That rush that you feel when you score a goal. That feeling when all the pressure is on you, and you clinch a tough situation for your team. When everyone is counting on you, in the last play of the game, that is the feeling that people love in sports. Well, in E-Sports, that feeling is still there.
I play these games everyday, as it is something that I am passionate about in my life, and it delivers that same rush that others feel in traditional sports.
How can something digital and "not real" deliver physical impacts on your life like raising your adrenaline levels?
Well, numerous studies have been taken on people trying to figure out this so-called phenomenon. One particular study, has the players heart rate and pain tolerance studied before and after they play. The results? 100% of the participants showed higher heart rate levels than before playing.
This proves that video games can affect you physically.
I also have personal experience with this feeling.
There are times where I am the one who the team is relying on. Whether it be to capture and objective, or to survive the round, the pressure is on me to win. When this happens, you feel that rush of adrenaline as you would with any other sport. Your heart beats faster, you start to focus more, and you almost feel numb to anything else in the world, besides the task at hand. When you deliver, it truly feels like you have won something. That feeling that you get at the pit of your stomach knowing that you accomplished something. Ask anyone who has played a video game somewhat seriously and they will tell you about this feeling.
Still not convinced that video games can deliver physical response? Just look at horror games, with jump-scares and eerie tales, these games seem to frighten any players, and this also gives a sense of fear, even though you are in no danger at all. It is not dissimilar to movies in that aspect. In horror movies, people get scared, its what they are meant to accomplish. However you are never in any danger, while watching a movie.
This is because emotions and hormones do not have the capacity to use logic. It is difficult to settle them just by knowing that something is not "real".
This is why video games can deliver the same adrenaline rush that you feel in any other aspect of life.
I imagine that the rush you are talking about would be very real in the tournament situation. When you showed that picture of the stadium in Germany, I was blown away by the size of it all.... the high stakes, the crowd, the team counting on you, the prize money, sponsorship. There is so much more to this than I had imagined when read your first blog post. You have definitely taught me a lot about it.
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