Is DDR a Sport?

Anna Marie · Posted: Sat Jan 01, 2005 5:25 pm Post subject:

What is the specific criteria for something to be considered a sport? As in, what's the definition of a sport?
_________________

Music is the pleasure the human soul experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.
-Liebniz

DDR Slave · Trick Member Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Location: Winnipeg

elementis0 · Trick Member Joined: 01 Nov 2004

I dont think ddr is a sport but it still is pretty dang cool!
_________________

916 Roseville SUCKS · Trick Member Joined: 10 May 2004 Location: Roseville, CA

personally, IMO I think that DDR is whatever the player wants to make it...if a person thinks that DDR is a sport, then, it's a sport, if the player thinks ddr is a game, then it's a game, and so on and so forth...why make a big deal of whether or not DDR is a sport or not...
_________________

Roseville sucks

uouuÉ · Trick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2004

DJ_Ax3l · Trick Member Joined: 12 Aug 2004

Tacdildeuh · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 7:42 pm Post subject:

Personally I don't think DDR is a sport, cause eventually you'll get to a point where everybody is at the same extreme level (playing every song backwards and AAA'ing 'em) It'd take a while till that'd happen, but it will. Though, I guess you have freestylin' then. But still. Come on ppl, it's a vid. game. If you made this things a sport, you'd have to come along and make halo and some other MMORPG into a sport. The word would implode upon itself (little exagerated, but hey, get's the point across I think).

uouuÉ · Trick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2004

NightWalker555 · Posted: Sun Jan 02, 2005 10:22 pm Post subject:

Other than the obscure origins of Rock Paper Scissors (or RPS) and such imponderables as how Paper beats Rock, perhaps no other issue has so captivated the attention of the public as this one: Namely, is RPS by nature more of a game or more of a sport? Truly it can be called either, but which is the best descriptor for our beloved pastime? This issue continues to divide the community as a whole, and there is no sign of the debate dying down. With interest in RPS at an all-time high, a new perspective has never been needed more.

Perhaps some introductions and qualifications are in order. My name is Master Roshambollah, and I am considered by some to be the best professional RPS player in the world. I have played--and won--RPS matches on three different continents. If it's a major tournament I've competed in it, from the Southwest US ProAms and the Northeast Classic to the vaunted International Championship itself. There is perhaps no other person more qualified to approach this question from a player's perspective.

No one debates whether or not RPS is a game. Indeed, it may be the world's oldest strategy game. It is certainly the most basic; three is the minimum number of elements needed for an interesting strategy game (with two elements, one will always dominate). The game's best players obsessively watch videos of their opponents, keep up on the latest game theory, and study the great games of past masters. In this manner, we develop the mental qualities needed to suceed. In the classic work Trio of Hands, renowned RPS grandmaster Wojek Smallsoa calls RPS "the game of kings and paupers, of athletes and scholars, of warriors and peacemakers." As a game, RPS is used today by millions of people all over the world as a means of solving disputes great and small--from territorial disputes to deciding who has to take out the garbage.

But is RPS a sport as well? To answer this question, we must identify the differences between the two concepts. Games and sports share the element of competition; in this sense, checkers is just as much of a "game" as basketball. The key difference is the nature of the competition. With lesser strategy games such as tic-tac-toe, dominoes, or chess, the nature of competition is merely mental. With sports such as boxing, football, or golf, the competition takes on a physical aspect as well. And it is for this reason we must also consider RPS a sport.

No one who has seen the masters of RPS compete can doubt that the game involves both physical and mental efforts of the highest level. However, the great players always have their game rooted in the physical, in the seemingly effortless victories they achieve with throw after throw. The degree of physical involvement takes on new dimensions at the highest levels of the sport. Like all professional athletes, RPS players train heavily for major tournaments, making use of weight lifting and stretching excercises. Among professional players, physical injuries are all too common, ranging from repetitive-motion injuries to "knuckle dusting" (direct fist-to-fist contact).

To me, RPS is both game and sport, as well as a way of life. The cycle of life on Earth forms a pattern. Water evaporates from the ocean, becomes rain, then flows in rivers back to the ocean. Plants and animals breathe carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air in an endless exchange, each producing what the other needs. Earth spins on its axis and revolves around the sun so that season follows season in predictable order. Consider the rise and fall of civilizations and the patterns of birth, life, and death. Every beginning is an end, and every end is a beginning. So it is with RPS; one throw beats another, only to be defeated in turn by the third. RPS is a cycle as well. Thus, Lifeis a reflection of Rock Paper Scissors.

-Master Roshambollah

RPS and DDR are not the same and never will be. They do however share many concepts.

-They both have the needed number of elements to be considered a game.
-They both have serious players who study opponents, game theory, and past masters.
-They both share a mental and physical aspect.
-To some players DDR is even considered a way of life(especially in Japan).

Both RPS and DDR are games. To be a sport both games require mental and physical aspects.

Therefore DDR is only considered a sport to a person if they are serious about the it and invest considerable amounts of mental and physical effort.

To most DDR will only ever be considered a game. It will however always be a sport to those willing to make it one.
_________________

I wish the military would quit shoving propaganda down my throat, if I wanted that, I'd go to church.

Tacdildeuh · Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 3:40 am Post subject:

Bravo *claps*. Very well said

Johnny Rainbow · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Fukuoka, Japan

You know, that REALLY LONG post could've meant something, if it wasn't for the fact that it was considering Rock Paper Scissors to be a sport.

Also, if anybody studies videos of people playing RPS, then that person should seek professional help. Seriously.

btw, Chess was in the discussions of being an Olympic sport(forgot if it actually is, now), so how could it be known as a "lesser" strategy game that's compared to TIC-TAC-FUCKING-TOE?

Oh, and btw, DDR is not a sport. No matter what you make of it, there will be enough people in the world to not make that happen. No use trying to make something out of a dying franchise, anyway.
_________________

uouuÉ · Trick Member Joined: 10 Jun 2004

Daniel · Trick Member Joined: 29 Aug 2002 Location: Sonoma, CA

Johnny Rainbow · Trick Member Joined: 24 Jan 2002 Location: Fukuoka, Japan

In The Groove is not Dance Dance Revolution. It is something made by some guys who, for some mysterious reason, have not been sued by Konami yet(unless they have been sued, I'm not certain). Therefore, it does not help out the DDR series at all.

Also, to those who keep considering DDR as a sport because "it makes you sweat and it gives you a workout", Drummania also takes a certain amount of energy and movement. You could easily make it competitive by placing on the hi-score lists. Should that game be considered a sport as well? How about Mocap Boxing, the boxing simulation where you move your body around and defeat various simulations of boxers? You can beat out your friends' scores by placing higher on the list. Should that be a sport as well?

Hell, I'm surprised that nobody ever mentioned Pump It Up. It's been long hailed as the DDR knock-off, but that game has a bit of a die-hard following of its own. Why haven't people considered that to be a sport?

You people seriously need to realize that DDR is nothing more than a game that JUST SO HAPPENS TO GIVE YOU A WORKOUT. A videogame could easily be made competitively, and anybody could break a sweat while playing(be it nervousness or whatever).
_________________