LH Feature Magazine

videogame, set, match. miles pei 2018

The Little Hawk

feature 11

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cs:go hours

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page 9 what do videogames, basketball stadiums full of fans and six-figure cash prizes have in common? RAsmus schlutter delves into the wild world of competitive gaming.

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peppermint truffle recipe

6

unsociable buterflies

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new years fashion edit

PREVIEW

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Peppermint truffles

By Bella Pittman

‘Tis the season for cozy evenings in front of the warm fire, holiday music, gazing at beautiful lights with loved ones, and delicious food. Add these candy cane oreo truffles to your list of holiday treats this season

Unsociable butterflIES

By Lucia Wagner

Despite the increasing prevalence of social media, some students are choosing to avoid it entirely.

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2 Little Hawk Feature Magazine

COVER PHOTO BY NOVA MEURICE

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video game, set, match.

12

three, two, one!

By Rasmus Schlutter

From its humble beginnings at Stanford University, e-sports have evolved into an international industry, with millions of dollars in both player and corporate earnings. Through all of this, however, exists a love of competition and in the lucrative world of e-sports.

By Danielle Tang

Cider isn’t going to be the only thing sparkling in your house this New Years— count down to 2017 with these holiday looks.

december 16, 2016 3

PEPPERMINT TRUFFLES

4 Little Hawk Feature Magazine

‘Tis the season for cozy evenings in front of the warm fire, holiday music, gazing at beautiful lights with loved ones, and delicious food.

Add these candy cane oreo truffles to your list of holiday treats this season!

Instructions

By Bella Pittman Ingredients • • • •

36 oreos 8 oz of cream cheese, softened 16 oz white chocolate chips ¼ cup crushed candy canes or peppermint candies for decorating

1. Place the oreo cookies in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground 2. Add the cream cheese and pulse until the mixture is well combined and smooth 3. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper 4. Scoop the mixture into balls with 1 inch diameter (cookie

5.

6.

dough scoop) Place the cookie balls in the freezer until chilled at least for 1 hour Melt chocolate- place chocolate in a wide, shallow bowl, put in microwave. Heat on medium high for about 1 minute to start, remove from microwave and stir.

Repeat heating the chocolate at shorter intervals (15-20 seconds), stir in between,

until chocolate is completely smooth and melted.

7. Remove the truffles from freezer and dip into melted chocolate 8. Return to baking sheet and immediately sprinkle tops with crushed peppermint and allow chocolate to set 9. Store the truffles in an airtight container.

10. Share and enjoy!

December 16, 2016 5

Unsocial butterflies

By Lucy Wagner

6 Little Hawk Feature Magazine

Despite the increasing prevalence of social media, some students are choosing to avoid it Former Little Hawk Sy Butler ‘16, now at the University of Iowa, downloaded Snapchat and Facebook years ago but no longer routinely checks his accounts.

He does, however, see some advantages to social media, specifically the prospect of keeping in contact with high school friends that have moved across the country.

“You can connect with people you wouldn’t normally be able to connect with,” Butler said. “You can also explore your own identity. [Social media] is a safe place to experiment with who you are and who you want to be without being judged by your friends and people you have to meet in person.”

In January of 2016, 2.3 billion people were classified as active social media users, according to global agency We Are Social. That statistic reflects approximately 31.5% of the world’s population.

While the numbers continue to grow — there are 176 million more social media users than last year — some teenagers are less optimistic about social media due to complications often associated with excessive phone usage.

Butler suggests that young people waste a lot of time online, which can hinder their development of successful time management skills.

“It takes time to use social media, and it’s time spent that you could be spending on other things,” Butler said. “No offense to all of my friends and acquaintances, but I don’t really care what they are doing on a day-to-day basis.”

Butler also recognizes long-term complications for those who prioritize technology over personal relationships. “[Social media] makes people less able to communicate in person, less able to communicate with adults, less able to empathize,” Butler said.

