A video game tournament will be an official Welcome Event of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games this summer. Is the world ready for virtual and physical sport to share the same stage?

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are going to be remembered for a lot of things, many of them negative. There have been protests during the ceremonial torch run by Students for a Free Tibet. Many teams have expressed concern about the effects that China’s air pollution will have on their athletes’ health and performance. And some politicians and activist organizations have called for an outright boycott of the event.

However, the world’s gaming community may end up having more flattering memories of Beijing 2008, thanks to the fact that, for the first time in the history of the world’s most prestigious celebration of sport, a video game competition is being included as an official part of the proceedings.

GGL Global Gaming, an international social community for competitive gamers, has been working with the Chinese government for more than two years to create the 2008 Digital Games, a four-day pre-Olympics competition with the status of “Official Welcome Event” that will see not only professional and amateur players competing for medals in a dozen popular games, but also Olympic athletes and global celebrities trying their hands at a variety of virtual sports (games being featured at the event hadn’t been announced at press time).

Why now?

In a word, China.

Countries hosting the Games are encouraged to showcase aspects of their culture that are unique in the world, and, as Ted Owen, CEO and Chairman of GGL Global Gaming points out, “China is the only country to officially recognize gaming as a national sport,” which makes it the ideal nation to introduce video games to the Olympics.

And Owen does indeed believe that the 2008 Digital Games are just an introduction, not just a one-off stunt. His goal is to make video games a permanent facet of the Olympics, perhaps even as an official event.

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