eSports — Soon bigger than real sports?

[Gravoth_iii]

He's not playing earthshaker?

[Havoco]

He's not playing earthshaker?

Earthshaker is nooby even for him

[Gravoth_iii]

Nooby? ES aint nooby, but he's slamming.

[SixThumbs]

No Axe for dunking?

[Prpavi]

Tickets to The International 2014 sell out within an hour
http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/6/5586792/tickets-to-the-international-2014-sell-out-within-an-hour

[Molly]

Tickets to The International 2014 sell out within an hour
http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/6/5586792/tickets-to-the-international-2014-sell-out-within-an-hour

So?
Nobody here denied that it's popular and growing. That wasn't the question of the thread tho.

[Joseph Porta]

Dont mind listening to commentariee or whatevs but i absolutely hate watching others play videogames, its not even fun to watch it just makes me want to play thats all..

[Xant]

Never understood "eSports." I don't really understand watching real sports either, but at least there you are really far removed from the top and you have to physically travel to locations to play the game and you may not have the physique to get to the top etc etc... but with games, why? You could just as easily play yourself. And the "pros" tend to be pretty bad. The really good players are few and far between, the rest are high-skill pubbers usually.

[Christo]

Never understood "eSports." I don't really understand watching real sports either,but at least there you are really far removed from the top and you have to physically travel to locations to play the game and you may not have the physique to get to the top etc etc.

Yeah I can see why you are like that. I needed tons of explanation by my football fanatic friends why they are enjoying watching the sport so much. I let them take me to some bar to watch bigger games and drink a few beers sometimes, but we are not watching for the same reasons obviously, even after all that explanation.

The only thing I don't understand is the extreme fanboyism. They are talking about success of a club or team like "we"

"We did it, we are the best because we worked hard" Reminds me of a bigtime Barcelona fan guy I know. Why does he talk like that, as if the success were part of his work? It's really stupid.

but with games, why? You could just as easily play yourself. And the "pros" tend to be pretty bad. The really good players are few and far between, the rest are high-skill pubbers usually.

I know what you mean, the game is given, so you can 'emulate' the same thing you see easily. The competitive environment, and the prize for winning the game? That's not as easy to replicate.

[djavo]

Christo It's same with national football teams, when they win it's WE WON.
When they lose, THEY LOST!
 

[Christo]

Christo It's same with national football teams, when they win it's WE WON.
When they lose, THEY LOST!
 

Hilarious.

[Nessaj]

and you have to physically travel to locations to play the game

All the major esport tournaments are on location, not online ¿

I played football as a tween (competitively), the amount of travel for tournaments we did was minuscule and 99.9% of the time limited to Scandinavia or Germany.
However, when I played eSports for about a year, I traveled most of the world (Europe, US and Asia), and this is ages ago, not like today with tournaments all over.

and you may not have the physique to get to the top etc etc...

Actually, elite sports are almost always about overcoming your less-than-ideal physiques for said specific sports.

Some of the world's top athletes struggles with their physique and have use special techniques to make up for it, for example you could be a "too tall" figure skater, or just simply not have the best/optimal body.

I don't see how gaming is different, most people don't have what it takes to be the absolute best in neither sports nor esports, or in any sort of competitive environment. There's competitive and casual, both can have fun with the same sports.

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A good healthy physique is always best though, no matter if you're doing electronic sports or real sports.

Healthy body, healthy mind.

[Xant]

All the major esport tournaments are on location, not online ¿

What does the location have to do with anything?¿
You're playing the same game no matter where you are?¿
How does "being on location" help at all?¿

Actually, elite sports are almost always about overcoming your less-than-ideal physiques for said specific sports.

Actually, no. The top of popular sports are close to genetic freaks and none of them are competing "natural." The "overcoming yourself" sounds romantic and all, and it might work in some village competition with seven people in it, but in real sports the competition is so tough you're not going to make it unless your physique is perfect for the sport. This all shows the most in sports like 100 meter sprint where milliseconds matter.

