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[Deku Tree]

I really like esports and I really like the olympics.

But I think of the olympics as a physical competition and I don't think of esports that way even though thumbskill and quick reflexes etc are certainly physical.

I also really like FPS games but I don't want to see mature FPS game PvP competitions in the olympics. Just how I feel.

Also right now a sport like track and field is not owned by any specific company although there is a lot of advertising. An esport would be like a huge marketing event for a game which is a retail product. The level of bribery would be off the charts. Don't like that aspect either.

 

[FLAguy954]

Dont understand the hate for this. If they wanna add esports just do it smh.

Yah, esports are here folks, get used to it.

Pretty much. Fucking lol, so many clouds being yelled at in this thread.

 

[CecilRousso]

For The Olympics are about athletes. Adding e-sports to it would be farcical, and devaluate the whole event.

Not that they aren't already good at devaluating it in other ways, but e-sports would still make it worse, not better.

 

[funkystudent]

I want to go for gold in Mahval

 

[PSqueak]

How Motorsports are not a sport?

EXACTLY.

If putting a guy in a car, where the car makes all the effort and the guy just needs twitch reflex and driving skills, whats the fucking difference from a guy playing a videogame? The computer does all the work, just needs twitch reflex and control skill.

Why is one more worthy of being a "sport" than the other? the car? The risk of going out in flames in a car crash due to shitty skills? get out of here, it's the same shit and saying otherwise is just trying to disqualify videogames because "that's not what i grew up with", you can't pretend videogames would "soil the sanctity of sports and athletism" since that shit was long killed dead and buried.

 

[Pepto]

Marvel at the Olympics would be sick.

 

[Amibguous Cad]

I love that e-sports have come so far that this is a question, but I, I don't think they're athletics or belong in the competition. If chess doesn't get an Olympic medal, DOTA shouldn't either.

The biggest flaw with esports is that they're terrible at creating a rooting interest, though. It would be cool to have teams representing certain countries. So what I'd love to see is the Olympic committee sponsor a non-athletic competition for chess and video games and whatnot immediately before or after the olynpics, with their own medal totals.

 

[BossDarkseid]

eOlympics sounds good.

Lets them get in on that eSports scene/crowd, but without diluting the Olympics/Paralympics etc. Like imagine if Starcraft Remastered was at the eOlympics. South Korea would have it on lock.

 

[Dyle]

I'd be down for an esports Olympics only it if included a bunch of really obscure contests too. Put in Street Fighter, LoL, Dota, Smash, whatever, but also put in quirky stuff like Pocket Card Jockey races, Meteos multiplayer battling, Desert Bus long distance events, and Bayonetta style contests.

 

[hanspampel]

I really like esports and I really like the olympics.

But I think of the olympics as a physical competition and I don't think of esports that way even though thumbskill and quick reflexes etc are certainly physical.

I also really like FPS games but I don't want to see mature FPS game PvP competitions in the olympics. Just how I feel.

Also right now a sport like track and field is not owned by any specific company although there is a lot of advertising. An esport would be like a huge marketing event for a game which is a retail product. The level of bribery would be off the charts. Don't like that aspect either.

100% this
Also the modern pentathlon is also one of the most boring and less watched competitions.

We also don't have Motorsport, Barsports (Darts and Pool/Snooker) and Chess / Go there

I really don't like the idea that much

 

[moeman]

EXACTLY.

If putting a guy in a car, where the car makes all the effort and the guy just needs twitch reflex and driving skills, whats the fucking difference from a guy playing a videogame? The computer does all the work, just needs twitch reflex and control skill.

Why is one more worthy of being a "sport" than the other? the car? The risk of going out in flames in a car crash due to shitty skills? get out of here, it's the same shit and saying otherwise is just trying to disqualify videogames because "that's not what i grew up with", you can't pretend videogames would "soil the sanctity of sports and athletism" since that shit was long killed dead and buried.

