Never. Lets not blemish the principal and the amount of athleticism involved by a mere joystick.
If you want to have a separate gaming Olympics every 4 years to wet the appetite, then by all means. But, even that is a bit wacky as there will be publisher names everywhere and the world's attention on these few mega conglomerates, taking eyes off the focus-the competing athletes.
@That mop mutant from NES.: You mean like you have huge logos of coca cola, sony, nike and other big sponsors everywhere you look in an olympics event?
@Narishma: Right, but they don't make the athletes, only to sponsor the event. Everyone remembers the athletes representing their home country instead of "omg, did you see that cola sign?"
On the other hand, the gamethletes would be competing in a game sponsored by the same publishers plastered everywhere. Tell me that isn't a bit funny.
Gaming is something I am not too sure about. Sure it's hard to master, and there's even the MLG, but I think that the missing sport the Olympics is missing is bowling (yes that is a sport and not a game). Sure I went to Indianapolis last week to compete in the USBC Youth Nationals (and placed 17th in my division last time I checked), but I am still confused as to why it's not in the Olympics.
And besides, what video games would be "Olympic material"? Call of Duty? Unless VR would, I would say video games are not the way to go to the Olympics, at least not for now.
@n00b_pwner: Star commenter FTW: I wish I could promote that. Then again, you do have a star. That's one key point everyone commenting, pro or con, seemed to have missed. there are pletny of triple A titles out there, COD , KZ , Halo, quake, doom, UT 3 etc, but what game would actually be considered for the Olympic "game"? Also, isint the Olympics every 4 years? would they have to change games, change systems, or keep the same game for 8 years runing?
@n00b_pwner: Star commenter FTW: Kristina Groves hits the spot with her answer. Yes their is a multitude of games that need precision, skills and concentration. But few of them requires physical movements and that's the main characteristic of an Olympic discipline (in my book). I agree with n00b_pwner here. Bowling deserve to be an Olympic discipline before game can do so. However, it should be a bit harder with maybe longer lanes and freaking difficult oil patterns (yeah I played bowling for years :P).
@slimky: I tried that pattern in the Nationals. Holy Hell, it was hard for me to even GET a 160 (low game) on it. It makes the PBA oil look easy. But then all I had to do is to simply play the ball on the inside and just hook it so much at the pocket at the end.
Now I want to play on the PBA patterns on my PBA Experience league again to see how much easier it is.
The definition of a "sport" seems, in most relevant entries, to pertain only to games which require "physical exertion" to play. Some looser definitions, including that held by Wikipedia, simply says it is "an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively", however they do note it often implies that the game in question is based on how well someone does based on physical condition.
So, depending on your source, Gaming may be considered a sport. You can't decide the definition of a sport is what you feel like, or I could say "Soccer isn't a spot, as competitive as it is, you only use your feet, so it doesn't count".
There's still plenty of other places where large gaming competitions are held. It's just too bad that the (current) largest is MLG, and they seem to enjoy stripping all the fun from a game before declaring that matches are "down to skill alone, with minimal random factors".
Since the encyclopedic entry regards anything of competitive nature as a sport, I'm prefer to side with that over the Google results I got for dictionary definitions. The only difference between Olympic sports and Video Games is that you aren't required to physically exert yourself, and thousands of people haven't died playing video games. And of course those campaigning against video games would tell everyone how now gamers will be looked up to as heroes. I'd rather have my kids grow up to be losers with cheeto covered fingers that can play Halo than some steroid pumping baseball player. And it's not like half the sports in the Olympics matter. I mean, come on, if poor excuses for sports like "Team Handball" can make it into the Olympics, there's nothing stopping video games aside from the fact that the people running it probably don't want to.
–noun
1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature
Interpret that how you want, but let's not forget that they're called the Olympic Games.
Might us recall the pop culture kid on the school's team in the scholastic competition. There's the science kid, the history kid, the math kid, and the English kid, but then there's the pop culture kid who isn't quite traditional as all the others, but is just as much a teammate and integral to the team's victory as the rest.
With that said, I personally would have a hard time imagining gaming in the Olympics, it would definitely be an odd duck. I'd give it time though, few decades worth of time might make some magic happen.
Most of these games have rules that have been unchanged for centuries. What would you do with games that get sequels every two years, or one that is constantly updated, like TF2?
Never.
Gaming should not be put amongst competitive sports. While the basic principles are the same (pattern recognition, conditioned response, hand-eye coordination), sports are much more physically taxing and require far more practice. In my opinion, part of the Olympics is people pushing themselves to their limits. You cant get that sitting in a chair (except for maybe the special Olympics).
@TheCleaningGuy: Agreed, the spirit of the Olympics is finding the physical limits of the human body and celebrating that quest for perfection.
Videogames are definitely a valid form of competition and skill at them should be celebrated. But the Olympics should be physical challenges.
Sadly, there are already "sports" included in the Olympics which have no business there... One of my fears is that, in effort to boost ratings among young viewers, the Olympic committee might actually consider doing what this post describes.
