E-Sports

We live in constant violence. It seems like every year there's a domestic event highlighted by a bloody rampage by crazed individuals armed with weapons that are meant for such frenzies. The most recent that are still in people's minds would be the Washington Sniper and the Columbine High School shootings. While it may be true that psychologically troubled individuals planned out and executed both events, later investigations pointed out one hauntingly similar coincidence. The killers practiced on simulated violence that comes with video games (http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?method=4&dsid=2222&dekey=Eric+Harris+and+Dylan+Klebold&gwp=8&curtab=2222_1). And because of that, the gaming industry took massive repercussions, with lists such as the one Mothers Against Violence in America created, in which games such as Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, and Halo are supposed to be avoided by parents at all costs (Lottie). The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility mentions the same games but takes it a step further stating that "violent interactive media indicates that it has a strong and more lasting effect on violent behavior...in children and adolescents." (http://www.iccr.org/issues/violence/jointstatement020705.PDF) But is that the truth? Will everyone playing an Entertainment Software Rating Board rated Mature game become a crazed, violent individual who wants to commit mass murders? The mass populace of the United States may say so, but the rest of world seems to disagree (McDonald, 16). Gaming has minimal effects, if not any, on the mental health of its crowd. With legislation pushing for anti-gaming acts, the casual and professional gaming communities are starting to suffer because of a few crazed individuals. Whereas casual gamers will probably complain, American pros will take whatever action they can to slow down the barrage of acts and laws that will hinder their ability to compete at level with foreign professional gaming teams.

One of the ideas that hasn't taken hold in the United States would be the idea of Electronic Sports or Professional Gaming (commonly known as E-Sports). The rest of the world, namely Europe and Asia, respects and accepts E-Sports, whereas the United States looks down on it. America tries to make attaining competitive games Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike:Source Halo, Warcraft 3 and others difficult for everybody. Europe and Asia on the other hand, have live media coverage at events broadcasted over national television. If a common middle-class mother in America mentions something about games, negative comments would follow suit. If the same case was to happen in Norway, then the responses would be neutral and would wind up with the mothers conversing about their sons/daughters placement in the last major event they were in. One of the primary reasons for the acceptance of E-Sports in Europe would be the way it's viewed. Europeans view E-Sports as a "cultural artifact." They also discovered that there's "more to games than violence" (http://www.gamestudies.org/0401/rau/) Apparently, Americans have yet to make such a discovery. America's conservative view on E-Sports is more spread out through the country. For example, in Europe, Asia, and Canada there are many Local Area Network, known as LAN, centers dedicated for gaming alone, and are popular places for social gatherings after school. There isn't even one single center that caters for gamers only in Chicago. There are also much more events commonly known as LAN parties held in Europe and Asia. These parties generally have competitions between teams of different games, namely Counter-Strike, and usually award the winners prizes. In Europe, such "parties" are held nearly every month where events in the U.S are spread out and rare. The market in Europe and Asia is much friendlier toward gamers, whereas there practically isn't a market in the U.S. This may also help explain why Europeans are more accepting of E-Sports. (Fromme)

The culture found in competitive gaming is interesting and fulfilling. One of the more famous and heavily fabled leagues where the world's most high-caliber teams duke it out would be the Cyberathlete Professional League. (http://www.thecpl.com/winter2004/) Every year during winter and summer, there are tournaments held, with Counter-Strike being the most popular. This is where some of Europe's finest from Sweden, Norway, and Germany battle against other excellent teams from Brazil, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The winning team wins $100,000 and the prestige and respect that goes with it. But it's not all about winning that makes such events worthwhile. Such events are similar to the LAN centers around Europe and Asia. Professional gamers can watch other teams with comparable skill to see how they play, talk about the tactics they used, and so and so fourth. In general, not only will a spectator see some amazing competition and entertainment, they will also get to talk to the stars in the E-Sport world that are comparable to Kobe Bryant in the National Basketball League. Such intimacy with the stars of the game is hard to come by in other sports.

E-Sports is just like regular physical sports, with statistics being available for teams and players. Other players follow those statistics, such as the ones found at gotfrag.com religiously and discuss them, just how baseball fans discuss about Sammy Sosa's home runs. Team rankings such as the ones found at gotfrag.com are respected as much as an NCAA basketball team's seed ranking. It's especially serious in Europe and Asia where sometimes "being a professional gamer earns you thousands a month, even if you are not the top of the crop". (taste) In fact, professional gaming in Europe and Asia can be a full-time job, and if a person is good enough, they can live off of all the prize money. In fact, an American named Jonathon Wendel has made over $100K in one year of professional gaming. (Millington) And of course, there is always the other players that look up to such stars as role models. In fact, rumors are that China, the host of Summer Olympics in 2008, may very well be including computer games in the lineup with the other "traditional" sports (taste).

If China does include a battery of computer games for the 2008 Olympics, then that would probably be the point where computer gaming becomes mainstream (Millington), including in the U.S. If the general population of the United States doesn't see the worldwide acceptance of E-Sports as "real competition," then it probably never will in the United States.

But computer games aren't the only things that the American population isn't aware of. The massacre at Columbine could have been avoided. It didn't have