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Title says it all, I myself would probably say no but then again things like dart throwing and pool is considered a sport so I don't know.

There's a reason their called e-sports and not sports. I find sports to mean something that requires physical prowess. Almost everything but reflexes is mental based in e-sports.

Sport implies that you need to use your body, not just your tumbs.

More of a sport than golf, certainly

It's like golf, if it was as popular and as interesting as the super bowl at times.

Once again the difference and why they're called e-sports.

 Trondheim wrote:
Sport implies that you need to use your body, not just your thumbs.

You do use your body.

There are already a lot of sports which require little physical activity. I don't see how Gaming is any different.

No. Get off your ass.

If Darts, Snooker and Golf are considered sports, I don't see a reason why gaming shouldn't be. The definition of the term "sport" is tricky to apply to gaming, IMO there should be a definite distinction between "games" and "sports". "Games" would involve skill but little/no physical activity, "sports" would involve both.

It can be considered a sport, chess is considered a sport, so is darts and pool. There are some games such as the RTS and MOBA category which you need a lot of skill to be good at it. Those ARE considered sports in Korea.

If it's a sport it should go in the 'Sports for fat people with no interest of bettering their fitness' category. I know when I go out on a weekend and do a 40k MTB ride then come home and play COD which one is a sport.

Is there any reason video games need to be considered sport? What purpose does it serve other than, the only one I can see, making people who do no physical exercise feel better about themselves.

Sport, being an ill defined word that basically means whatever one wants it mean, makes this questions unanswerable

There you go guys. The smart ass remark of the thread

No I do not consider them sports.

 rockerbikie wrote:
It can be considered a sport, chess is considered a sport, so is darts and pool. .

They are? Sense when? I never considered them sports

The Olypmic Committee considers Chess a sport.

 LordofHats wrote:
The Olypmic Committee considers Chess a sport.

and heaven forbid you are caught with Wistrol in your system, if you are a chess olympian

 LordofHats wrote:
The Olypmic Committee considers Chess a sport.

Ha, well Ill be damned. I never would have considered it one. Thanks for that lol

Art, not sport. /Thread

Seriously, I don't think a sport is something that requires physical prowess but not everything that is competitve and requires ability is a sport.

 Cheesecat wrote:
Title says it all, I myself would probably say no but then again things like dart throwing and pool is considered a sport so I don't know.

No. But then, I don't consider darts, bowling or pool to be sports either. Those are activities.

Soccer, football, baseball, tennis and so on are sports in my book.

I'm iffy on Golf, but having lugged around clubs in Houston's summer heat and humidity without a golf-cart for 18 holes has made me reconsider my position.

These are my opinions. Yours may differ.

Certain games I'll consider E-sports, such as starcraft.and halo.

I don't consider league of legends one however.

Video games can't become sports unless we are talking futuristic laser tag, and even then it's not a sport.

Besides, if we institute "video games" as an olympic sport, who among those "e-L33t" players could legitimately pass a drug test?

Voted "not sure". It seems to me that what is a sport and what is not would be defined by public consensus rather than a general definition - for once you apply definitions, you'll end up either having to accept that video games are sports, or you will have to concede that a number of currently accepted sports are actually not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport#Meaning_and_usage

Give it another ~30-50 years and (provided we do not nuke ourselves in the mean time) video games will have become an accepted part of everybody's daily lives much like television is today, and by then will be featured more prominently like today's sports, perhaps even replacing some in popularity. Some few nations are already there.

Personally, I find it a little silly, especially once you start comparing stuff like billard to FPS. One is a "coordination sport", the other ... apparently not? Because you're coordinating a crosshair on a screen in front of you, rather than a cue on the table in front of you? Sounds like a bunch of elitist protectionism.

juraigamer wrote:Video games can't become sports unless we are talking futuristic laser tag, and even then it's not a sport.

Without ever actually having thought of laser tag as a sport (or a "video game" for that matter), I have to ask ... why not? I'd be interested in the reasoning / the supposed difference to "actual" sports.

Video games are absolutely not a sport! Give me a break.