At no point is there any imminent physical danger with esports. The major consequence is that your player avatar dies. With racing there is a very real possibility that something could go wrong and someone can physically be impacted by the results. There's a much more tangible and real imminent threat intrinsic to motorsports that does not and will not ever exist in video games.

 

[Angel_DvA]

Esport is the future, deal with it.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

one step closer to watching women's curling on twitch.

 

[RulkezX]

EXACTLY.

If putting a guy in a car, where the car makes all the effort and the guy just needs twitch reflex and driving skills, whats the fucking difference from a guy playing a videogame? The computer does all the work, just needs twitch reflex and control skill.

Why is one more worthy of being a "sport" than the other? the car? The risk of going out in flames in a car crash due to shitty skills? get out of here, it's the same shit and saying otherwise is just trying to disqualify videogames because "that's not what i grew up with", you can't pretend videogames would "soil the sanctity of sports and athletism" since that shit was long killed dead and buried.

Do you realize the physical toll of driving a car in top level motorsport ?

Motorsports aren't in the Olympics either.

Spoiler

And esports aren't sports

 

[LOLDSFAN]

I don't want to see video games in the Olympics because of the limited lifespan and proprietary nature of the medium. I'd be fine with Chess in the Olympics. Chess is also "open source". I know people will play chess 25 years from now. Same can't be said for League of Legends.

People will be playing SSB Melee until the end of time.

 

[hanspampel]

Btw if you want to classify this you have to do it this way:

MOBA (Lol or Dota)
Heroshooter (Overwatch, Paladins)
Tactical FPS (CS:GO or Rainbow Six: Siege)
AIM FPS (Quake or UT)
Console FPS (CoD, Halo or Gears)
Fighting Game (SF, Tekken, KI, Smash, or smaller)
RTS (Starcraft, Warcraft or AoE)
Sport (Fifa, Madden or Nba2K)
Misc (Rocket League)

But who knows what games will be played during that time in 2024

 

[Oersted]

Besides the whole "Does it even belong"discussion, a probably even bigger factor is how competive it would be. There are just a few countries with a professional scene and those professional scenes play different games.

 

[Kieli]

Sex should be an Olympic sport. It requires team work between 2 or more individuals, has performance characteristics that can be assessed based on a points system, and isn't a product owned by any corporation.

We also know sex was popular, is popular, and will continue to be popular.

 

[sasliquid]

Reason 2 of x games shouldn't be part of the Olympics

The vast majority of games considered "esports" are about killing foes

Edit: I said violence before but I guess there are some relatively violent Olympic events

 

[Nekofrog]

So much pushback from people who probably didn't even know non athletic or minimal athletic events are already in the Olympics.

Don't dig your heels in too hard Grandpas, or one day you'll find that the world simply passed you by while you stood there dug in.

 

[Forsaken82]

Video games make no sense as an olympic sport... Video gaming is neither winter nor summer specific.

If Video games get added, why not add competitive Chess? Poker? They basically all fall under the same category of alternative sport.

This is completely uncessary. With that said, I still appreciate the televised tournaments for video games, and Im looking forward to Comcast's airing of the Rocket League tournament.

I do believe Rocket League will make for one of the best televised esports. I don't think it qualifies as an Olympic sport though.

So much pushback from people who probably didn't even know non athletic or minimal athletic events are already in the Olympics.

Don't dig your heels in too hard Grandpas, or one day you'll find that the world simply passed you by while you stood there dug in.

https://www.olympic.org/sports Of the sports linked... what constitutes as "non athletic or minimally athletic" events?

 

[Tawpgun]

You know, I have reservations about this for a couple reasons.

1. Olympic events (correct me if I'm wrong) all take some form of athletic ability. You don't see chess or anything like that.

2. It's a logistical nightmare. You are beholden to third party technology from multiple companies. You plan to have eSports in 2024 but no one wants to see Dota2 or Rocket League in 2024 when people will be playing whatever the relevant games are at the time.





However, I think esports in the Olympics could be worth it for all the salty tears

 

[Newtype-001]

Id bother watching the olympics if it was there.

