General Game Gabbin'

[Syobon]

Forbes article about eSports.

[Madican]

Skylanders; Spyro's Adventure review

So the game may actually be good??? Colour me surprised.

What's getting me leery is the whole "Buy more toys to do better at the game" aspect of it.

[Shad]

Video games aren't sports. Nerds should get over it.

Madican: that's no different than DLC.

[Madican]

Actually it is different. DLC adds more content. The article itself says that to unlock all the levels you need one of each element. That's not new content, that's existing content the buyer is supposed to have when they buy the game.

[Shad]

Well, no. It's locked away by choice, so you're not supposed to access it as long as you don't buy the key for it.
Besides, DLC acting like a key to unlock on-disc content already exists. For example, DLC costumes in Street Fighter IV were already on the disc.
It's exactly like DLC. You buy it to have something new in your game. The one difference is that in one case you have to download something that will take room on your hard drive, and in the other case what you buy is the key to on-disc content that doesn't take room on your hard-drive.
Either way, it's a new business model that allows companies to get more mileage out of their games. It's not always handled well, but it's up to each individual to decide for themselves if they think the DLC is worth the cheddar or not, and if the company is screwing them over or not.
In the end, it's the logical successor to game extensions (ala Frozen Throne) of the past.

[Fatehehhhh]

logical successor to game extensions (ala Frozen Throne) of the past

of the past

Don't shatter my dreams.

[Syobon]

Video games aren't sports. Nerds should get over it.

That's not the point. No one is saying eSports=sports. It's just a new trend in gaming.

[D-vid]

I'd say it's about as much sports as chess or poker is. But on those two opinions also differ if it's sports or not.

[Shad]

That's not the point. No one is saying eSports=sports. It's just a new trend in gaming.

That's indeed not the point of the article, but that's still what I wanted to say on the matter of "eSports".

Video games aren't sports. Borrowing an incorrect term and modifying it in the hope of gaining legitimacy and not sounding like nerds is stupid and immature, and it irritates me greatly. Video games are video games. Chess is a very reputed and legitimate activity, yet nobody would call it a sport, since it's a game.
The very definition of sport implies that it is a physical activity, something most video games are not. You need to be in perfect shape to be a top tennis player, for instance, but in competitive gaming, some of the top players are obese, some are really skinny, some are women, and some are really buff dudes. Everything is about mental skills. The only physical aspects that come into play are reflexes and execution/ consistency.

[Syobon]

I agree with what you're saying, but I don't see anything wrong with calling it eSports, as chess and such are often referred to as mental sports.

[Fatehehhhh]

I'm fine with what Le Great Handsome Oppressor said, but if anyone says that Speech and Debate isn't a sport, I'mma wreck you.

[Shad]

I think we should be proud of playing video games competitively and should refer to it as competitive gaming/ competitive video gaming, instead of trying to borrow legitimacy from physical sports by using the wrong word.
If you say eSports to someone who doesn't know about competitive gaming, they'll think about sports, not video games. It doesn't help, in my opinion. I think it takes away from the gaming community, as people will link the term with athletes instead of gamers. At large, it doesn't help in making gaming a "legitimate" activity.
Gaming is still considered to be a childish/ immature activity, or a waste of time, by most people. Using the word eSports instead of words that refer more obviously to gaming separates the two activities (and thus communities), as if trying to ignore the whole "casual gaming" aspect of video games to only focus on the competitive side. After all, how many times did we have arguments about tourneyfags vs casual play, already..?
Competition exists outside of sports too, and sports don't always mean competition either - using the word "sports" to designate "competition" is incorrect.

[Syobon]

I think the word eSports is making it easier for the scene to get recognition, sponsorship and a sense of professionalism. I think acceptance of gaming as a pastime as good as any other is going to happen regardless of everything eventually, and competitive gaming, regardless of what it's called will speed up that process.

[Alex]

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/3332 ... lefield-3/

I'm excited guys

[Chaossebba]

To be honest the more you think about the sillier the term E-sports is, I agree with Great Handsome Oppressor where sports should imply that there is a great physical strain during it, and execution on a fightstick/keyboard is not one of those, I'm all for just saying Competitive Gaming or something.

Gaming and sports couldn't be any more different an activity, I don't feel the need to sort of try and make them sound similar