StarCraft II Gamer Receives US Pro-Athlete Visa 114
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."
Ackbar says (Score:3, Funny)
It's a trap!
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This is a fully operational Nydus Worm.
Re:Ackbar says (Score:5, Insightful)
Ah Ackbar, the true hero to end the empire.
Unlike Luke, who abandon his post and joined with the enemy.
Or Solo and Lieha who, just barely achieved their mission by turning a cloak and dagger mission to a full frontal assault, killing many civilians.
Ackbar, caught the trap quickly and professionally organized his troops to hold the line until he had the tactical advantage.
Are other 'sports' treated similarly? (Score:5, Interesting)
Genuinely curious. Does this sort of thing apply to chess, poker, and other "less-traditional sports"?
Re:Are other 'sports' treated similarly? (Score:4, Informative)
A company can actually ban someone from a sport (Score:3)
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You can get banned from competing, but you can still play on your own, or set up another league. Lance Armstrong is still allowed to ride a bicycle, but a player barred from Starcraft by Blizzard would never be allowed to play.
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But I agree that 'Sport' isn't the right label here. It should be labeled as a 'competition' just like every other 'sport'. After all we watch a competition between professionals (people that devoted way more time to a activity, then we could be bothered to, and there got really good at it) based on set rules. IMO we only call professional spo
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Switching to a different sport (Score:2)
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 [wikipedia.org].
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 [wikipedia.org]. Had the National League and American League been able to assert actual exclusive rights over basebal
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At least some sports (like pro wrestling) actually wan to avoid getting defined as sports in legal sense as it can bring bunch of problems (like Title IX). There are some legal thoughts available athttp://dpgatlaw.com/2013/07/23/inviting-regulation-the-sportsification-of-video-games/ [dpgatlaw.com].
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Arrogant ignorance spews from your frothing orifice. The most entertaining games involve an element of chance which can be mitigated by applying a strategy. I welcome your futile rebuttal.
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What makes a game a sport though?
My take on it is physical rather than mental exertion. So in my mind dominos, chess, poker and starcraft (1 or 2) are all games. Doesn't make them any less watchable or admirable though.
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Oh, and wrestlers are neither. They fall into the entertainment industry category. At least the WWF do. Those sumo dudes, well they need a category all of their own...
Wrestling for real (Score:2)
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.
I think some people do it under the table for othe (Score:2)
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.
Top kek (Score:2)
This needs the giant foot icon.
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After I RTFA, it seems a Jägerbomb icon might be more desirable and appropriate. I haven't realized it before, but Slashdot really needs a Jägerbomb icon!
Angry Birds (Score:1)
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Your definition of "professional" doesn't match everyone else's.
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P1 = Jet Li, Gary Kasparov, David Beckham Visa (Score:5, Informative)
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.
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I thought there was already an O (I think) visa for people who are outstanding in their field (i.e. musicians, bands, entertainers etc).
It does seem odd to call it an "athletic visa" when this P visa is also for entertainment groups (presumably, musicians will now be getting this kind of visa).
Generally I wouldn't call a Starcraft pro an athlete, nor would I call Starcraft a sport (I wouldn't call chess a sport. I wouldn't even call golf a sport - it's a pleasant past-time, but not a sport). Don't mistake t
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Where I draw the line is:
* Does it involve strenuous physical activity?
* Does it entail some level of risk greater than just every day activity?
* Does it involve competition?
If it does, it's a sport in my book. If not, it might be entertaining, it might be fun, but it's a pasttime. Starcraft 2 fails on the first two counts. Golf fails on the first two counts in my book. Snooker fails in the first two counts. I think of all these things as perhaps being entertaining and highly competitive, but not really a s
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What about shooting? That's at the Olympics, but does not require strenuous physical activity.
Also, it's difficult to argue sports like tennis are high risk activities.
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Risk doesn't need to be TBI from e.g. American Football; there are plenty of non-contact sports. Tennis, track and field, etc. all have a higher risk of injury (muscle strain, etc.) than normal daily activities like walking to the mailbox. I'm not saying I subscribe to Alioth's definition, but the "risk" aspect is certainly there for sports that require exertion.
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If you claim strenuous physical activity is inherently risky, then the risk statement is pointless, because it is already covered by the strenuous activity statement.
Also, I would argue that not doing strenuous physical activity at all is more risky than doing it.
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The visa waiver may not apply if one is participating in a tournament that gives out prizes or otherwise remunerates the participants.
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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?
According to this [socialsecurity.gov] information from the Social Security Office, holders of a P-visa are eligible to receive an SSN. This means that he can actually pay taxes on his US income, should he win any major prizes.
Another reason could be that a previous visa request (such as J or F) was denied, making him ineligible for the VWP.
Good news (Score:1)
H1B Visas and now this? (Score:2, Funny)
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.
Well how can we have a world championship matchs (Score:2)
with only people in the usa being able to play.
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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.
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While the top earners in e-sports, apart from Fatal1ty, aren't from the US, 7 out of the top 20 are employed by a US organization (EG/[A]). The picture gets more favorable for the US the further down one goes in the top 100. As far as SC2:HotS goes the US has the famdom scene locked. I would guesstimate that ~80% of successful players are either Korean or play for a US
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There are no top-tier American Starcraft players that I'm aware of; the current North American champion is a Canadian girl.
We do have good League of Legends teams.
Not the first time (Score:2)
Not so Fast (Score:4, Funny)
didn't Bobby Fischer get jail time for playing a (Score:3)
After he went to Russia to play a match?
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Sweet! (Score:3)
Monster (Score:1)
so (Score:1)
Dvisions of Competitive Endeavors (Score:2)
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, Mara
physical control (Score:1)
...hm (Score:1)
Brain activity (Score:1)
This article [technobuffalo.com] 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
Re: Doritoes and Wheaties (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re: Doritoes and Wheaties (Score:2)
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!!!
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Sports contribute in the same way movies, music, games, and comedy do. They provide entertainment.
Re: Doritoes and Wheaties (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re: Doritoes and Wheaties (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
Re:Outlier: video games DO contribute to obesity. (Score:4, Insightful)
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.
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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.
To get to the core of the issue... (Score:5, Insightful)
Diving a car is a risk factor for obesity; professional race drivers are not obese.
Re:To get to the core of the issue... (Score:5, Insightful)
Being *American* is a risk factor for obesity.
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Hold on, diving a car? That's a risk factor for something else entirely.
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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
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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
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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.
Re:Doritoes and Wheaties (Score:4, Insightful)
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 [google.nl]
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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
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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 weigh
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The review mirror? What exactly is that?
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stupid spell check.....
*rear view mirror*
I apologize for any incontinence this may have caused you.
Re:Doritoes and Wheaties (Score:5, Informative)
something like this? [twitpic.com]
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I am pretty sure that he is from SOUTH Korea.