[evocative orchestral music plays]
Downloaded from YTS.MX
[Pong game sounds]
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX
[narrator] Since the 1970s,
video games have been part of the way we play.
Being individually,
in groups, involving mental or physical activity.
For leisure, to win or to learn,
they haven't stopped evolving.
Today, parents and children are facing enormous challenges
in a world in which the Internet has changed the way we communicate,
the way we relate to each other.
A world in which video games are changing the way we play.
[Gail] We didn't know what we were heading into.
So you're looking to see things that might be dangerous.
[Sonia, in Spanish] His obsession is to find a gap to play.
[Michal] You don't want your child to read books 12 hours a day.
You don't want your child to climb trees all day either.
They were born, like The Matrix, to a world that's connected.
[in Spanish] Children need to have their own leisure.
[man] The problem is, how much is enough?
We can't regulate something that we don't understand.
This is the way world is now.
[girl] They don't want to know there is a girl playing.
[John] Running or kicking a football.
Makes you feel you're there.
[Mathew] All he wanted
was be able to succeed in this virtual world.
-[cheers] -Esports is esports and gaming is gaming.
[man] Society always has a problem with a new medium.
Why don't we learn from that?
[atmospheric music playing]
[narrator] The shift from mechanical and analog technology
to digital electronics
has created a revolution that is changing the way we live our lives
like never before.
It started in the '40s and '50s,
when scientists developed the first computers.
Some of these computers were able to play games like chess, checkers or OXO,
a noughts and crosses game developed by British Professor Alexander Douglas.
In 1958, William Higinbotham created Tennis for Two,
a game on an oscilloscope, an analog computer,
which anticipated later video games like Pong.
Spacewalk is a space combat video game,
developed at MIT in 1962.
It is considered the first video game
because it could be played on many computer installations.
[Daniel] Video games didn't become commercially available until Pong.
We had the Arcades first, then it transitioned to home consoles.
The Magnavox Odyssey was the actual first home console.
[man on TV] Families who are content to let television do its thing
often find themselves at its mercy for their choice of entertainment,
while people who want television to do their thing
entertain themselves with Odyssey, the electronic game of the future.
[Daniel] And then we started to get all the Pongs, and then the Ataris.
Then computers started to kind of take over.
[Julian] You got Commodore 64, Nintendo Entertainment System,
and then Sega Master System in the early '80s.
That was a real revolution, everybody could play these games at home.
You didn't have to go to an arcade.
[Daniel] The transition from playing on your own or locally
went with technology.
Back in the early SEGA days, you had the…
the add-on that would let you connect to the Internet and play with people.
[Richard] We made MUD. It wasn't quite as…
all-encompassing a reality that we wanted
because the computers weren't strong enough.
[Daniel] As technology progressed, as Internet became more standard in homes
with PlayStation Network and Xbox Live and a lot of the computer play,
they started to really find servers and waiting rooms
where everyone's connecting through an online Internet
and you could find other people to play with.
It was revolutionary.
Now, you didn't have to know someone to play with.
You could finally start to just wait for a game,
wait for someone to play.
[narrator] With the arrival of Internet and fast connections at home,
the amount of time children and young people
spend on digital and online gaming has increased.
Some parents have struggled to make this digital transition.
and understand the needs and interests of their children,
the way they play,
what makes them happy.
-The new world they live in. -[child] What the fuck?
The development of online gaming,
alongside the development of social media as well,
has allowed this kind of gamer culture and mixed with
the larger kind of trends towards fandom,
towards participatory media, people creating their own content,
is making the games online and allowing the communities to coalesce online.
You can see on YouTube, on Twitch,
on all of these platforms the ways people are using video games
to influence a world that reaches far beyond what they expect.
[Luzu] Younger people connect better with video games,
I loved playing video games since I was a kid.
It gave me a chance to also talk about other things
and talk about my day
and connect with this audience in a different way
than I did with my blogging channel.
[In Spanish] I used to be a casual gamer, but then I stopped.
I focused more on comedy, on making sketches, videos.
I wanted to start with a passion, something completely new.
[atmospheric music playing]
[man] You put the heating on, silly sod!
[woman] I know, damn it!
[man] Why did you put the heating on? It makes no fucking sense!
[woman] My goodness!
God damn it! Now she starts to say… [imitates her in a high-pitched voice]
[woman gasps]
[boy grunts]
[woman] You will hit the floor!
[yells]
[man] God!
[Andy] I noticed, when children play video games and you interrupt them,
an aggressive streak comes out.
There's an unusual reaction, not typical of that person you know.
[man, in English] There is often more going on in the kids' lives.
The excessive gaming is a symptom, not the problem itself.
-[screams] -[plastic breaks]
[scream]
[banging]
I mean, you guys are so…!
[sobs] My God…
Why?
[Jon, in Spanish] I threw the controller, it bounced,
a button, the L1, went under the table,
and the controller got broken,
and it seems something inside is broken,
and, when you move it like this,
it sounds like maracas,
like there's something broken inside.
When I tell him to stop, he says, "No, wait."
That "wait" can be half an hour, one hour? It's never enough for him.
So, when I manage to stop him, he's very nervous.
And he gets angry and goes to his room.
[George] My mom's okay with me playing them,
but she didn't want me to play too much.
She didn't think of their appeal because she didn't grew up with video games.
It wasn't part of her time.
[Patrick] We didn't see any harm in it.
While I was so young, I couldn't have,
but my parents didn't either. We didn't know…
um, that it could be harmful to me.
[Vini] My dad said, "stop playing." In my mind, "I had to play."
You don't understand.
[in Spanish] His obsession is to find a gap to play.
We don't let him play on weekdays because he has to study a lot.
[Marcos] My mum says it's very bad,
but, if I don't play on weekdays, I want to play at the weekend.
[in English] It's not necessarily about putting the blame on the kids
or on the parents.
It's about recognizing the environments in which kids are.
Family life has changed a lot because of technology
and family life has changed a lot because of how kids
entertain themselves.
[María] Parents get concerned
because they're surrounded by information saying this might be dangerous,
how much time they play,
how these games are affecting their social life or their life at home.
[Lucy] They could be an element of moral panic about what they're doing.
If you look back historically, there was a panic about girls reading novels,
you know, back in the '70s and '80s
because they spent time in that, and it wasn't good.
But there is an important difference with gaming, the social interaction.
You read a novel, you listen to the radio…
it's one directional.
This is communication.
And that can raise an additional element
because parents may be uncomfortable. They don't know what their…
child is seeing, but also who they're speaking to or meeting online.
And that concern is real.
[woman] How do your parents keep you safe?
My mommy says…
don't run with scissors.
They keep me safe away from spiders.
She always looks under the bed.
I have knee and elbow pads, and a helmet.
There's no such thing as a vampire who steals your clothes.
My mom makes me wear a seat belt.
Before you cross the road you have to hold my hand first.
I could get hit by a car.
It would hurt.
My mom makes me wear gum shield in hockey
because my teeth are very important.
I have to hold the hand when we are queuing
because people might take me.
Stranger danger!
[woman] How do your parents keep you safe online?
Mmm.
I don't really know.
[Declan] We want to educate parents and professionals
as well as the industry to empower them to keep children safe online.
