ESports: A Brief History - Essay Example

Electronic Sports So long as there has been culture, sports have been its indispensable part. During their long history and being presented in a great variety of forms, sports have been a niche for people to have a rest of a daily routine. Sports were so important that while the Olympic Games took place, all the wars stopped. Every century contributed to sports by introducing new kinds and eliminating the least popular ones. In fact, the new kinds of sport somehow reflected the changes in the society. In this respect, the twenty-first century is not an exception for it has introduced a new kind of sports which reflects the state of the modern society. It is electronic sports that are at stake. Despite they have relatively a short history compared to other sports, they have given birth to a range of controversies and debates which stay unresolved for now. Regardless of some people’s negative attitude to them, electronic sports are a huge industry that will surely expand even more in the nearest future. There is a great range of kind of sports, and it is quite difficult to come to a sole and universally applicable definition of what sport actually is. When it comes to electronic sports, the task is even more difficult. The issue of giving a definition to electronic sports is addressed by Michael G. Wagner in his article titled On the Scientific Relevance of eSports. In his work, he interprets the definition of sports given by a sport scientist Claus Tiedemann and comes with his own definition which defines sports as a “cultural field of activity in which people voluntarily engage with other people with the conscious intention to develop and train abilities […] and to compare themselves with these other people […]” (Wagner). Wagner claims that video games playing should be regarded as a kind of sports as well due to the fact that in eSports people also develop certain skills and abilities and engage in competitions to compare themselves with other people. Overall, the most common definition of eSports is the competitive play of video games in a form of a commercial spectator sport. What is actually missing in the definition of electronic sports is the physical component characteristic of any kind of sports. This fact is what gives rise to quite serious debates on whether video game playing can be perceived and defined as a kind of sports. However, one should remember that today it is the time of integration of information and communication technology in people’s life. In other words, these days people live in the communication based society. From this, it follows that eSports are, in fact, a new kind of sports in which video game players “develop and train mental or physical abilities in the use of information and communication technologies” (Wagner). In other words, electronic sports may be regarded as a sort of a mind sport, just like board games and chess in particular. Based on this assumption and, perhaps, on the great popularity of video games playing in the world, some people tend to think that video games should be in Olympics. Despite the controversy, today, starting with July 2013, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services provides athlete visas for professional video gamers (Richmond). This means that eSports have been recognized as a sport on a governmental level. Whether or not they are officially recognized as a sport, eSports have already become a well-known and even common type of the media. There are at least two facts that allow to say so. First of all, they are recognized globally for there are millions of players and fans of video games in the world. Secondly, today eSports have turned into a multibillion-dollar industry with its own stars, professional gamers (or simply progamers), their fans, teams, associations, and leagues. In the history of electronic sports, three main periods can be distinguished. The first one covers the early history of electronic games (the 1950s – 1980s), the second one cover the decade of the rise of PC (1990s), and the last period is 2000 up to now. Unlike many people think, electronic sports have quite a long history if to contrast them with the history of computers. In fact, competitive gaming is of the same age as video games themselves. The first game created specifically as a means of entertainment but not as tools for research, like the first known games Nim and OXO created in 1951 and 1952 correspondingly, was Tennis for Two developed by American physicist William Higinbotham in 1958 (“A History of Esports”). It was the game that allowed direct competition between two people. In the 1960s, computers were growing more powerful, which means they became able to store more information, process it more efficiently and display it clearly. As a result of it, different types of computer games burst into existence, being Spacewar, the first shooter, one of them. Spacewar was not only the first shooter ever created, it was the game played at first video game competition, which took place in 1972 in a range of labs across the United States, with Standfords Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. The championship was called The Spacewar Olympics and was sponsored and chronicled by Rolling Stone. The grand prize of the championship was a years subscription for the above-mentioned magazine. Spacewar is regarded as a monumentally significant video game of all time because of its “gameplay, visuals, innovative conceptualization, a multiplayer experience with depth and replayability, open culture” (“A History of Esports”). In 1980, Atari Inc. held the first large scale video game competition, the Space Invaders Tournament, in which more than ten thousand people participated. In history of video games, the Space Invaders Tournament is believed to be the ancestor of modern electronic sports (Edwards). Further development and popularization of new video game types, such as arcades, text simulations, first-person shooters, and fighting, as well as introduction of innovative technical devices, for example, consoles, changed the nature of a video game. In 1978, one more video game genre was introduced; it was a MUD game, or a Multi User Dungeon. It was a game played in real time primarily in text. The game was created in Essex University in England, and in 1980 it was to APRAnet. In fact, it was the first step towards massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). With the release of the personal computer, the popularity of both game playing and game creation gained steam. In 1981, Twin Galaxies was found. It was the organization that “became the de facto scorekeeper, rule setter and enforcer for American competitive area” of the 1980s (“A History of Esports”). The organization created and held video game tournaments, such as the Video Game Masters Tournament, and promoted video games in the media. In other words, Twin Galaxies was a sort of a trend setter in the sphere of video game playing. In the 1990s, many video games, especially PC games, benefited a lot from the increasing Internet connectivity. One of them was Netrek, an Internet game created for up to sixteen players. Today, it is regarded as the first Internet team game, the third Internet game, and the first online sports game at the same time (“GameSpotting 20XX”; Kelly). The 1990s was also the glory time of Nintendo. Nintendo games as well as characters such as