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[crazyivan19]

I tend to agree with her. This is the X Game mission statement:

Our mission is aimed at providing at great opportunity for the international extreme sports community to witness talent at the top tier level while creating a family friendly experience for all at the X-Games village and tuning in from home. We also strive to give back to the community a providing knowledge on extreme sports to expand and create interest around the sports that participate each year.


Unless you consider Halo to be an "extreme" sport, I just don't see how it should be part of the competitive side of the Games. If they want to be there as a side event, that's fine by me. But they should not be allowed to metal, which would imply they are there to actually compete in the Games.

As an example to this, I have done a few Tough Mudders. At each of those events, they always have side games you can play while you gear up for the actual run. They range from silly to quite serious, but they are NOT part of the actual run and you cannot get a Tough Mudder finishing shirt for doing them. I would think this Halo tourney is similar to that. It's not actually part of the Games, but is a fun side event.

 

[entremet]

Yeah, I don't think it fits with the identity of the event.

Blame ESPN. They allowed it. Pro Halo players are gonna compete because it's a coveted venue.

 

[MrFatCat]

Everyone should think of eSports as chess. Problems solved.

 

[Gurrry]

lol the xgames

 

[HardRojo]

I agree with what she was trying to express, but she could have worded it much much better. I don't see why sports and e-sports have to be necessarily mixed.

 

[Dangansona]

I appreciate that at least out of the early responses there are some pretty good tweets and not just "fuck you bitch" kind of stuff.

Because Yeah she's probably wrong. Unless you are really trying to say that she just meant they aren't Xtreme enough to be at the X Games, then maybe I can buy that as long as every other event there is.

Edit: that's exactly what she's saying. Her follow up tweets are respectful to competitive gaming. OP please update your post.

 

[bobawesome]

I don't see it as her attacking games or gamers. It does seem odd that gamers are awarded the same medals at an event consisting of athletes who bleed, break their bones, and push their bodies to the limit.

 

[Magwik]

I appreciate that at least out of the early responses there are some pretty good tweets and not just "fuck you bitch" kind of stuff.

Because Yeah she's probably wrong. Unless you are really trying to say that she just meant they aren't Xtreme enough to be at the X Games, then maybe I can buy that as long as every other event there is.

Edit: that's exactly what she's saying. Her follow up tweets are respectful to competitive gaming. OP please update your post.

I feel like it's all a matter of presentation. If they didn't give them medals and just went with a prize pool and said "we are hosting this at the X-Games as a showcase of competitive game, please give it a watch" it would have gone much smoother

 

[SonyToo!™]

I would like to see e-sports become more recognised but latching onto an athletic sport isn't the way about it.

Smacks of gaming's desperation to be seen as on par with films and sport rather than just doing it's own thing.

 

[CreatureX3]

Agree with her. This cheapens what the X-Games stand for. What a complete joke!

 

[SonyToo!™]

Agree with her. This cheapens what the X-Games stand for. What a complete joke!

also doesn't do e-sports image any favours imo

 

[Poltergust]

As someone who is invested in e-sports and goes to tournaments, I agree with her. It's like trying to have a game tournaments at the Olympics. It's just not the right kind of event for gaming tournaments.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

X Games are like the Golden Globes; meaningless, nobody cares.

 

[Live Free or Die]

Well I agree with her.

me too.

 

[Doc_Drop]

I feel like it's all a matter of presentation. If they didn't give them medals and just went with a prize pool and said "we are hosting this at the X-Games as a showcase of competitive game, please give it a watch" it would have gone much smoother

Exactly. Esports at X-games is fine. But they aren't extreme sports so they should get a separate pot and trophy and not receive X-games medals basically

 

[Dremark]

I don't see it as her attacking games or gamers. It does seem odd that gamers are awarded the same medals at an event consisting of athletes who bleed, break their bones, and push their bodies to the limit.

Please, gamers push thier bodies to the limits as well. People suffer from things like carpel tunnel, vision damage and even Nintendo Thumb as a result of gaming related injuries.

