Violent video games have ‘no place at the Olympics’ says IOC President

[Katchii]

There's actually a difference between the Violence that is being talked about and what is displayed during those sports. With the current "Violent" olympic sports there is no intent to kill or brutally cripple your opponent (Or at the very least, doing so gets you disqualified). Whereas games like League of Legends, Overwatch, CS:GO, and so forth reward you for doing so.

Preaching to the choir here man, I get it. But the article didn't differentiate between the types of violence that are OK and the types that aren't. It just said violence is against the message the Olympics wants to convey.

[cubby]

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/socie...orts-are-still

Interesting.
Would you like to see "e-sports" at the olympics? If so, which games?

No. Not because of anything to do with violence, but only because the hacking issue would be too great to overcome. Imho.

Also, is boxing an Olympic sport? Oh, yeah, that's right.

[Tennis]

No. Not because of anything to do with violence, but only because the hacking issue would be too great to overcome. Imho.

Also, is boxing an Olympic sport? Oh, yeah, that's right.

Boxing features punching not killing.

[Lorianus]

E-Sports need their own events...i still remember the outrage from Winter X-Games Athletes a view years back when they featured a Halo Segment where the winner got the same Winners medal that X-Games pros get for endangering their lives in going downhill and big-Air events...

also if they ever get to the olympics what happens if the game that gets an olympic discipline suddenly shifts direction or receives patches or expansions or what ever ?, games are just not suited for a strict sports event.

[Radaney]

Boxing features punching not killing.

So punching isn't violent?

Nice brain you have there. Or complete lack of.

[Jonnusthegreat]

Playing video games is NOT a sport.

I mean, neither is swimming or running.

[Deleted]

The Olympics does not include any "sports that depend primarily on mechanical propulsion, such as motor sports." This is obviously because it's supposed to be the human body that does the work. The human body doesn't do jack when you're playing a computer/console game. If the Olympics had a place for games where only the brain matters, then chess would've been included decades ago.

"Video games", that's computer games or console games, have no place in the Olympics, whether violent or not. The "violent" -part here is moot.

I mean, neither is swimming or running.

Running is a sport. Swimming is a sport. They're not games. They are sports, though. However, none of that matters, as this is about what is, can be, and should be included in the Olympics.

[Tennis]

I mean, neither is swimming or running.

Running is absolutely a sport. Don't be silly.

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So punching isn't violent?

Nice brain you have there. Or complete lack of.

Please don't flame.

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[Skulltaker]

The Olympics are an athletic competition. E-Sports have no buisness there. If someone wants to go ahead make E-lympics, good idea, probably going to get more attention than the real thing.

[cubby]

Boxing features punching not killing.

I'm fully aware of what boxing features - it's why I listed it. Boxing is still, but any definition, a violent sport. If you're going to ban "violent" sports, at least be consistent.

I would keep video games out of the olympics for other reasons.

[Dyluck]

Kinda disappointing that the e-sports gets dummed down to "violence, killing and explosions", especially when i would argue it represents other core values of the Olympics such as teamwork, ambition, rigorous training and brings people throughout the world together. Those are just a few from the top of my head, but im sure there are even better examples out there.

Like others have stated, it is silly that video games are considered violent while other disciplines are not. Most are using martial arts as examples, but id say video games should also be compared to shooting disciplines, prime example being skeet. In a video game you are not actively shooting/attacking someone, but rather an avatar that represents your opponent. In skeet, you fire an armed gun not at someone, but at a disc that represents a bird. Or the other shooting diciplines where they are aiming at a target, but that target might as well represent a person.

That said, i think its fine that e-sports does not get involved with the Olympics. I enjoy the international events the organizors/developers are creating and in a sense, would like to keep it that way, and let the scene continue to develop in its own way rather than try to fit into events such as the olympics.

[Mistame]

It's more appropriate to say, "Video Games have no place at the Olympics". A sport is, "an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment."

That said, one could use a similar argument to the opposite effect, as violence is, "behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something." Video games are not physical, thus not violent. /shrug

[Nasuuna]

In terms of violence, League of Legends has it baked into its story (or use to at least) that the combat engaged in within the rift was used to settle disputes without actual war.

None of the champions actually die.

Part of the purpose of the Olympics is to bring countries closer together and away from violent conflict.

[Talon8669]

Imagine my shock. Out of touch old people still think video games cause real life violence.

