yes it should!gaming is universal!so why not!its something neva done b4 and it should be encouraged!
Online petition strives to make eSports an Olympic event
By
Laura Parker, Associate Editor
Torch for Gaming argues eSports fully embody the Olympic spirit and should therefore be recognised as an Olympic sport.
A group of gamers have started an online petition to try to get eSports recognised as an Olympic sport.
Torch for Gaming believes eSports fully embody the Olympic spirit, arguing they are accessible to people who are excluded from traditional sports because of physical disability.
"By their design, video games provide joy and education," the group argues on its website. "They entertain and they teach. Games create ethical boundaries and challenge our views, they force us to govern and to abide. No other sport can claim such a combination of body, will and mind."
The Torch for Gaming petition currently has 1,525 signatures from 24 countries. The group is encouraging people to sign by arguing that video games promote friendship, create communities around shared experiences, and do not discriminate on gender or age.
If you want to sign the petition, go here.
By
Laura Parker, Associate Editor
Laura Parker is the Associate Editor of GameSpot Australia. She loves adventure games, sparkly stuff, Trivial Pursuit, cake, Master Chief, earthworms, and rhetorical questions. She once stole a sandwich from Peter Molyneux.
282 comments
Even if eSports were in the least bit athletic, competitive gamers themselves don't do the community or games they play any justice when the controller isn't in their hands, and that could be said of gamers in general. These guys can play up the professionalism of it all they want, they'll never be in the same class as an Olympian.
@whiteape1 @TacticaI Without straying to far off topic, there is f*** ton of money invested into the athletes that compete in the Olympics, and their hours training break into the tens of thousands, they completely embody and represent sport (which ever they participate in), and usually come with a laundry list of (not Xbox Live) achievements and credentials to back to them up. As opposed to gamers who, as far as I know, haven't done anything particularly impressive but invest a great deal of time playing a video game. Let's say they made eSports an Olympic event as of today, who wants to be the one to break the news to Dana White and all those UFC fighters? You know...athletes, that no they can't participate in the Olympics, but "Tsquared" sure as hell can.
Sorry, but you need to be at least some kind of athlete to participate in the Olympics. Having keen reflexes in your thumbs isn't quite enough.
@JustPlainLucas My point is that the Olympics is outdated, we constantly getting the same events with little to no change, at least with the addition of esports there is some sort of evolution within the games. Also the Olympics is about equality and sportsmanship if we r to just deny esports the chance to particiapate just once, then what's the point of the games cause its then breaking all that the games stand for
@whiteape1 @JustPlainLucas Then the Olympics isn't for you. Here's the thing... video games do not require the SLIGHTEST bit of athleticism. Olympics do. Every Olympic competitor is toned beyond belief where the common perception of a gamer is a couch potato. Olympics is NOT about equality, because then every person would be competing in the Olympics. The Olympics is about finding the strongest and the fastest ATHLETES in the world, not who can score the most headshots in Counter Strike. I am sorry, but you do not have a point here. As I said elsewhere, if gamers want to be in the Olympics, let them have their own eOlympics then, since there are Special Olympics for mentally challenged and Para Olympics for physically challenged. Actually.. go ahead and put gamers into the Para Olympics because they don't need to use their legs...
@JustPlainLucas There's more to esports than just a fast reflex. It takes years of practice to get to a proper level to play a game competitively, and once there just like anyone else all u get is criticism that makes u feel worthless. Esports has been in the shadow of everything else for years, it's about time we got some sort of recognition.
@whiteape1 @JustPlainLucas As I just said, you need to be athletic in some regard, not just in your thumbs. I don't care how good you are; sitting in a chair playing games is not, I repeat NOT athletic, in the SLIGHTEST. You don't see chess in the Olympics, and that's one of the most respected games of all time. Sorry, but if you're into eSports, you'll never be in the Olympics, because there is no eOlympics...
"sports because of physical disability."
What's wrong with the paralympics?
It's bad enough golf is going into the olympics, every non athletic event that's added takes a little bit more away from it.
Although I did joke about Olympic Tetris the other day, it's a horrible idea... Just to put off the pro's who want to be olympic gamers, I'd like to remind them they'd need to keep their amatuer status to enter it, so no medals for them anyway.
It was strange enough when they added the trampoline to the summer games before the start of the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney.
No, hell no, f**k no and ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR WORTHLESS PIECE OF S**T MOTHER F**KING MIND HELL NO!!!!!!!!
2 Like Now at over 2280 signatures, from 74 countries. Oh, how sad it is that our next generation of children will be raised on virtual sports. At least they won't be in danger of sunburn.
