Slashdot Mirror
StarCraft II Gamer Receives US Pro-Athlete Visa
dotarray writes "The world's first professional StarCraft II gamer has been granted a five-year pro athlete visa for the United States, making Kim 'viOLet' Dong Hwan the first of his kind. viOLet was one of the first gamers to apply for the P-1A visa when they were introduced in July. The new paperwork doesn't mean that he can live permanently in the U.S., but it does mean he'll be treated like other (more traditional) athletes, able to easily enter the country temporarily to participate in tournaments."
It's a trap!
No sig today...
Why do I remember this being common in the esports scene.
Genuinely curious. Does this sort of thing apply to chess, poker, and other "less-traditional sports"?
This needs the giant foot icon.
What you hear in the ear, preach from the rooftop Matthew 10.27b
LOL EVERYONE WHO PLAYS VIDEO GAMES IS FAT LOL AND EATS DO RIDE LOL
The guy looks to be in damn good shape, better shape than most Americans. He gets paid to smash letters on a keyboard just like a huge employment sector already has been for decades. Just because it can be more enjoyable means it needs a stigma attached to it?
Perhaps the envy will wear off of you one day.
So, is Doritoes going to start putting professional gamers on their bags like Wheaties does with ball players on theor cereal? Are we goning to be seeing fat kids with Cokes and Doritoes yelling, "I'm in training! I have t eat this way!"
Ummm...Fat?
https://www.google.nl/search?q=Kim+'viOLet'+Dong+Hwan&espv=216&es_sm=119&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ
Wait after the 5 years are over. He will look like Kim Yong Un afterwards.
something like this?
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
Can a professional Angry Birds player (plays every afternoon with his colleagues) apply for a P-1A Visa?
Because many competitive tournament visitors are atheletes, the State Department website designer chose to follow the vernacular to call it an "athletic visa". The US immigration code from the Immigration and Nationization Act of 1965 refers to "alien athletes, artists, and entertainers, and their spouses and children." The Starcraft gamer was issued a "P1" visa according to TFA which applies to "individual or team athletes, or members of an entertainment group (P-1B) that are internationally recognized. A maximum of 25,000 P visas are issued annually."[wikipedia] The whole article plays on a reader-friendly title for a government a web page. .
In other words, P1 is the same for Gary Kasparov or Jet Li. It's designed to keep USA employers from issuing "track and field" competitions to pick grapes, without impeding Hollywood or Olympic events.
Gently reply
Your argument is specious. While lack of physical activity may contribute to obesity, there is nothing to say all people who are not physically active are obese. Indeed, he may very well be going to the gym 3 hours a day. We have no way of knowing from him being a professional video game player
And yes most video game players ARE overweight. It's one of the MAJOR causes of obesity in our US society.
Citation or it did not happen. I accept that a large amount of obese people play video games and watch television, they also drive a car. News Flash: Driving a car instead of biking to work may make you fat: most drivers ARE overweight.
Like many other "sports", it contributes nothing to the planet. nothing. nada. nil. After he's dead nobody will even remember who he is, or even care because his contribution to humanity will be nothing. People won't give two shits about your uber micro, or the fact that you can slam buttons faster than anyone else on the planet.
He may have a skill, but I'm sure there is some better use for it than playing starcraft. Most of the world doesn't give two shits about it.
I am pretty sure that he is from SOUTH Korea.
Um.... the one does not preclude the existence of the other you know.
And if it helps, the number one cause of obesity in the US is Cars. Because you know, you write off that age old human exercise known as walking to where you are going. I know it may be controversial, but you don't actually have to dress up in spandex in order to stay fit, take it from someone who is rational.
People envy him?
I'm sure some people do. I enjoy playing games, but would not want to do it for a living.
I find video games boring (unchallenging), nauseating, and lonely.
Yeah. I find spreadsheets nauseting, boring, and lonely, yet there are million people who earn their living by handling them.