Olympics rn are just
😴😪😪😪😴😪😴😪😴😪

 

[CecilRousso]

However, I think esports in the Olympics could be worth it for all the salty tears

I've never understood this way of thinking. "I don't care about this thing, but I enjoy seeing other people who do care about it be annoyed". It's....weird.

 

[RulkezX]

So much pushback from people who probably didn't even know non athletic or minimal athletic events are already in the Olympics.

Don't dig your heels in too hard Grandpas, or one day you'll find that the world simply passed you by while you stood there dug in.

Well....

1 - There isn't

2 - What do you think the average age of a Gaffer is ?

 

[AmayaPapaya]

Yeah sure. No reason not to.

Spoiler

Not a fan of e-sports, but I see no harm in inclusion.

 

[Megatron]

lol these thread reactions

We have dressage in the Olympics. We have fifteen shooting events. But competitive videogames, a craft that people spend 60+ hours a week practicing and training for, WHOA WHOA. Let's not have that!

Using the example of the worst Existing sports is not a good way to argue something should be in. We need fewer bad events in the Olympics, not more.

 

[Newtype-001]

Well....

1 - There isn't

2 - What do you think the average age of a Gaffer is ?

Isnt most of gaf 30+
Thats like grandpas

 

[duckroll]

Besides the whole "Does it even belong"discussion, a probably even bigger factor is how competive it would be. There are just a few countries with a professional scene and those professional scenes play different games.

Sounds like table tennis to me.

 

[Randolph Freelander]

"Say, Pete, how can we make the Olympics even worse?"
"Well, we could add video games."
"You're an idiot. I love it."

 

[Mifec]

The recent Starcraft remastered reveal event invitational tournament had ~80k viewers IIRC. And that's jut outside of Korea. Quite a few of the games on the poll don't manage that.

Starcraft 2 is a dead game. Remastered will be dead anywhere but Korea in the long term and we have no idea how much success it will find there either.

SC for now is dead sadly.

 

[Systolique]

Olympics is a place made for real athletes™ ?

Ah yes, let us not forget about the beasts that engage in :

• Shooting (15 medals !)
• Team and individual equestrian dressage
• Fucking golf
• Archery
• Fucking sailing
• Tennis Table
• Skateboard (next Olympics)
• Fucking pétanque (2024)

Everyone's comment about esports not being worthy of being in the Olympics are numbing, top teams have mental & physical training in addition of 10 to 15hrs of regular gaming training everyday.

The idea is to bring attention to Olympics to a generation that couldn't care less about it, there's no better way to do that than bring the two most watched and played competitive games around the world ; League of Legends and DOTA 2.

Also the idea that games wouldn't be around in some years, well you can replace them to what's fresh to viewers at that time.
Need I remind everyone that League of Legends is almost 10 years old, and only experiences growing popularity?

 

[PSqueak]

At no point is there any imminent physical danger with esports. The major consequence is that your player avatar dies. With racing there is a very real possibility that something could go wrong and someone can physically be impacted by the results. There's a much more tangible and real imminent threat intrinsic to motorsports that does not and will not ever exist in video games.

So risk of dying or getting hurt is what makes something a sport? Seriously?

Do you realize the physical toll of driving a car in top level motorsport ?

Motorsports aren't in the Olympics either.

Spoiler

And esports aren't sports

It's still several levels less taxing than most "normal" sports and barely any more taxing than playing a videogame for the equivalent time.

 

[molnizzle]

So fucking dumb.

Shit like curling and chess shouldn't be in the olympics either, for the record. The olympics should be for physical sports.

 

[CecilRousso]

Olympics is a place made for real athletes™ ?

Ah yes, let us not forget about the beasts that engage in :

• Shooting (15 medals !)
• Team and individual equestrian dressage
• Fucking golf
• Archery
• Fucking sailing
• Tennis Table
• Skateboard (next Olympics)
• Fucking pétanque (2024)

Everyone's comment about esports not being worthy of being in the Olympics are numbing, top teams have mental & physical training in addition of 10 to 15hrs of regular gaming training everyday.