According to the Pew Research Center, 12% of teenagers do not have cell phones. Donald Hill ‘17 falls into that 12%. Hill maintains only one social media account: a Facebook profile which he operates solely for communication to compensate for his lack of a cell phone.

“I do not have a phone so [social media] is not really a practical thing to have,” Hill said. “Also, why bother? I’m distractible. Squirrels distract me. I don’t need a phone for that.”

Hill believes Generation Z — a demographic that includes students in middle school and high school — are too attached to their phones.

“I see a lot of phones at times when maybe phones shouldn’t be out,” Hill said.

“It’s kind of annoying when I am trying to talk to someone and there is a phone between [my] face and [their] face.”

Schools across the nation have been striving to incentivize students to keep cellphones out of the classroom. The solution? Meet Pocket Points, an app which rewards students with discounts from local restaurants when students power off their phones during school hours. The use of Snapchat, a popular photo-sharing app, was restricted from the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) wifi at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year. These steps are to keep students focused on academics while in school.

Recent City High graduate Phinny Brady ‘17 does have a cell phone but has no desire to use any form of social media, as he considers it to be the weakest form of expression and communication. “[Social media] can only deliver the most surfaced aesthetic of what people want to be expressed as,” Brady said.

“There is no depth to the actual communication.”

He also believes excessive social media usage can lead to anxiety and insecurity, and that users lose a sense of individuality and negatively conform to social media trends. According to Dr. Jim Taylor, a psychology professor at the University of San Francisco, social media has lead society to care more about how they are perceived by others, and less how they express their individuality and self-identities. He also states online users download social media for self-promotion to gain more self-esteem.

“It is our nature to compare ourselves to others, especially in high school when we are becoming who we are going to be for the rest of our lives,” Brady said.

“Everybody wants to look a certain way; everybody want to be seen as something and usually it is something they are not.

I think [social media] is mainly negative and conforming — it sorts everybody into this idea of what people should be.”

According to a 2012 study completed by the National Institutes of Health, “In-

ternet Addiction Disorder (IAD) ruins lives by causing neurological complications, psychological disturbances, and social problems.” Their theory is that “digital technology users experience multiple layers of reward when they use various computer applications.” One “reward,” predominantly, being a sense of belonging. “The reward experienced is intensified when combined with mood enhancing/stimulating content.”

There are even military-style “boot camps” that support teenagers who are dependent on the internet for pleasure.

Many times these teenagers face depression or anxiety as a complication of their addiction.

Some are finding it better to quit social media cold turkey than risk addiction to the sites. City High student Borey Chea ‘17 has an Instagram account, but she has been on a self-labeled “hiatus” from the app for 15 weeks.

“I found that [social media] is not a healthy space for my mindset and I really needed some time off,” Chea said. “For awhile I felt very disconnected with the real world — I did not feel like myself. I did not want to obsess over people and pictures, and the pictures themselves are very contrived. Social media is toxic for the mind.”

Chea believes content posted online is contrived and often does not accurately represent the person posting. She suspects online personas are frequently different from how a person behaves during real face-to-face conversation.

“You ultimately have the ability to project whoever you want yourself to be over social media,” Chea said. “Some girls are really nice on social media, but then you talk to them in person and they are not that way.”

Sharing Chea’s outlook, Butler believes that only specific edited parcels of someone’s life will make the cut to be uploaded online. The number of likes and followers can often be linked to personal validation, self-esteem, and how ‘popular’ someone may be considered online, he said.

“You hear stories about how people on Facebook make their lives out to be much better than they really are, which leads to you feeling like you’re worth less because you see everyone else doing these cool

decEMBER 16, 2016 7

things,” Butler said. “You only put the highlights of your life up on social media. And even then you can exaggerate beyond the good moments so it becomes a false representation of your life. You don’t really communicate with people via social media, you communicate with their personality online which is not really them.”

According to Dr. R. Kay Green, the CEO and President of RKG Marketing Solutions, perception is everything, especially in the realm of social media. Everyone has an ideal self they wish to project on social media platforms to maximize our success.

