As technology continues to advance at an accelerated rate, new activities become prevalent throughout our culture. One activity that has followed this trend is video games. What once was seen as something that socially inept geeks wasted the best years of their lives on, is now an activity that captures the attention of people from all demographics. Usually when something new becomes profound in our culture, it tends to spark controversy, and competitive video games are no exception. In the last five years there have been more competitions for video games than ever before. This has lead many people to debate whether the people who compete in these activities are considered athletes, and whether competitive video games should be considered a sport. While there is a competitive element to video games, they are not a sport.

   The best way to determine if an activity should be considered a sport is to know what criteria needs to be included for it to be a sport. According to an online dictionary, a sport is defined as “an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature” (dictionary.com). Video games meet almost none of that criteria. There is absolutely no physical talent required to play video games. Based on physical condition alone, a person of any age or gender will have no inherent disadvantages when playing video games, while people who play mainstream sports such as baseball, basketball, and football only have a ten to fifteen year window to compete at the highest level.

   While there is no physical prowess required to play video games, it does take some skill to compete against the best. However, the talent that is needed is hardly comparable to that of actual sports. Most video games require the player to have precision, accuracy and skillful decision making in order to be successful. Mainstream sports require these skill sets as well, but they are much harder to master. 

   When playing a typical shooter video game, the player needs to shoot his enemies as quickly and efficiently as possible. According to a website that tracks baseball statistics, over twenty Major League pitchers currently throw fastballs over 97 miles per hour, which often gives their adversaries only a fraction of a second to decide whether the pitch is worth swinging at (MLB.com). The skills required for these two activities are nowhere near similar. Any person can dedicate a couple weeks towards being decent at a video game; however, it takes many years to compete at even an ameateur level in any of the mainstream sports. “Mainstream sports are much more difficult than any video game,” said Junior Jack O’Donnell.

   Overall, it is quite evident that videogames are not a sport. Although they have competitive elements to them, they do not require any physical talent, and are not nearly as difficult to master as mainstream sports. The notion that anyone would consider people who sit inside all day athletes is a disgrace to the real athletes that year after year, redefine the physical limits that the human body can achieve.

   These self-proclaimed “athletes” spend all their time sitting in bright colored chairs, drinking energy drinks, twiddling their thumbs, and clicking mouses, while real athletes are spending ten or more hours a day lifting weights, running, and honing their skills, just so they can obtain the smallest advantage over their competitors. These men and women sacrifice their time, money, and overall wellness in order to truly demonstrate what humans are capable of. The gaming community’s overwhelming need for validation truly exemplifies the egotistical society we live in.