Off the top of my head, I probably would say no. As defined by Merriam-Webster, a sport is “physical activity engaged in for pleasure.” Take note of the qualification “physical activity.” Yet with today’s video games becoming more and more of a physical nature – thanks to the Wii, I think – I could be wrong. Add to this the fact that more video game developers are focusing on games that are based on real life sports. You have NBA, Madden, and so on.
Thanks to Ben of Gathering of Gamers, I also discovered that ESPN now has a whole section devoted to video games in its web site! We all know that when it comes to sports, ESPN is the undoubted king. With this development – ESPN seeming to recognize that video gaming could be considered a sport – it seems that things just might change somehow!
I can still recall the times when people generally considered video games and sports two whole different things. I have heard it said many times before – hunks play sports and geeks play video games. I think it is rather an obsolete comment, don’t you think? I just saw this feature on TV about sports stars and movie stars who are into gaming. They are definitely hunks, I would say. Anyhow, so what is wrong with being a geek?
I am deviating from the topic here, but anyway, so can we say conclusively that video gaming is now a sport? Maybe not. Until professional video gamers get big fat paychecks like those at the NBA and NFL do, I wouldn’t go that far (just kidding!).