Virtua Fighter-Video game or Sport?

...I guess the main problem I have is that the author of the original post seems to think that video games are beneath sports somehow, if not to us then to the general public......I think if we've proved anything here, and I only say this to try and defend the time I've wasted talking about this, it is that video games have so many properties of and on par with sports.... that really there is no need to define it as a sport because video games are just as good...

 

It's easier to make money off of something when the general public refers to it as a "Sport".

 

what about the fact that since some one created the game instead of mearly inventing it.
also since the versions are always changing, so are the "rules".
The rules in hockey, cricket or even pool have never changed in how many years?
yet another problem!
It's ammazing that no one has brought this up. maybe you just need a new point of view tehe!!!

 

Rules change in, say, american football all the time. The rules for said game are also different from league to league (NFL, CFL, NCAA, Pop Warner etc.), yet I daresay few would argue this makes american football less a sport.

Also, heavy competition tends to highlight rule deficiencies in any game, be it chess, virtua fighter or NFL football. Rule changes and tweaks are necessary to keep many games from stagnating or having their deficiencies abused to the game's detriment.

Finally, it is a rare case for a game to be made up "all at once". If this were the case, we'd still be playing basketball using a soccerball & a peach basket. Sometimes games take a VERY long time to become fully set & even then, they continue to evolve. Consider that anthropologists (or whomever would study such things) believe that modern chess, dominos, dice games, checkers & a host of other games find their common root in a prehistoric game referred to as "knuckle bones", a game of chance that involved throwing bones into the air. Isn't it fun to be a caveman?

 

[ QUOTE ]
...I guess the main problem I have is that the author of the original post seems to think that video games are beneath sports somehow, if not to us then to the general public......

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Exactly, and not just the original poster holds this view. Many other replies have been along the same lines. "VF4 is just another geeky videogame...so therefore not a sport". Not the most convincing of arguments.

It's almost as if some poeple on here are ashamed of VF4 and the time they've dedicated to it. As a result they lash out at some of the less hardcore members of the board who probably play VF4 in a more natural way and - dare I say it - have a more balanced view of the game.

Personally, I find VF series to be unique and very different from other videogames (my last post covered this). And that's exactly why it's attracted such a large global community and a real sponsored tournament circuit.

Even Yu Suzuki stated the intention of VF4's card system was to push VF4 in this direction, making it more sport than game.

 

>> Not the most convincing of arguments.

how is this, then - in general, diddling away at a controller while totally immobile isn't a sport, and never will be. sorry, but the rapid movements your eyes don't qualify as physical exertion.

>> natural way and - dare I say it - have a more balanced view of the game.

natural? how the fuck do you play vf more or less naturally? fully clothed as opposed to being fully naked with a broomstick up your ass while wearing a richard nixon mask?

this has nothing to do with "hardcore"-ness. it has to do with the definition of sport and how people can rationalize and delude themselves into thinking something that isn't even remotely true.

 

Too many people here are trying to play semantics with what a sport is. Trying to use technical terms, misconceptions, or personal judgement to make their argument legit and of merit. Here is the actual definition.

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Sport Pronunciation Key (spôrt, sprt) .
1.
a. Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.
b. A particular form of this activity.
2.
An activity involving physical exertion and skill that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often undertaken competitively.
3.
An active pastime; recreation.
4.
a. Mockery; jest: He made sport of his own looks.
b. An object of mockery, jest, or play: treated our c. interests as sport.
c. A joking mood or attitude: She made the remark in sport.
5.
a. One known for the manner of one's acceptance of rules, especially of a game, or of a difficult situation: a poor sport.
b. (Informal) One who accepts rules or difficult situations well.
c. (Informal) A pleasant companion: was a real sport during the trip.
6. (Informal.)
a. A person who lives a jolly, extravagant life.
b. A gambler at sporting events.
7.
(Biology) An organism that shows a marked change from the normal type or parent stock, typically as a result of mutation.
8.
(Maine) See "summercater". See Regional Note at "summercater".
9.
(Obsolete) Amorous dalliance; lovemaking.

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While playing a game such as Virtua Fighter doesn't meet your criteria as a legitimate sport. If you use the definition that many of you are clinging to, it does. See 3 (An active pasttime, recreation) to see what VF can fit into as being argued as a Sport. Whether you agree with this or not is your own perrogative, but by definiton alone it can be justified as a sport as most things can. If you feel that VF at high-level isn't a sport then do not worry about it, but many people would like to justify the amount of time they expend in the game by making it into a legitimate competitive level sport. I personally find that any game that requires the dedication to achieve high-level play as Virtua Fighter, Tekken, etc. do then by all means it is a sport. Physicality does not completely denote what a sport is, but it is a more common conception of the meaning.

