Gamers as athletes

January 27, 2005 by Mike Wendland

Good grief. Now gamers want to be considered as cyber athletes. Golden boy gamer becomes a brand

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4 Responses to “Gamers as athletes”

Derek on January 27th, 2005 11:28 am

So what? How is that any less legitimate than “real” athletes being paid millions and millions of dollars to run around on a field and throw a ball to each other?

This guy spends just as much and probably more time practicing and training than those guys do, and is one of the best in the world at what he does. Why shouldn’t that be rewarded with some money or a fancy title?

Movie stars get paid millions and millions of dollars to play dress-up. If you want to generalize things that much anyway.

Gaming is here to stay, and it’s only going to get bigger. You may as well get used to it and try to understand it, or at least accept it, rather than constantly put it down at every chance you get.
Alan on January 27th, 2005 12:00 pm

I have no problem with celebrity gamers or big endorsement deals for them — can televised “Quake” tournaments be far behind? — but to call them “athletes” or gaming a “sport” is ridiculous. Sure, gamers develop a skill that would be helpful in most sports, but gamers need not be athletic. Even fishing, hunting, bowling, golf, and cheerleading require a great deal more physical exertion than gaming.

You will never catch me referring to someone who sits in a chair and pushes buttons all day as an “athlete” of any kind.
Teejay on January 27th, 2005 12:40 pm

When 60,000 people pay $50 a seat and $7.00 a beer to watch this guy play video games, then and only then can you even begin to make a comparison. Until then, these “gamers” will continue to live in their mothers’ basement until they’re 35 or 40 playing kiddie games.
Stup1dity on January 27th, 2005 7:04 pm

Isn’t it spelled “Lamer”…?