 KamikazeCanuck wrote:
Video games are absolutely not a sport! Give me a break.

I actually find it hard to consider video games a "game" in the traditional sense that is often associated with darts, billiards, cards, and even p/p RPGs. My reasoning for this, is because how many of us "shut down" our minds when we have that controller, HID (for computers), or whatever that is involved with video games? I know that I can lose time with the mindless fun that is video games. And this is quite the opposite with other activities, such as previously mentioned, billiards, RPGs and T/T games.

Ensis Ferrae wrote:I actually find it hard to consider video games a "game" in the traditional sense that is often associated with darts, billiards, cards, and even p/p RPGs. My reasoning for this, is because how many of us "shut down" our minds when we have that controller, HID (for computers), or whatever that is involved with video games? I know that I can lose time with the mindless fun that is video games. And this is quite the opposite with other activities, such as previously mentioned, billiards, RPGs and T/T games.

That sounds weird, considering that billard, RPGs and Tabletop games are all present in video games as well.

I'm sure there are lots of video games where you can indeed "shut down your mind", but do the current "e-sport" games such as Counterstrike and StarCraft truly count as such? Is it not true that you have to focus immensely on proper hand-eye-coordination and nigh-instinctive reflexes to beat an opponent at CS, as well as planning and executing carefully laid out building and combat strategies in SC whilst simultaneously reacting to whatever the other player does?

I always shut down "some part" of my mind when I'm playing, but I need reflexes for FPS (like with clay shooting) and logic for strategy games (like with chess). What I'm playing thus depends on what part of my mind I feel needs relaxing. If I want to shut down completely I grab a good book and go chill, casually allowing my fantasy to work by itself without any sort of "you need to win" pressure like it exists when playing most video games.

The moniker "e-sport" fits well here.

I consider competitive structured play in video games an e-sport.

 juraigamer wrote:
Certain games I'll consider E-sports, such as starcraft.and halo.

I don't consider league of legends one however.

I am curious why you consider those two to be sports but LoL is not a sport.

 Lynata wrote:

Ensis Ferrae wrote:I actually find it hard to consider video games a "game" in the traditional sense that is often associated with darts, billiards, cards, and even p/p RPGs. My reasoning for this, is because how many of us "shut down" our minds when we have that controller, HID (for computers), or whatever that is involved with video games? I know that I can lose time with the mindless fun that is video games. And this is quite the opposite with other activities, such as previously mentioned, billiards, RPGs and T/T games.

That sounds weird, considering that billard, RPGs and Tabletop games are all present in video games as well.

I'm sure there are lots of video games where you can indeed "shut down your mind", but do the current "e-sport" games such as Counterstrike and StarCraft truly count as such? Is it not true that you have to focus immensely on proper hand-eye-coordination and nigh-instinctive reflexes to beat an opponent at CS, as well as planning and executing carefully laid out building and combat strategies in SC whilst simultaneously reacting to whatever the other player does?

I always shut down "some part" of my mind when I'm playing, but I need reflexes for FPS (like with clay shooting) and logic for strategy games (like with chess). What I'm playing thus depends on what part of my mind I feel needs relaxing. If I want to shut down completely I grab a good book and go chill, casually allowing my fantasy to work by itself without any sort of "you need to win" pressure like it exists when playing most video games.

Ya, I definately do a lot more thinking playing video games than playing darts.

Then you've never actually played darts...

And I am surprised that racecar driving hasn't come up in this thread, either...

No.

No I do not.

They're not sports in the traditional sense.

They're highly intense competitions, but not sports. Warhammer isn't a sport, but it can be highly intense and competitive (relatively intense, heh)

SoloFalcon wrote:And I am surprised that racecar driving hasn't come up in this thread, either...

I actually thought about it, considering that you "just" sit on a wheel and steer regardless of whether you're sitting in front of a screen or out on a real track, with the only difference thus being the risk involved.
But you probably need a bit of strength in the arms to properly steer a racing car, so certain people would just point out the "physical requirement" as the defining trait. Or do racing cars all have servo-assisted steering? I have no clue about that.