Children might come across inappropriate content on there.
It might be too mature for their age.
There's the risk of online bullying,
often children communicate with each other on there,
and they might be excluded from different group chats.
They might see negative things about them online.
They might come across abusive language as well.
[Julia] When you're researching bullying, much data is collected on questionnaires.
It's not on the day, not the event.
That causes difficulties.
[Lucy] Accountability's an issue. It's an issue for parents?
Is it the Internet provider? The app developer?
Who is accountable?
It's not as simple as just turning off your phone, not going online.
That's telling a young person not to communicate.
They've grown up with the Internet. They first played with mom's phone
or on a PlayStation, which is continually connected to the Internet.
You look at them, they were born, like Matrix into a world that's connected.
That's where they want to be at all times.
It is a digital version of kicking a ball around outside,
with someone always ready to play with you.
[man] Get ready.
For something you have never seen before.
A truly unique experience.
Step into a new world of gaming.
The Gaming Party Bus.
We come up to somebody's house and…
we host the party.
[upbeat music plays]
We've got virtual reality.
We can get…
like Just Dance.
But it's basically the best person that is dancing and waving about.
You can do Pop Star,
you can sing into a microphone
and you can play loads of various different video games.
They range from Xbox through to PlayStation.
It's fully jam-packed with nothing but great fun.
[inaudible]
[Harry] I like Minecraft.
I like FIFA.
Fortnite…
Ghost Recon.
Mario Kart, FIFA, Clash Royale.
This is a bit unusual because it's a bus.
It's like a good atmosphere
Everyone's sitting together on the bus
and at the same time playing video games.
Sometimes my mom doesn't let me play this long.
The kids are so happy,
and it's for a couple of hours, not all day so…
You know, they're going to play baseball after as well.
We can have a barbecue. So it's all part of the whole day,
part of the whole experience for a birthday party.
When we booked it, I asked if it was for single players,
and they said, "No, it's very interactive."
When they're playing,
they're talking about what they're doing and why.
[Emmanuel] When at home, your parents are usually doing other things, working,
and you're playing video games, everyone's doing their own thing.
But in a gaming party
they can interact, and later on, when they're at home,
instead of being in two different rooms,
they can probably share a room and engage with each other.
Everybody gets involved. If they are having fun,
I feel I've done a good job.
After we've done, we pack up,
I say "ta-ta" and keep it moving.
[gentle music playing]
[narrator] Today, just over half the world population
has access to the Internet,
making it difficult for online gaming
to reach households in rural and remote areas.
[Herminio, in Spanish] It's a estate my grandfather owned.
It's a heroic crop on a steep hillside. The slope is 70%.
I was instilled this passion for wine, and we try to continue the tradition.
[tense music playing]
[Herminio] The island is still active.
We have an underwater volcano.
The people were scared.
Tourists stopped coming.
A lot of companies went bankrupt.
[Berta] When Cristian was born was the boom
of the first computers, the Nintendo 64,
and the Game Boys all the kids wanted for the holidays.
[Herminio] Since he was little, when his brother was playing Mario,
Cristian was two,
he already pointed at the TV and said "Mario, Mario, Mario."
[Cristian] I've never had a computer, and I've always loved mobile phone games.
Before Clash Royale, I played lots of phone games.
I even had emulators, on the phone, for Nintendo 64.
[Herminio] On an isolated island we had lots of problems with the coverage.
So, he was always trying to find a place where the connection was good.
[Cristian] When I started, I struggled.
Internet would go down for two or three days and I couldn't play.
As parents, we obviously worried, because
he played for hours with the mobile.
[Cristian] My father would get into the room to tell me lunch was ready,
and I asked him to wait and he was like "Wait? Come right now!"
And I said I was playing, but, then, they didn't understand online gaming.
You can't stop it, you're playing against somebody in real time.
Many times, they'd confiscate my phone. I had to pass my exams to get it back.
As he grew up, it became more difficult for us
to tell him to give us the Game Boy or to switch it off.
And he continued. Always more and more.
I always remember a day, we were home, having dinner, and he said,
"Mum, dad, I must tell you
I play a game, and I may be signed up."
It seemed a bit impossible to us.
"Are they going to sign you up?" "Yes, and a salary and Social Security."
You see he starts receiving a shirt and a phone, and you start to believe.
[Berta] After playing for two clubs in Spain,
he starts mentioning that he may have to go to Los Angeles.
[Cristian] We played a semi-final.
My dad told me that all the people in my village were supporting me.
[Berta] Some people there don't understand the game
But they're there because of him.
We can shout in any football match, and we don't know those people.
But we understand a goal is when the ball goes into the net.
However, we don't know what Cristian's doing,
but when he raises his hands, because he's won,
we all get excited.
[man] KaNaRiOoo does it!
Six straight games, for Team Liquid.
Two beaches down.
[Herminio] He's become a pro. He makes a living from it nowadays.
I think that he's doing what he likes, which is the most important thing.
[Berta] He's working and that makes him happy,
and he's rewarded spiritually and economically.
That's all.
[Herminio] When people see him in the news,
they think they should allow theirs to play.
They say, "And I was telling mine not to play."
And it's just one more opportunity.
[Cristian] I didn't know what to do at 18, and now with this opportunity,
which is something I like,
I'll try to continue being here.
[Majora, in English] What that means is we're a neighborhood
that's considered to have low educational attainment,
high poverty… The people here are the best assets that we have.
We can create projects that allow people to feel as though this community
is not just this place where nothing good happens.
We did a lot of gaming tournaments,
mostly to connect ourselves to the talent in our community.
It was literally the way because if we went to people and said to them
"we have a tech job for you,"
even if people had the skills and the acumen to do it,
they were so demoralized that they wouldn't even say, "I could do this."
So we realized these gaming tournaments were a great way to meet our neighbors,
to recruit for talent.
But they were also amazing ways to build community.
[Eric] I'm under my business. Leave me alone.
I told you the last time. Leave me alone.
-[man] Hold on. -Don't touch me.
[beep]
-Don't touch me. -[beep]
[indistinct talking]
[man] Damn, man--
[Eric] I can't breathe.
[tense music playing]
[Majora] The whole thing was tragic, obviously.
It was just another example of…
crazy amounts of undue force
being implemented by the police against people of color.
An illegal chokehold.
It was not going to go away the way so many other cases did.
When the officer who actually did it was not convicted,
I think everyone in New York City, in particular,
was on edge in every single way.
-[crowd] -Our streets! Whose streets?
-[crowd] -I can't breathe!
[Majora] We were afraid there would to be
crazy incidents, violence between cops and community
and so we thought, "what can we do to bring the neighbors together?"
[rapid gunfire]
We decided to post a Call of Duty gaming tournament.
The precinct was willing to doing it with us.
"Let's use this as an opportunity to show
that you're approachable, willing to talk, that you're going to play."
We really didn't know what was going to happen.
It was the cops who were playing games with mostly young men,
all black and Latino, it was the people who were hanging out together.
Gaming is nowhere near as dangerous as many people like to think that it is.
And it could be used as a tool.
There was less community and police violence
after the Eric Garner verdict.
And this was basically a very low cost way,
you know, to keep the peace.
[Trump] We must stop the glorification of violence in our society.
