Is online gaming a sport? revisited

meglome

It seems to me that sport is about dedication, effort, skill and desire to win. This sounds like a lot of the gamers I know.

Dustaz

So is dog breeding, but it is not a sport.

The best reason i have heard so from from conversations is that in online gaming you dont have complete and analogue control over your envoiroment.
For example, in soccer you may run slowly and inject a little bit of speed to get past an opponent, but in cs you have only 2 options walk and run. This is one example, but any example would hit this wall I think.
Of course you could then say, well shooting is a sport and cs/quake/tribes/ut etc go well past the skills involved there, and you may be right. see? im just plain confused.

fisty

Can't we all just get along?


[This message has been edited by fisty (edited 16-07-2001).]

Dustaz

What makes one thing a game and something else a sport fisty? thats really what im asking.


The dictionary is no help:

sport
noun 1 game or competitive activity usually involving physical exertion. 2 these collectively. 3 (in plural) meeting for competition in athletics. 4 amusement, fun. 5 colloquial sportsman; good fellow. colloquial person with specified attitude to games, rules, etc. verb 1 amuse oneself; play about. 2 wear or exhibit, esp. ostentatiously. sports car low-built fast car. sports coat, jacket man's informal jacket. sports ground piece of land used for sport. sportswear 1 clothes for sports. 2 informal clothes.

·noun 1,2activity, athletics, exercise, game(s), pastime, physical education, physical training, recreation. 4amusement, badinage, banter, diversion, enjoyment, entertainment, fun, humour, jesting, joking, merriment, play, pleasure, raillery, teasing. verb 1caper, cavort, divert oneself, frisk about, frolic, gambol, colloquial lark about, play about, romp, skip about. 2display, exhibit, flaunt, show off, wear. sports ground arena, court, field, ground, pitch, playground, playing area, playing field, recreation ground, stadium.

Shinji

I think the problem is that the term "sport" implies something more than its dictionary definition would suggest. "Sport" suggests that we should be taking it seriously, I guess; it implies some degree of professionalism, and once you call something a "sport" people start bleeting about wanting government grants and initiatives and lottery money and christ knows what else.

We're all far better off with games just being games.

Hobbes

darts is a game and a sport.

Greenbean

Fisty, you're the fcking moron - you explained nothing. Snooker started off as a game at some point and now its a sport, as did darts, freestyle snowboarding, seeing who could run the fastest etc etc.

Dustaz

If darts is a sport, why not online gaming? ditto snooker.

Truth be told , i wouldnt consider darts a real sport, probably for the same reason i dont consider gaming a sport and thats what im looking for, that reason. Is it as simple as physical exertion?

GreenHell

Sport hmmm I don't online gaming is really a sport yet as it is still only used consistantly by a small number of people compared to the top sports at the moment.

I do think online gaming will be considered a sport as soon as it becomes more and more popular and online gaming and the way online gaming changes.

But if you mean sport as in the chance of making serious money for playing for a top clan. Well I hope that doesn't happen most of the fun in gaming is the fact that its just a game.

Is rock climbing a sport ?
Is fishing a sport ?
Is hunting a sport ?
Is F1 a sport ?

amp

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by fisty:
why is it called "gaming" and not "sporting"?
simple.
gaming isn't a sport.
its - wait for it - GAME.
morons.</font>

Soccer is a sport also known as the beautiful game.
The Olympic Games have events considered to be sports.

Conclusion?
fisty=moron

In my opinion all sports are games, but not all games are sports. Sports are games that are popular and have spectators.

---

Lunacy Abounds! GLminesweeper RO><ORS!
"Boxes for show, Baskets for a pro" - [FCA]SyxPak

fisty

yawn?

Hobbes

>Is rock climbing a sport ?

Yes.

>Is fishing a sport ?

Yes

>Is hunting a sport ?

Yes

>Is F1 a sport ?

I Would assume so.

Dustaz

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by amp:

In my opinion all sports are games, but not all games are sports. Sports are games that are popular and have spectators.
</font>

Tribes certainly meets these criteria, i dont know if CS and quake matches are shoutcasted and vidcasted, but im sure they are, so why then couldnt they be considered sports?

GreenHell

Of course another way of looking at this is who really give a damn, there only games after all.

tHE vAGGABOND

silly question on a board full of online gamers TBH..
Ask it on Ireland.com vote of the day I would be intrested in seeing the result!

Now ask 'Is online gaming a commercially viable 'sport'?

and the answer is no

The CS CPL Final, Q3f WorldCup will never be on skysports, like pool is now, or oldies beach football is now and again. U

nless your really into, and know whats going on it is ****e to watch. Pool tables and dart boards are all over the shop, loads of people (including me) cant watch enough football...

Were at the start of a big ass slowdown - give it 6 months and we'll see what the Clan 9 and SK lads (or whoever) are doing for a living - I bet 20 euros it wont be pro gamers

amp

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by fisty:
yawn?</font>

Yes fisty, it's way past your bedtime.

---

Lunacy Abounds! GLminesweeper RO><ORS!
"Boxes for show, Baskets for a pro" - [FCA]SyxPak

DeadBankClerk

i think gameing lacks benchmarks and rules.

leagues such as clan base and programs like punkbuster help this.

Sliotar

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">The CS CPL Final, Q3f WorldCup will never be on skysports, like pool is now, or oldies beach football is now and again.</font>

well according to pc gamer, results to Starcraft leagues are shown on korean news programs.

all sports are sh|te to watch unless you know whats going on (with the exception of one or two). imagine you did'nt have a clue what football was about, you would'nt be able to stick 5 minutes of it.

i reckon its all down to popularity. in fairness, the majority of soccer matches are pretty bad, but because soccer is played and supported by so many people it still gets shown on tv the whole time.

once games like quake and cs get popular enough, you might begin to see matches on sky sports and you might be hearing about the qukae world cup on the news. it would take something like 20 years but it might happen, it could be the sport of the future...

personally, i think games are better off as just games. keep it all about the fun. soccer has got to the stage where people actullay get killed over it, fvckin rediculous...

