Growing appeal<\/h3>\n
It can be all too easy for sceptics to dismiss eSports; after all, they appear to lack the physical intensity of \u201cproper sports\u201d, and most of the games have a fantastical setting.<\/p>\n
But the gaming community<\/a><\/strong> has attracted the attention<\/a><\/strong> of the International Olympic Committee (which notably included skateboarding<\/a><\/strong> at the Tokyo 2020 games) as it re-thinks how to connect with younger audiences. And they\u2019re not the only ones.<\/p>\n In 2013, the US approved athlete visas<\/a><\/strong> for eSports players. And earlier this year, West Ham United became the first soccer club in the UK to sign an eSport player<\/a> \u2013 to represent the team at eSports tournaments, playing the popular computer game FIFA.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the International eSport Federation edges ever closer to Olympic recognition. Even the oldest Olympic sponsor, Coca-Cola, has signed up as a global sponsor<\/a><\/strong> of eSports.<\/p>\n The company now takes a leadership role in eSports by hosting a weekly YouTube show<\/a><\/strong> featuring the latest news from eSports events. This also signals a change in how sponsors operate around sports events, where television broadcasters are out, and product companies are in.<\/p>\n Personally, I feel there would be major problems with eSports taking place during an Olympic Games. Firstly, which gaming title would you choose? There are so many. And which platform would you choose \u2013 PC, console or mobile? The vision of The eGames is to have representation from every country playing multi-title and multi-platform so logistically this could not happen at the same time as an Olympic Games as you would need all the indoor arenas just for gaming.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n King sees the value of competitive video gaming extending far beyond an appearance at the Olympics.<\/p>\n He is also keen to establish a difference between the professional eSports leagues (where you play for a team) and the Olympic ethos, which brings the best players in the world into an environment where there is no prize money; simply prestige and national pride.<\/p>\n When I interviewed him at Rio 2016, King \u2013 who is on something of a crusade to promote eSports \u2013 said : \u201cPlaying eSports, in moderation and part of a balanced life, has incredible benefits including life and cyber skills, but most importantly it helps with positive psychologically and your happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether or not you think they succeed, there\u2019s no doubt that the modern Olympic Games seek to establish an ethos of social responsibility.<\/p>\n Likewise, there\u2019s something very compelling about King\u2019s interest in developing gaming for social good: specifically, to get young people interested in game development and digital innovation.<\/p>\n The eSports world could be an excellent vehicle for such development. It could turn an entire generation of people who are lost to sports on to a different kind of physical activity.<\/p>\n Indeed, the direction of travel is for computer gaming to become a more full-body experience.<\/p>\n Virtual reality simulators and mobile health technologies are changing how we interact with games, as the running app Zombies, Run<\/a><\/strong> shows. Although gaming seems like a rather static activity now, it is fast becoming a physically and cognitively demanding activity.<\/p>\n There is an opportunity for eSport to drive a new social movement: eSports arenas could be cathedrals of digital innovation \u2013 not just spaces of competition and practice.<\/p>\n And eSport athletes can become game developer role models for future generations, whose discipline and dexterity can inspire young people to stretch their digital skills even further.<\/p>\n Yet the world of eSports is already fragmenting, with the professional\/amateur split widening, and many more competitions being developed by individual organisations, such as the recently launched World eSport Association.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a real risk that, unless this growth can be unified, gaming will lose its wider social mandate. This is why its alignment with the Olympic programme could be useful.<\/p>\n It is worth remembering that, compared with other Olympic events, eSports are still incredibly early on in their development. But already, eSports are fast becoming a major player in the sports economy.<\/p>\n With a new economic model underpinning it \u2013 which eschews television in favour of live streaming matches on Twitch<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 eSports’ approach resonates with the younger, more digitally-savvy generations.<\/p>\n Indeed, the International Olympic Committee\u2019s launch of the Olympic Channel and focus on livestream viewing figures rather than television viewing figures, demonstrates just how important this shift is.<\/p>\n In fact, whether or not eSports finally make it into the Olympic Games is not actually the most important outcome of their rise to global prominence.<\/p>\n Rather, ensuring that they develop in a way that spawns new role models for young people and which nurtures this new, active sub-culture is the more crucial matter.<\/p>\n Really, this is the most powerful reason to align eSport athletes with the virtues of Olympians, and such concerns are also what led to the revival of the modern Olympic Games in the first place.<\/p>\n With Tokyo hosting the next games, perhaps we can expect to see a version of Pokemon Go out there, encouraging spectators to be more physically active.<\/p>\n This might even fit in better with the Olympic Games. But for now, Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog are the official games sponsors \u2013 so we can expect to see much more of them four years from now.<\/p>\n This article was originally published on The Conversation<\/a><\/strong>. Read the original article<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n How much you should pay for a gaming PC in South Africa<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n How to catch the African Ring of Fire during South Africa\u2019s Solar Eclipse<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Mckayla\"](\"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Mckayla.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nGaming for social good<\/h3>\n
Early days<\/h3>\n
\nMore gaming news<\/h3>\n