The idea is to bring attention to Olympics to a generation that couldn't care less about it, there's no better way to do that than bring the two most watched and played competitive games around the world ; League of Legends and DOTA 2.

Also the idea that games wouldn't be around in some years, well you can replace them to what's fresh to viewers at that time.
Need I remind everyone that League of Legends is almost 10 years old, and only experiences growing popularity?

Dressage is a weird thing in the Olympics, that's a not new debate in any way But the way you seem to underestimate things like sailing and table tennis makes it more understandable that you think esports would fit.

If people need League of Legends to be interested in the Olympics, then they're so far away from the target audience, that any resources spent on trying to catch them should be considered wasted.

 

[moeman]

So risk of dying or getting hurt is what makes something a sport? Seriously

The physical risks and skills involved definitely contributes to certain sports, yes.

Also, the physical and mental approach to a sport with your actual body on the line is completely different from a video game. I honestly don't understand this need to legitimize gaming through competitive esports in the olympics of all places. Gaming isn't going anywhere and it doesn't need adoration or acceptance from people who will never hage a vested interest in it.

And to the guy complaining about fucking golf being a sport, have you actually played golf before? It's an extremely demanding sport which requires a combination of strength, dexterity and coordination.

 

[PSqueak]

Also, the physical and mental approach to a sport with your actual body on the line is completely different from a video game. I honestly don't understand this need to legitimize gaming through competitive esports in the olympics of all places. Gaming isn't going anywhere and it doesn't need adoration or acceptance from people who will never hage a vested interest in it.

You misunderstand me, i opened my post, my first post, saying esports shouldn't be in the olympics, this is not a legitimacy thing.

What im saying is that most people have some sort of dumb dudebro logic to why esports shouldn't be in, that if followed it should disqualify a lot of "sports" from being sports, and olympic events from being in the olympics, like Archery and Shooting, specially shooting.

It's pretty dumb to attack esports on that angle when real reasons like, as some people have stated, competitive gaming involves a competition owned entirely by a company (the game maker), if you make League of Legends an olympic event, that's a "sport" completely owned by a company (Riot), while no one owns other sports, no one owns Football, No one owns Weight Lifting, Diving, etc.

 

[Mathezar]

I have nothing against esports in the Olympics should it eventually happen, because lets be real, if there's money to be made, the Olympics will probably move towards it.
But I would prefer a separate Olympic event covering all competitive esports instead of just allowing one game to partake in the 'normal' Olympics... Why single out one game and shutting out players of other games?

 

[Trogdor1123]

So risk of dying or getting hurt is what makes something a sport? Seriously?




It's still several levels less taxing than most "normal" sports and barely any more taxing than playing a videogame for the equivalent time.

Really? Have you ever seen what they go through? The drivers at the top end pull several Gs for hours at a time. They lose several pounds in sweat. Auto racing is NOT easy, at all. Its incredibly taxing. The risk of injury is super high.

 

[qko]

I mean given the last thread we had about even the idea of this I can imagine this will go swimmingly.

Esports is an ever growing thing and eventually the older generation is going to have to just deal with that that, but slapping them into the Olympics is a dangerous prospect. You are going to have a hell of a revolt.

At best they should get a separate "event". In the same way that there's the Olympics and the ParaOlympics, there should be an eOlympics. Because if for even a second you think people are going to entertain "We now leave the track and field competition to see what's going on in Dota 2"....

The idea of separating it out as an "eOlympics" is actually a great idea since I was ready to simply say no to the ridiculous notion of lumping this into the Olympic program. This would make interesting "super teams" as well in team based games like MOBAs or team based shooters.

 

[Stone Ocean]

What im saying is that most people have some sort of dumb dudebro logic to why esports shouldn't be in, that if followed it should disqualify a lot of "sports" from being sports, and olympic events from being in the olympics, like Archery and Shooting, specially shooting.