Along with the trend of false presences online, Butler is concerned that many teenagers and young adults cannot maintain lasting conversations with each other or adults because of their constant need to check phone notifications. One example he points to is phone usage during dinner or when any conversation turns “awkward.”

“Anytime there is an awkward situation, BOOM! phones out,” Butler said. “The minute that people don’t perform to their expectations in a social situation, they turn away on their phone, which completely segments them off. They can’t overcome one five-second awkward period to get the next good bit of conversation in because they are on their phones.”

Chea believes that due to electronic overuse, teenagers are becoming increasingly inept at holding face-toface conversations adults. She points out this may be due to a generational gap in communication experiences and expectations — that those born into the era of social media rely more on technology for communication, and that older adults are more inclined to communicate face-to-face.

“Younger kids shy away [from conversation] and cannot handle silence,” Chea said. “Adults can express themselves more fluently — that is refreshing to see. I aspire to be like those adults. When you connect with someone in real life, it is the best feeling.”

Brady, in turn, notes that many adults do not “talk to just hear themselves talking.”

“Adults didn’t grow up with social media, so when they communicate, they want honest communication,” Brady said.

Brady likes the idea of technology, but he believes face-to-face conversation is, becoming less and less normal, which leads to confusion in communication.

“If you wanted something done, we used to have honest communica-

8 Little Hawk Feature Magazine

“WE USE PHONES FOR PLEASURE, AND BY DEFAULT, WE OVERUSE THEM.” BOREY CHEA ‘17

tion with others, but we aren’t forced to do so anymore,” Brady said.

Chea believes that while young people are too dependent on their cell phones, excessive usage is normal because Generation Z was raised with advanced technology at their fingertips.

“I think it is really hard for us to be not on our phone all the time because we grew up that way,” Chea said.

“We use phones for pleasure, and by default, we overuse them.”

Oversharing is another problem Chea dislikes about social media.

One trend on Instagram has been the creation of side accounts, or “Finstagrams,” which act as secondary, or fake, Instagram accounts used to post more intimate images and videos. She believes society pressures teenagers and young adults to crave constant attention, and a Finstagram is yet another method to acquire more followers and likes.

“I feel like people overshare a lot of their life, especially if they have a spam account on their Instagram,” Chea said. “Social Media makes you feel like you are the center of the universe. That is not a good mindset to have because you have to respect other people.”

Despite the love-hate relationship with social media, there are inherent advantages to having a social media account. Hill believes communication is made easier, and various platforms allow them to express their artistic sensibilities.

“Communication and form of expression are things that are definitely nice to have,” Hill said. “[Social media] is a successful form of communication that doesn’t rely on you being naturally talented at art or something.”

Brady says social media at its best can allow an increase in communication with people and places that are normally unreachable because of distance, such as popular musicians or artists.

“You can communicate with almost anyone, which I think is super cool,” Brady said. “There are so many opportunities involved in that.”

Although Chea does not plan on downloading Instagram back anytime soon, she does see some benefits to using social media.

“I think social media can be a great thing because you have information at the tip of your finger,” Chea said. “You can talk to people about anything and share your ideas. You can get a lot of perspectives from around the world.

The worst parts of social media are when you abuse it and overuse it.”

[video] Game, set, m atc h .

By Rasmus Schlutter & Maya Chadwick

miles pei rank: Global Elite hours played : 1,008 kills : 35,709 win/loss : 54%

december 16, 2016 9

Miles Pei ‘16 is sweating. His eyes dart back and forth, hands twitching with anticipation, as he sets up for the final play of the game. He shifts his microphone headset up and begins to talk frantically with his teammates, debating tactics and timing, until suddenly, it’s happening. With a shift of the wrist and a pump of the fist, the game, just a moment ago existing in tense overtime, is won. Pei and his team have done it. With pixels instead of yards, a monitor instead of a field, the “Counter Strike: Global Offensive” match Pei won with his friends is treated with the seriousness of any state cup final, and accompanied with the same jubilant celebration.