Dont be at yourself

Gaming has yet to be accepted as a past time in many circles, yet alone a sport.

In the distant future I can see gaming being a professional sport, but I'd say it will be vastly different than what's being played today.

---

The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

ThunderingMike

Gaming is a sport in the same sense that Chess is a sport.

---

ThunderingMike Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, And thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, And enterprises of great pitch and moment, With this regard their current turns away, And lose the name of action... Nows that's a sig.

Dustaz

I know there was already a topic on this before, but it never answered the basic problem i have with the question which is this:

I dont consider online game to be a sport (or think it ever will be). After discussing it on a few occasions however, I still have not come up with, or heard a convincing argument WHY it is not a sport. Everytime i come up with a reason that it is not, it is easily negated by a 'real' sport example (such as snooker say). Yet, i still feel that it does not qualify as a sport. Why is this?

please discuss, especially if you have a 1 sentence argument that nails it down


[This message has been edited by Dustaz (edited 16-07-2001).]

Dustaz

Thank you Bard, thats exactly the question im asking

and FanJ, I play "real" sports (not rugby mind, thats for "idiot rugger buggers with more money than sense" - note the 2 cliches) and i dont consider gaming a sport.
But where does balance come into snooker for example? or motor racing?
I still havent seen a concise reason that proves gaming is NOT a sport.

The Sweeper

I reckon it's commerce. Seriously. What seems to differentiate a 'sport' from a 'game' is the level of competition, or perceived competition that surrounds it.

By this I mean that a whole pile more people get terribly excited about the World Cup Final than the World Chess Final.

If you can extend the excitement about your competition beyond the competitors and out into an audience it seems to jump from being a 'game' into being a 'sport'.

Any takers on that wobbly theory?

Dustaz

i cant see the world water polo finals being a massive commercial draw. kinda sinks that theory

The Sweeper

Ah now, the crowd for the women's beach volleyball final doesn't count either

Sliotar

this really is doing my head in... its kinda like the whole time travel thing or somethin...

i guess the best i can come up with is that it is both a game and a sport.

when you go down to the park to kick a ball around with your m8's your playing a game. but when you join the local club and you start training, using tactics and play competitve matches in front of spectators then your playing a sport.

but its all soccer. so soccer is a game and a sport.

and that probably applies for all games/sports.

you go down to the pub and you play some darts with m8's, your playing a game. you enter a darts tournament and you dedicate yourself to darts and play in front of spectators, your playing a sport.

likewise with gaming, you join a public server and have a quick game of CS, your playing a game. you join a serious clan, you dedicate yourself to the game, you train, and you go to the CPL and play in front of spectators, your playing a sport. just that society has'nt excepted this as a sport yet and probably will have trouble doing so.

make sence?

Dustaz

So were all agreed that gaming isnt a sport.
Back to the original question then. WHY isnt it a sport. No physical excercise? snooker.
No big audience? Synchronised swimming (outside the olympics) No huge finances? most sports world wide.
Hmm, come to think of it maybe this thread belongs on the 'Useless philosophical questions that keep no-one but me amused' board

the fnj

Online gaming is not a sport!

Only an online gamer would even consider it a sport!
And not even every online gamer feels this way. When taking part in a sport you should be able to decide for yourself straight away. I know when I play rugby that I’m playing a sport. When I play quake three online I am playing a game. I take it seriously when I play and I try to win (even though I never do ). I still could never even consider it a sport.
Every online game should know straight away if they are taking part in a sport or not when they play. They should not need to debate it over with others.

As far as I’m concerned this is a case of gamers trying to force their own little niche in the sporting world.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2"> I’m too lazy to go out and play a real sport so I’ll sit in my room play games and call that sport </font>

I find it an insult as a rugby player and a sportsman that you would even try and compare something as trivial as gaming to a “real” sport like rugby. When I take part in a rugby match I have to push myself to physical limits. I have to be willing to put my body on the line for the team. I have to keep going even though my lungs want to cave in and my legs are turning to jelly. Sometimes you have to dig really deep and push yourself on. When does any gamer have to show that level of commitment during an online game?

I’m not saying in every sport you have to be pumping sweat but a lot of basic attributes pass over in all of them. When does balance ever become an issue for an online gamer?

I have considered this a lot since the last thread on this subject and I have grown more hostile towards people who consider themselves cyber athletes. This is mainly due to the amount of work I do for rugby. I would find it ten times easier to sit in front a computer screen all day and play quake. I would also find infinitely less satisfying.

The Sweeper

"When I take part in a rugby match I have to push myself to physical limits. I have to be willing to put my body on the line for the team."

Where does this leave the disabled then?

Sport is about effort, participation, dedication, commitment, teamwork, and above competition. It is not defined by WHAT you decided to make an effort with, or participate with, or dedicate, or commit. It is about the intensity with which you do these things. Your definition of sport shouldn't be constrained by physical ability, or lack of it.

---

It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

Bard

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by The FANJ:
Online gaming is not a sport!

Only an online gamer would even consider it a sport!
</font>

Flawed logic. Only a serious chess player would even consider chess a sport. Same for darts. A game isn't a sport because the player of the game 'considers' that they're playing a sport.

Would someone care to define the distinction between a game which is not a sport and one which is? What makes a game a 'sport'?

---

Bard

---

I've got a plan... and it's as HOT... AS MY PANTS!!!" - Lord Flashheart.