Nintendo of America has announced a partnership with PlayVS that sees two of its top online games recognised as official high school varsity events.
Starting in fall 2021, both Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2 will be added to PlayVS High School Leagues, allowing participating high school teams across the US and Canada to compete against each other in online matches. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will also join the lineup in spring 2022.
Bill Trinen, Nintendo of America’s Senior Director of Product Marketing, has shared the following:
"We know there are many Nintendo fans with incredible gaming talent who are looking for more ways to explore competitive play and participate in tournaments. Working with a community-focused organization like PlayVS is an important next step as Nintendo expands our support for competitive play and helps more players explore gaming in a competitive space. High school students from all around the country will be able to put their skills to the test in Nintendo Switch games in a competitive setting – and hopefully make some awesome memories along the way."
Is it just us, or does it feel like it's been far too long since we last heard from Bill?
As part of the new deal, PlayVS and Nintendo will be providing Nintendo Switch systems to hundreds of select qualifying schools that compete in a PlayVS Nintendo title league this school year. Qualification details will be shared a later date, but anyone interested in learning more about the new scheme can find more info on PlayVS' website here.
We definitely wouldn't have skived off P.E. as much if we could have played Super Smash Bros. instead of doing swimming. What a missed opportunity.
Comments 44
Say what!? I'm going back to school IMMEDIATELY
(So long wife and kids 😉)
Huh?! Because of Corona or why? Since when are games sport??? And don't dare to come with Ring Fit lol
That's interesting.
@Ulanda I think some high schools already have Rocket League teams. I don't know if covid influenced that or not. I wouldn't be surprised if covid played a part, though.
@sketchturner
@WoomyNNYes I'm surprised. I had no idea.
If only this had happened when I was in high school... I probably would have went right into professional gaming.
Siiiiiiiigh 😒
SUCH a FML moment...
Man they should replace Science with gaming classes. It would teach way more.
Where was this when I was a kid?
But seriously, how is gaming a "sport"? The whole point of offering sports in school is to get kids off their ass for their own health.
[reads title]
Well, there goes the school system.
@Mountain_Man Yep, it seems like video games were chosen due to popularity. As many positives as people like to make about them, they certainly don't talk about the negatives too much. And this is coming from someone who's into hardcore gaming.
How embarrassing.
To anyone thinking 'man if they had this when I was in school I could have been a pro...' don't kid yourselves, you were average back then and you are average now.
@Donnerkebab “Nintendo of America has announced a partnership with PlayVS that sees two of its top online games recognised as official high school varsity events.”
That’s literally the first sentence of the article. Do you people even read these before coming to the comments?
P.E. never had swimming as an activity!
I can already hear the sweaty try hard's toxicity echoing across the halls of schools...
And then parents are going to wonder why their kids are overweight and out of shape because schools are allowing this as sports rather then having the kids play an actual sport like football or baseball.
LOL Being a ex pro athlete and gaming all my life. Gaming is not a sport. Unless the word "sport" is going to have a new definition. This will be a fun debate. We might learn something new lol..
@Tasuki Yes, let’s conveniently forget about all the other non-athletic competitions in school too.
On another note, being overweight is a combination of bad habits at home, not playing video games by itself.
Well, my school year ended yesterday so maybe in august
So does that mean I was just a straight up jock in high school cause I played sports and now "sports"?
@Mountain_Man its more about the economics of it. Players that show promise can be recruited or drafted by these huge eSports companies. If a school is recognized for having a top notch eSports program and pipeline, more players will want to attend that school. I also think this is a fantastic way to introduce game development, design, and debugging in high school. Lets not get caught up in the label “sports”
To me, if its played competitively, its a sport. NASCAR, Chess, Horse Racing, and yes gaming too, are all sports in my book. If you can make money competitively playing it, then its a Pro sport
@bluemage1989 lol, that hurt and I didn't even think it.
@ItsOKToBeOK from Webster : "a physical activity engaged in for pleasure"
Hmmmmmmmmm.
🤔
Video games are a sport? Lmao. Clown world.
@Trajan If poker can be a sport, anything can be a sport.
Why did I have to be born so late?
As a father of a college freshman and a high school sophomore, not a fan of this. I really don't understand why this is a "sport" and not a "club".
And I don't mean "understand" as in videogames are bad, I mean don't understand from legal reasons.
Both of my kids competed in FIRST robotics. FIRST robotics is a huge international endeavor involving HS students traveling all over the world. They build, program and compete with their robots. The entrance fee for each tournament is $5,000. Yet it is still considered a "club", not a "sport". So I really don't see how video game competitions, our team holds Super Smash Bros tournaments every year as a fundraiser, are a "sport" when building robots and having them face off in competition in teams of 3 is a "club". During build season our club meets 5 or 6 hours a day every day. They are very much a team.
Video games are not a sport. I'll accept "esport", but that isn't sports, it's esports, hence the "e".
https://www.firstinspires.org/
Ok but I wonder how much of splatoon2 they will play, since splatoon 3 is supposed to be released in 2022
I’m aged out, but I imagine a Splatoon team will need a coaching staff, right?
@rjejr I don’t understand - what’s the legal distinction between ‘sport’ and ‘club’?
No comment on the American education system or obesity crisis.
@rjejr Sounds like you should be asking why what your kids did is not considered a sport, as opposed to just settling for the idea that it's not, and then thinking it's wrong for something else to get the recognition.
Great. Now do the same in Canada.
@rjejr I was unaware a high entry fee was a requirement for an activity to be considered a sport. Oh wait, it's not.
FIRST sounds like a great thing for kids to get into, but how exactly does what you describe differ from a chess club, aside from that ridiculous tourney fee?
Sports, eSports, it still has "sport" in the name, and words are allowed to take on new meaning to reflect the changing times.
@ItsOKToBeOK "To me, if its played competitively, its a sport. NASCAR, Chess, Horse Racing, and yes gaming too, are all sports in my book."
Your "book" is too broad if you consider gaming and chess to be sports. Every dictionary definition of "sport" I can find specifies that it involves physical exertion. NASCAR racing certainly counts because the forces experienced during a race require a lot of body strength to keep oneself upright and in control of the vehicle (why do you think there are no fat NASCAR drivers?). Horse racing is also a physical sport. But chess and gaming? No way.
Because American kids aren't fat enough. Take the actual sport out of sports.
Yeeeeaaaaa, no. This is not acceptable.
Imagine earning a varsity letter or getting school funding for playing Nintendo!
My oh my how times have changed...🤦🏻♀️
I mean, I love games. They’re great fun. But games are addictive, games are big business, and kids get more than enough screen time at home in their free (and not so free) time. Must we install them into schools, too?
The only video game that belongs in school is Oregon Trail, and ain’t nobody going to convince me otherwise. 😜
@LinkSword I do, considering it plays as a team sport. Emphasis on team. But even so, we don't need video games to qualify as a HS sport, we just don't.
https://www.thebluealliance.com/teams
@onex Both my kids have been in chess club. Not. Even. Remotely. Similar.
@Spiders I don't know, the school doesn't seem able to explain it to us. "Legal" may not have been the best word, but it has something to do with responsibility.
I wish this was a sport when I was in high school.
@NotoriousWhiz from dictionary.com
Physical: “of or relating to the body”
Last I checked, you need your hands to play both chess and video games
I think they're just lumping eSports under sports for simplicity's sake. A gaming club is very different from an eSports league.
Whatever, I just classify board and video games as "mind sports" and call it a day.
@ItsOKToBeOK sorry, I guess it was only my mind that went into the gutter with that definition. Lol.
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