professional video gaming? Forbes.com talks to an actual world champ!

[Darren Dirt]

Professional video gamer Johnathan Wendel, aka Fatal1ty, is living his dream. But it's not as easy as it sounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q275Qh4ESao


Is real credibility, as a sport, finally coming to the mainstream?

Mr. Wendel's first pro tournament (i.e. money payout - he won $4000) was in 1999, and since then he's won lots of world championships, and the interview mentions that coming soon is the WSOVG (World Series of Video Games) -- perhaps one day it'll be as recognized (and as profitable, e.g. MILLIONS for the "final table") as the WSOP is for Poker?

PS: Does anyone else think "Fatal1ty" looks a lot like Pure Pwnage "Jeremy"? :-\

[Mr. Analog]

Is NASCAR a sport? 'Cuz video gaming is about the same kind of involvement.

Now, if they had to play Tetris AND run a 1/4 mile of hurdles then I'd be impressed.

[Melbosa]

Is Chess a sport? Cause it uses the same skills as video gaming.  How about Cards?

Oh I am being serious btw, I don't really know if Chess or Cards are sports.

[Lazybones]

I don't consider Chess or Cards sports my self... We need a new classification.

[Darren Dirt]

Is Chess a sport? Cause it uses the same skills as video gaming.  How about Cards?

Oh I am being serious btw, I don't really know if Chess or Cards are sports.

Cards... exactly. Which is why I mentioned WSOP (World Series of POKER) as a now-recognized *sport*. I mean, how many TV shows are there in a given week where they show people playing NL Hold 'em -- with some commentary/gameplay better than others. Even the boring "international" games with mostly-silent commentators know they've got a pretty good audience guaranteed.

Professional VG competitions could *easily* have the equivalent success, if edited and produced correctly. And then the big $$$ would be coming in for those who make it to the equivalent of Poker's "final table".

And I am serious btw too, of course. The guy Forbes.com interviewed above is totally into *physical* sports too, since he was 4. He just recognizes that in hardcore video gaming it's a *mental* sport, like the mental component of physical sports with the physical component mostly removed.

I don't consider Chess or Cards sports my self... We need a new classification.

I politely disagree.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/professional
pro?fes?sion?al  (pr-fsh-nl)
adj.
1.
a. Of, relating to, engaged in, or suitable for a profession: lawyers, doctors, and other professional people.
b. Conforming to the standards of a profession: professional behavior.
>> 2. Engaging in a given activity as a source of livelihood or as a career: a professional writer. <<
>> 3. Performed by persons receiving pay: professional football. <<
>> 4. Having or showing great skill; expert: a professional repair job. <<



http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sport
sport  (sp?rt, sprt)
n.
1.
a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
b. A particular form of this activity.
2. An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
>> 3. An active pastime; recreation. <<


^ To me, by simple definition, "Fatal1ty" has been employed as a "sports professional" since 1999.

[Melbosa]

Want one better?  Billards... is a sport!  What does Billards require?  Hand-Eye coordination, Strategy, Physics, Action-Reaction understanding, Rules, and Competition.

Video Games - well not all fit above, but a large portion of them out there employ almost all those things that make Billards a sport.

[Mr. Analog]

I guess if bowling can be called a sport anything can eh?

I think it might be one of those loosely defined things...

[Darren Dirt]

Heck, skirt-chasing, bein' a playah, is a sport according to that definition

[Mr. Analog]

Heck, skirt-chasing, bein' a playah, is a sport according to that definition

Thoughts of Pepe Le Pew doing that creepy eyebrow thing...

[Darren Dirt]

Man, now *that* playah gets around!