http://www.forbes.com/...rly-as-2020-summer-games/

That's retarded!

"There are already machinations in play, including an online petition with over 1,500 signatures from 24 countries, which are pushing for eSports to become an Olympic event."

Oh man, an online petition! With 1500 e-signatures! It's really happening now!

You have to be kidding me.....
You can't get cheerleading in the olympics...because most people say it is not a sport.....
How the hell is video games a sport then?

if speedwalking is in the olympics, than just about anything is fair game

they need to take speedwalking and horsey jumping out... keep cheerleading out, and put in skateboarding

cuz the olympics are for you know... real sports

Trife try doing sub 6 minute miles with one foot touching the ground at all times....

You don't know much about video games being played professionally I suppose then. I can say one good reason why them being in the Olympics makes more sense than cheerleading. International appeal. Somehow I have never seen other countries like India or such places with a focus on cheerleading like the States. There are pro gamers from every country though.
SC2 players for instance train their bodies physically and maintain diets similar to normal athletes although not quite as vigorously. They train for between 8-12 hours a day and it takes a very extreme set of motor/mechanical skill to be able to be fast enough to compete at the top levels. SC2 can often be compared to a real time chess. Other games have similar things going for them, just less advanced at this point in time.

Do I see it being in the Olympics anytime soon? Nope. Too many purists there to even allow baseball in when there are multiple powerhouses in that area. I think gaming might make it in someday but our technology will likely have advanced some more when that happens.

sorry, i don't compete in pointless fluff that nobody really cares about. how many people do racewalking? i bet there are WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more people involved with discus or water polo than racewalking.

from wikipedia:

Racewalking is often derided and made fun of as a contrived or "artificial" sport. In 1992 long time Olympic commentator Bob Costas compared it to a competition for who can whisper the loudest

if racewalking is an olympic sport, then me getting no sprinkle tinkles on the toilet seat while the seat is down should be too..

Locket for Christs sake you would be one to argue for video games in the Olympics. Got to be fluffing kidding me.

I said that it wont be in there but you use as much physical and mental skill as are already in place in some events. You obviously don't understand much of what they do so perhaps you should not act so shocked.

"Definition


The precise definition of what separates a sport from other leisure activities varies between sources, with no universally agreed definition. The closest to an international agreement on a definition is provided by SportAccord, which is the association for all the largest international sports federations (including association football, athletics, cycling, tennis, equestrian sports and more), and is therefore the de facto representative of international sport.
SportAccord uses the following criteria, determining that a sport should:[1]
have an element of competition
be in no way harmful to any living creature
not rely on equipment provided by a single supplier (excluding proprietary games such as arena football)
not rely on any 'luck' element specifically designed in to the sport
They also recognise that sport can be primarily physical (such as rugby or athletics), primarily mind (such as chess or go), predominantly motorised (such as Formula 1 or powerboating), primarily co-ordination (such as billiard sports) or primarily animal supported (such as equestrian sport).[1]"

SC2 would obviously be considered as a sport there. Thus the title of ESport that it carries. I think there are many things which aren't in the Olympics which should be.

But that is beside the point. It wont be in the Olympics so you don't have to worry I guess.

All I see is bla bla bla Video games in Olympics bla bla bla...

Anyone that argues for video games in the Olympics is a dweeb.

all i see is 'i can't keep up when people use facts in an discussion, so i'll call you a dweeb'

Trife you're such a dweeb.

ouch, right in the feels, man :P

At the risk of the universe collapsing, I'm going to go ahead and side with locket on this. E-Sports should absolutely be considered down the road in an Olympics event. Some of the *worst* professional Starcraft II players *only* have around 100 apm - actions per minute. Some of the best go as high as 300 apm. Now think about that. They are doing 300 actions per minute. That takes some skill, especially since it isn't simple memorization, because they have to adapt in the heat of the moment.

