Nilges

CJ Nilges
Dr. Sean George
English 1010D.03
12/5/16
Are eSports a real sport?
eSports are a type of sports that is facilitated by electronics, particularly video games,
where either individual or group competitions happen. In recent years, esports have grown
exponentially, creating a market that generates millions in revenue as hundreds of thousands of
people log on to watch sporting events they can relate to. eSports have been going on for as long
as videogames have been alive, and the question that have been raised is: Is eSports really a
sport? My answer is yes, and in this essay I will explain why.
The first eSports tournament started back in the 1980s with the game Space Invaders.
There was over ten thousand participants in this tournament. By the time the 1990s came
around, tournaments for arcade and console games had become increasingly common, with
companies like Nintendo and Blockbuster sponsoring world championships. By the 1990s,
gamers saw the rise of PC gaming and built eSports off of gaming on both console and now PC
gaming.
The first PC gaming eSports happened in 1997 on a first person shooter called Red
Annihilation with over two thousand participants. eSports truly started to come into its own after
the turn of the millennium in 2000, with the rise of both popular tournaments and the games that
now make eSports gaming popular today. During the year of 2002, MLG,(Major League
Gaming), was launched and is now one of the largest gaming organizations to this day. Now let's
go into detail on what a eSports athlete is and what is required to become a eSports player.

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For parents who are saying that "you cant play video games for a living", well, you can
thank the people behind the scenes who work so hard for the rest of the world to take pro-gaming
more seriously. The first thing to look at to become a pro gamer is decide what game you want
to go into. The best place to look is on websites to see what games are popular in the eSports
world. Some examples of games would be League of Legends, Counter Strike: Global offensive,
Dota 2, Overwatch, etc. After you choose what game you would like to go into, the next part,
which is the longest part of becoming a gamer, is practice. The best thing to do in order to
become good at a game is to keep playing the game and to keep practicing. Even if you think
you have what it takes to become a pro player for a certain game, you need to keep practicing
because there is always room for improvement.
Next you need to decide if you are going to go into individual competing or if you are
going to join a group and go into competitive gaming. eSports as of right now is more of a group
competitive sport than an individual sport. So what people are doing right now to get into
professional gaming is either trying to join a group, or trying to make their own team with people
that they know and try to get their team out there so they can become a pro team. For gamers,
you need to understand the game and what strategies you need to develop. If you want to be
serious, there needs to be specialization of skills. Even though there are a lot of characters,
weapons and classes that are individually unique within a each game, it really depends on what
combination you enjoy playing with the most. Lastly, and probable one of the most important
requirements in becoming a pro gamer, is to have fun and become friends with the community.
People are looking for a good game and to watch a good game between two teams, Dont ruin
the mood with senseless verbal brutality, particularly if you are new to the game. One question
that is always brought up is: Does it really require skill to become a eSports player?

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eSports does not only require skills but it requires a ton of practice and strategies. Fact
Myth states that Much like professional athletes, gamers spend large amounts of time
developing new skills that will help them compete in their games. The core rules of a game dont
change often, but the dynamics change often as new characters and environments are added, or
old ones are balanced. Not only do you need to have a physical state of being great at games,
but you need to have a physical training. You need to make sure that as a gamer you dont just
focus on the mental state of training for a game because then you will get over weight. Fact
myth says Some good examples of keeping physically tained would be eating healthier,
sleeping enough, doing things outside of gaming such as hobbies, working out, etc. Being
involved with eSports is helping you in making strategies which help you with actually using
your brain.
So overall, I believe that people do not give enough credit to the players and fans of
eSports that they should be getting. eSports is growing very fast by the day and sooner or later,
we are going to see news and advertisements everywhere. It's already starting to branch out to
public television on TBS. Gaming is a serious sport that requires a lot of time, skills, and mental
thinking. We, as a community, need to support the people that are into eSports because the
eSports community is great and would recommend it to any gamer out there.

Works Cited
Selmer, Jordan. "ESports Are Real Sports - Fact or Myth?" Fact / Myth. FactMyth, 8 July
2016. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.
Young, Henry. "ESports: Is Pro Video Gaming a Sport?" CNN. Cable News Network, 31
May 2016. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.

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ClickBoooM! "The World of E-Sports (Pros and Cons)." The World of E-Sports (Pros
and Cons). N.p., 01 Jan. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2016.
Ki. "ESports: A Brief History | Gaming | ADANAI." ADANAI. N.p., 30 Apr. 2013. Web.
11 Dec. 2016.