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Should Video Gaming Be Recognized As A Sport?

Joined
Dec 21, 2011
The title is self explanatory, but I'll restate it again. Do you think video gaming should be recognized as a sport?

Now, it's hard to define what an actual sport is, but here is its denotation.

Sport: An athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often a competitive nature.

Now, based off of that definition, I'd say its pretty hard to argue that video gaming is not a sport. It takes immense cognitive skill to play any video game, from a massive RPG to a simple game of Tetris, it requires high levels of cognitive ability. It can also acompany a great deal of competition between two people, depending on the person and game. Its not physically demanding, but that's the only category of the definition it doesn't fall under.

So, do you think it should be recognized as a sport?

I say yes, because competitive gaming can, sometimes, take more skill than your average high school sport, and even some sports that are apart of the Olympics.
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Location
United Kingdom
I would have to disagree. It takes little to no athletic or physical ability to compete in video games, unless you count moving your thumbs around. Yes you have to think a lot and it can be very competitive when you play against others but so can chess and I'd hardly call chess a sport, you have to train physically and mentally to play sports, whereas with video games there is not much physical training or physical exercise done whilst playing video games. So, no I don't think gaming should be recognised as a sport but I can see where you're coming from.
 

Krazy4Krash

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Jun 15, 2010
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'straya
Wouldn't that technically make every game a sports game? :D

All jokes aside, no, video games aren't sports. They're not physical enough. Two thumbs moving =/= physical exercise.
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2012
Location
wales
Zumba Fitness is a video game, and that improves your fitness as is Wii Fit, so there you go, however they're rare exceptions.

that doesn't really class as a video game its more like a fitness video
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Location
United Kingdom
that doesn't really class as a video game its more like a fitness video

Well yeah, I only mentioned it because they're interactive and they're on video games, but I agree that generally gaming does not constitute as a sport and the movement of your thumbs and maybe your forefingers does not equate to physical exercise.
 
Joined
Dec 22, 2011
Location
Australia
i don't want to seem rude or anything but when i saw this i laughed, i'm not a sports men myself but gaming does fit the criteria to be called a sport.
 
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Location
CA
No video games are not a sport.
ESPN does air non-athletic competitions sometimes though, like the Spelling Bee, so I wouldn't be surprised if they featured video games competitions on the channel.
 

PhantomTriforce

I am a Person of Interest
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Jul 12, 2010
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Ganon's Tower
I would not count video games to be sports by any means. Though there is more athleticism involved in sports these days with the Wii and the Xbox Kinect, video games are not athletic enough to be considered video games. Also, competition doesn't necessarily mean that the activity is a sport. For example, I could be competing with my friend to get a higher grade on a test, but that would not be considered a sport.

If anything, video games should be considered as art. Video games often present new ideas and present them in different ways, which is basically what art is about.
 
Joined
Mar 10, 2012
Location
USA
Pretty sure it already is in some countries. Like I know in Korea pro gamers are as popular among society as is NFL stars or movie stars in the US.
 

Go_Skyward

Seek a door that carries a [9]
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Mar 22, 2012
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Nevada Test Site
I wouldn't consider it a sport. But it would be pretty interesting if there was video game matches on TV. Man that would be either... hilarious or horrible.
 

Purple_Rupee

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Oct 16, 2011
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Equestria
Video games are more of an entertainment value based thing. So in essence it's about the equivalent of watching television it takes no physical prowess or ability to do. All be that it's not a sport there are still areas in the world were video gaming is taking to higher levels such as competitions etc..

So I suppose you could consider it a "sporting event" in a certain context. But as to your question it seems like your asking should video games be added to something as sport based such as the Olympics or school based functions. Then I'm gonna have to say no, video games have little to no fundamental enrichment as far as health goes.
 

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