There's nothing like meeting people in person - chatting online doesn't cut it - and participating in a physical activity: tennis, soccer, softball, etc .... contributes to one's overall well-being on many levels: emotional, physical, health and social.
So are you saying everyone should be a professional tennis player? Most real pro gamers do have hobbies other than the game. In Korea they have training schedules, physical training, like jogging or walking. For the exact reasons you specified.
In shape? Thin doesn't mean he's in shape. And it's pretty sad when one's weight is used as a single benchmark for fitness. He could be thin because he's a chain smoker, lives off of caffeine, cancer, .....
He is still in better shape than about 70% of americans. Also, why should he have to be in a great shape? It's not like chess players have to be in absolutely great physical shape.
And yes most video game players ARE overweight. It's one of the MAJOR causes of obesity in our US society.
Envy, indeed.
Not where I live. Then again, we are getting there slowly. I'd also wager we play more computer games here than in US. The main causes are cars, elevators, online ordering, lack of free or very cheap exercise options etc. Games have mostly cut to the time spent in front of TV.
My personal opinion is that gaming can in fact be a sport, Much as foreign chess players can secure this type of visa when playing in america, im sure pundits will laud this as a spurious visa ($criticism=Obama->new($issue)). Yet taking a moment to play Starcraft II on its normal setting one arrives at a determined sense of exactly how challenging this game can be. A real opponent competing in a tournament can, and does, easily outmatch the AI for the game even on its most brutal setting. Anything more than normal is enough to send the commenter to therapy.
Being an american though, I cant help but draw a contrast between the E3 visa and profesisonal sports visas in the context of traditionalist argument. the E3 applies to skilled labour, yet if you were to give one to a roofing contractor who spends 12 hours a day shingling a home or 9 hours fitting pipe in a rural texas ranch home it would draw the same criticism. is for this type of criticism the e3 prohibits "seasonal" labour like homebuilding. Although the class 3 visa is extended to foreign profesisonals it in no way reflects the tenacity and challenge faced by labour in a decidedly lower social and capital class. it also neglects to inform the reader that most 'seasonal' labor is in fact performed in regions with no discernable season such as new mexico, texas, or arizona. Much like the Starcraft gamer has his sports caste, so does the immigrant laborer have his employment caste.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Here's one
Another
And anotherMany people would agree that “back in the day” insufficient exercise would never be a problem for kids. However, in age that dwells on video games, computer programs, and many indoor activities, children are beginning to focus more on instant gratification and less on old fashion fun (unfortunately, this includes playing outside).
Obviously, it's because kids are sitting and not moving around, but ... just read parts about "instant gratification".
News Flash: Driving a car instead of biking to work may make you fat: most drivers ARE overweight.
Oh good grief. Yeah, I see all those people saying, "Yeah, I bored, Let's go sit in a traffic jam for several hours tonight instead of going for a walk."
Computers and video games are making us fatter and more isolated: Facebook and Slashdot are nowhere near what personal human interaction can off and as a result it's making more hostile and anti-social.
Speaking of too much screen time, I need to go. Correcting the Internet every time it's wrong is tiring.
His name implies he is a national from South Korea. South Korean nationals are part of the visa waiver program and can stay in the US for up to 90 days without a visa. Why waste this visa on him?
Video games and television are linked to obesity. As in, such activities are some of the factors involved, not all. Bottom line: If you eat too much and don't exercise enough, you're probably going to get fat.
Facebook and Slashdot are nowhere near what personal human interaction can off and as a result it's making more hostile and anti-social.
Face-to-face human interaction is filled with lies and facades. People say what they're truly thinking and do what truly interests them when they're mostly anonymous, and hold back in public for fear of retribution.
