The Grand Final of the World Cyber Games was in Seattle over the weekend, and the big question on everyone’s mind was: is this really a sport?
Okay, so maybe that’s just what’s on the mind of the dude who wrote the editorial in my college newspaper slamming it for causing obesity. Yes, video games cause obesity. It’s certainly not the fault of the people who play video games all day without getting up for some physical activity. I mean, it’s just not possible to enjoy gaming and exercising at the same time. There’s only room in life for one!
Anyways, I’m dead serious about the video game tournament. There were 700 people from 74 countries attending just to get their frag on in games ranging from Counter-Strike to Need for Speed: Carbon and everything in between. There were even referees to make sure players weren’t cheating or taking advantage of glitches in the games. There were something on the order of 12 events and cash prizes for top places. Pretty insane, if you ask me. But if I was a top-notch gamer, I would totally do something like that.
This tournament was also (apparently) aired on television. I didn’t watch because I didn’t really know it was going on. It probably would have been insanely boring, too. Watching people play games isn’t nearly as exciting as playing them yourself. Anyways, the fact that it was on TV gained the ire of some people, who appreciated the irony in people staring at a screen watching people staring at a screen. They claimed that this encouraged obesity because the gamers sat in front of computer screens for hours on end (no one said gaming wasn’t a largely sedentary thing to do) and because people sat in front of a TV to watch. Now wait a second, shouldn’t that last bit slam any sport aired on television? Even in a game such as football, only the players are getting any activity. The viewers (with the possible exception of the crazed fans jumping around at the actual game) are still just sitting on a couch covered in potato chip crumbs and fifty remotes.
Another part of the argument is that video gaming is not a sport. I actually agree. Sports generally involve lots of physical activity. Soccer is a sport. Baseball is a sport. Cheerleading is a borderline sport (it’s more of a spectator sport than anything). However, just because gaming isn’t a sport doesn’t mean it’s not anything. It’s still a competition. Think of it like chess or poker. Interestingly enough, both of those games are non-physical and aired on television, but do you hear anyone complaining about those? Well, yeah you do (people like me who can’t believe anyone watches stuff like that), but no one says that chess causes or encourages obesity. Garry Kasparov would probably come to your house and lay the smack down if you did that.
Obesity is indeed a problem. But things like video games aren’t the cause. Lifestyles are chosen. They don’t get forced upon you. (I’ll admit there may be exceptions to this, but lifestyles based around, say, gaming, are certainly a choice.) The video game industry did not send you a threatening email telling you to buy Grand Theft Auto: Super Deluxe Serial Killer Extreme Edition 2 and an Xbox and sit on the couch all day neglecting to eat, drink, or defecate until you keel over from the fat clogging your pores, the inability to breath, or an embolism. If you do that, there’s something wrong with you personally. Like anything else, video games can be addicting. But addictions don’t just happen. You allow them to happen. A normal, well-adjusted person can enjoy playing video games. But then they put the controller down and go for a jog. They make the conscious choice to do something else. If you’re incapable of doing that, don’t blame Microsoft or THQ or the video game industry as a whole.
I agree that video gaming isn’t much of a sport. But that doesn’t make it less enjoyable for those who compete or watch. And it sure doesn’t make them fat. Well, maybe if some evil genius coated the controllers in his nefarious Fat Potion X which makes people balloon to Fat Bastard proportions upon contact. Then video games would make you fat.