NOTE: This is not a knock on anyone. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I'm just trying to present the information available in a concise manner to level the playing field.

 

While VF fits #3, I don't think that's what the original poster was looking for. It happens to fit one definition of sport... but so what? It isn't a pleasant companion, a gambler at sporting events, or a joking mood/attitude.

I'm fairly sure that if the original poster had asked "Does anyone here feel that VF is an active pastime, a recreation?" There would have been maybe one reply and the thread is dead. But he's not asking that, he's fishing for definition 1 or 2. There'd be no controversy if all we were discussing is definition 3.

 

He asked if it was a game or a sport.
Technically, it can be both.
So his answer is that VF can be a game to some and a sport to others, since it fits the criteria for both.

 

I stand by my opinion that the original poster had an agenda, and that agenda in no way involved definition number three.

Maybe if he's bored enough, he can clarify whether he meant:

A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules VS Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

or

A period of competition or challenge VS One known for the manner of one's acceptance of rules, especially of a game, or of a difficult situation

or

Wild animals, birds, or fish hunted for food or sport VS A person who lives a jolly, extravagant life.

...I think we all know what he meant though.

 

<shrug> He asked for a simple answer and people are unwilling to accept the answer. Believe what you like. I am merely pointing out that it can be both. Do not let personal distaste with an answer cloud it's validation. Read what he asked and don't read into what he asked. <shrug>

 

I suppose you have a point, as Temjin later said

Therefore athleticism or physical ability does not constitue a valid and only criteriea for a sport.

So maybe Temjin WAS thinking definition three when he originally posted. I still think VF as a sport is a stretch beyond all comprehension, but there's something to the dictionary point (I have to concede that since I used dictionary.com too in an earlier post /versus/images/graemlins/laugh.gif)


PS: What's the fun in a "either one's cool with me, let's roll another!" reply! I know you're leaning towards sport, don't be a pansy.

 

Sport /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

he asked if it could be described as a sport. It certainly can. Is it a sport? I agree with CreeD and think no. The prerogative of someone to define it according to taste is certainly their own and therfore this argument is shown to be what it is, absurd because it goes on forever. I'm willing to lay out real money on a bet as to whether the offical governing body of competitive sports ever legitimizes VF (or any videogame) in my lifetime (by the way, I'm betting they won't).

two particular definitions of active (as it falls under defintion 3 of Sport) have the ability to denote everything as a sport. While that's nice and PC I don't think totally accurate. I know people who really like stretching after a nap and while that can be construed as active (see below, entry number 1 and 4) I'm not sure whether it can be considered a sport; or I guess I wonder why people would want it to be a sport.

Personally, I think lives are becoming increasingly hollow and devoid of anything real; a culture of innaction and voyeurism but with real wants and desires prompts this type of thing (not directing this at anyone, I'm just saying what I believe: look at Ripley's Believe it or Not for an example). but in the way of Shou-Sama: <font color="green">shrug </font>

GE

ACTIVE
1 : characterized by action rather than by contemplation or speculation
2 : producing or involving action or movement
3 a of a verb form or voice : asserting that the person or thing represented by the grammatical subject performs the action represented by the verb <hits in "he hits the ball" is active> b : expressing action as distinct from mere existence or state
4 : quick in physical movement : LIVELY

I think its funny that when we consider what Active (or even recreation)means within the definition of sport everything becomes a sport. Which might not be a bad thing but the ideas of genre certainly collapse quickly.

 

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GodEater said:
I know people who really like stretching after a nap and while that can be construed as active (see below, entry number 1 and 4) I'm not sure whether it can be considered a sport; or I guess I wonder why people would want it to be a sport.

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This truly made my morning. Thanks for the laugh, and extremely well put counterpoint.

I'm not sure why replicant chose to revive this thread. If one goes back and rereads the whole thing, I think it became pretty clear early on that the discussion was very much dependent on one's definition. There are limits and gaping flaws to this, as GE has clearly pointed out.

cheers,

 

In this era a game or activity is considerd a sport by how much money it can generate

 

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The Wall said:

In this era a game or activity is considerd a sport by how much money it can generate

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soooo....

NEW SPORTS
pimping (coerced, underage, etc)
speed begging
credit fraud
producing 'Girls Gone Wild' videotapes and DVD's
slave or black market baby trade

Better get training gang!

GE