This is how you train your brain with computer games
Ragnaros, the fire lord with the heat-spewing abdomen, buries his opponents under a lava wave. Lunara, a green-headed centaur, sends out spines to defend herself against her enemies. And if you collect enough monster skulls, you can summon a pretty bad-tempered golem. Granted, the world of the computer game "Heroes of the Storm" is very different from the real one. But who in his free time takes on the roles of fairy dragons and skeleton kings to measure his powers and abilities with other players, despite doing fantastic scenery almost the same as a highly concentrated chess player. For complex computer games, it's not about blunt Wegballern, but to invent clever strategy moves. That's why you can call it sports when two teams of players compete against each other in this virtual world.
ESport - no new invention!
ESport is the abbreviation for "electronic sports" and the collective term for all competitions that people do not compete with each other on sports fields or in gymnasiums, but on computers or game consoles with each other. As with classical sports, in some of them you play as a lone fighter and in others as a team. Most eSportsmen are in South Korea, China and the USA.
Does one sound like one? pretty new invention? The history of electric games sports goes back further than you would think spontaneously. Already in the fifties there were first? Versions of lady or chess, played on a computer against each other? could become. 1958? William developed? Higinbotham "Tennis? For Two", a simple? Tennis simulation. From? At the end of the seventies, gambling halls, home computers and consoles were now able to compete with the best in a shared game situation. After all, as more and more people got access to the Internet, you did not even have to be in the same place to compete in eSports. Due to the global networking, global competitions were now possible. In 2000, the first "World Cyber Games" (WCG) were held in Seoul. Today there are countless competitions worldwide, which are usually held by the manufacturers of the respective games.
Also eSport requires regular training
Even with eSport you do not come around to regular training, if you want to be successful. First, of course, you have to familiarize yourself with the computer game you want to play in - and these games can be very complex and challenging.
In addition, an eSportsman also has to be mentally flexible: In challenging games, good spatial orientation and forward thinking help to keep track of all the tactical maneuvers of your own and your opponent's team. Do you always have to keep your attention completely at stake? and must not allow any concentration disorders. Motor skills are also important, for example fast response. Professional athletes often live as a team in a house, have fixed training times, a captain who announces the next moves to the other team members via headsets, and a manager. These professional players are financed through sponsorship and advertising - and, at best, via prize money, which can amount to a million dollars in the most important competitions.
ESport: More complicated than chess
To date, eSport is recognized as a sport only in a few countries such as the USA, China and France by the established sports federations. In Germany is still discussed. That games like "Heroes of the Storm" have nothing to do with dumb Daddelei, everyone quickly notices, the savvy players watching it - you need alone an excellent, trained memory to the 70 different characters with their special skills, strengths and To memorize weaknesses in whose role you can slip as a player. The rules for the different chess pieces are much more manageable.
This article appeared in the ChroniquesDuVasteMonde we 01/2018