This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are
now commonplace.
It is too easy today for troubled youth
to surround themselves with a culture
that celebrates violence.
[James] There's often
the move with the media narratives to instantly
try and link a violent act with video game usage,
but often overlooking
poverty, mental health issues, you know,
social ostracization, things like that.
[Andrew] When you don't grow up with video games, you are very likely
to believe there's a link between violent video games and aggression.
[Lucy] We see young people playing violent video games,
and it sets in people's mind this is a causal link.
But we can't say that with the data that we have.
[Richard] When you look at computer games and violence, what happens is
a major effect says the people who play these games
become violent.
A selection effect says that violent people play these games.
So it's a bit like if I read a romantic novel,
is that gonna make me romantic or am I reading a romantic novel
because I'm romantic?
So which effect is it? And the longitudinal studies
definitely say it's the second one.
So we look at people,
then again in a few years and we see if they have become more violent,
and they haven't.
The ones who are violent are violent and stop.
This isn't to say computer games can't cause violence.
Of course they can,
in the same way television news can cause violence,
in the same way that movies can cause violence,
in the same way politics can cause…
Many things can cause it. Computer games are among them.
But they're not specifically good at it.
People who…
are worried about
computer games but haven't played them, will die of old age.
That means that everybody who's alive has played computer games.
They know they don't cause violence. They haven't made them violent.
They know it's nonsense.
[swords clashing]
[man] You can't get off that thing,
-[explosion sound] -Up all night.
[man 2] Stamina.
-Don't underestimate it. -[shoots]
[swords clashing]
-[game sound] -Dedication!
Let's go!
[propeller spinning]
That's just what we need!
[deep-bass sound]
[narrator] The British army is targeting gamers with a recruitment campaign
that shows they have the attributes and skills needed in the military.
The Army wants to show it can see potential
beyond the stereotypes of millennials and Generation Z.
[in Spanish] The world of leisure and video games
has a lot of career possibilities, not just playing.
The video game is culture.
And it's also an industry hiring professionals form other cultural areas,
professionals from the world of cinema, of music, people coming from literature.
Making games, uh,
is a very different experience
than just being good at playing a game.
That said, if you know a lot about playing games,
that kind of skills can translate to game design.
To be a game developer, you have to be a really good programmer
or engineer or a really good artist
or a really good musician, for instance.
[atmospheric music playing]
[Gail] Johnny was diagnosed with speech and language disorder when he was four.
He did struggle at school.
He did feel… different to everybody else.
And obviously couldn't keep up with the lessons.
I had ear problems which stopped me
from pretty much listening as we do today.
[Gail] He'd heard as though he was underwater.
Everything was muffled.
He was slightly ostracized by other kids.
He was bullied as well. So…
life wasn't easy for Johnny.
[Gail] When he woke up from his operation, it was like walking into a new world.
The realization that he could hear properly was--
I can remember the look on his face.
It was like he'd woken up in a completely different world.
He liked playing with his friends, but he also liked to retreat,
and that's where games came in.
He used to play a lot of video games.
[Johnny] Mario came out,
and such a simple game of a little Italian guy
just jumping up and down, hitting the walls…
The music was incredible.
Just, you know, very midi, all retro sounding.
It had this sort of drill. You wanted to keep playing it.
[Gail] He always was attracted to games that had some form of musical.
When he was nine, we got him a drum kit.
[epic music playing]
[Johnny] I grew up loving Star Wars,
and I remember the Luke Skywalker theme tune.
Like, when that plays, you're just like, "Wow."
When I was playing, I felt I was more part of it, more connected with the music.
I can now actually become the character with it.
This was something that's completely just changed my life. I…
Like…
"This is what I want to do. I really want to write music
that tells the story."
[epic music continues]
[Johnny] Writing for games opened me an opportunity to get into film and TV.
There's not a huge difference with film, TV and games.
It all comes down to,
again, creating the soundscape of the story.
When you've got the idea of the concept of the music
and you're on this long journey with the developers
and you're building the music as if you're in the game.
You go in there because you want to get away from reality
of what's going on in the real world
and being in sort of an adventure and the…
the music always takes you on board with that.
[Gail] Most of it is done with his own strength.
He can do anything he wants, and he does it.
I'm extremely proud of him. And I love him.
[intense music plays]
[birds chirping]
[Renzo] My dad bought… I think it was the PlayStation,
it was FIFA 98.
I played football as well.
I was working my way up almost to maybe
even having a chance of becoming a pro.
But I got a really bad injury with my ankle,
and that's where I started to game a lot more.
[Kilian in Spanish] Played in Las Palmas. My knee was injured. I had to give up.
And, then, my escape route was FIFA, on console.
I injured my knee. I broke a ligament and my meniscus. I had to give up.
[Renzo] My father wanted me to play for Ajax,
but I'm at Fortuna Sittard. He said, "If you think you can do it,
if you want to chase that dream, I mean, go for it."
[narrator] The FIFA eWorld Cup takes place each year and is growing fast,
with more than 20 million players around the world
trying to qualify for the finals
and viewing figures of over 47 million.
Digital matches are also starting to take place
alongside real matches in top football leagues
and between national teams.
[In Spanish] We went to play to Norway and Sweden with the Spain national team.
They played football and we played esports.
It was very moving and significant, football and games getting closer.
The new generations are very excited with football but crazy about video games.
[Fernando] Many children playing League of Legends don't like football,
They can't accept that a 90-minute match may end up in a goalless draw.
In League of Legends, in 30 minutes, they kill dragons,
fight mighty monsters and other players.
You're sure there will be action.
The great challenge for clubs and leagues
is to make this become an ally.
They don't follow different paths.
[Fernando] In video-game design's world, there are two trends: the free-to-play,
which are these games you play for free and then you can buy little things,
and then the perversion of this model,
called pay-to-win, in which you have to pay to be better.
FIFA is pay-to-win. You have to pay, not to win, but to compete.
Within the game, there are envelopes with cards,
and you need to use real money to open them.
If you're lucky, you get good players, if not, you get average players.
[In English] Gambling in gaming has been a problem now for years.
It's got even worse due to the invention of these things called "loot boxes."
Companies describe them as surprise mechanics,
euphemism for "you buy something and don't know what you'll get."
There's a box you can find within the game and you pay the money
hoping to get the best items. For example, a new skin or a different type of gun.
You pay the money and you watch the thing go around
in the same way you'd watch a fruit machine.
In the end, something pops out, and it might be what you want or not.
If you don't get it that time, you'll go and do it another time and another.
There are people who've spent hundreds, thousands trying to get items they want.
[In Spanish] There are +12 games with these dynamics,
and I think that games that have this kind of loot boxes
should automatically be considered +18, right away.
Besides, they shouldn't pay taxes as a video game but as a game of chance.
[Richard, in English] Companies have to make money.
But there are other ways of making it
that don't include tricking people into playing for psychological reasons,
to do with addiction or to do with reinforcement or anything like that.
They want people to play them because they're fun.
[Jan] The industry needs to realize what's been going on.
And of course, the companies, they have to make money
and for millions of teenagers, they are also there for the good.
But we can't close our eyes for the other side.
And the other side is serious. Is thousands of kids, at this moment,
who are just not getting a normal life.