If you read up on these guys, the amount of discipline they demonstrate is amazing: daily 8- or 10-hour training sessions just to keep their reaction times high enough, never mind developing new strategy or approaches to the game. With that kind of mindset I'd be unsurprised if they were all fitness obsessives.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Diving a car is a risk factor for obesity; professional race drivers are not obese.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Well its a great news for all the athletes as they need to get training about fitness and other activities with this it will help them out for better performance. As some sports are related to states and not other countries. The best part of this thing is traveling around the state meet new players get better advices.
Well, yeah, Doritos is pushing a lot of money into gaming events.
Video games like Tetris and StarCraft are proprietary. This means one entity has the state-backed power to prevent any particular person from playing a sport. It's not like being "banned from baseball" where a player can join another league, as the game's publisher has the power to shut a league down by asserting the publisher's exclusive right to perform the game publicly. These companies also have veto power over implementations of a "sport". It's as if The Tennis Company could sue a city for putting up an unlicensed tennis court in a public park. So I don't see how a proprietary activity deserves international recognition in the same way as, say, something free like Chess or Go.
World Wildlife Fund? Panda wrestling? Get the F out.
But seriously, would you consider MMA a sport? It's essentially professional wrestling without all the fakeness.
Can't this country produce quality game players of it's own?
Who would have thought America would have fallen so far that our couch potatoes are getting replaced by imports.
>>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
League of Legends was actually the first game to have a pro issued a sports visa. To quote a friend "They're recognised as athletes for visa purposes because they come into the country and compete and then leave again so as far as immigration is concerned that's the one that fits them best. Unfortunately the vast majority of posters are too stupid to understand that and the topic turns to shit." source http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=421180
People envy him?
Yes, but most people does the same thing as you and think that competitive gaming is remotely similar to gaming for entertainment.
For most of these players it is hard work, long days and very little pay for everyone except for the absolute top players.
The best players on the other hand can get pretty lucrative sponsorship deals and a reasonably sized audience.
I find video games boring (unchallenging), nauseating, and lonely.
That is because you don't play against other players and what you do have nothing to do with competitive gaming and e-sports.
As for loneliness that doesn't appear to be a problem, there are plenty of fangirls around. Enough for the girlfirends of players to complain about it.
And yes most video game players ARE overweight. It's one of the MAJOR causes of obesity in our US society.
Again, you are confusing competitive gaming with the way you play games.
These guys have access to physical therapists and exercises on regular basis. Those who don't can't handle hour-long games where you have to keep your concentration every second.
An interesting tidbit from the e-sports conference in Valencia 2011 was that the representative from CBSi mentioned that e-sports in general generates more viewer-minutes every month than super-bowl does under its entire season.
viOLet has been one of my very favorite SC2 players for a long time. He decided one day to just pick up and leave Korea to experience the foreign scene (Starcraft being so dominated by Koreans, that no matter your perspective, 'foreign' means 'not Korean'). Learned English, joined a foreign team, moved to America, and is a very classy guy. And for it, experienced so much trouble that is the American visa fiasco. I was thrilled to find out his visa troubles were over for the immediate future; he had to forfeit a lot of tournaments he easily qualified for, throughout all of 2013, and hopefully with this all settled I can finally see my favorite player stomp ass like he could've been doing all year.
I think some people do it under the table for other sports this person did it the legal way.
I know some other people who do stuff international and they really don't get visas for it.
He just tested positive for Red Bul,l taurine, Monster Energy drink, and NoDoz. Banned.
with only people in the usa being able to play.
After he went to Russia to play a match?
Well if you are going to be a professional gamer, being fat may be at a disadvantage. When you need your arms to twitch and type and move a pointer at split second speed, you can't have your arms bogged down by an extra Kilogram of fat.
Now for the average gamer. You could be 300kg and still play the game decently. However if you are professionally and need to beat times by split seconds then you better be in better shape, as well if you are going to be playing all the time, you need some endurance.
Now gammers if they are so involved in the game that they are not eating, I bet they can stay fairly thin.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
United States of Soviet America? I like the way that soundz!
