It is worth noting that games as such are as old as human civilization itself. For example, chess, well known to me, was played on the territory of modern Persia as early as the 6th century. When it comes to the ground rules of whether something is a game, it can be difficult for us to distinguish between a monopoly board game, a soccer game, and the Starcraft World Cup.
All of the examples given have well-defined, arbitrary rules and allow gamers to compete against each other in a discipline that allows objective determination of who wins and who loses, which is exactly what sports emotion lovers want.
Naturally, not all computer games meet the requirements of a full-fledged sports discipline, in many cases this is even impossible. The PC games industry is quite difficult to define and it combines all the other components of popular media. Games allow us to listen to the soundtrack, and this is often a quality in itself, to enjoy the atmosphere and graphic design, which in many cases is cinematic, to play a role in the virtual world, like an actor in the theater, to get acquainted with the plot, like novels, or to experience the excitement of sports by competing with other players while playing games over the Internet.
The intertextuality of computer games certainly distinguishes them from other works of culture. However, a similar argument can be made in favor of the interpenetration of competition and art in the world of sports. Each sporting event is not only victories and defeats. Tournaments, Olympic Games and matches are important cultural events associated with certain aesthetics, music and fan participation. Also in both cases, you can bet on your favorite teams, for example, on GGBet Casino. Thus, it is difficult to say without a doubt that esports is a completely new form of playing sports.
Computer games during quarantine
Computer games as a sports discipline have become more popular during the pandemic.
The sports world has been hit hard in recent times. Social distancing enforcement has made it impossible to organize most mass sporting events in 2020. In this situation, esports was able to deliver a solid dose of emotion to hungry fans. It was also a lifeline for the bookmaker. In the era of the ban on the organization of mass events, eSports tournaments have been added to the rates of bookmakers. Betting enthusiasts can also find an alternative to betting on matches played in the real world. To organize this type of tournament, all you need is a computer and an internet connection, and fans can watch their favorite players struggle as they stream on platforms like Twitch.
Where did esports come from?
Computer games are quite an interesting creation. Equally interesting is the role they play in our culture today, and even more interesting is the change in their status in the public eye over the past few decades. The beginnings of this new form of entertainment date back to the 1980s, but their first incarnations were quite primitive and certainly not of the significant cultural value that they are today.
At the turn of the 1990s and 2000s, computer games also found a place in the minds of people who were not interested in the subject itself. Computer games were primarily the prerogative of young people, and the huge popularity and immersion in the world, which became more and more noticeable with the development of technologies that made it possible to get lost in the virtual world, became a source of anxiety for most parents, as in Poland. and abroad.
Controversy in the video game industry
The gaming market has long been likened to the wild west of entertainment, which meant that developers often had a free hand to realize their artistic vision. In many cases, this causes even more controversy around the entertainment industry. The lack of censorship often resulted in violent and taboo headline content.
Today, the stigma associated with computer games is much less. It can be concluded that the initial reaction of concerned parents was novelty and misunderstanding. In addition, the fact that at the time when the industry was gaining popularity, games were mostly interested in children and teenagers added fuel to the fire.
Caregivers feared that their offspring would be misrepresented in one way or another, while ignoring the fact that exactly identical content has long been widely shown in film and television. The only difference was that we were dealing with a new, foreign media.
Change of attitude
The first generations of players have matured and many of them now have families of their own. Having gained a voice and independence, games have ceased to be an incomprehensible enemy destroying the minds of young people, and have become just another manifestation of pop culture.
In this context, it is easy to see that at the turn of the last decades or so, they were much calmer about them. In hindsight, it is easy to conclude that the controversy that was originally associated with the world of games greatly contributed to the development of this industry and made it popular, especially among rebellious teenagers. After all, forbidden fruit tastes the best.
Star players
The status of professional athletes at the eSports Games is especially impressive. Until recently, the world of video games was associated primarily with counterculture and social inadequacy, but with the acquisition of a full-fledged sports discipline, the position of outstanding players has also changed, and they were often treated equally. veneration of classical athletes.
Recently, the most popular games include games such as:
- League of Legends
- Dota
- Counter Strike
- Star Craft
