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The World Cup is starting right now Germany, (well it’s either now or a few hours from now, or a few hours ago, time zones are too ‘new math’ for me) and it’s got me thinking. No, not about soccer, the only thing more boring than soccer is another debate about how boring soccer is. I’m thinking about competition, and how interactive entertainment will never, truly be a sport worthy of the worlds attention.

I’m sitting here in a nine dollar seat of my hometown’s (very) minor league baseball team’s stadium. You’d be surprised to hear that I do some of my best thinking here in the open outdoors and away from my beloved consoles. I’m not sure what inspires me here, maybe the sunlight, maybe the methodical pacing of the sport, or maybe it’s like that scene in Ben-Hur (not THAT one!) where two spectators are idly chatting to each other about nothing while Kirk Douglas and one of those fish-net and spear guys fight for their lives.

Now I don’t want to get all Bob Costas on you, but the great sports have a timeless quality to them and save for the ridiculous designated hitter rule, baseball hasn’t fundamentally changed in over a hundred years. Heck, soccer hasn’t changed much since it was a game of kicking a severed head into your neighbor’s cave. Nowadays they use a ball, and the Neanderthals are confined to the stands.

So when I read about things like the World Series of Video Games or the incredibly baffling prospect of adding gaming to the Olympics I can’t help but shake my head. A world champion of video gaming is not only a ludicrous concept but fundamentally impossible.

What are you talking about Seth? Wasn’t it you who lionized Fatal1ty just a few months ago? Yes, that’s true and thanks for reading. The point I made about Fatal1ty was that there could be a spokesman for the enthusiasts of the medium, not a programmer or a publisher, but a gamer that could step up to the mike and fight back on those who would blame gamers for the world’s ills.

Here’s the point, Fatal1ty is the best FPS gamer in the world, but there is a good chance I could take him in Starcraft or Dead or Alive. The White Sox won the World Series last year (ugh) does that make them the champions of all sports? Of course not. One could be crowned the champ of a particular game or even a series of games, but they could never be the champion of all of gaming, making such titles pointless examples of excess brought on by heavy marketing.

This fact does not work against us however; the vast spectrum of game genre is our “sports” greatest strength. The medium is constantly evolving, twenty years ago there were no first person shooters, ten years ago there were no GTA (that’s Grand Theft Auto, although the Gamer Transit Authority wasn’t around then either so I could see how you could make that mistake) and if I told you three years ago you’d have a blast picking up junk with a sticky ball you’d of called me crazy.

The World Cup will crown its quadrennial winner in a month or so (maybe more…maybe less) at the end of a tournament with decades of history featuring a game played by nearly ancient rules. Also someday soon a World Champion of Video Games will be named by some sponsors after winning a few rounds of their latest product(s).

While a single world champion would bring a lot of attention and notoriety to our medium, I’d rather have a million champs of 1000 games in LAN parties, dorm rooms and all-nighters all around the world.

This is my stop.

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Back of the Bus is © 2006 by Seth “4:10” Robison, used with exclusive permission by gamertransit.com. Reproduction without permission is prohibited.