“The reason why I play is I like the thrill,” Pei said. “I don’t play ‘Counter Strike’ to kill people, for the gore and the violence. I play to beat the other team, to outplay the other player. To me it’s really just all about winning, getting better as a player, just learning.”

Pei is one of the over six million people who play the game “Coun-

ter Strike: Global Offensive”, and is among a growing community of competitive gamers. “CS:GO,” as the game is commonly known, was released in 2012, and quickly gained a devoted and well-organized following. Since then, tournaments, teams, and million dollar championship prizes have emerged around “CS:GO”, one of the largest games in the expanding world of e-sports. “‘League of Legends,’ ‘CS:GO,’ ‘Call of Duty,’ there are a lot of competitive games,” Pei said. “There’s ‘Smite,’ ‘DOTA,’ they’re all at different popularity levels. But all sorts of players are making ridiculous amounts of money.”

E-sports is the term used to describe a broad variety of games played at a professional level. Firstperson shooters like “CS:GO” are categorized alongside Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas like “League of Legends,” with genre secondary to level of competition. And for those involved in competition, the term ‘electronic sports’ is fitting to describe the level of commitment

required to reach the professional level.

“People argue, you’re not running, there’s not a physical toll taken on a person’s body there are no crazy actions,” Pei said. “But in ‘Counter Strike,’ players are getting arm injuries, when they come back they’re not as good. It’s just like an actual sport.”

For Pei, “CS:GO” has become his primary leisure activity. He competes at tournaments, watches hours of games, and has even met some of his favorite players inperson. But the need for more remains.

“At this point, I’m thinking that I potentially pursue this as a career,” he said. “What happens sometimes is players will drop out of school. I’m hoping that I can focus on school and balance it out, so I can have options.”

Players often grapple with these questions as they come to realize the difficulty that professional esports entails. While Pei now trains with and competes regularly and is even considering making competi-

“YOU’RE NOT ABLE

TO PLAY FOR ONLY TWO YEARS AND GET TO PROFESSIONAL LEVEL. IT’S JUST LIKE REAL SPORTS—IT’S ALL ABOUT THE GRIND.”

MILES PEI ‘18

ABOVE: The National College Gaming Association training grounds in downtown Iowa City PHOTO BY: Miles Pei

10 Little Hawk Feature Magazine

tive gaming his career, his exploration of this world originally began in a different, less time consuming way: by watching videos of professional players compete.

“I started watching competitive ‘Call of Duty’ after [a friend] got me into it. I was decent at ‘Call of Duty’ so I started playing a few matches here and there,” Pei said.

“Watching really got me into ‘Call of Duty,’ and then I got into ‘Counter Strike.’ It’s like watching a football game, it’s so much fun.”

Livestreaming and other forms of broadcasting have been some of the defining features of the e-sports world, often serving to introduce once casual gamers like Pei into the competitive world. The various mediums available allow streamers to gain widespread viewership and sometimes, earn significant personal revenues. Mirroring sports leagues and sport television, one streaming service, Twitch TV, emerged from a number of corporate iterations to become the dominant streaming service in the world. Twitch, which was purchased in 2014 by Amazon for $970 million dollars, generates around 100 million monthly viewers who spend hours upon hours watching e-sports.

Twitch has developed to allow easy access to competitive gaming for both hardcore enthusiasts like Pei and those curious about this expanding universe.

“I’ve watched ‘CS:GO.’ There’s a new first person shooter that’s really hot, ‘Overwatch.’ I watched a bit of that, ‘Arma 3’ as well,” City High English teacher Brad Hartwig said. “Those aren’t necessarily competitive tournaments, just people I thought were funny.”

Hartwig began watching eSports in 2015, interested in the narration style and complex knowledge of those who live stream their games.