@TheCleaningGuy: Maybe we should consider creating another kind of Olympic where less physical sports could be glorified. Gaming, chess, poker, name it. All those "sports" that doesn't fit in the physical category could have their moment of glory. It might be a nerdy idea, but it has the benefit to help the gaming being more and more mainstream. We have summer and winter olympics, each at a 4 years interval. We still have 2 more years to fill to have annual olympics.
@Ueziel: It would definitely add some excitement that the crowds could latch on to what with all of the player feedback. Just look at the crowds during Street Fighter games. People go crazy when players get down to the wire.
Shit b real.
Then again, they may just as well add break dancing as an Olympic event, both singles and group/performance.
Nah, not in the Olympics. I think more gaming competitions like at EVO or QuakeCon will pop up on there own. No real need for them to be in the Olympics.
I just asked my brother what he thought about this ,( he's playing the ps3) and he basically felt the same. I believe video games are awesome ( I am a addict from 1st grade, back when I had a commodore 64) however, it seems like video games are being crossed with physical activity ,and almost attempting to replace it. [Physical activity]
I'm sorry. Gaming is not a sport. I will agree it does take skill to play them, and that they can be seen as a competitive means, but in NO way are they considered a sport.
07/20/09
If you want to have a separate gaming Olympics every 4 years to wet the appetite, then by all means. But, even that is a bit wacky as there will be publisher names everywhere and the world's attention on these few mega conglomerates, taking eyes off the focus-the competing athletes.
07/21/09
07/22/09
On the other hand, the gamethletes would be competing in a game sponsored by the same publishers plastered everywhere. Tell me that isn't a bit funny.
07/20/09
07/20/09
And besides, what video games would be "Olympic material"? Call of Duty? Unless VR would, I would say video games are not the way to go to the Olympics, at least not for now.
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
Now I want to play on the PBA patterns on my PBA Experience league again to see how much easier it is.
07/21/09
07/20/09
So, depending on your source, Gaming may be considered a sport. You can't decide the definition of a sport is what you feel like, or I could say "Soccer isn't a spot, as competitive as it is, you only use your feet, so it doesn't count".
There's still plenty of other places where large gaming competitions are held. It's just too bad that the (current) largest is MLG, and they seem to enjoy stripping all the fun from a game before declaring that matches are "down to skill alone, with minimal random factors".
Since the encyclopedic entry regards anything of competitive nature as a sport, I'm prefer to side with that over the Google results I got for dictionary definitions. The only difference between Olympic sports and Video Games is that you aren't required to physically exert yourself, and thousands of people haven't died playing video games. And of course those campaigning against video games would tell everyone how now gamers will be looked up to as heroes. I'd rather have my kids grow up to be losers with cheeto covered fingers that can play Halo than some steroid pumping baseball player. And it's not like half the sports in the Olympics matter. I mean, come on, if poor excuses for sports like "Team Handball" can make it into the Olympics, there's nothing stopping video games aside from the fact that the people running it probably don't want to.
07/20/09
–noun
1. an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature
Interpret that how you want, but let's not forget that they're called the Olympic Games.
Might us recall the pop culture kid on the school's team in the scholastic competition. There's the science kid, the history kid, the math kid, and the English kid, but then there's the pop culture kid who isn't quite traditional as all the others, but is just as much a teammate and integral to the team's victory as the rest.
With that said, I personally would have a hard time imagining gaming in the Olympics, it would definitely be an odd duck. I'd give it time though, few decades worth of time might make some magic happen.
07/20/09
Most of these games have rules that have been unchanged for centuries. What would you do with games that get sequels every two years, or one that is constantly updated, like TF2?
07/20/09
07/20/09
Gaming should not be put amongst competitive sports. While the basic principles are the same (pattern recognition, conditioned response, hand-eye coordination), sports are much more physically taxing and require far more practice. In my opinion, part of the Olympics is people pushing themselves to their limits. You cant get that sitting in a chair (except for maybe the special Olympics).
07/20/09
07/20/09
Videogames are definitely a valid form of competition and skill at them should be celebrated. But the Olympics should be physical challenges.
Sadly, there are already "sports" included in the Olympics which have no business there... One of my fears is that, in effort to boost ratings among young viewers, the Olympic committee might actually consider doing what this post describes.
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
Shit b real.
Then again, they may just as well add break dancing as an Olympic event, both singles and group/performance.
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/20/09
I just asked my brother what he thought about this ,( he's playing the ps3) and he basically felt the same. I believe video games are awesome ( I am a addict from 1st grade, back when I had a commodore 64) however, it seems like video games are being crossed with physical activity ,and almost attempting to replace it. [Physical activity]
07/20/09
07/20/09
07/21/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
And there was... um... lemme see... Hey! Have you seen the size of Alicia's breasts in the anime!?
03/11/09
03/11/09
03/11/09
02/06/09
02/06/09
02/06/09