Pro PC Gamers Have Elderly Chain-Smoker Bodies

[exfileme]

A recent study tried to determine if PC gaming could actually be classified as a sport.

Pro PC Gamers Have Elderly Chain-Smoker Bodies : Read more

 

[Trueno07]

I could never be a Pro gamer. I love to play games, just not for that long every day. It would get old FAST.

 

[klavis]

Whats with England and all the gamer related studies? They seem to have it out for the gamers in a bad way.

 

[Guest]

in which case trolling and flaming should become a sports too

 

[vartok]

So does this mean that schools will start forming Street Fighter teams?

 

[jerreece]

but perhaps this is the occupational hazard of the professional gamer

Occupational? Doesn't an occupation suggest you do it "for a living"? I.E. you earn a living? LOL

 

[nforce4max]

We're intellectuals not muscle heads or steroid junkies.

 

[Anomalyx]

Is gaming a sport? Depends on your definition of "sport". If all it requires is to be competing against someone else, then heck, even sandwich-making can be a sport if you're trying to do it faster than someone else.

Everyone will have their own definition of what a sport is. Mine excludes gaming, even though I do plenty of it. Then again, being a soccer player and having the view that sports require real physical effort, I don't even consider golf a sport (it's a game, but not a sport). Same with things like billiards (a favorite game of mine, but it isn't a sport). That's my view, and I'm sure everyone else will have their own.

 

[klavis]

[citation][nom]jerreece[/nom]Occupational? Doesn't an occupation suggest you do it "for a living"? I.E. you earn a living? LOL[/citation]

The gamers in the study DO make a living off of playing games, so it is an occupation.

 

[kingnoobe]

Would I call gaming a sport um no. Then again I don't think darts and things of that nature should be considered sports either. TO me sports are a combination of both skill, and physical. If it severaly lacks one of those two compenants I don't consider it a sport.

 

[razor512]

When something becomes a sport of a professional competition, it is no longer fun. I play games for fun not sport.

The same goes for physical sports, once it becomes professional or competition, it is no longer fun, it is just work at this point.

 

[bin1127]

snooker and darts are not sports. who even thought of that?

 

[ckthecerealkiller]

I would like to see a "normal" professional athlete take the mental exertion of a 14 hour tournament (when a high level of skill is required). I'm not saying NONE of them could do it but gaming is a mental battle not a physical battle. Many consider chess a sport but my heart rate and motor skills are much higher during a serious gaming session.

 

[brendano257]

Sigh....you can call it a sport if you want, but I won't compare it to running in track or playing soccer(football), 'football,' or any other athletic sport. They should just stick with the title of E-Sports.

As for the differences, being an athlete myself I would say that it takes more determination to work out, and really push yourself to improve in sports. Where as the only pain in 10 hours a day of games is the boredom factor.

@nforce - It's funny you use the word "intellectual" and then group all athletes into the categories of muscle heads and steroid junkies. My schools track team is somewhere around 90 kids, and there are maaaybe about 3 or 4 kids I would call muscleheads. Don't take hard work and determination and call it excessiveness or drug use, it simply doesn't add up.

 

[antilycus]

bowling and poker players.... both are considered sports, enough said. Might as well call whistling a sport...or thumb wrestling.

 

[tcsenter]

[citation][nom]soldier37[/nom]My fitness level is just fine, ex military of 14 years and stay fit work out every day. Ive been PC gaming since the 1980s on the commodore Vic 20 thank you! Must be a slow news day Toms! Now back to some Battlefield BC2...[/citation]And you're not a professional gamer (e.g. someone who competes in organized competitions for prize money), which is what the study was about (and clearly stated in the news article). Maybe try to improve your reading comprehension skills in between your work-outs and gaming sessions?

 

[kyeana]

So we have offically concluded that golfing is not a sport. Right on!

 

[Guest]

I think the stress without physical exertion is detrimental to physiques. Under stress the body will do minimum where it can afford minimum leading to a deterioration in physical characteristics.

 

[tolham]

"perhaps this is the occupational hazard of the professional gamer who can spend around 10 hours a day in front of a screen"

only 10? i would have guessed at least 16.

 

[mancream]

I'm 20, a gamer, smoke a lot of cigs n kush, and I'm healthy *cough cough*

 

[captainnochords]

It may be interesting to note that if professional gamers do increase their physical fitness, it may be beneficial to their other skills as well. Gaming is a very new sport, so optimum training regimens - physical or mental - are still developing with the sport. But for example, top level chess requires physical fitness - a major criticism of Vladimir Kramnik by his coaches was that he smoked and didn't exercise or eat well. He fixed those problems and went on to win the world championship. Perhaps there could be a parallel here?

 

[kinggraves]

The problem with "studies" is that anyone can launch them, despite a lack of qualifications or improper testing methods. They could've easily picked the 10 most out of shape gamers they could find to get the results they wanted.
The fact they are in poor shape does NOT come directly from professional gaming, but their own lazy habits. Playing a game for 8 hours a day doesn't prevent that person from exercising daily as well. The important fact is that they have the same mental prowess. A professional gamer with a healthy diet and regular exercise habits could clearly be on par with any other athlete.

 

[FloKid]

just play 8 hrs a day and do exercise for the other 2. Should be pretty fit then : )

 

[Gin Fushicho]

Yes, yes.. .special pro gamers making it a sport. The people I play against from 8PM to 10PM every night before I go to bed, the people that never stop playing and I can never win against.

I call that, "having no life".

 

[bearracuda]

[citation][nom]bin1127[/nom]snooker and darts are not sports. who even thought of that?[/citation]
The British. That's who.