“I’m kind of interested in the games, but mostly I’m interested in the difference between people have who 15,000 viewers versus 100 or six,” Hartwig said. “[Popular livestreamers] have a history of progressions; they have requisite personality and expertise.”

The constant availability of streamed content means that broadcasters must invest significant time and money into their channel to set themselves apart and develop their own fanbase. Just as elite gamers can bring in seven-figure paychecks, so can professional livestreamers.

“There’s this one guy named Tim,” Hartwig said. “He’s an ‘Overwatch’ guy—he’s gone exclusively just to that. Before that he was making $20,000 to $30,000 per month. And that was before his viewership spiked.”

While most Twitch broadcasters tend to attract a greater mix of casual and serious gamers, the eSports world retains a core of professionals and well-known streamers who can transform the popularities of certain eSports and introduce new games to their fans and viewers. This core and the audience their appealing to consists mostly of a younger generation, brought up in the midst of the eSports explosion.

“There are 14-year-olds that are the best in the world. They’re like the Lebron James of Esports.

When you’re younger, you have a lot more free time,” Pei said.

“That’s the thing with games like ‘CS:GO’ or ‘League of Legends’ and e-sports in general, you’re not only able to play for only two years and get to professional level. It just like real sports—it’s all about the grind.”

But the organization and popularity that has created the e-sports world didn’t always exist. In 1972, students gathered at the Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory to compete in the futuristic arena game of “Spacewar!”, an event generally considered as the first e-sports tournament. At the time, the prize for winning the school tournament was a year subscription to Rolling Stone magazine, and participation was limited to a few dozen students. Now, prize pools can reach over $12 million, with e-sports watched and played from Sweden to South Korea.

“For ‘Counterstrike,’ the European and US rivalry is huge,” Pei said. “The e-sports scene in Korea is also immensely large. They’re fanatics. But East Asian countries don’t even play ‘Counter Strike’. It’s mostly ‘League’ over there.”

This varied but nearly global interest has provided clear incentives for investment. Last year, video game developer Activision bought Major League Gaming, a broadcasting company that hosts and organizes the primary Esports tournaments, for $27 billion dollars. But the gamers, and the various teams they are part of, drive this growth and also profit greatly from it.

“The popularity has just gotten unimaginable. If it’s a $500,000 prize poll, first place team will win $250,000. Let just say there are 5

“REALLY, THE KIND OF SKILLS THAT MATTER IN LIFE ARE CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING, AND I DON’T THINK THOSE GET MEASURED WELL ON TESTS.” DANIEL KELLY ‘16 “I HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO PLAY IN ANY TOURNAMENTS YET. I WOULD LOVE TO [COMPETE IN TOURNAMENTS], BUT I DON’T THINK I COULD GET IN.” AMANDA AABERG ‘18

players, $50,000 taken off will go towards to company or whatever team they’re part of. The rest will go purely to the team of 5 players,” Pei said. “You don’t even have to win tournaments if you have sponsorships. Rzr, HyperX, they pay these team ridiculous amounts of money just to use their products. Players are making millions of dollars.”

With e-sports are expected to bring in at least $1.9 billion dollars in 2018, the distribution of the wealth generated is becoming increasingly contested by those that feel the corporate focus has made e-sports less accessible. Computer, clothing, and even beverage sponsorships all contribute to a rapidly changing industry, one that a few years ago was seen as open, with success achievable through hard work.

“For up-and-coming-players, it’s really difficult. It’s really difficult to make money. If you’re on a team that not very well known, they’re probably not going to be doing that well,” Pei admitted. “You’re going to have to figure out some sort of financial solution, basically find a

team that will pay well.”

Among e-sports game developers, few hold as much influence as Valve. Valve, the creator of two of the most popular eSports games, “CS:GO” and “DOTA,” recently ran into some controversy. Prize pools, which are often composed of the money paid by live and online spectators, were funded exclusively by Valve, reducing their size and limiting spectator participation.