[gentle music playing]
[Vini] I always felt disconnected, far away from my family, my friends…
Games gave me this escape, this relief.
It was something… I couldn't get this joy from anything else in my life.
You start to like to…
to see that he's hiding behind the…
the game.
[Vini] I refused to go out
of my bedroom.
I was too scared to make connections.
I didn't know how to make them.
You start to feel the…
the size of the problem when you start to lose the dialogue.
When…
you cannot…
interact that much anymore.
[Patrick] I was in denial. I blamed my anxiety and my depression.
I know I talked with my dad about it, and he was like,
"What's going on?" I was like,
"I don't know what's going on. I just know that
I can't manage it anymore. Something is stopping me and…
uh, I feel helpless."
The first action is to admit you have a problem
and you can't solve the problem yourself.
And most kids are aware of the problem,
but the solution they found
is one that doesn't work.
[Jan] It can be with using cocaine and drinking alcohol,
cutting themselves, harming themselves,
isolating themselves, and also, playing a lot of video games,
up to 15 to 18 hours a day.
Gaming behavior becomes a disorder
when there is impaired control over gaming.
The person's internal controls are weak,
and also there is increased priority to gaming
as a behavior
compared to other activities in life.
Not going to school anymore, not going to your sports club,
uh, not connecting with your family, friends anymore.
So it takes over your life.
Instead of a how much question,
the much more important one is a why question.
So why are you playing a video game?
And fundamentally, the question is,
are you playing it because you feel like you want to?
Is it a choice?
Or are you feeling that you're playing because you feel like you have to?
A sense of compulsion. A sense of obsession.
[Vini] At first, I thought it was just because I was depressed
and because I was anxious a lot, I was very anxious.
But later I found out, you know, I'm an addict.
[Jan] The moment they feel safe and secure to start sharing the real problems,
their traumas, their anxiety, their depression, etc.,
we confront them to make sure the change in their behavior is coming.
I came out no more games.
I asked my parents to remove my computer or my…
my consoles, all of that.
[Rubens] He followed the advice. It depends a lot of…
your will.
Your determination, and I think he has been very determined.
[Jan] If teenagers and young adults find the right balance of playing
like 40, 50, 60, 70 hours a week by training
and going to their next tournament
so they can make a lot of money or become even better,
what's the difference between that or a professional football player?
I don't see a big difference.
We never had
a kid coming in here
who was also a baseball player. We never had that. Never.
Because they are being coached, they are being trained.
Maybe they even have parents who are motivating them or helping them.
Um, it's the other ones. It's the ones who are isolated.
It's the ones you don't hear, the ones you don't see
um, but who are always there online.
[María] The red light is to not know what your child is doing.
Not know what games he's using, Not know how many hours he plays.
There's a lot of misunderstanding about gaming within the families,
and a lot of parents really don't know how to…
educate their own children.
How to teach them to cope with gaming within their lives, within their homes.
[Marcos, in Spanish] There's no real evidence
showing the use of video games or tablets
can be negative for the development of a child or of a child's brain.
It's the acquisition of a new ability, that can be somewhat enriching.
Having said that, the problem is the time limit.
How much time does a child spend with a tablet or video game?
That's what we need to limit.
Because if they play too much,
they're not doing other things essential for their natural development,
such as playing with other kids, interact with objects, practice sport.
[Michal, in English] As a parent, you're responsible for making sure that
the life of your child is balanced.
You don't want your child to read books 12 hours a day.
You don't want your child to climb trees all day either.
[in Spanish] The problem is the sedentary lifestyle, not just
not doing sports, but the time we are sitting down,
whether we're playing video games, watching a series,
or sitting down working very long hours.
This has a negative impact on our health.
[George] There was a time I was in a very dark place.
It was very hard for me to…
enjoy life in general,
and I just had issues at home, just issues with myself internally.
Where it became to a point where…
I at some point was diagnosed with major depression,
and it was very hard to just even get up in the bed in the morning.
Things like suicidal ideation, things like that. I had a lot of issues.
I feel like I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for video games.
And the people I met through them as well.
[Steven] When I met him, he was very young.
He was probably like 15, 16 or so.
But always smiling, like he always wants to have a good time and laugh.
He loves playing these games.
It's really like a part of him. And you can see when he plays
how happy he is while doing it.
[George] In NYC, in his neighborhood,
they didn't have a computer,
you know, computer, video store or anything like that.
So, he found a place in New Jersey. And, you know…
I figured since he wasn't playing sports,
it would be good for him to at least
do some type of competition to improve his self-esteem.
Once a week, I took him over there from Friday's,
and, you know, from there he had his first competition
you know, like his first live competition.
[Aziza] He was like, you know, really withdrawn, really quiet.
But the more he traveled, the more of himself became to be, like…
He started to believe in himself more, and I tried…
And I pushed him more and more because
he is an excellent player and an excellent person.
[George] It's almost like a family thing, like a second family.
She's always checking up on me,
and just helping me out a lot. I feel like…
the relationship is still going to keep growing as time goes on.
[car engine]
[intense music playing]
[Lucas, in Spanish] Since I was a child, I always played car racing games.
They were my favorite games and, my father was to blame for that.
I started with karting like any other driver who dreams of being in Formula 1.
My brother progressed to the Formulas, but I stayed in karting
as no chance came up for me.
What I was trying to find in video games was a simulator
so that I felt like a real driver.
My life changed with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.
In 2008, this opportunity came up
for me to qualify for…
um, for the Dubai 24 Hour Race.
Uh, a real challenge in a real car. And everything began there. I qualified.
I had the pressure to prove…
that I was the driver who had beaten 25,000 people,
and who had to face the music.
There I was representing all the players who'd fought for a dream,
being a professional driver.
And there I was, with my overalls, my helmet,
and with 30 or 40 cars around, and I had to be up to the job.
The transition from driving in a simulator, on a screen, on a TV,
to being in a racing car with rivals in real life is…
is a giant leap.
Situations you can't face in a simulator, but you do have to in a real car.
The risk factor. You're risking your life.
In a simulator, you can crash, then you press restart,
get a new car and you are safe.
It was a dream come true, but I wanted more.
Tom Kristensen, the king of Le Mans, the driver with most wins at that race,
came to my first time there and asked me,
"Lucas, are you the one who comes from video games?
And you are here now? Is that true?" I said, "Yes, it's true."
I was amazed, I was just 23,
because Kristensen came to talk to me about this.
[cheers]
[In English] It's an amazing feeling. The best day of my life.
[woman screams]
[in Spanish] My family couldn't believe it back then.
But, my father, above all, was really touched to see me there. Everybody was.
It's incredible when you think that from a video game, in three years,
you could be in the most prestigious race in the world.
I made lots of friends in karting and they go nuts because, 20 years later,
I'm currently competing thanks to a video game.
While they kept on fighting so long in karting,
in Formula Promotions, in real competition,
I managed to short-cut with Gran Turismo.
And I think we have marked a turning point in simulation.
And now, you see lots of youngsters pursuing their dreams through this.
[woman] At first, we thought it was a mistake.
I was told they'd started a protocol, but he didn't get any better.
Quite the contrary, the illness was progressing.
It finally affected the bones, medulla, intestine.
Then they told me they didn't know what to do with Yago.
