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U.S. government recognizes gamers as athletes

gamespot.com

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Re: U.S. government recognizes gamers as athletes

#31

Post by rbanffy »

nawitus wrote: post #27
jivatmanx wrote: post #7

Is chess a sport? If so, this decision is logical.

You don't need motor skills for chess, but you do for e-sports. If racing is a sport, why is racing in a simulator not? The only difference is the lack of g-forces.

> The only difference is the lack of g-forces.

And the heat (racing cars become hot, to say nothing of the fireproof suit), the noise (they are very noisy) and the fact you are actually risking your life (or, at least, serious injury). The most damage Gran Turismo 4 can cause is an RSI...

Re: U.S. government recognizes gamers as athletes

#32

Post by ryandoom »

ThomPete wrote: post #30

Hah. Back in 95 i was the guy people laughed at for claiming that one day games would be considered a pro sport and guys would be able to score girls by being good players. Should have betted on that.

I'm not sure there is much proof to the latter. :) I think the critical components to groupies is fame and/or fortune. Although the female gaming 'athletes' may be in to you.

Re: U.S. government recognizes gamers as athletes

#33

Post by nawitus »

rbanffy wrote: post #31
nawitus wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't need motor skills for chess, but you do for e-sports. If racing is a sport, why is racing in a simulator not? The only difference is the lack of g-forces.

> The only difference is the lack of g-forces. And the heat (racing cars become hot, to say nothing of the fireproof suit), the noise (they are very noisy) and the fact you are actually risking your life (or, at least, serious injury). The most damage Gran Turismo 4 can cause is an RSI...

Well, sure, but those are not determining factors in the definition of 'sport'.

Re: U.S. government recognizes gamers as athletes

#34

Post by ChuckMcM »

stephengillie wrote: post #19
ChuckMcM wrote: post #3

Heh. So they can get a P-1a visa now? That is an improvement over the mess of an O-1 or a dicey Tourist visa. A long time ago when the robotics club invited some Japanese Sumo robot competitors over there was a tremendous fuss over what sort of Visa they could get.

Are you an entrepreneur who failed to get a visa? Do you like video games? Do we have an opportunity for you!

Well if you are an entrepreneur with a high net worth we'll give you citizenship, no need for a visa. That said, I could imagine a competition where the 'sport' was something very much entrepreneurial bot I think the P-1a is limited to 30 days or some other reasonably short time. The interesting thing is, as I understand it, allows you to "earn money", in the US while you're here. As opposed to tourists who are only supposed to "spend money" :-)

Re: U.S. government recognizes gamers as athletes

#35

Post by Sessions »

I've actually been watching the current LCS despite not playing LoL for a while (it was too addictive).

Games spectatorship pushes all the same buttons that real sports do, and Riot is very intelligently pushing it in the same direction, with the excitable commentators and highlighting the personalities of the top players.

The kids are making money by training to be the best at something that is fun to watch, and businesses are making money off marketing them. Seems analogous to sports in the important ways.

Re: U.S. government recognizes gamers as athletes

#36

Post by ledge »

jbri wrote: post #17
datalus wrote: post #10

Maybe I should be a cyberathelete.... How crazy is this. Recently parents everywhere discouraged the amount of time spent playing games. Now it could be argued by the kid they're working on their professional skills.

Spending all your time playing games at the expense of your education is about as good a strategy as spending all your time playing sports in the hopes of becoming a professional athlete. Only a few people become good enough to get paid to play sports, and of those people even fewer can get paid enough to turn it into a viable career. Banking your life on getting lucky like that without any kind of fallback plan is n…

There are many people who make a living off sports but don't do so professionally.

As an example, I knew many D1 tennis players who could charge upwards of 70$ an hour teaching private lessons (of which the club would take ~20$). I know one guy who is a pretty exceptional player but no where near good enough to make a living on the professional tour, and he brings in about 50,000$ every summer, then goes on tour with his band all winter.

I was merely a good high school player and even back then I was making 15/hr coaching and 25/hr for lessons. That's more than I make now sadly!

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