Now he just needs to whore himself out to Red Bull and he'll be set for life! It's the American dream!
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Monster should be more his thing if you ask him. He has taken Red Bull money though for a 5th-8th place. http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Red_Bull_Battlegrounds:_Austin
I'm skinny and until recently I never exercised , how much I eat has been a running joke and source of amazement at work. It makes my wife and a lot of other people annoyed that I can sit at the computer all day and eat whatever with out worrying about my weight.
I have two brothers that are the same way they eat whatever don't exercise and are skinny
I exercise to build muscle because my back was hurting in the morning when I woke up not to maintain my weight. My wife thinks one day I'll start gaining weight, but that usually happens to a guy in his 30s which are in the review mirror for me.
Actually, let me give you a stat.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24998497
Kids today are slower than their parents. Let me give you another thought, when did video games become popular? Interestingly the heyday of tv did not cause kids to become slower or fatter. Driving a car? Well that has been a grand American tradition since the 50's. There is only one thing left... Video games! I am not putting all of the blame on it, but it is too much of a coincidence. And please don't start quoting Correlation does not imply causation, kids are not moving around enough today largely due video games!
Now about older people being fat? Actually yeah that is how it always has been. Look at this stat: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Overweight_and_obesity_-_BMI_statistics
See the interesting trend? As you get older you get fatter. Now here is the problem, young kids are fat, and they are only going to get fatter as they get older.
"You can't make a race horse of a pig"
"No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"
Nah, I creamed him in Dota anyway. He's meh.
What are we gonna do? Use these athletes as drone battalion commanders or something? Like that would ever work out... Somebody would probably lock them up and make them work for evil governments.
Lets ban SC2 from Arab countries pronto!!!
His name is Dong Hwan.... I would have expected at least one Don Juan joke.... I'm disappoint.
heh
if they do anything that pisses off the community they'll end up losing users to rival games and lose money
What (legal) alternative was there when The Tetris Company made the infinite spin feature of Tetris Worlds official despite reviewers' claims that "it actually breaks Tetris"? That's as if basketball players had to switch to netball or team handball, or if American football players had to switch to rugby. Not all skills transfer.
Furthermore, while traditional games and sports are public domain, the entities that organize the events are not very different from your standard corporation. Anyone that can potentially do or say something that can potentially go against their or their partner's interests can be put out of the game.
Black players kicked out of Major League Baseball started parallel Negro League. Had the National League and American League been able to assert actual exclusive rights over baseball, there might not have been a Negro league or any other independent professional baseball promotions. Heck, there might not have even been an American League.
n/t
And please don't start quoting Correlation does not imply causation
Some people use it to say nay to strong statistical results backed by solid scientific investigation to causality, but the quote is exactly for you kind of folk who look at statistics, come up with their own theories and believe in them willy-nilly without ever thinking about the responsibility to go through the process of formal validation. Perhaps there's more junk food or even nutrition level in general. Perhaps parents don't have as much time to bring kids outside or guide them to play sports. Perhaps more people live in cities, where there's simply less space to run around; I live in a place where you need to queue overnight just to book an indoor basketball court, all year long. Perhaps the reproductive disadvantages of genes related to obesity have been alleviated by modern technology and some change in societal values, so obese offsprings have become more common. Perhaps there's a kind of commonly used product, not even food, that specifically induces some kind of hormonal disorder which leads to obesity. I can give you lots of possible explanations and none of them are any worse than yours.
You also have to know that the demographic that sits in all day, every day, to play video games is quite small compared to the entire population. Many kids play games, but it takes a certain amount of obsession to be indulged, that's why gaming nerds are always a minority. Either way in many cases I doubt videogames genuinely displaced exercise; given your data you can't say they'd otherwise have done more sports, a very significant portion could have still watched TVs or read a book or something. Moreover, it's not so easy for a teenager to become obese just because of lack of exercise; adolescent metabolism is high so it takes a middle-aged some regular aerobic exercise to match, and kids don't have that many years to build up their weight; there are often causes that played bigger roles, such as uncontrolled eating and stress.
