What's new
Streak Gaming Online Gambling Forum

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Could eSports Find a Place in the Olympics?

Users who viewed this discussion (Total:0)

vixen777

Owner
Staff member
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Messages
61,181
SOURCE- FULL ARTICLE

For those unaware, the general term of eSports refers to video games which are played in an official and competitive environment.
The exact form these take depends on the game itself, the fans and legacy which surround that game, and infrastructure which needs to be included in order to host something like a major tournament.
A fighting game tournament like Evolution (2017 prize pool $76,250), built around 1v1 combat, will be different from The International (2017 prize-pool of $24.687 million),
a DOTA 2 focused tournament which is built around 5v5 team play.

With these games and tournaments now entering the mainstream, and with the gaming industry itself becoming more entwined with traditional mainstream media, we have to wonder
if eSports could hold a place in the world’s largest competitive tournament, the Olympics. In this article, we take a look at the arguments
for including these types of games, and why they might succeed while others like chess and poker have failed.
Measuring Similarities

The general argument as to why mental sports like chess have not been included into the Olympic roster tends to center on their lack of a physical component.
Chess, like poker, does not rely on physical ability on anything more than a very base level. This means that anyone with a high-level understanding of the game
, with zero actual practice, can (at least in theory) perform at the highest level of play. As the Olympics is known as the foremost physical tournament,
it makes sense that some would consider chess a violation of the spirit. While we would love a dedicated tournament for mental type games, that is a conversation for another day.

By looking at the examples of chess and poker, we can see why video games can blur the lines between these mental games and a physical sport. If we use fighting games as an example,
the closest approximation we have in traditional gaming would be some sort of combination of speed-chess and juggling. Performing at a competitive level in fighting games not only requires
a high-level technical understanding of the game and concepts, but also the muscle memory, reflexes, dexterity, and real-time problem-solving skills to overcome
whatever the opponent throws at you. In other terms – this is not a sport somebody could win without practice, no matter how complete their technical understanding alone, thus separating it from the likes of poker and chess
 

dani3839

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 17, 2008
Messages
82,573
I know video game tournaments are huge
but not sure they should be part of the Olympics
 

Top