I found out that at the Children Hospital in Boston
a doctor was carrying out clinical trials.
The illness was contained, but his immune system was destroyed.
This posed another handicap.
Yago was totally isolated because he was defenseless.
Any virus could kill him.
For this reason, he was in a 4-square-meter room, in bed.
As a mother, I had to stimulate my child,
because I realized he couldn't be sleeping 24 hours a day.
The director of Juegaterapia told me, "Why don't we give Yago a console
so that he has something to play with? Let's stimulate him through games:
memory games, puzzles, games with animals,
whatever, but Yago needs his brain to start moving."
[Elena] Being creative, also…
deciding what will happen in your game, where you want to go,
what level you want to play, which superhero you want to fight with,
creating your avatar…
[Yago] It's an adventure in a world with lots of trees,
and underground mines, and you can mine anywhere.
And it was raining a bit and my rabbit drowned.
[Valle] The nurses started talking about how radically he had changed
thanks to playing those video games. He…
he was so entertained that he forgot he was ill in a room.
[woman] He walked three steps, from the door to the garden,
and suddenly he stops and I asked him to move on,
and he was completely still, and I told him to walk,
and he said, "Mom, look, I also have a shadow."
And I told him we all do.
He said, "I didn't before."
Then I realized, with artificial light, you don't cast a shadow.
And when he was in a hospital, he thought everyone had a shadow but him.
Yago had seen insect on the tablet.
And, all of a sudden, he sees a fly.
And he starts shouting in a way that he scared me.
I had to pick him up quickly and he covered his face.
And I told him that was an insect. And he said, "It flies very quickly!"
Yago has grown up in an adult world, of doctors and nurses,
but, thanks to video games, he's been in contact with his brothers
his family, his friends, see the world,
which he could only see through a window before.
And thanks to this console and tablet
that Juegaterapia gave us in the worst moment in our life.
[woman] We realized we had to humanize the rooms,
those where they spend many hours,
maybe months hospitalized, always indoors, without going out.
When doctors let them, they open the door, come in,
and they're all amazed. They forget they're in hospital.
[woman] We came up with the Baby Pelones, a charity doll.
David Bisbal, Ricky Martin, Shakira, Alejandro Sanz, Richard Gere, etc.
We're taking the game to hospitals.
[man, in English] Get ready!
Then let's get ready to rumble, guys.
Look at this set up. What can Windy do? Windy's coming.
-[shoots] -No! And Phoebe wins.
Can Rock do it? One against three,
-[shoots] -Thirty seconds left.
And TeenSlayer takes him down.
[claps and cheers]
[cheering]
[Josh]The beauty about games is they give us an opportunity to learn
about each other and about ourselves.
People are building personal communities with people they trust and learn from,
based on the folks they play with.
[Raffy] I was growing up in a community that was very poor,
in a community that was homophobic, transphobic,
often anti black or experiencing racism in some way, shape or form.
And videogaming was a safe space for me.
[Shawn] There are no black people in the industry. Where are they?
Money is so important because games take forever to make.
And if…
Like, that's the number one. I think resources are the thing that keeps
black, brown, everyone across the spectrum from being able to make their games.
[Raffy] We don't often see the underrepresented faces.
The higher you go up, the wider it gets and the more male dominated it gets.
And a lot of spaces that require risks, such as esports, for example.
You'll see that, while there are many fans who play at a smaller scale,
the people who are playing at the top are often white and men.
That's because they can take the most risks.
[distorted male voice]
[distorted male voice 2] Holy shit, girls are so bad. Stay in the kitchen.
[distorted male voice 3] We have a girl…
["Strending Kids" by Ooyy playing]
[Nicolle] "My Game My Name" was the project that was empowering women
to put their real nicknames and don't be ashamed or afraid
of using your own nickname.
[Cordelia] I have dealt with a lot of comments and
I have a relatively thick skin.
But sometimes, something just catches you,
when you're in a bad mood on the wrong day.
It can be pretty crushing
because when people find out you're a woman,
even if it's a gender neutral nickname
or you don't use the voice chat deliberately,
if they find out anyway,
they suddenly will hurl an insult at you
based on knowing that you're a woman.
[Erika] Racism, sexism, homophobia, straight up bad behavior…
That's always been there.
It's not gotten worse because now we're in the age of digital.
Everybody's got their own camera,
or connection to the rest of the world right here.
[Cordelia] Some people think women tournaments are stupid in esports
because there should be no differences between men and women,
but they are a great stepping stone into building a larger player base
for more girls and women to enter the scene.
[Marta, in Spanish] The leagues are mixed, and the problem so far is
that women don't play as well as men, who play professionally.
[In English] Our main goal is to have mixed teams, not only the female ones.
Right now it's growing. Even if it looks slow, it's very fast.
Every year there are more professional opportunities for girls.
[In Spanish] I've fought to be sure I wasn't chosen just because I was a girl.
I don't to be a marketing face.
I want to be treated according to my level.
[Roy, in English] We may look and sound different,
have different names, do different things.
But there's no difference between us.
We can all do the same things. We can all grow. We can all achieve.
We have to change that thinking.
Inclusivity, acceptance, belief…
All of these things that we are fighting for and that we want,
they take time.
[Anne] We live on a small river island on the Thames.
My husband had a boat,
we were trying to find a house that had mooring space.
Benjy has always loved sports.
His two main ones were cricket and tenpin bowling.
And he actually started bowling on his second birthday,
um, and then he ended up doing his first competition when he was three.
He had a natural flair for it.
He developed Osgood-Schlatters',
so he was in a lot of pain when he walked.
So after doing any sort of rugby or any sort of sporting activity,
he would be… I mean,
literally you'd think he was a 70-year-old afterwards walking.
The doctors suggested that he stayed off sports for a while,
and naturally then, you know, computer games sort of took over and…
he's never really gone back to doing any of those other sports.
[Benjy] I've always wanted to be a professional gamer. Since I've been 10,
I've always looked YouTube videos and stuff of professional gamers.
And it's giving me like this…
I've just always wanted to be at the point…
of other people that I looked up to.
[Anne] As a parent,
I was always trying to get him off the computer, you know.
There's always a battle, you know.
He's got school the next day. He's got exams coming up,
trying to balance that whole thing between doing school work
and other activities, as well as playing video games.
And myself as a parent didn't realize
that there was an industry out there that he could become involved in.
And it wasn't until he did a competition called Montana Black.
And I remember it was Sunday night. I was already in bed.
And he came in to me and told me that he had won 10,000 dollars.
And it was like, "Really? Are you sure?"
And he was like, "No, no. We've come first."
And it was like, "My God, really?"
And then it very quickly snowballs.
We formed a limited company and we tried to open up a bank account.
The answer I got back from them
was very much that they were seeing it as gambling
as opposed to a competitive sports.
And I had to explain, "Well, you know, if he was doing something like a…
a tennis player going to Wimbledon, winning,
would you not accept that money into your account?
[intense music playing]
The Fortnite World Cup was a huge moment in esports.
It was a real coming of age moment, I think for a lot of people
who don't play games. They didn't really know what e-sports was.
And then you have this massive event, the biggest prize in esports history.
It's also being held in a stadium that people know for the US Open Tennis.
