Computer networking games or video games as we know it is usually dismissed as an unnecessary distraction for children who easily get addicted and consume hours playing games in front of the screen.
However, it would come as a surprise to learn that it is a recognised sport around the world and a team from UAE also takes part in the World Cyber Games.
One of the most popular events at the MKC Sports Championships held in Fujairah during the month of Ramadan was the Interactive Games competition which attracted some 120 participants.
“We have two types of games we offer. One is Playstation. Inside Playstation there is Pro evolution soccer. Other one is an online game called Counter Strike. It is played on computer and it has a team of six. It’s a shooting game and they play against each other for 15 rounds each,” said head of organising Interactive Games Ali Zafar
“Internationally the sport is known very well. It’s called electronic sports. They have World Cup qualifiers and there are teams from UAE which compete in France and Malaysia for World Cyber Games,” said Zafar who has not played video games himself but has plenty of experience in organising such events.
“I’ve been hosting events for LG Cyber Cup before with Samsung. I was only in the organising committee. But I haven’t unfortunately played the game,” said Zafar who hails from Fujairah.
The organisation which regulates the sport is called CPL and every two months there are various tournaments in different emirates. In addition qualifiers are held to select the UAE team for two top international competitions.
“Counter Strike is like a form of a video game. Back in the 90s we used to play Arcade games by putting a coin and playing. Then the era of Nintendo came when we used to play multiplayer games against each other. They Playstation came following by computer networking where they crossed everything into a network and they form teams and you play on the computer,” said Zafar explaining the evolution of cyber games. “It started from simple video games and has reached here.”
He shot down the view that it is harmful for kids. On the contrary, he says, it provides them an alternative and a new kind of challenge to achieve something.
“Some kids are not interested in athletics. And some are anti-social kids meaning they usually don’t go out and stuff. So they go into a network. You don’t have to have any gaming background. You don’t need to have any athletic background. You can just go and mix and socialise and join a community (network),” he said.
Zafar also debunked the myth that it was a time consuming addiction. “It’s a pastime like billiards, bowling and other indoor sports,” he said.
What was his message to parents who would normally discourage children from playing video games? “They should play up to their limits. It’s just a pastime game. The reason why they are doing all these tournaments is to promote the game and not give an addiction to it. It’s not an athletic sport. It’s just a normal competition,” he said.
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