Video Essay – Script Format
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1:00
Narration / Sound
Music from the Dota 2
Soundtrack
An interesting
development that has
come out of gaming is
the rise in competitive
gaming and e-sports as
a whole. Games such as
Dota 2 have blossomed
in popularity and have
players competing for
large sums of money.
Lowered volume of
Dota 2 soundtrack
Chances are though, if
someone was to tell
their parents they were
going to choose a career
in playing videogames,
they might shriek at the
notion. Everyone has
heard the standard
responses parents give
when kids are playing
video games. Go
outside, stop being a
couch potato, go run
around outside and stop
wasting your time
playing those
videogames. These sorts
of parents would most
likely be in favor of
their kids playing a
sport rather than
playing a videogame.
Image / Video
Video of me talking
Clip/still photo(s) of Dota 2
Video of me talking
Stock photos of
disapproving parents,
maybe use friends to create
these photos
Text / Titles
Title page
1:30
That’s where my gripe
comes in. The
development in new
media has allowed
competitive gaming to
be a viable professional.
Not only is professional
gaming a viable
profession, but contrary
to popular belief, it is
the future of sports.
With that said, let’s back
up a moment.
2:00
Dota 2 is a videogame
developed by Valve,
creators of games such
as Half-Life, Half-Life 2,
and many others. Dota
came about first as a
mod for the game
Warcrft 3. It started
gaining traction and got
a following, leading to
Valve wanting to make a
sequel. Dota 2 is an
insanely complex game
in some ways, so I’ll
explain the mechanics
in the most general
terms possible. There
are two teams on
opposite sides of a map.
Players pick a hero from
a pool of heroes, each
with their own abilities.
The goal is to destroy a
structure known as the
ancient on the
opponent’s side of the
map. There are lots of
other things to take into
account, but that would
take much longer than
the allotted time I have.
Video/photos of Dota,
What is Dota 2?
Warcraft 3, Dota 2, etc.
Can have a map light up with
different parts of the map,
explaining things such as the
ancients on each side.
2:30
3:00
3:30
Now that that is taken
care of, let’s talk about
what makes competitive
gaming a viable
profession and sport.
First off, according to
Merriam Webster, a
sport can be defined as
“a contest or game in
which people do certain
physical activities
according to a specific
set of rules and compete
against each other”
Common sports
everyone thinks off the
top of their head are
football, basketball,
baseball, etc. With that
established, how can
playing videogames be
considered a sport?
Going off of the first
part of the definition,
competitive gaming is a
contest. Like in
professional sports,
there are teams of
players that compete
against each other, and
in different leagues.
They play within a
particular set of rules,
and are working
towards a goal. For
instance, hockey players
play for a chance to win
the Stanley cup.
Professional gamers
compete to win various
tournaments.
In addition to this, like
athletes, professional
gamers spend a lot of
time dedicated to their
Photo/title card designed for Merriam Webster
the definition of a sport.
definition for a sport
“A contest or game in
which people do certain
physical activities
according to a specific set
of rules and compete
against each other”
Maybe some photos of
hockey players/footage of
Stanley cup
Footage of winners of
various tournaments
(The International,
Starladder, etc.)
Footage from Free To Play of
Fear talking about being
kicked out/the preparation,
4:00
4:30
craft. Most of the time,
professional gamers
practice around 7 hours
or more per day. In the
documentary Free To
Play, Clinton Loomis,
better known as his
alias Fear, talked about
this and how he was
actually kicked out of
his house due to how
much time he spent
playing Dota 2. Another
player, Benedict Lim,
also mentions how
playing Dota 2 affected
his studies and was
something his parents
weren’t particularly
fond of.
Another particular
knock that exists about
professional gamers is
that they are stuck in
their parent’s basement.
Colin Cowherd, a
famous radio host, in
particular, is critical of
professional gamers.
Take a listen to what he
says here
A few things here. One,
while in the past,
winnings for
tournaments weren’t
that much, they have
drastically increased. In
2011, a tournament
hosted by Valve known
as “The International”
first started, featuring a
prize pool of 1.6 million
dollars. The prize pool
for this past
International, a
Footage from Free To Play of
Benedict Lim talking about
how much he plays Dota,
how this impacts his studies,
etc.
Photo of Colin Cowherd
Footage of Colin Cowherd
talking about professional
gamers,
Stuff from first International,
Stuff from recent 2015
International
Clip from Mark Cuban
responding to Colin
Cowherd, talking about
competitive gaming
whopping 17.6 million
dollars. People are
starting to pay attention
too, with people such as
Mark Cuban starting to
believe in competitive
gaming. It is for these
sorts of reasons that I
feel thus that
competitive gaming is
an actual sport and
should be recognized as
such.