It's pretty dumb to attack esports on that angle when real reasons like, as some people have stated, competitive gaming involves a competition owned entirely by a company (the game maker), if you make League of Legends an olympic event, that's a "sport" completely owned by a company (Riot), while no one owns other sports, no one owns Football, No one owns Weight Lifting, Diving, etc.

This is how I view things as well. Ownership issues is a legitimate argument against eSports being in the Olympics as individual competitions. A gaming-only event would be a much better fit, it could work like EVO but with different genres.

That said, the whole "muh physical prowess" thing is ridiculous. It's really cute that the people saying shit like this think they could ever reach the reflexes and dexterity needed to be a good esports player.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

yeah... awful awful idea. Video games should not be in the Olympics. Mind as well add Speed Texting and Tinder Swiping.

I mean, it's not even close to comparable to Tinder Swiping and Speed Texting but whatever floats your boat.

 

[OmegaFax]

I kind of want roller derby before we get into eSports. >_>

 

[AntraxSuicide]

Can't ruin the sanctity of the olympics with something as ridiculous video games. Now excuse me while I slide this rock on some ice.

Hey, don't forget the other team members who sweep!

 

[Oersted]

Sounds like table tennis to me.

Table tennis is atleast played by the same rules around the world. There are not 20 different table tennis versions.

 

[AntraxSuicide]

The physical risks and skills involved definitely contributes to certain sports, yes.

Meh, by this logic, esports would be more of a sport if we hooked up the players with tazers that shock them if they die in the game or something.

There are solid reasons to leave these games out, but the "sanctity of the Olympics" argument is a terrible one given the massive amounts of corruption and grift that surrounds the Games.

 

[Pizza]

As for what games should be shown...

-STRATEGY-
Dota 2
League of Legends
Starcraft 2

-SHOOTERS-
CSGO
Overwatch
Latest COD

-FIGHTERS-
Street Fighter 2
Latest Street Fighter

Marvel VS Capcom 2
Latest MvC

Super Smash Bros Melee
Latest Smash

Yes!!! I love this list.

I'd also watch competitive speedrunning too tbh. Mario 64 is wild to watch

Honestly have y'all ever been able to like, wavedash? Shit takes legit skill and isn't easy. I can't really do it consistently. I think an argument could be made that some (probably most) competitive games take equal or greater amounts of consistent practicing than gunshooting and archery. And it's a pretty even field for people with nonathletic bodies or disabilities that generally can't compete at the Olympic level.

Fucking horse dancing is in the olympics. The argument for chess is objectively valid as hell: but the olympics are still a money thing and we're talking about spectator sports. Someone will turn in to LoL for the first time and be confused, but that's the same with any complex sporting event.

It'd be fucking rad to have a professional explanation about how the game is played with some sort of like, map with arrows on it.

Smash is "hit them until they fly away" SF is "hit em until they're done"

I would love to see 200cc MK8 with frantic items as an olympic sport.


Edit: it'd be cool if they did a biyearly Spring eOlympics to stand alongside the fall and summer games

 

[Agnostic Priest]

I would love to see esports in the Olympics. As many have said so far, companies own these games and I see that being a huge problem.

Personally, I think games like Rocket League would be the best for the Olympics. I used to play League of Legends and I enjoyed watching it, but there is just SO much you need to know about it.

Shooters like COD and CS would be good because they have been around for such a long time.... but then you have the violence problem. I don't think they would allow those types of games to be played for 25+ million viewers.

You would have to have an esports council that would vote for what game(s) to be included in the next Olympics.

 

[robotrock]

Windjammers competition let's go

 

[Tagyhag]

I think this is dumb, there are other events that don't belong in the Olympics as well. Just because eSports is big doesn't mean it belongs in the same physical accolade as something like the 100m dash.

What they could do, is have it be its own separate event. Now that'd be cool.

Good luck with sponsors though, that's a whole other can of worms.

Hey, don't forget the other team members who sweep!

You guys can laugh all you want but curling is harder than it looks and incredibly physically taxing. Not everyone can just go ahead and do it, especially if you're not in shape.