Is gaming a sport? 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello and welcome to 6 Minute

English. I'm Neil.

Catherine: Hello. I'm Catherine.

Neil: And if I say to you, Catherine,

fortnight, what do you think of?

Catherine: Well, that's easy, Neil. A

fortnight is a period of two weeks.

Neil: Well, fortnight, spelt f-o-r-t-n-i-g-h-t,

is indeed a period of two weeks. But

Fortnite, spelt F-o-r-t-n-i-t-e, is an online

computer game that has become

incredibly popular in

a very short period of time.

Catherine: As well as popular, it's also

very competitive. And you're soon going

to be able to make big money playing it

and you can even hire people to be your

Fortnite coach.

Neil: Well, before we hear a little more

about this topic, it's time for our quiz.

These days we play computer games on

our phones, we can hold them in our

hands. In 1950 Bertie the Brain

was the name of one of the very

first computer games. It played a simple

game of noughts and crosses, also called

tic-tac-toe. But how tall was this

computer? Was it...

a) one metre tall; b) about four metres tall or

c) about ten metres tall?

Catherine: Well, if it was the 1950s,

computers were huge, so I'm going to go

for ten metres.

Neil: OK. Well, we'll find out if you're right

at the end of the programme. eSports or

computer games competitions are now a

thing. In some markets they are huge and

they are even discussing including

them in the Olympic Games. Kyle

Jackson is a 13-year-old gamer who's

been asked to join a team. How long does

he say he's been playing video games?

Kyle Jackson: I've played video games all

my life, basically. I started playing

competitively when I was around nine or

ten. I got into like Halo, Call of Duty,

games like that. And I just...

I realised that I could probably

like go to a pro (professional) level, if

I keep playing at the level I am.

Catherine: He said that he's been playing

computer games all his life. Now that

might be a little exaggeration, but he's

probably been playing them ever since he

can remember. When he was nine or ten

he started playing competitively, which

means he started playing

in competitions against other people.

Neil: He talks about a number of games

that he got into. This is a good

expression. If you are into something

you are very interested in it and to get into

something describes the process of

becoming interested in that thing.

Catherine: In Kyle's case, it was computer

games and he got so good that he's

thinking about playing at a professional

level. Doing something as a professional

means that it's more than a hobby or

pastime. It's something someone

pays you to do because you are really

good at it.

Neil: George Yao is a former gaming

champion who is now Director of Media

of Team Secret.

Team Secret are like a regular sports

team. They have a group of players who

play matches and competitions against

other teams. Except these are not regular

sports. These are eSports and they are

big business. Here's George Yao.

George Yao: It's becoming a multi-billion-dollar industry:

just games, production

of games, publishing of games and the

eSports scene. So it's not just one thing

now, it's a whole industry.

Catherine: So George Yao says that online

gaming is becoming a multi-billion-dollar

industry. We usually think of industry as

factories and manufacturing. But it can

also apply to other areas as well that

involve a lot of different elements that

come together to make a business.

Neil: Different elements that he mentions

as part of this industry are creating

games, publishing games and the eSports

scene. The word here scene here refers to

the world of eSports: the events, the

competitions and the players. And many

people want to be part of that scene.

Right, now, let's get the answer

to our quiz question about the size of that

1950s computer game. Was it...

a) one metre tall; b) four metres tall or

c) ten metres tall?

What did you say, Catherine?

Catherine: I went for ten metres, Neil.

Neil: Well, unfortunately it was four metres.

Catherine: Still quite big though - imagine

you couldn't get those in your pocket,

could you?

Neil: I'd rather not! But I would like to

review today's vocabulary.

Catherine: We started off with the word

for a period of two weeks - a fortnight.

But with a different spelling, Fortnite is

also a very popular video game.

Neil: Multi-player video game

competitions which people pay to go and

watch are known as eSports.

Playing against other people is

playing competitively. Do you like to play

multi-player video games, Catherine?

Catherine: I've never really got into them

even though I've tried one or two. And

that was one of our other expressions,

to get into something - to become really

interested in something.

Neil: Same here, I enjoy playing a little

bit but I could never be a professional.

I couldn't get paid to do it as a job.

Catherine: Of course not, you're already a

professional broadcaster, Neil.

An area of business that is made up of

different parts can be described as an

industry. The video game industry is a

multi-billion-dollar business. And we also

talk about, for example, the fashion

industry and the movie industry.

Neil: And finally there was the word

scene. This noun is used to describe

the world of a particular activity.

Catherine: So the eSport scene, for

example, is the world of eSports. The

games, the teams, the competitions,

the audiences. It's all part of the scene

Neil: Well, that's all from the 6 Minute

English scene today. Do join us again, but

if you can't wait, you can find us

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website bbclearningenglish.com.

Thanks for joining us and goodbye.

Catherine: Goodbye!