A lot more people have what it takes to be a "pro gamer" than a pro athlete. For gaming, you generally need to be able to move a mouse a few inches and have a somewhat working left hand. Averageish reflexes tend to help too. Most sports? Different story; especially since training for them is a fine science nowadays. No such thing for gaming.

[Gravoth_iii]

So i guess everyone is on even ground as a start but those who are more dedicated become pros?

Anyways i still think its more entertaining to watch e-sports than "real" sports, since i play it and can learn from watching for example the international, and also it feels like theres a lot more action in dota 2/lol/counter strike compared to football.. its just simply more entertaining.

[Nessaj]

What does the location have to do with anything?¿

That people travel to play against their opponents, same as with normal sports? What does it matter if someone played Pool in this or that country? None for the game, but definitely something for the player.

You're in a foreign land, foreign place, same psychological effect. Spectators might be cheering more for the local heroes.

There's plenty of similarities.

Actually, no. The top of popular sports are close to genetic freaks and none of them are competing "natural." The "overcoming yourself" sounds romantic and all, and it might work in some village competition with seven people in it, but in real sports the competition is so tough you're not going to make it unless your physique is perfect for the sport. This all shows the most in sports like 100 meter sprint where milliseconds matter.

In some sports, maybe, like basketball () but otherwise how about you provide me with some examples, as I have.

The picture I pasted in my previous post goes to prove that a lot of people who were originally told they couldn't do sports due to their non-ideal physique, still could, but they had to adjust, both in terms of their body and especially also in terms of technique.

Meaning that people can always find a way:

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The Flying Sprite

Using technique to help transform an apparent physical limitation into an advantage is likely to turn Japan’s Sara Takanashi into the first female gold medal winner in ski jumping.
Just 4-foot-11 and barely 90 pounds, Takanashi will be among the smallest Olympians in Sochi. At 17 years old, she is in first place on the World Cups circuit.
In ski jumping being small can actually help. That’s somewhat counterintuitive, however, because a ski jumper generates most of the thrust to fly more than 100 yards by descending the ramp. Bigger jumpers generate more speed. However, once in flight, the bigger jumpers create more drag and descend more quickly. Researchers in Norway have calculated that all other factors being equal, an additional 20 pounds will reduce a jumper’s flight time by .19 seconds.

There are two catches however.
First, there is small and then there is sprite-size. Takanashi’s physique doesn’t appear strong enough to provide the explosion forward at takeoff that her event requires. That need for strength and power, as well as serious guts, is a part of what typically prevents the smallest humans from being ski-jump champions, especially on the smaller “normal hill” that the women compete on.
“The heavier, stronger athlete has a better chance on the normal hill,” said Jeff Hastings, who jumped for the U.S. in 1984.
Second, a tiny jumper like Takanashi still needs near perfect technique to win, and that’s where she truly excels. Almost instantly her small frame assembles into ideal flying position, her body perfectly symmetrical, her skis in the aerodynamic V-shape, her chest low and her chin stretching toward the tips to minimize the drag. Whatever Takanashi’s size forces her to give up in strength and takeoff speed, she makes up for in technique.

There's a ton of cases like this, where people figure out how to use their non-ideal physique to their benefit, thus coming up with new techniques.

Adrian Bejan, an engineering professor at Duke University who studies sports evolution, worked out a formula showing that a skater who is 20% taller than her competitor, will spin 10% more slowly, a significant difference for skaters trying to complete three and four airborne revolutions and land on a blade about 3/16 of an inch thick.

^ Case in point.

A lot more people have what it takes to be a "pro gamer" than a pro athlete. For gaming, you generally need to be able to move a mouse a few inches and have a somewhat working left hand. Averageish reflexes tend to help too. Most sports? Different story; especially since training for them is a fine science nowadays. No such thing for gaming.

Agree agree.