So, suddenly it brings all this interest into esports.
People start to take it seriously.
[cheers]
[atmospheric music playing]
[indistinct talking]
[cheers]
[Anne] New York was the first big line competition.
I mean, Benji up until then has only just played in his bedroom.
He was so excited. We were all excited about going.
He was finally getting to meet the players that he's spoken to for ages.
Benji just slaying out an entire lobby by himself--
-Yes. -that was… It's like it's art, man.
It was a really good experience. I met so many cool people.
[Anne] I was very, very nervous.
The first day he was in competition, I was quite emotional, I kept crying.
-[man] He manages to take-- -[yells]
[cheers]
[Anne] He was totally devastated. For him,
being number one and champion was what he went out to,
and from a parent perspective, it was very much
to manage his expectations, that if he didn't do well,
how he would cope with that after the event.
I don't know what happened. I think it was a combination of me not playing my best
and getting a bit unlucky.
Um, I thought I was going to be nervous, but I wasn't nervous at all.
I just didn't really play to my standard and that's why I didn't place my best.
[Anne] Everyone wants to be a footballer. Only that small
one percent is really going to make it.
And esports is no different to that.
[Benji] In the future, I want to be the best.
I'm going to keep practicing as much as possible.
Making sure I put in the time and effort to make sure I'm as good as I can be.
Whatever my children are interested in,
I will try and help them to achieve whatever they want to.
[José, in Spanish] When I was little, there was time for lots of games;
time for marbles,
for palen, a game which is now lost, time for football,
sometimes even with no ball.
We had to use a sock filled with straw instead. That was the ball.
We didn't have other options, no TV, no radio,
so we would join other boys and play these games.
Here in Galicia, families had lots of children,
but only one heir, who inherited 3/5 of the property,
so 2/5 for four or five wasn't enough.
Therefore, the others had to…
emigrate.
You had to travel by boat and the voyage took about a month.
They had no money. They left with nothing but the clothes on their backs.
They would send a letter every two or three months,
and it would arrive one, two or three months later.
[José Luis] We spend the summer in my father's home village.
It is a small town in Galicia, where…
all my father's ancestors lived: grandparents, great-grandparents…
When we were little,
all the children of the people who'd had to go away for work went there.
People from Mexico, France, Bilbao, La Coruña, Madrid.
Once we'd left, we didn't see each other.
We could only get in touch by regular post.
Manuel's a friend I have in Ribas Pequeñas, a village in Galicia.
I go there in the holidays and he lives there.
Adults don't usually play, and, here, there are only adults.
[Lucas] When my parents were little,
they used to come here too and meet their friends.
And they didn't see each other again until the year after,
when they came back.
On the other hand, we see each other in the village.
[Manuel] When they go back home, to Madrid, to France,
I stay here and we can keep in touch and play together.
When they meet, they play football or swim in the river,
but, when they aren't together, they can't do that anymore.
And they meet online to play video games,
and, as they have fun, they do it quite often,
and their link is much closer than by letter or phone, which are passive.
It's a great way to keep and build on friendships.
If you meet to play, that link will grow and last.
I wish they could have more calmness.
Now everything's very quick, they want everything right now.
I can hardly assimilate modern technology. I don't get involved with it.
It's a different life…
luckily, for the better.
[gentle music playing]
[Michal, in English] People are more connected.
We're looking at people who are thinking globally
because when they wake up in their slippers, turn on their PC,
they're interacting immediately with the entire world.
I know couples who play World of Warcraft and they got together
through that because that social aspect of the video games
where these people can meet each other within the game,
and then meet each other in real life. The game can be used like an icebreaker.
[María, in Spanish] I got into the game, I got any nickname
I managed to find him because they told me his name was Neca,
and I started talking to him through the game chat.
In the game you can talk to someone if you know their nickname.
So I thought who is talking to me?
Maybe it's a friend with a new character.
[María] And is trolling.
And in the end she confesses it to me and she tells me it was her.
And with that she conquered me.
That we both have the hobby of video games,
made this relationship take hold.
This was done in a very natural way and we knew this was for life.
[Soleil, in English] I'm a bit shy, so it's hard for me to meet people.
Like, you know, finding people who you have something in common with.
And realistically, those are gamers,
so you feel that sense of community and connection through that.
I depended on my eyes to see what was going on,
if there's another player around?
So that was really helpful.
And now it's just so much better with all these new features.
[Joseph] She has grown so much. She's gained a lot of self-esteem.
She's made a lot of friends and has networked.
And it's been a really amazing experience.
She is supported by the gaming community. And I couldn't be more happy.
[Denise] Everything John does
has to be done by a carer of himself.
He's got muscular dystrophy,
and even scratching his nose, a carer has to do it.
John's ventilator is actually breathing for him.
He can never be left alone.
If it comes off, the tubing from the neck,
in seconds, he will die.
I used to dream about playing football.
Without me knowing,
we ended up in Manchester
at Old Trafford, well today, and I met all the players,
and Alex Ferguson.
That there is amazing.
One of the best days of my life.
I was struggling,
so I decided to go to the Internet
to see if there is anybody or any charity that can help.
[Mark] SpecialEffect is a charity that helps people
with physical disabilities to play video games,
everybody's disability is different.
We're talking about minute movements that we've got to harness.
Millimeters of movements.
We are looking to modify existing or new equipment in unique ways
so that we create totally custom set ups, which are totally right
for that person's disability
to enable them to get the best out of their game.
[Gerard over computer] I didn't think we'd ever get here.
And so I was pretty proud
that we got to the stage where
we can develop equipment that's good enough for everybody to use.
It gives anyone the opportunity
to game, and that's important.
[John] In video games you can do many things
that I can't in the real world.
Like driving or running, kicking a football.
It makes you feel you're there even if you're physically not.
In your mind, you're playing.
In video games, I like to make friends,
and know different people from all over the world.
Because it feels equal.
They see the gamer,
not the person behind it.
[delicate music playing]
[Laura] Michael was very quick to develop.
We would give him something like Lego and he would open on Christmas morning,
and he would not stop for a drink, for toilet, for food or anything
until he completed that.
[Karl] He was very focused,
He liked his cars, the trains… He was very much into vehicles.
[Laura] By the time he was a year old, I then had Nathan, his brother.
Both have been obsessed with computers ever since they were little.
We were both into computers as well. We used to play on them in our spare time.
He came home with some bruises on him, really big impact bruises, like,
"How did you do that?" "I don't know."
He's not getting bullied at school. We're not doing anything at home…
This got to be medical.
[delicate music continues]
It was knowing.
It's been a tumultuous six years since then.
[Laura] My mom supported me from day of diagnosis.
But then mom's health deteriorated herself,
and then passed away
just after Michael's birthday in April,
of the first year of treatment.
We lost our… our biggest asset in supporting
Laura and Michael.
So we had to sort of close ranks and step up.
[hopeful music playing]
[clanging]
[clapping]
[Mathew] That was meant to be the big win.
It was all over. We… We survived the war.
All seemed relatively under control.
For a few months.
[Ruth] Unfortunately, Michael relapsed, so he had to have more intensive treatment
and ultimately had to go and have a bone marrow transplant
where they basically wipe out your immune system.
[Karl] He didn't get fixed on one game.
