奥运会的宗旨(为什么下届奥运会应该纳入《堡垒
Why the Next Olympics Should Include Fortnite 为什么下届奥运会应该纳入《堡垒之夜》？
If dressage and curling are Olympic sports， why not video games？
Champions from many countries are dropped on an island， wearing tight， garish outfits that show off their muscles. They search for weapons， such as guns and rocket-launchers. In teams of two， they try to kill everyone else on the island. The last pair standing wins gold medals and global adulation.
The Tokyo Olympics， which were supposed to start next month， have been postponed until 2021， thanks to covid-19. That delay offers a chance for reflection. The International Olympic Committee wants to make the games more popular with young people. To that end， it is introducing new events， such as skateboarding， surfing and climbing. Why not go further and let national teams pete at video games？ Electronic sports such as “Fortnite”， described above， are vastly more popular than Olympic oddities such as dressage or curling. In fact，they are more popular than most mainstream sports. Only 28% of British boys aged 16-19 watch any traditional live sports; 57% play video games.
Stick-in-the-muds may grumble that e-sports are not proper sports. Many parents， observing their surly teenagers sitting on the sofa all day twiddling their thumbs and shouting “Quick， pass me the shotgun！” at a screen， would agree. Yet video games are highly petitive， with professional leagues that play to packed stadiums. There are perhaps only 200 tennis stars in the world who can make a living from playing in tournaments. By contrast “League of Legends”， a fantasy game played by teams of five， supports over 1，000 on good wages. Its World Championship final last year was watched by 44m people.
New sports have always been unpopular at first. King Edward II of England tried to ban football in 1314，because he thought boys should be learning archery instead. In 19th-century America churchy types objected to baseball， which they worried was too much fun. The best e-sports require as much skill and dexterity as many conventional sports—professional gamers typically carry out five distinct actions every second. Video games are also cheaper and more aessible than， say， sailing or horse-riding.
Critics of e-sports offer moral objections， too. They are addictive. Prince Harry has called for “Fortnite” to be banned for this reason. They are violent. Surely， at a time of global disharmony， it is a bad idea to make simulated killing an Olympic sport？ The Olympics aim to promote peace. Finally， video games are crassly mercial. Nobody owns basketball.
None of these arguments is very convincing. The idea that an activity， rather than a substance， can be addictive is contentious among doctors， as is the existence of a causal link between gaming and violence. And the notion that warlike sports have no place in the Olympics is hard to square with history. Javelin-throwing and wrestling were introduced in 708bc. They are still there. Modern pentathlon， which includes shooting and fencing， was designed to train soldiers. The imaginary mayhem in “Fortnite” cannot be pared to the real harm caused by boxing. Packs of e-sports fans do not rampage through town centres as soer or ice-hockey fans sometimes do.
As for the fact that e-sports belong to panies， so what？ The Olympics already generates billions from broadcasting and sponsorship. Commercial pressure can make for livelier entertainment. Having a video game named as an Olympic sport would be a huge prize. Companies would vie to create games as exciting to watch as they are to play. This sounds like a recipe for fun. Put “Fortnite” in the Olympics， and millions will tune in who might otherwise not have bothered. They might even stumble across a traditional sport and decide to try it， too. And if the experiment fails， no matter. The International Olympic Committee could drop it in 2024， as it has previously dropped croquet， tug-of-war and solo synchronised swimming.
如果盛装舞步（花样骑术）和冰壶是奥运会项目，为什么电子游戏不能是？
许多国家的优胜者被空投到一座岛上，他们身着炫目的紧身战衣，肌肉线条显露无遗。他们四处搜寻枪支和火箭筒等武器。他们两人一组，设法淘汰岛上其他所有人。活到最后的两人将赢得金牌和全球的崇拜。
由于新冠肺炎疫情，原本将于2020年7月开幕的东京奥运会被迫推迟到2021年。这次延期给人们提供了一个深思的机会。国际奥委会希望让奥运会更受年轻人欢迎，为此增设了滑板、冲浪和攀岩等项目。为什么不更进一步，让国家队参加电子游戏比赛呢？电子竞技，如上文提到的《堡垒之夜》，远比盛装舞步或冰壶等另类奥运会项目更有群众基础。事实上，它们比大多数主流运动更受欢迎。在16至19岁的英国青少年中，看传统直播体育比赛的比例仅为28%，而玩电子游戏的比例高达57%。
“老古董”们可能会抱怨说，电子竞技不是真正的体育运动。许多家长都可能赞同这个观点，他们看到自己处于青春期、脾气暴躁的孩子成天坐在沙发上，面对屏幕，不停旋动拇指，叫喊着“快！把散弹枪递给我！”但其实电子游戏的竞技性很强，职业联赛在座无虚席的体育馆中举行。世界上可能只有200名网球明星能靠比赛谋生。相比之下，《英雄联盟》——一个由5人组队参赛的幻想游戏——却给1000多人带来了不菲的收入。去年，有4400万人观看了《英雄联盟》全球总决赛。
新运动一开始总是不受欢迎。1314年，英国国王爱德华二世曾试图禁止足球运动，因为他认为青年男子应该学习箭术。在19世纪的美洲，恪守教义的宗教人士反对棒球运动，他们担心这项运动会让人玩物丧志。最好的电竞运动与许多传统运动一样需要高超的技巧和高度的敏捷——通常职业玩家每秒需要完成五个不同的动作。相较于帆船和马术等项目，电子游戏成本更低，门槛也更低。
电竞运动的批评者还从道德角度提出了反对理由。它们令人上瘾。哈里王子就曾以此为由呼吁禁止《堡垒之夜》。它们暴力血腥。在全球不和谐的当下，将模拟杀人游戏列入奥运会项目肯定不好吧？毕竟，奥运会的宗旨是倡导和平。最后，电子游戏高度商业化。篮球运动不属于任何人。
以上这些论证都不十分具有说服力。一项活动而不是一种物质能令人上瘾，这个观点在医生中有争议，玩游戏与暴力之间存在因果关系的观点同样受到质疑。而且，尚武运动在奥运会没有容身之地的说法也与历史不符。标枪和摔跤早在公元前708年就被引入奥运会，今天仍是奥运会项目。现代五项（包括射击和击剑）的设计初衷是为了训练士兵。《堡垒之夜》中的虚拟混乱根本无法与拳击造成的真实伤害相提并论。三五成群的电竞迷也不会像足球迷或冰球迷那样，有时在闹市区横冲直撞。
至于电竞运动由某些企业所有，那又如何？奥运会已经通过广播和赞助创造了数以亿计的财富。商业压力可以催生更有活力的娱乐。将一个电子游戏列入奥运会项目将是莫大的好事。企业将争先恐后地开发兼具观赏性和娱乐性的电子游戏。这听上去能带来不少乐趣。将《堡垒之夜》列入奥运会项目将吸引数百万原本不屑于关注奥运会的人。他们甚至可能恰好收看到一项传统运动比赛，并决定不妨也看一看。即使这次尝试失败了，也没有关系。国际奥委会可以在2024年奥运会取消这个项目，就像它曾取消槌球、拔河和单人花样游泳一样。（刘白云译自英国《经济学人》周刊6月27日一期文章）