Starcraft has been an esport for well over a decade in Korea - they had dedicated sports channels that broadcast Starcraft, and I believe even some sports networks in the States are going to consider it.

The professionals who compete, especially in tournaments like Major League Gaming, get larger and larger prizes every year. Winning an MLG event will land you thousands of dollars - not much compared to something like basketball, but e-sports is still very young.

These guys are keen. Their reflexes are better than yours. Yes, I am looking at all of you. Every single one of you has slower reflexes than them.

haha thanks Tan. I know how much slower mine are sadly since I play the game :P

Requiem. You are online on a game called earthempires. You are playing a text base game and have for years. You have the nerve to call someone a dweeb? I personally don't consider playing games or watching them to be a bad thing but hey, if you want to be judgmental go ahead.

I am also a HUGE sports fan and have played baseball and hockey throughout my life. I guess you can call me a stupid jock or somesuch too. I can provide more lame answers for you at your request :P

What's the point in putting starcraft in the Olympics?

We all know damn well the koreans will get gold every year ffs. Maybe a euro player every once in a while will snag it.

Trifel, you would be freaking amazed if you cared about such nerd things!

Now post yer NERRRDDSSS pic!

deepcode, do you know how silly that sounds?

That's like saying "What's the point in putting 100m sprint in the Olympics? We all know damn well the Jamaicans will gold every year ffs".

Xinhuan: It's best to just ignore like 90% of my posts, half the time I'm posting drunk and barely know what I'm even saying.

I just feel like being social once in a while :P

edit: Also, I read some of that article a few days ago when it was posted on B.Net, and it's a pretty asshole thing to focus mostly on "gaming addiction" and to call out young people like that.

People put a lot of things on the line to go after what they really enjoy, but god forbid that a game is that one thing. Cause you know, gaming is such a horrible thing in life right?

I saw a bit of that gaming addiction article and it was pretty dumb. It is the same thing for these guys as pro athletes. Are there articles about people being addicted to running?

One good thing that would come of this hypothetical SC2 in the Olympics would be non Korean players taking the game more seriously and I bet you would see an improvement. I don't think it would ever fly with the old people in the IOC though but I wouldnt be surprised if something like it as in 50 years from now. SC5?

YOU SHUT YER MOUTH TRIFE!!!

I'm still waiting on pankration to make an olympic comeback. greece tried, but they got told no :(

eSports is a real thing, but WHICH game do you pick? That's why there are events like MLG or the old WCG stuff..

This is stupid. As a big time gamer, any thought of video games being "sport" is wrong on so many levels. You can be a fat fluff living in your parents basement living off hot pockets and ramen and be good at a video game.

Isn't that good Wharfed? Fair opportunities for everyone! Even a disabled person can be good at video games.

That isn't right though Wharfed ;) You can be good and stay in your parents basement but unless you leave it the best ways to train etc in SC2 wont be accessible. Korean players have also noticed that remaining fit helps their game so I think you'd find the opposite. I don't know any top of the line completely obese players. Some are chunky or even a bit fat but I find they are a minority.

While star craft is much brains, it also requires really good motor skills and reactions. It also has a clear objective way of determining who wins, something cheerleading lacks. I don't think anything where the winner is based on a subjectively given score deserves to be called a sport. Cheerleading is more of a physically intensive art form.

Oh my. I can hardly believe any of you are serious about this discussion. Video games...in the olympics. Bwahaha.

Probably sc2, halo and counterstrike.

they used to have painting and sculpting in the olympics

I'm sorry, but video games belong no where near the Olympics. I don't care if "being more fit" makes it better to play fluffing piece of fluff starcraft. I don't care if it's something that has an objective. There are a ton of things that have that.

But you have to remember something: Using a computer and the mouse you find fancier and the keyboard you find fancier, technically is an electro-mechanical device aiding you in your sport. That is not allowed by any IOC rule.

Also, this is by far the stupidest thing I have ever seen.