 

[Doc_Drop]

Please, gamers push thier bodies to the limits as well. People suffer from things like carpel tunnel, vision damage and even Nintendo Thumb as a result of gaming related injuries.

It's not even comparable really though, it's apples and oranges

 

[Dremark]

Everyone should think of eSports as chess. Problems solved.

Chess isn't electronic so it's not a real e-sports. I certainly hope they never try to give out the same sort of awards for chess as e-sports as the comparison is an insult to the sport.

 

[Dremark]

It's not even comparable really though, it's apples and oranges

Spoiler

I was joking, I really thought putting Nintendo Thumb in there like it was a horrendous injury would have made that obvious but I guess not.

 

[Led_Zeppelin]

Please, gamers push thier bodies to the limits as well. People suffer from things like carpel tunnel, vision damage and even Nintendo Thumb as a result of gaming related injuries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D-QD_HIfjA

 

[RAWi]

Same could be said about other sports some decades ago.

I know. I was just kidding, that's why I wrote it like that, as in, people aren't sports either, they are people. Sports is an activity.

But yeah. Even though many are against all of this right now, just like everyone was against calling Poker (Bowling, Chess, among others) sports, but now they are. It is inevitable. Although, I think that e-Sports will stay instead.

 

[Doc_Drop]

Spoiler

I was joking, I really thought putting Nintendo Thumb in there like it was a horrendous injury would have made that obvious but I guess not.

Haha, good stuff. You had me there

 

[DeepEnigma]

I know. I was just kidding, that's why I wrote it like that, as in, people aren't sports either, they are people. Sports is an activity.

But yeah. Even though many are against all of this right now, just like everyone was against calling Poker (Bowling, Chess, among others) sports, but now they are. It is inevitable. Although, I think that e-Sports will stay instead.

Unless used as a verb, then people can be good sports.

 

[Trup1aya]

I remember people having similar arguments when what we call extreme sports were fighting to be recognized as sports.

I mean let's face it, the notion that a sport is extreme is apparently related to the amount of danger present. But it reality, these sports are not neccisarily any more dangerous than what we consider more traditional or Olympic sports. Skiers, Wrestlers, triathletes, etc subject themselves to plenty of danger, but still get rolled in with fencers and ping pong players come Olympic times...

A large number of American football players retire with life altering injuries, but it isn't an extreme sport, it's just a sport.

When you look at it this way, XGames isn't really about danger. It's about what was once considered niche hobbies becoming legitamate competitive events. Gaming, to me, fits right in, in that regard.

 

[SummitAve]

I could see a virtual sport being in the X games like some future digital racquetball/tennis thing, but just playing Halo leaves much to be desired.

 

[nuttyevans]

Please, gamers push thier bodies to the limits as well. People suffer from things like carpel tunnel, vision damage and even Nintendo Thumb as a result of gaming related injuries.

Brb, going to claim disability benefit for Nintendo Thumb.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

So does this mean Halo will continue to be in the X-Games and we will see the return next year? :O

 

[hobblygobbly]

I agree with her, the X Games is about extreme sports, it's the most high risk, how are eSports appropriate for its format and medal? Nothing wrong with eSports but I think it being in the X Games is a bad pairing, completely out of place.

 

[Amneisac]

The funny thing about all this to me, is who cares? The X-Games ratings have been on a death spiral for years, you'd think this woman would be receptive to anything that might preserve the X-Games.

Yeah, they're definitely not athletes, and it isn't a sport, but people enjoy watching it and it kind of fits in with some of the demographic, so just roll with it.

 

[DrROBschiz]

e-Sports and sports mix like oil and water -- and that's how it's supposed to be.

Exactly

There has to be a distinction between athletics and competition

Sometimes there is crossover where it makes sense but as a culture we need equal parts encouragement for both

 

[lyrick]

So does this mean Halo will continue to be in the X-Games and we will see the return next year? :O

hopefully next year they make it extreme though...

Maybe they can be forced to play underwater on a single breath of air, or try to dodge real life projectiles like medicine balls while playing.

As it stands now the only question I have is how much does it cost to get absolute BS like this into the XGames in the first place?