“It was just Valve putting in, let’s say, a million dollars into the prize pool, but they would make a ton more from people buying merchandise. People really want the opposite, where their money goes in and can make the prize pool much bigger,” Pei said. “Most of [the money spent] doesn’t go to the tournaments. It’s a little shady. In games other than ‘Counter Strike’ and ‘DOTA,’ spectators are able to fund the prize pool.”

Though the expansion of Esports into a global phenomenon has produced an entire industry and competitive world, it is also becoming increasingly localized.

Gaming bars, stores, and LANs, often host tournaments with small prize pools of $50 to a $100 dollars.

One such location in Iowa City is tapping into the campus population’s interest in e-sports. As the industry expands, more business are looking to provide the services demanded by this growing consumer base.

Recently, local area network, or LAN, centers have been gaining popularity across American college campuses. LAN centers allow gamers to come together to play casually, train together, or compete in tournaments with faster computers and more high-end equipment. Jonathan Tienda, University of Iowa student and employee of the National College Gaming Association: Training Grounds LAN center, believes this competitive gaming will become a greater part of the the college experience.

“There [are] tons and tons of gaming clubs. There’s ‘League of Legends’ Club at the University of Iowa, there’s a ‘Call of Duty club,’” Tienda said. “The thing is, the university does not give them any

december 16, 2016 11

space or any resources so they can actually have meetings or team practices. If we have an LAN center like this, they’re able to come here and practice. They’ll have a good time and get better.”

But for high schoolers and college students who compete and watch eSports, there are other ways to get even more involved in the community. Live e-sports events can attract tens of thousands of hardcore gamers. These events, often held in large stadiums and arenas allow fans to actually see their favorite players compete live.

“Back in April, I went to the first ever ‘Counter Strike’ major in North America. That was big deal,” Pei said. “It was in Columbus, and it was a lot of fun. I was able to meet pretty much all the professional players there. I got their autographs and everything.”

Live events are yet another source of revenue for both organizational and eSports sponsor groups like Major League Gaming and Valve. For that core fanbase, these events are both entertainment and a way to see how the best in the world compete.

“The crowd was just roaring. I was lucky enough to buy a VIP pass before they were sold out. They were being resold for $300 to $400 dollars,” Pei recalled. “But it’s really all about the experience. Being there and actually seeing the players and how they play.”

E-sports tournaments complement the significant streaming services provide by Twitch and other companies. The motivations for watching various e-sports are diverse, with some using streamed or live events as a way to improve, and others as an exciting experience. For Pei, it is the former that motivates him.

“I really watch to get better. In ‘Counter Strike’, you’re able to directly see what the players is seeing, hear what the player is hearing. You are able to learn what they’re doing, you’re able to be in their position. I don’t think you get that in football or anything,” Pei said. “You can see their form, you can see how they do it. Translating that into actually playing can be difficult sometimes.

Watching is really helpful. If you watch more, you become a better player.”

However, one consistent theme among viewers of both live events and streaming services is the demographic breakdown. As internationally and thematically diverse as the the e-sports world is, the gender divide is clear. Twitch TV recently reported that 75% of

12 Little Hawk Feature Magazine

“GAMING IS BOTH

PHYSICAL AND MENTAL. BEING ABLE TO HAVE THE HAND EYE COORDINATION FOR IT AND HAVING THE QUICK WITS TO MAKE DECISIONS IS EVERYTHING THAT IS INVOLVED IN ACTUAL SPORTS.”

JONATHAN TIENDA

their viewerships were males, and 73% were males between the ages of 18 and 49. However, in recent years, the number of women competing at the top level of e-sports has risen. In December of 2015, Kayla “Squizzy” Squires was the first female to qualify for the Call of Duty World League, and also in 2015, Maria “Remi” Creveling was the first transgender female to take part in the League Championship series.

“I think girls and guys can work together very well in eSports,” Amanda Aaberg West High Junior and competitive gamer and Youtube streamer, said. “I think we are equal in [first-person shooter] games. I know I’m good at them.

