, on how one defines "physical", but, since the "physical" part seems vague, one could assume that esports ARE in fact sports.) not much else to say.... espn really doesn't do their research, since it took about two seconds for me to look up the definition of the word. then again, I might be talking to the athletic stereotypes of thick-skulled football players that make millions, therefor don't do much research, so I don't know why I bothered lol

They're "mental sports", akin to chess or poker.

And ESPN actually broadcasts poker tournaments- so this stance is quite hypocritical of them.

is chess a sport?!

Obama runs IS

Free Suppaphly42!

WNBA isn't really a sport but they broadcast that still

The argument over whether or not games can be sports is so dumb. Who cares? It is just an argument of semantics and terminology.

Yeah, it's not a sport. It's just a competition/tournament. No different then a chess or spelling bee competition. I would consider Pool more of s sport then DOTA/LOL tournaments.

Anyone that thinks playing video games are sports is a complete and total tub of lard (that's not a good thing).

Yeah real sports are played by real men! You know, the sort of guys who hit their girlfriend, electrocute dogs, or straight up kill people.

A bottle of Destiny perfume would be empty.

Why not? Just because they don't go out and bang their heads together, doesn't mean it cannot be a sport

Any more? No is a pretty ambitious answer

doesnt matter if its a sport or not, in the end all the asians will get all the money.

I honestly expected an ambitious game like Destiny to have a longer campaign, I know that there is a lot of other content, but it is still a bit disappointing. And after watching Kevin's review I doubt I'll be buying Destiny any time soon.

I also wanted to apologise for liking an offensive comment towards Carolyn on yesterday's video, I guess I misread it the first time I saw it. I'm really sorry for this, I have the utmost respect for everyone who works or has worked at GameSpot and I was very saddened by the layoffs :(

If driving a car in a circle is a sport, everything is a sport.