Don't think their issue is violence because they have things like boxing. I think their issue is the excessive violence and gore. I would firmly say that shooting someone in the head in COD hardly embodies the foundational ideologies of the Olympics. On top of that, E-sports, while certainly requiring skill, hardly approach the real skill of most current events in the Olympics nor do the garner any sort of acknowledgement or recognition. Grats you can play a videogame....now go get a real skill.

[Yvaelle]

Almost all sports are just violence simulators, toned down because it's hard to be an Olympian if you get murdered during practice.

Boxing, Fencing, Archery, Judo, Taekwondo, Karate, Hockey, Football, Pentathlon, Shooting, Wrestling, Biathlon - are all Olympic sports with a basis on violence.

Boxing, Fencing, Archery, Judo, Taekwondo, Karate, Shooting, Wrestling - are all based on how best to kill people.

Hockey & Football are both pack hunting sports - about how to work together as a team to corner & kill prey.

Pentathlon & Biathlon are both persistence hunting sports - about tracking & persistence hunting, and then shooting your prey.

All of them train people in the real world skills of killing.

By contrast, the best League of Legends has gained no real world practical skills in how to explode an opponents head using magic. So really, despite the inclusion of depicted blood - training someone how to shoot, fight, or hunt - is far, far more likely to enable real world violence than training someone how to click a mouse.

FPS are a little different, particularly the more strategic and realistic ones, like Counter-Strike - because it combines shooting and hunting (pack & solo) skills. But the best Counter-Strike sniper in the world is still going to get shit on by an Olympic level shooter, and the best Counter-Strike team is still going to get shit on by the raw physical athleticism of Olympic athletes in any pack hunting or persistence hunting scenario, no matter how good they are at checking their corners.

So really, if you don't want kids to become violent - don't teach them Olympic sports - I'd rather let them play Quake. Great, you know how to track & land rockets while flying across a lava pit via jump-pad, good thing none of that's real - so I'll personally be a lot more worried about getting in a gunfight with the Olympic level archer or shooter. So you're really good at Mortal Kombat? You can consistently pull dudes spines out of their neck in one piece? Sounds fancy - but I'd fight you any day of any week before I'd step into the ring with a Olympic level Judo master or boxer.

Whatever though - the Olympics will be irrelevant soon enough. eSports are already beginning to rival regular sports - just wait until the Millennials are the age of the Boomers, and have all the money - you'll have 100 million people tuning in to watch Korea's SKT1 vs. USA's TSM, and the Olympics will just be crickets if they don't adapt.

[derpkitteh]

so like, actual violence(olympic kick boxing and shit) is cool, but simulated violence isn't.

[Baelic]

Preaching to the choir here man, I get it. But the article didn't differentiate between the types of violence that are OK and the types that aren't. It just said violence is against the message the Olympics wants to convey.

You're right, it was very vague which doesn't help the IOC at all. Just giving my interpretation of it.

[Dhrizzle]

Imagine my shock. Out of touch old people still think video games cause real life violence.

Imagine my shock, video game fan doesn't read an article and skips straight to the knee-jerk reaction.

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I didn't know starcraft 2 was so violent.

You know Starcraft 2 features the military forces of 3 races waging war on each other with all the violence, pain and death you'd expect from a semi-fantasy military-scifi franchise?

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I can understand their stance. Murder and war isn't part of the olympic spirit, or something like that. However, there are few really popular, competitive video games that aren't based on violence. Sport games? Chess? Driving simulators?

Rocket League, maybe Splatoon.

[arandomuser]

I mean In the game its a fictional war scenario ur never killing actual civilans, and for games like league and dota would they not count? your commiting violence but against complete mythical unreal creatures and its about your accuracy and awareness and stuff, seems dumb to me just old ppl stuff iguess.

[Krawu]

its not a sport, lets not pretend otherwise.

The Olympic committee may not agree, but Chess has been widely accepted as a sport as well.

Definition of "Sport":

Sport (British English) or sports (American English) includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators. Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a tie game; others provide tie-breaking methods, to ensure one winner and one loser.

The only thing anyone could possibly say against video games being a sport is that it usually doesn't involve a great deal of physical activity. But I can make the same argument with archery, shooting and golf. Oh and in any equestrian sport, it's actually the horse doing most of the work, so those are half a sport at best by that line of reasoning.