The biggest difference is professional esports players don't get paid billions of dollars for doing what, to them, is not very much work. The second biggest would be that physical sports and esports utilize completely different sets of human ability. I would wager there are no american pro athletes that could keep up with a pro sc2 player in SC2 and vice versa.
That said, professional athletes of any kind do contribute to humanity. Not all of them, but many inspire people to do better.
After he's dead nobody will even remember who he is, or even care
I bet you know who Babe Ruth is.
Well if you are going to be a professional gamer, being fat may be at a disadvantage. When you need your arms to twitch and type and move a pointer at split second speed, you can't have your arms bogged down by an extra Kilogram of fat.
If you're moving your whole arm to control the mouse, you're doing it wrong.
Starcraft is every fake-nerd's nightmare. An actual means of proving intellectual aptitude that you can't bullshit around.
bring your ivy league degree, your masters thesis, your rich parents, your friends in high places, your new BMW, your fourth house in the bahamas, your heavily-diversified portfolio, and see how much they don't matter in SC2
And please don't start quoting Correlation does not imply causation
My declarations also sound true when I request that no one show otherwise.
I know there are work visas, tourist visas and visa credit card (www.visa.com). Never heard of P-1A visa before.
Sports contribute in the same way movies, music, games, and comedy do. They provide entertainment.
After all, I am strangely colored.
We all know that playing Starcraft shouldn't be considered a sport... but who puts forth a rubric for judging what's what? I do, that's who!
**Sport** (Rugby, Tennis, etc.)
--Competitive (against an opponent)
--Directly oppositional (opponent attempts to prevent one's success)
--Non-subjective scoring (ball through a hoop, player passes line, etc. Disagreeing with the referee doesn't imply subjectivity)
--Requires excellent physical condition to achieve excellence in the sport
**Race** (NASCAR, Horse Racing, Marathon)
--Competitive
--Oppositional (opponent performs at the same time and may or may not actively attempt to prevent one's success)
--Non-subjective timing
--May or may not be a test of human strength/speed. Could be a test of human control over another being or machine (auto racing).
**Competition** (Gymnastics, Dance)
--Competitive
--Can have subjective scoring
**Game** (Board and video games, Golf, etc)
--Competitive
--No particular physical requirements to achieve success
--No subjective scoring
**Endeavor** (Ex. Setting records, Mountain climbing without time limits)
--Not necessarily competitive
--Goals may vary (points, time, etc.)
This article tells about playing games and the relation to to the brain's capacity. I saw a documentary about younger people (25 year old if I remember right) that their brain showed more activity (more active neuropathways) then an older person (30 or something similar).
I just can't find the other documentary
PC Gaming enthousiast that gives comments, opinions and reviews on Games. I'm just having fun with games while doing let
do you think a pianist requires physical control? do you think an expert pianist has more physical control than an amateur?
Translation: "I know, deep down, that I'm full of crap and doomed to lose this argument. I'm going to bow out now while I can still just barely fool myself into thinking I still have a shred of dignity. But I'll still continue to obsessively refresh the thread during my "absence" because I still need to know what everyone is saying about me."
lot of people even say the koreans are dominating sc2 because of their superior physical control - in the business, we call it "mechanics"
No, he was wanted by the State Department for going to Yugoslavia during the war in the 1990's when all travel by US citizens was banned. He played a rematch of his famous match with Boris Spassky. He sought asylum in Japan, then was granted full citizenship in Iceland, and was still wanted at the time of his death in 2008.
The review mirror? What exactly is that?
with only people in the usa being able to play.
That's what the rest of us were wondering about the World Series in baseball before Montreal and Toronto got teams.
stupid spell check.....
*rear view mirror*
I apologize for any incontinence this may have caused you.
Video games are unchallenging? Here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NetHack