Donkey Pong, Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, Punch Out and a range of others are remembered, well-known and loved even today. Nintendo World Championships, which took place in the United States with their finals in California, were among the largest electronic sports tournaments held in the 1990s (“A History of Esports”). Also, during these period, such video game genres as a real time strategy (RTS) and sports games were developed. What is more, the 1990s was the decade during which first true eSports competitions took place. More specifically, in 1997 Red Annihilation tournament for Quake, a first-person shooter, gathered about 2,000 people. In accordance with Edwards, it is this tournament that is regarded the first real instance of eSports. Finally, this decade is important for the industry due to the fact that in 1997 the Cyberathlete Professional League was found in the United States (“A History of Esports”). The same year the Electronic Sports League (ESL) was found in Europe. The main aim of these leagues was and is today the promotion of video games playing and conducting competitions and championships for gamers. Electronic sports started flourishing after the turn of the millennium alongside with the rise of popular games and tournaments that today are regarded as the key ones in the eSports world. 2000 was the year when the two major international tournaments, the Electronic Sports World Cup and the World Cyber Games, were launched. These days the tournaments also take place. In fact, they are held every year and gather thousands of participants. In 2002, the largest of the sports leagues, Major League Gaming (MLG) was founded. Today, it is the most successful of the eSports leagues, and it features video games in a wide range of genres and offers huge prize pools for participants. Alongside with Major League Gaming, there is a number of other popular tournaments. Among them a Swedish computer festival Dreamhack and a South Korean league called the Global StarCraft II League. Apart from well-known games that are played during a relatively long period of time, there are also newcomers in the industry, for example, MOBA. MOBA, or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena is a kind of video games that now dominates in eSports. One of such MOBAs is League of Legends (Edwards). This game was released in only in 2009, and today it is regarded as the most played video game in the world. For instance, as of the beginning of the last year, more than 67 million people played it at least once in a month and 27 million people played daily. For this game, huge tournaments are organized both regionally (Taiwan, China, South Korea) and on a global scale (LoL Championship Series). Among the video games that are played all over the world and comprise the backbone of the eSports world are also Dota 2, Starcraft, Counter Strike, Warcraft III, and Smite. These games do not only gather thousands and even millions of participants and viewers all over the world, their prize pools constitute thousands and millions of dollars. For example, in 2014, the prize pool of the first Smite World Championship heald in January 2015 in Atlanta was a total of more than $2.5 million (Beckett). The industry of eSports has given rise to several debates. The first one on the controversy of the definition has already been mentioned above. The second deals mostly with the dark sides of electronic sports, more specifically, with its negative influence on progamers and the society as a whole. First of all, there exists an idea that Internet gaming should be regarded as an addictions alongside with gambling. In particular, after about twenty years of research, the American Psychiatric Association has introduced the term “Internet Gaming Disorder” (Kuss). In June 2013, the disorder was added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5). In accordance with DSM-5, Internet gaming disorder is a “persistent and recurrent use of Internet to engage in games, often with other players, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress as indicated by five (or more) [criteria] in a 12-month period” (Kuss). Among the criteria are the following ones: lack of control, withdrawal symptoms, loss of other interests, mood modification, losing a job, relationship etc., tolerance and others (Kuss). However, significant bulk of research is still needed to clarify the questions on the issue. In addition to this, the debate on the connection between violence in video games and aggression in video game players is also on the agenda these days. Like the issue discussed above, this one is controversial as well. As for the present day, a great number of studies, experiments and researches have been conducted to prove there is a direct relation between violent gaming and aggression in video game players. What is more, violent video games played today, for example, Counter Strike that has millions of fans, are regarded to be even more harmful than violent TV programs or films because video game play, unlike watching TV, is active; players tend to associate themselves with characters; and there are rewards in the form of points in video games (Bushman). Electronic sports take roots in 1950s when first computer games used as research tools were created. In the course of several decades, video games played in research laboratories and institutes evolved into a sphere of entertainment available for everyone who has an access to PCs or gaming consoles. These days, video game playing is even more than a hobby. It has turned into a kind of sports that engages and unite millions of people all over the world. Also, it is a multimillion-dollar industry that gives work to thousands of people and brings them incomes higher than no one could even imagine. Being loved by millions, eSports are criticized by, perhaps, the same amount of people, who doubt the correctness of the definition and even perceive video game playing as an addiction that should be treated. Despite such a negative attitude, eSports are a promising sphere that is predicted to develop and flourish in the future. Works Cited "A History of Esports." Teamliquid.net. Team Liquid, 27 Mar 2012. Web. 30 Apr 2015. . Beckett, S. "Biggest Money Tournaments In eSports Today." Casino.org. Casino.org, 21 Apr 2015. Web. 30 Apr 2015. . Bushman, B. J. "The Effects of Violent Video Games: Do They Affect Our Behavior?." Ithp.org. International Human Press, 2010. Web. 30 Apr 2015. . Edwards, T. F. M. "eSports: A Brief History."Adanai.com. ADANAI, 30 Apr 2013. Web. 30 Apr 2015. . "GameSpotting 20XX." Gamespot.com. GameSpot, 18 Mar 2004. Web. 30 Apr 2015. . Kelly, K. "The First Online Sports Game." Wired Magazine. Dec 1993: n. page. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. . Kuss, D. J. "Internet Gaming Addiction: Current Perspectives." Psychology Research and Behavior Management 6. (2013): 125-137. The National Center for Biotechnology Information. Web. 30 Apr 2015. . Richmond, B. "Why the US Gave an Athlete Visa to a Professional Video Gamer." Motherboard. 12 Dec 2013: n. page. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. . Wagner, Michael A. “On the Scientific Relevance of eSports”. Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference on Internet Computing & Conference on Computer Games Development, ICOMP 2006 Ed. Arreymbi et al. Las Vegas. CSREA Press. 2006. Web. 30 Apr. 2015. . Read More