He could play a game for 20 to 30 minutes,
and then he'd have to switch game. I think Elite…
was probably the first game where he could go longer than that half an hour.
[Paige] Elite: Dangerous is a one to one representation of our own galaxy.
You are not relied upon to save the world, you are to live in it.
You can do heroic things if you wish to. You can also be a bad guy if you wish to.
It works via the Internet, it's multiuser,
so a group of you can go off and have adventures together in the game.
[Mathew] In the last year of Michael's life, we were definitely…
We were co-pilots in Elite.
And often with…
um, Nathan would join us from time to time.
[Nathan] I tended to be devil's advocate,
so I would ram his ship
or shoot at him when he was trading with Matt.
Yeah, it's more about the grind, which is what Michael was about.
I enjoyed playing it because Michael was there.
[Laura] Michael started to get puffier and bigger.
He was leaking from his lungs,
and the air was leaking out into his body.
It was coming under his skin, all around his face,
and he was trying to squint at the screen, trying to play his games.
[Mathew] That was the point at which
I think we'd all just come to terms
with the fact that he wasn't going to survive.
So, I tweeted out just to…
ask for help, I guess.
[Paige] The post immediately grabbed my heartstrings
because Matt had said,
"It's heartbreaking to see my nephew Michael
playing this game he loves and possibly never achieving the goals he wants to."
[Sally] All of the commanders, incredible people with massive hearts.
They all jumped on to basically lift him up,
and be like, "You're a commander too, no matter what, you're one of us."
His aspirations were so narrow because of his options,
all he wanted to do was be able to succeed in this virtual world.
[Zac] What can you do to help feed someone's passion,
that excitement of someone that's really…
you know really enjoys that world
and the experience that you have within the game?
What can you do to feed that if they can't play the game?
And so, we thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if…
we could create an audio book?"
[Mathew] It was on the Saturday. Zach texted me the idea.
So I got back to Zach and said, "Let's try."
But please, make sure everyone involved knows that…
[inhaling]
It might not work,
[Paige] We kind of looked at each other. Like, "Right, we need to move fast."
So, I called Joe, who is a head of our audio team, for Elite: Dangerous.
He was all kind of sheepish. He was like, "Hey,
How are you?" I'm like, "Yeah, I'm okay. What's up?"
"I've just got this crazy idea, and I just want to know if it's possible."
Joe was like, "You know what?
There's work to go into it, but it's the right thing to do.
I think we can do it, it's a nice idea. Yeah, let's see what happens."
The next thing was having someone to write it, so I got in touch with Drew.
"What's the likelihood that you can write a whole audiobook script
for someone by tomorrow morning?"
I was like, "How long a story you're talking about?" [laughs]
It was a short day.
He said, "About 20, 30 minutes." So, I was like chopping up my head,
how long that would be. And I said, "It's going to be about 5,000 words."
"Okay. That's that's quite a…
Yeah, yeah. I think I can do it."
Then Sunday morning, some coffee up and I hit the keyboard.
[Amelia] Those are my sets, costume and jewelry!
I checked my phone as I got in my car and I saw this message from Zac
asking for help, and it was not even a thought,
especially with a community like this.
If one of your own is in trouble, you help.
[Zac] Monday morning came and Joe's piecing it all together.
[Joe] So I sent a message to the Elite team,
"Anyone interested to be involved?"
Every single one of them was like, "Yeah, what do you need?" Like that.
I was just like, "I need the sound of an eagle fly by,
of a ship crashing into an asteroid. I need the sound of an airlock."
They sent me all the stuff. I put them on the timeline, getting the mix right.
We knew it would be close. We didn't know whether he would get to listen to it.
By Tuesday night,
Zack and Paige arrived at the hospital with the finished product.
So you are acted out in the story.
[man] Commander Michael Holyland
could hear his uncle's voice over the comms link
crackling with static from the overcharged engines.
[Mathew] What have you done to that thing, Michael?
[Michael] Can't keep up.
Dirty drives, G5 mods, lightened hull. What haven't I done?
[Mathew] Trying to stay one step ahead of your brother, right?
[Laura] You could see his face, waiting for the moment when he was mentioned.
And as soon as he heard his own voice, he was like, "That was me!"
[Mathew] Watching his little chubby face
as he kind of grinned through his affliction…
He was alive and it was electric.
It's clearly got a goal and an ambition.
He felt important and powerful.
[Amelia] We all understood what this meant.
[sniffles]
[sighs]
It really touched me when we found that he had passed away…
Um…
but I'm glad that we made it.
[Joe] To think that that's kind of his last day.
It was great he was able to hear it…
in sort of less than 24 hours before he unfortunately passed.
[atmospheric music playing]
[narrator] But every commander hast to blaze their own trail.
And find their own path.
Some can be satisfied that they made a difference, made a tough choice,
persevered when the odds were against them and the situation bleak.
Bravery and courage,
unbowed in the face of overwhelming odds.
That's the way of the truly elite.
The last time we talked about video games, you said you played tennis,
but when you played on the tennis video game,
you always played as Roger Federer. You still do that?
[laughter]
Yeah. I don't know if it is the truth. But the guy who is doing the game…
I am only the defensive guy, two meters behind the line.
[laughter]
It's impossible to make a winner. I only run.
So, it's better to choose another player.
[laughs]
[cheers]
[O.J.] It's so similar to traditional sports,
you look at the passion and the crushing when someone loses, that's super tribal.
Football is all about tribes. People follow certain teams, they never switch.
There's rivalries and loyalties, which span religion and everything else.
Not the same with esports. It is a global phenomenon.
You find people who live in Germany and support an American team
because they have a German player.
[Michal] Professional players, those that attend big events,
can earn anything from 5,000 euro per month
all the way up to 30,000 euro per month
from the team's salary, and on top of that comes the prize money where
some of the best teams can earn up to four million dollars in prize money
to share between five players and a coach.
You can definitely talk about them as very well off young individuals.
[clicking]
[keyboard clacking]
[mouse clicks]
[Nicolás] I started playing video games with my dad.
We played like almost every day.
My dad also played CS on his free time. I was sitting on his knee playing…
At first, I didn't know I wanted to be a professional player. It was just fun.
I realized that I got better and better, and joined my first team when I was 15.
That was x6tence.
[María, in Spanish] We watched him and went to Sweden to look for him,
and he turned out to be a child with a natural talent.
[Adrián] We offered him a professional contract. He began to cry.
I was delighted that a child like him, with that talent signed up with x6tence.
When he arrived, I had to fight with organizations and leagues,
because they didn't allow a 14-year-old boy to play,
even with his father's consent.
In his first tournament, at 14, we won, and he was awarded best player.
He began to stand out.
It's not common at all
for someone who is 16 years old to perform as well as he was performing.
And he attracted the attention of the big Counter clubs.
[in English] When you are running a new sports team, you always keep
an eye out for talent.
Uh, we've been following him for some time.
We think he's one of the best players in the world.
[intense music playing]
[Anders] This idea of having people who come out of nowhere
and suddenly are in a huge team, um…
is kind of unheard of. He's one of those early people who's been able to do that.
[Patrik] Having him join the team it's great for everybody involved.
He is a young, talented Swedish player that finally got his breakthrough.
