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Fundamentals and Definitions
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Gaming from an abstract perspective is very different to what we all understand by the term 'gaming' and I believe closer to what the sponsors and large corporations see. When we think of gaming, or at least when I think about it, the first thing which jumps to mind is a fast paced FPS something like UT or Quake, for CS players I would surmise CS jumps to mind, a poster in my local gym said “on-line gaming, [url]www.888.com[/url]” so as we can see for each different person gaming is something different. No doubt this is obvious to the majority of you as it’s only natural to perceive gaming from our own perspective. So what does this mean for people like Intel, they don’t necessarily have this perspective from inside the community, they’re outside looking in, so what associations do they draw? I’ve already mentioned what I believe the gamers understand by the term, so let’s move into a more theoretical field and try to imagine what the corporations / sponsors see. We can also take a look at some of the fundamental concepts of gaming and the semantics of it to try to get a broad understanding of our industry. The logical place to start would be to look at what is understood by the term 'gaming' or v/eSports, what the fundamental characteristics are.
Fundamentally eSports is competition. I doubt there would be any arguments against that, the differences come when talking about the means of competition; the semantics’. This has been highlighted in various ways, one of which being the myriad of postings relating eSports to another form of recognised competition like Football or Baseball and so hence is placed in the same category 'sports'. Personally I believe that there are a limited number of analogies that you can make between current sports and eSports. On the surface it’s easy to see why the links between current sports are drawn but I believe that at a much deeper level it is unique and hence there will always be a section of eSports of which there can be no analogies to. So this really does force me to ask; is defining eSports and attempting to gain recognition as a sport the right way forward for the activity which we all enjoy?
To answer this we really need to start looking at what sport is defined as and understand why we want to make what we do, our ‘eSport’, into a recognised sport what’s the point? To that end I have compiled a list of definitions from a variety of sources (all listed on the front page) which I believe are relevant to the arguments at hand. I have taken the liberty of removing certain entries such as “being a good sport” which if you want to read the full definition list you can find by going to the relevant site.
Dictionary.com
1) Competition.
2) Physical Activity.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
The emphasis in both definitions is put on physical exertion including the Oxford definition of “gaining success or pleasure from an activity” by using the example of hunting. As hunting can be considered an activity which is reasonably demanding on physical ability, this ambiguity in definition tends to lead me towards the idea that to be a sport there really needs to be a large element of physical exertion, which to my mind there isn’t. If this wasn’t the case and it was an activity that someone enjoyed something such as knitting could be considered a sport, which I don’t think anyone would agree is. Presuming then that people agree with the lack of physical exertion in eSports why are we pushing for a sporting body, when it could be reasonably argued that in fact eGaming (esports) is not a sport at all?
I have thought long and hard about the reasons why this is the case and have come to two main answers. The first is sport has a huge following, you only need to look at the popularity of the world cup, and the huge revenue generated for Germany from the event to realise the potential of it. The second as I’ve previously mentioned is revenue, as there is a competitive element to it, it’s almost automatic that people call it a sport, as to my knowledge there are very few other categories in which to place it. These points about definition have been broached before and aspects such as mental strength and reaction times are suggested qualities of a sports person which again are applicable to gaming. So in our quest for a definition let’s throw another term into the mixer.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
Ballroom dancing for example has been officially recognised in the UK as a sport since 1997 and although my grandmother is involved in dancing (and has been all her life) I know of no-one who has taken an interest in it, be it learning for recreation or competition. Granted there are shows on UK T.V. like Strictly Come Dancing which do draw a crowd, but one has to ask if it’s the celebrities who are drawing the crowd or the sport, in this writer’s eye it’s the latter. DanceSport as it’s officially known has competition coupled with a very demanding physical requirement (again the physical comes into play), so by all accounts it is a sport, yet the recognition of it being a sport hasn’t caused the mainstream to jump straight into it and get involved in a big way. In that case where are we in terms of defining ‘eSports’? Well the definition which I’ve come up with is “A hobby with a competitive element”. Granted it is a hazy definition, but as I’ve mentioned previously I believe ‘eSports’ is a unique phenomenon and one which has more than meets the eye in terms of driving factors and involvement. So now that that’s established and out there, what are the driving factors in trying to get ‘eSports’ to be a recognised sport? Why are people pushing for it?. Are we looking for recognition for our skills from our ‘competitive peers’? Is it a corporate force driving it forward? Is it the teams themselves pushing for increased funding from other sources to cope with the ever increasing costs and if so why are they? Or something else which we don’t yet realise?
