Should Video Games Be Considered Sports

Why do people believe that professional gamers are not athletes? Professional gamers not being accepted as athletes comes from the mindset that esports is not a real sport. Esports not being accepted as a sport really stems from the fact that one is playing a video game. They view it as just staring at a screen for 8 hours while, others say that esports is a competition but not a real sport. They are accustomed to sport that is played outside, where you get muddy, dirty, or sweaty. Many of these people, but not all of them, come from generation x that was born in the 70’s and 80’s. But, the world is a much more different place than it was in the 70’s. When they were kids, the closest thing they had to a computer, in their home, was the TV that had 4 channels. Nowadays, we are more technologically advanced and video games are much more mainstream with over 205 million people playing or viewing esports. The world of sports is changing and whether people agree that professional gamers are-real athletes are irrelevant because the amount of money, and fame that comes with being a pro gamer is huge even compared to traditional to traditional

According to the Oxford Dictionaries, the word “sport” is defined as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment. Video games do contain skills/experience , competitions, and amusement but do not emphasize “physical exertion”. Most games such as the Call of Duty and Halo franchise require no physical

What is the definition of a sport? A game played with a ball or someone running around in tight, little shorts? What about “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against one another or others for enjoyment”? That is the true definition of a sport. Not only does football, baseball, basketball, and soccer fit this definition, but so does dance.

“Should video games be considered a sport?” Well believe it or not, there’s are kids out there who actually claim it as one. And there is many reasons to why it should be called a sport. Video games is the only thing some kids are good at because not everyone is physically capable of playing sports such as basketball or football. So if they want to say it’s a sport, then why not? It consists of lot’s of competition at games, right equipment, and lots of hard work and dedication.

The dictionary definition of a sport is “an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment.”

Sports are a very big part of the culture in the United States. They are also a vital part of the society and the interaction of the people within the society in many other nations as well. Many activities or games are clearly recognized as a sport throughout the world. An example of this would be soccer which is world renown. However, there are other activities that do not fit so clearly into the description of a sport, like soccer does. Upon looking at a sport like soccer to define what a sport is, the defining aspects would be it is a game, with specific rules, it requires physical strength or athletic ability, it entails specific skills, it involves competition and it is entertaining. There are some activities that do not completely demonstrate all of the aspects often associated with a sport, one of these is NASCAR(National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing).. While there may be some controversy relating to whether or not this is truly a sport, I would propose that NASCAR is a sport because it is highly competitive, it involves very specific skills and it is extremely entertaining.

Football, basketball, volleyball, and many more… these are all known as common sports that people participate in. How many people were involved in sports during high school or even now in college? What is it that makes it a sport? Is it the time commitment? Well what about the competitiveness? We are all used to spending hours and hours on end practicing and preparing for something whether it be a game, a tournament, or a competition… We have all been there before. I started dancing fourteen years ago, when I was just three years old. Growing up, some of my friends always asked me why I wanted to be a part of something that was not even considered a sport, but to me it was and it was the best thing I could have ever been involved in. Anything that consists of countless hours of practicing and is competitive should be considered a sport. The opinions on this topic are endless, but I’m going to discuss three reasons why I believe dance should be considered a sport. Dancers practice just as much, if not more than other sports, they compete against other teams, and dancers act like a family to one another. Although dance is known as an art, nobody said it could not be both an art and a sport.

Should video games be a sport? The article I used is by Jessica Ravitz (CNN). I will tell you about University of Illinois’ video game program. In my opinion video games should be a sport. I will talk about the rooms they practice in, how parents react to their kids playing video games and how you can still get an education.

For this reason I strongly believe that playing video game should not be considering a sport. Being physical and playing video games is not the same thing. According to this essay, “Video games can be competitive, but they do not require any physical activity” (Web). You use fine motor skills to play video games and large motor to play

Allen Guttman's definition of a sport being “activity where rules are accepted just because they make possible such activity.” While he makes the distinction that a sport is a clearly physical contest, clarifying that while chess is a contest it isn't a sport because it lacks physicality. The most popular competitive games played by the E-sports community do have a physical aspect differentiating it from chess. Good hand-eye coordination, a good sense of timing, and endurance. A casual game of chess doesn't have a time limit to make the correct move while in first person shooters, MOBAs, and fighting games you have to quickly react to what the opposing team or player is doing. Not unlike a pitcher in baseball who has to throw the right pitch at the right time. If you aren't able to react quickly enough to an opposing player in a fighting game you quickly lose the match. Being able to endure long games without making mistakes in play is a necessary skill in a fighting game where exhaustion can quickly lead to misplays that can cost you the

The first reason that games should be a sport is that it’s similar to sports. One example is soccer. How they have championships similar to soccer games have them too. Another example is that in other sports they have trading players. Ohh what a coincidence gaming tournaments have this too. The last example is that in soccer you play with people around the world and guess what? Gaming tournaments have this too. Wow! Now it looks like gaming tournaments is copying soccer.

I strongly agree that Gaming should be a sport. I believe so because it requires skill, strategy,and team effort. Esports players known as “Gamers” train for hours including days, till they have their tournaments. ESports is rising higher and higher each year, for an example “Last year’s League of Legends tournament peaked at 11.2 million viewers, for example, whereas the NHL Finals only hit 8 million.” (DEBATE FROM THE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 ISSUE,Phan)

However, the lack of physical skill is made up by mental skill. Viramontes describes that by saying, “...video gaming requires so much mental training, focus, and the ability to read what your opponent’s next move is going to be” (Can Video Gaming Be Considered an Actual Sport?). A sport like chess is exactly interpreted as this; thinking about strategy and other major key points to win. Along with improving in the mental side of things, video games also increase hand-eye coordination. Robin Burks, an editor for Tech Times expresses that sensorimotor skills and hand-eye coordination improve while actively playing action games (Burks). Likewise, almost everything in life, including all the sports, require great hand-eye coordination to play. Furthermore, video games fall under this category. The term ‘sport’ can be differently interpreted among the general audience. Cerrudo stated that a professor, Dr. Ingo Froböse, explains, how just physical movements do not explain a general sport (Should “eSports” Be Considered As a Sport?). Different people think that a sport does not need physical effort for example, gold or chess. Therefore, video games are a sport.

Competitive gaming, also known as e-sports, is becoming a worldwide phenomenon. With huge events and tournaments that are watched by millions of passionate fans, many people are beginning to question whether playing video games can be considered a real sport. Even though e-sports may not be as physically demanding as traditional sports like football and basketball, the structure, strong fan base and the requirements to seriously contend in the competitive gaming scene legitimize it as a “real” sport.

A sport is defined as an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature. Competitive. Competition is a rivalry between two or more persons or groups for an object desired in common, usually resulting in a victor and a loser. Something to argue would be if a competition could legitimately be considered a sport. The word ‘compete’ is in the definition of sport after all. So, should eSports, or Electronic Sports, be considered a sport?