In the past few years eSports have been increasing in popularity in North America, and in many other countries there has been an established "eSports" community for years. In the States there tends to be a big argument about if eSports are "a real sport". I am curious to see what you all think. It doesn't really matter where you live, I only referenced my country as eSports are "less established" as say China or Korea, as being professional gamer is a viable career option. Whereas in the states, you'd get laughed at by most if you said "I want to play video games for money" I personally think its a pretty serious deal. What defines a game to be taken seriously anyway? Money? A big following? Balls? Football, soccer, etc are all just games that people play with their bodies. Sure it requires a degree of thought as well, but in my opinion it isn't as much that lets say playing "League of Legends", or "Dota 2" professionally. That being said, playing these games don't require you to be ripped or be physically fit at all. However if your mind is lacking, you won't last a day playing against the pro's. These gaming teams live in a house together generally, spend a majority of their days practicing, and most of these teams are sponsored by companies. Some of the teams in Korea are even sponsored by huge companies like Nike. So to me, I think they count. inb4noballsnosports
I think I've already been over this topic a few times already, but sports haven't referred strictly to athletic competitions since at least 1850. Video games can be just as taxing as physical games, and in terms of entertainment value, EVO draws viewer numbers comparable to the Super Bowl (Granted the former pulls an international crowd, but still). My only concern is at the type of games that are getting the esports exposure; mobas are great and all, but the community that forms around them is a less-than-adequate picture of sportmanship, and I just don't find many of the MLG games to be that engaging or even fun to watch. I sincerely hope that the FGC gets more exposure and more coverage as time goes on though; they've had their scandals, but they're a far cry from the other communities in the spotlight right now, and the feats those players can perform will blow your mind.