 

[DannyDanger]

She's right

 

[Kibbles]

Yeah and that was the only fun thing to watch from the X Games

 

[Nostremitus]

Yeah and that was the only fun thing to watch from the X Games

...

You must not like watching sports.

 

[ScatheZombie]

She's not wrong.

It has nothing to do with e-sports not being 'athletic' or gaming being considered a sport. The X-Games has always been its own venue for 'extreme' sports that don't always get the attention of traditional venues. Their own definition of 'extreme' boils down to the participant having a considerable risk of serious physical harm.

There is nothing 'extreme' about playing Halo, it doesn't really belong at the X-Games.

But neither do a lot of other Olympic sports either. So it's not about being an athlete or a 'real sport' like so many drive-by comments are trying to make it out to be.

 

[RobNBanks]

What's funny is that CSGO was at Aspen last year and no one said a word but Halo.has everyone upset the legacy of X Games is ruined

CSGO is legit! Well, legit to everyone excluding Valve

 

[Z3M0G]

Isn't X-games extreme sports and such? Videogames should not be included in that...

 

[trifelife]

I can't believe we're in 2016 and people still believe the stereotype that the prerequisite for being considered a sport is for a bunch of big, dumb grunts to be running around a field trying to score a ball into an enemy's zone.

Professional athletes are big dumb grunts eh.

 

[spookyfish]

No one deserves a medal that ugly, for sure.

 

[Kalamari]

Xgames can give a medal to whoever they deem worthy. However, I believe this is their first step into being a non-athletic based competition.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

She's right. X-Games should hand out medals for extreme sports only.

What ESPN should do is start their own e-sports tournaments or partner with a current one. With their recent e-Sports page going up I'm sure something like that is coming up. This X-Games appearance is probably to test the waters.

 

[Hopeford]

One aside I'd like to make about the topic of sports/esports is that while some sports are trying to distance themselves from gaming as much as possible, other sports like fencing are trying to get closer to them. Tim Morehouse(Olympic silver medalist) thinks that fencing's best shot at becoming more mainstream is to mimic video games.

And it's not an uncommon opinion among fencers that the sport is extremely similar to fighting games in mechanics of mind games, parrying, committing to actions and everything. It's a sport where distance, mind games and prediction matter just as much as the actual moves(though those are also vitally important).

I imagine the day we see Fencing at EVO(let me dream dammit) we'll see both esports being more accepted and fencing getting a bigger audience, which would be lovely.

 

[Caja 117]

I thought the X in X-games stands for Xbox. /j

Meh, it was kind of nice seen the Halo Tournament in X-games, next up, Oscar nominations for best Kiss...Believe,

Did this X-Athlete won any medal on the X-games?

 

[orthodoxy1095]

Xgames can give a medal to whoever they deem worthy. However, I believe this is their first step into being a non-athletic based competition.

And X-Game participants can disagree about the worthiness and the turn from the mission statement and concept behind the X-Games.

 

[Aesthet1c]

I love e-sports and I want to see it grow, but I agree with her. X Games isn't an appropriate venue for them. It's a venue for extreme sports where actual physical risks are taken. Video games need to stop trying to latch onto these other sport venues and just continue to have their own thing and let it grow from there.

 

[Alavard]

Right or wrong, it's a pretty petty thing to complain about.

 

[Caja 117]

I love e-sports and I want to see it grow, but I agree with her. X Games isn't an appropriate venue for them. It's a venue for extreme sports where actual physical risks are taken. Video games need to stop trying to latch onto these other sport venues and just continue to have their own thing and let it grow from there.

Question is, was it the Halo tournament asking to be in the X-games, or the X-games asked for this?

 

[Joseph Merrick]

as if medals in xgames mean anything. haha

 

[Juke Joint Jezebel]

Until players have to ride a half pipe and pull off a christ air whilst 360 no-scoping scrubs I'll never accept e-sports as part of the X-games! Never!

 

[wrongway]

I'm pretty ambivalent towards both the X-Games and esports in general, but I agree. A video game tourney has no place in a venue for crazy stunt sports. Go be your own thing.

I do love the little gold-plated Power Wheels license plate though