Videogames are now coming to the Olympics. Esports and competitive gaming for all sorts genres and platforms have been on the rise for quite some time, but now it can be said that some of the games have official Olympic sport status.
The International Olympics Committee recently announced that qualification for the Olympic Esports Series 2023 have commenced, and the final events will take place in Singapore in June, and will be livestreamed on Olympics.com.
According to the Olympics website 9 Esports are on offer and the corresponding videogame:
• Archery (Tic Tac Bow)
• Baseball (WBSC eBASEBALL™: POWER PROS)
• Chess (Chess.com)
• Cycling (Zwift)
• Dance (Just Dance)
• Motor sport (Gran Turismo)
• Sailing (Virtual Regatta)
• Tennis (Tennis Clash)
• Taekwondo (Virtual Taekwondo)
And the barrier to entry is super low: WBSC eBaseball costs $1 to buy on the Nintendo Switch, according to Digital Trends.
Competitors may qualify for more than one game, too.
Some of the tournaments actually involve some athleticism.
For example, those competing in the taekwondo category will be fighting their opponents virtually with the use of motion tracking cameras.
Masters of the foot and fist are online.
World Taekwondo and Refract Technologies have teamed up to create the ultimate virtual taekwondo game using a unique motion tracking technology, creating an even playing field for those of all physical abilities to engage in one-on-one, non-contact sparring.
Virtual Taekwondo is an invitational event, where 16 of the best and upcoming taekwondo athletes of the present and future will be invited to compete at the finals in Singapore. The exciting competitive action will be streamed live on Olympics digital and social channels.
The Olympic Committee wrote
The cycling competition will involve a popular indoor cycling system that allows bikers to hookup their actual bicycles to a machine with gears and sprockets, that then translates the data to a videogame world where other cyclists can race in each other in an open world.
Virtual cycling is one of the fastest growing and exciting disciplines within the sport. Zwift is the world’s leading virtual cycling hub, facilitating virtual training, competition and community.
Returning for a second year, this event, presented by the UCI and Zwift, will feature the best virtual riders from all over the world, who are invited to earn their place through the Zwift Grand Prix cycling series and the 2023 UCI Cycling Esports World Championships.
The Olympics Committee added
It should be noted that this Olympics Esport tournament will not be taking place during the traditional Olympics, with the next event being held in Paris, France, in 2024.
However the Olympics Committee previous has stated that they would not add videogames to their lineup. In 2018 IOC president Thomas Bach stated:
We cannot have in the Olympic program a game which is promoting violence or discrimination. So-called killer games. They, from our point of view, are contradictory to the Olympic values and cannot therefore be accepted.
Of course every combat sport has its origins in a real fight among people. But sport is the civilized expression about this. If you have egames where it’s about killing somebody, this cannot be brought into line with our Olympic values.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
Imagine getting a medal for playing a crummy looking baseball game that costs $1 to buy: what achievement and display of peak athleticism! Just imagine one of these pale, Cheeto-fingered, beached whales with a gold medal bestowed arrayed upon them.
Videogames are a vice as is, and calling them a sport is comical. But Esports are routinely aired on ESPN networks here in the United States. It’s hilarious, especially when the broadcasters have no idea what they are looking at.
I could care less about the Olympics: it’s just more bread and circles, and the ceremonies are just these grand Masonic and occultic rituals; though the Olympics have lost their luster this past decade.
[24] Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. [25] And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. [26] I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: [27] But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
But they’re not even actually running or truly fighting, save the Zwift perhaps: they’re just flicking their thumbs.
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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The olympics have become a joke. They’re the other bread and circus. A video game sport? Haha!
As ridiculous as any other sport. Just try to keep your hate to a minimum. I’m sure there are many Christians involved in the logistics of The Olympics Games who are just trying to make a living, and hopefully inspire something positive in people.
I enjoyed watching Mark Spitz win all those medals in swimming in the 1972 Olympics because I was really “into” swimming back then, and I still like to swim once in a while, although I stay out of chlorinated pools and rely on a private spot away from sun worshipers. That was the Olympics where Israeli athletes were massacred, and although I knew and cared little about Mideast politics back then, I drifted away from watching subsequent games out of sheer boredom. My opinion of people who watch these games (and I knew one particularly odious one) is they need to get a life and stop trying to be global citizens like the haters of Israel want everyone to be.
How about I say that any activity you have a passion for is boring and lifeless? The hollowness of your mind is astounding. If you don’t know why video games are healthy and how they keep troubled kids grounded, then you seriously need to reevaluate your perception on life. There is still athleticism involved, so it’s not disrespectful to integrity of The Olympics. I see nothing but but blind hatred in these comments. Wanting to participate in a fun activity is now the equivalent to not having a life? I have completely lost hope in humanity, seriously… We are officially way too divided.
Just wait until they add VR (virtual reality) into the mix. There is a VR device in the works that kills anyone that loses: https://screenshot-media.com/culture/gaming/sao-nervegear-headset/
Here is a video about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouAGqrQvhwk
Well you did a good job assuming the worst. I wouldn’t want to be your friend, that’s for damn sure.
I’m just observing what’s going on.
I’m just paying attention and being vigilant concerning what’s going on.
Just wait until they add virtual reality as part of the video games component of the Olympics. I think the video games being added in is paving the way for virtual reality to be added in at least 10 years or so.
If you don’t know why video games are healthy and how they keep troubled kids grounded, then you seriously need to reevaluate your perception on life. There is still athleticism involved, so it’s not disrespectful to integrity of The Olympics. I see nothing but but blind hatred in these comments. Wanting to participate in a fun activity is now the equivalent to not having a life? I have completely lost hope in humanity, seriously… We are officially way too divided.