Fundamentally eSports is competition. I doubt there would be any arguments against that, the differences come when talking about the means of competition; the semantics’. This has been highlighted in various ways, one of which being the myriad of postings relating eSports to another form of recognised competition like Football or Baseball and so hence is placed in the same category 'sports'. Personally I believe that there are a limited number of analogies that you can make between current sports and eSports. On the surface it’s easy to see why the links between current sports are drawn but I believe that at a much deeper level it is unique and hence there will always be a section of eSports of which there can be no analogies to. So this really does force me to ask; is defining eSports and attempting to gain recognition as a sport the right way forward for the activity which we all enjoy?
To answer this we really need to start looking at what sport is defined as and understand why we want to make what we do, our ‘eSport’, into a recognised sport what’s the point? To that end I have compiled a list of definitions from a variety of sources (all listed on the front page) which I believe are relevant to the arguments at hand. I have taken the liberty of removing certain entries such as “being a good sport” which if you want to read the full definition list you can find by going to the relevant site.
Dictionary.com
sport n.Here we can see the emphasis is based on two main assets of what defined a sport.
1.a Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
1.b A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
3. An active pastime; recreation.
1) Competition.
2) Physical Activity.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
sport • noun
1 an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.
3 success or pleasure derived from an activity such as hunting.
The emphasis in both definitions is put on physical exertion including the Oxford definition of “gaining success or pleasure from an activity” by using the example of hunting. As hunting can be considered an activity which is reasonably demanding on physical ability, this ambiguity in definition tends to lead me towards the idea that to be a sport there really needs to be a large element of physical exertion, which to my mind there isn’t. If this wasn’t the case and it was an activity that someone enjoyed something such as knitting could be considered a sport, which I don’t think anyone would agree is. Presuming then that people agree with the lack of physical exertion in eSports why are we pushing for a sporting body, when it could be reasonably argued that in fact eGaming (esports) is not a sport at all?
I have thought long and hard about the reasons why this is the case and have come to two main answers. The first is sport has a huge following, you only need to look at the popularity of the world cup, and the huge revenue generated for Germany from the event to realise the potential of it. The second as I’ve previously mentioned is revenue, as there is a competitive element to it, it’s almost automatic that people call it a sport, as to my knowledge there are very few other categories in which to place it. These points about definition have been broached before and aspects such as mental strength and reaction times are suggested qualities of a sports person which again are applicable to gaming. So in our quest for a definition let’s throw another term into the mixer.
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
pastime • noun
An activity done regularly for enjoyment; a hobby.
If you append competition to this you get something like what we could use to define as eSports, a hobby with a competitive element.
Ballroom dancing for example has been officially recognised in the UK as a sport since 1997 and although my grandmother is involved in dancing (and has been all her life) I know of no-one who has taken an interest in it, be it learning for recreation or competition. Granted there are shows on UK T.V. like Strictly Come Dancing which do draw a crowd, but one has to ask if it’s the celebrities who are drawing the crowd or the sport, in this writer’s eye it’s the latter. DanceSport as it’s officially known has competition coupled with a very demanding physical requirement (again the physical comes into play), so by all accounts it is a sport, yet the recognition of it being a sport hasn’t caused the mainstream to jump straight into it and get involved in a big way. In that case where are we in terms of defining ‘eSports’? Well the definition which I’ve come up with is “A hobby with a competitive element”. Granted it is a hazy definition, but as I’ve mentioned previously I believe ‘eSports’ is a unique phenomenon and one which has more than meets the eye in terms of driving factors and involvement. So now that that’s established and out there, what are the driving factors in trying to get ‘eSports’ to be a recognised sport? Why are people pushing for it?. Are we looking for recognition for our skills from our ‘competitive peers’? Is it a corporate force driving it forward? Is it the teams themselves pushing for increased funding from other sources to cope with the ever increasing costs and if so why are they? Or something else which we don’t yet realise?