And I know of plenty of other girls who are amazing at them.”

Separate leagues and tournaments exist for female gamers, but with much smaller payoffs and less significant organization. As esports gains worldwide popularity, women have had a difficult time gaining acceptance among a primarily male community.

“I see girls not as often [as guys]. It’s probably because us girls get harassed by guys sexually and just being told ‘oh you’re a girl, so that’s why you suck’ when you have a bad match, even though you’re great,” Aaberg said.

While gender disparities are generally discussed less by men in the e-sports world than tournament payoffs or the team rankings, some have begun to recognize the increasing divide and the problems that come with it.

“I’m hoping later on, more women will start playing ‘Counter Strike’, ‘League’, ‘DOTA’, anything,” Pei said. “More women into esports will make it a little bit more equal. So far, it’s all just been men.”

Aaberg began posting videos of herself playing games four months ago. She, like Pei, hopes to someday be able to participate at a more competitive level, but with gender discrimination compounding the already significant time and financial commitment, Aaberg realizes that it will be difficult.

“I haven’t been able to play in any tournaments yet. I would love to [compete in tournaments], but I don’t think I could get in.”

While varying along lines of gender and regionality, the common sentiment among gamer is that e-sports has becoming more competitive than ever. As the level commitment and intensity continues to rise, one of the most recurring debates is that of whether e-sports should be considered as a sport in earnest. Among those only beginning to explore the complex

world, such comparisons can at first seem surprising.

“When I turned on ESPN 2 and [e-sports] were playing, I was like ‘This is on ESPN?’ It was kind of shocking, a novelty. They had announcers covering it just like the Cubs and the Indians in the World Series, but only with ‘CS:GO’,” Hartwig said.

However, some avid gamers like Tienda often see the categorical definition of e-sports as a way for it to gain greater mainstream acceptance.

“I definitely think it should be considered a sport. Every single sport starts around a game people play for fun. It’s not like people knew that football could be competitive or soccer could be competitive,” Tienda said. “[Video games] started out as games, but there’s really high learning caps and there’s a lot of mechanical skill with the hand eye coordination. Gaming is both physical and mental. Being able to have the hand eye coordination for it and having the quick wits to make decisions is everything that is involved in actual sports.”

Others, like Pei, are less concerned with the categories and more with the respect and resources given to e-sports.

“Purely, e-sports should be treated as a sport, but I don’t think it has be necessarily defined as a sport. The US has already given out athletics visas to players from other countries,” Pei said. “It’s just like an actual sport. I just think it doesn’t need to be defined as a sport.”

The e-sports world, from its small and unstructured beginnings, has become increasingly complex.

Different regions play different games, with each community of gamers having various play styles and preference. Gender equality has emerged as an important point of discussion for the community, and as financial interests further divide the community among different skill and popularity levels, e-sports has come to mirror many of the characteristic held by the rest of the sporting world. But through all of this, the fun and intensity that motivates those who play remains.

“If you’re stressed, you’re not going to be able to play well. It’s all about having a good time. ‘Counter Strike’ is a very rigorous game. You need to have focus. Sometimes, If you’re just one pixel off, you’ll miss the shot,” Pei explained. “There’s information in the game. It has to do a lot with being able to take information from the game and make something out of it.”

three,two,one

november 4, 2016 15

LILY PERSAUD 18’ Dress: Free People Necklace: vintage Jacket: American Eagle MADELINE PUGH 19’ Dress: Mittoshop Earrings: Abercrombie and Fitch

AYLA CANIN 17’ Dress: Charlie & Adele EMMA WEBBER 17’ Dress: Abercrombie and Fitch Shoes: Steve Madden

BOREY CHEA 17’ Dress: Forever 21 Shoes: Younkers Jacket: Forever 21 Jewelry: vintage AVA OTOADESE 18’ Top: Miss Selfridge Skirt: Tobi

december 16, 2016 15

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