1 Like ahahaha, gaming a sport xD the Olympics is supposed to encourage kids to look up to their favorite athletes and follow in their footsteps...i dont think a bunch of obsessed unhealthy gamers would make great idols.
Not just that, but also i preferred when everyone thought gaming was just for nerds so stayed away from it, now everyone plays games and as a result more & more casual crap is being thrown at us. Those of us who actually care about the industry are losing out to the larger casual market.
Making gaming an event at the olympics would further push gaming into the mainstream and away from true gamers.
1 Like Oh please... Gaming as an Olympic event? "Yeah, I medaled in FPS, RTS, and Platformers... I'm the Phelps of video games." - How stupid does that sound? If you didn't say really stupid you have problems.
what? this is taking it too far. the olympics is a celebration of human achievment in PHYSICAL events. sitting in front of a keyboard and tapping a few keys is NOT and should never be any part of the olympics. i'm an avid gamer and this is just silly. gamers have their esports. instead of stupid things like this, move for gaming companies to make more esports-friendly titles with consistent and balanced multiplayers which don't change with every iteration of the game. petition for better shoutcasting tools and make gaming more entertaining to the spectator. this is just ridiculous
No, sorry. Video games aren't a sport. Also these people petitioning, I'm assuming they are pro or big fans. The problem with the e-sports scene is it can be extremely immature, they need to address the unprofessionalism in e-sports themselves before trying to branch it out further.
3 Like To Quote Yathzee here Short Answer : NO!!!
Long Answer : NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
No... Video games should just have their own event. Only problem being a large majority of the world thinks video games is bad for you etc. and a lot of politicians around the world are more into censoring and banning video games rather than embracing it and sending their people around the world to compete.
This is ridiculous in my opinion. A lot of Olympic events are ridiculous though in my opinion, such as ping pong, and that goofy horse trotting event.. *sigh* It just keeps getting worse. jnerd84.blogspot
@joshnixo ok ping pong is a great sport. if you haven't played it, don't judge. its extremely physical and requires stamina and reflexes. horse riding requires skill from the rider. its not just a guy sitting on a horse. its like driving a car that keeps turning in random directions
7 Like Video games aren't a sport. If you allow e-gaming into the olympics you might as well have the "Olympic Spelling Bee".
@boags24 synchronised swimming is a team event that requires hours upon hours of training, stamina and great skill. it's just as demanding as gymnastics
2 Like This is an insult to any one who plays sports, the fact that they want to have someone swim on wii sports and compete in the Olympics, while someone like Phelps, who spent his whole life training to swim for gold is just disgraceful. This is one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of. No one cares about MLG because its not a sport, its a hobby that some people take too seriously. I hope this never makes it into the Olympics, because its not a sport and it will defeat the whole point of the Olympics.
10 Like ....This has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. Even more ridiculous than that Pokemon World Championship.
7 Like I would laugh my ass off, seeing some fat neckbeard COD player carrying the olympic torch, gassing himself completely, and having to stop after a few yards. Lol!
4 Like I use more energy and more athletic skill to stand up and go get a drink than I do in a couple hours of wiggling my fingers on a controller.
It is a competitive activity. It can take skill to win. It isn't a sport. Neither is Poker. Get over it.
ridiculous ? adj worthy of or exciting ridicule; absurd, preposterous, laughable, or contemptible
1 Like This is a stupid idea.And this is coming from someone who enjoys professional SC2 games.
Is there a counter-petition I can sign somewhere?
"Torch for Gaming believes eSports fully embody the Olympic spirit, arguing they are accessible to people who are excluded from traditional sport because of physical disability." I don't follow eSports very much, but are there any "pro gamers" who are physically disabled? Self-inflicted obesity caused by being a couch potato doesn't count.
Compare that to the olympic athlete with no legs from the knees down who made it to the semi-finals in track.
16 Like "The group is encouraging people to sign by arguing that video games promote friendship, create communities around shared experiences and do not discriminate on GENDER or age."
I guess the people who made this have never played video games before...
@vault-boy and "do not discriminate on gender and age"? please. women have been discriminated and abused on video games for a long time. these guys have no idea how immature the gaming scene is right now with trolls and jackasses polluting the place. clean up your act first.
This comment has been deleted
@buccomatic @vault-boy Theres definatily a difference between core gamers and casual only the casual are "nice" the core are just being screwed over by companies now.
2 Like @vault-boy I think they played games like The Sims and Hello Kitty Online. They definitely have not played FPS games. I can't go a game without being called a racist slur. Then again I am on Xbox playing CoD so it probably is my fault.
1 Like @Addice I play on the PC as well as live and PSN. Everywhere there are d-bags saying all kinds of nasty things.
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