And hopefully we can help him through this whole, like,
pro scene so he can develop to be a great player I know he can be.
I'm excited for the future.
[Valentín] I was proud, especially when they jumped to the arena,
and everybody was standing up and shouting.
Tears came to my eyes when the people were shouting Plopski's name.
Who could have imagined that? This is awesome.
[commentator] …if the day… Plopski! He finds the head shot!
He knows what he's doing!
-[cheers] -[commentator] He has to be there!
[Marvin] I think he is a really good player,
and I think this was his first time on stage now, and he did really well.
[Joseph] It was absolutely fascinating because of the strategy and…
I was so impressed.
[Anders] When you're skilled at the game and you got a chance
that is as big as being on an IP is,
you have to focus on other things. You have to think about,
"Okay, how do I make sure I don't screw this up by having my ego built too big?"
"How do I make sure I can sort of stay grounded and focused on,
not just the next couple of months, but,
where is my career going one, two or three years from now?"
[intense music playing]
[narrator] There is an open debate when considering esports, a real sport,
and a comparison to other sports is inevitable.
At the German Sports University,
a research project is testing the ability and stress profiles
esport players go through.
[Ingo, in German] In esports, performance is achieved using hand and fingers.
The players carry up to 400 small and barely visible movements per minute.
We test the fine motor skills like hand to eye coordination, wrist speed,
dexterity and the precision of hand movements.
For the perception and attention test, we use the NeuroTracker.
The primary focus is on perception and selective attention in a 3D space,
as well as central brain functions,
as working memory or the ability to process information quickly.
Because many esports tournaments last for several hours or days
an increased endurance capacity
also helps the brain to stay in good shape.
With all these tests we want to compile
and analyze the optimum ability and stress profiles
of those who take part in esports,
and to develop a theory of training on this basis.
[Marcos, in Spanish] We've taken two people of the same sex and age.
The only difference between them is that one is a pro gamer, a professional,
and the other is just an amateur player.
During the resonance they were watching some videos.
[Luisa] They put me the videos.
What you do is see them and think what I would have done at that moment.
[Clara] I was trying to understand what was happening in the game
and I didn't know what I had to watch out for.
I was seeing the surroundings, how they moved, what was happening.
I even got scared.
[Juan] There are differences in brain activity
that are clearly seen between a person…
that is a professional player
and another one that is an amateur.
[Marcos] The amateur is activating the brain with much more intensity.
If we see which areas of the brain are activated,
the auditory areas, which are activated in the expert and not in the amateur.
The motor areas, in charge of the hands, are very active in the expert.
Even though she isn't moving, she knows her hands should be.
And just by watching the videos of the game,
the brain adds what she should be doing with her hands.
[Michal, in English] Esports is esports, and gaming is gaming.
You might sit and play video games all day and that will not be esports.
Esports is actually competing in an environment which is structured,
which has rules, which has competitions…
[Janko] We're slowly starting to get the generation of players who are
coming up and saying, I want to be an esports player.
If you're 12 and say to your parents, "I want to be a professional footballer",
then your parents will probably think it's very unlikely that will happen.
But we don't mind supporting it, and buying shoes
paying for it, driving you to practice,
because we know you're going to get a lot of things out of it.
[Janko] Give yourself a time frame,
a year, a year and a half, that you will give 110 percent to this.
Then you must be realistic, objective
look where you are, what happened in year and a half.
Did you improve? Did you get to a good team?
Are you now competing? Are you getting there, at least slowly?
Then be realistic with the result after that. If you're not,
maybe this is not for you.
[Jordan] Be confident in your ability, say you know you can do it,
and also be realistic with yourself.
Make sure you have a backing.
I didn't quit my job until I was able to confirm a salary.
[Fatih] I had a plan B and I still can go to study if I want to.
I hope I can raise my kids as smart as my parents raised me,
that they understand they need a plan B and…
if plan A isn't working, it doesn't matter. Plan B is also there.
[Michal] Esports can be a doorway into so many interesting possibilities,
just like a former footballer could become a physiotherapist,
you know, a manager, a coach,
and a television expert, a commentator.
[Anders] People should be interested in thinking about
if they want to push their career or education in this space.
We have esports lawyers, esports salespeople, esports coaches,
and we have, like all traditional things you could do now
you can tag esports onto it and find some sort of career.
[Danny] Now we have…
real sportsmen, real businessmen investing into this.
They see a future for us.
[narrator] The video game industry' is growing around the world,
and South Korea has been leading the way for some time,
where competitive gaming is taken very seriously.
Culturally, video games, particularly in Korea,
is very core to what's popular and popular culture.
Right in the middle of Seoul, right by a central train station in Seoul,
We have an arena that's called Low Park
that Korean League does all their matches and broadcast.
[Can] The competitions in South Korea in general is very high level.
Children are competing from the kindergarten,
so people are very used to the competitions environment.
When the players choose to be professional gamers,
their mentor is…
totally focused on the victory.
[Son, in Korean] I played the game as a hobby but then I became good player.
I thought of becoming a professional player.
People told me all the time that I should join
a professional team.
And now with the consent of my parents,
I am on the MVP team.
[in English] Korea is already set. So like they have a pro league,
the players get enough money to live as a player profession.
Markets say the average salary
of the League of Legends player in South Korea,
the average, is 150,000.
[Paul, in Korean] Every game company is making an attempt to create a product
that can encompass game content around the world.
[narrator] Video games are also having an impact on pop culture,
especially when it comes to fashion and cosplay.
Cosplay is a performance art in which participants wear costumes
to represent characters from cartoons, manga and, most recently, video games.
[Lee, in Korean] I used to watch animation when I was a child
and I loved their customs and how they were dressed.
So I looked for this thing, and then I started with cosplay.
[KyungMin] I've been into video games and cosplay since always.
Then, I realized
that I could make money with cosplay.
So I set up a company
for the cosplay business.
[narrator] Esports have been evolving at a fast pace over the past years.
Audiences are growing and teams from Asia, Europe and the US
compete for the top positions in most of the tournaments.
But other parts of the world are catching up quickly.
[man, in Spanish] Jerónimo started playing video games
when he was little, in Club Penguin.
And he hasn't really stopped ever since. It was one video game after other.
As a father, the only thing I saw was a child in front of a computer.
I didn't know much about it.
Later, everything started to get a bit complicated.
That which is good fun and easy to control,
because he is ten and I tell him to do his homework, stop playing and go to bed,
when he is 14, becomes "Okay, I'm going to bed but a bit later",
but you can't be on top of him.
And when he is 15 or 16, he says, "Yeah, yeah, I'm going to bed",
and just avoids you and stays awake.
And then, the conflicts at school start.
Conflict with the headmaster, with the teachers.
They called us because he was sleeping all morning at school.
"What do you mean with that?"
Later, this starts becoming what we could call almost an obsession.
Twelve hours a day, low grades at school, etc.
Lots of things happened. We had to…
We cut off the Internet, threw the router out of the window,
He cut the cable off the modem, or hide the PC power cord.
I spent, at 12 years old,
nine hours at an Internet café because I didn't have a router to play.
And then, he started breaking keyboards.
How he managed his anger,
the madness due to the frustration for the game.
I fought with my mom a lot. I wanted to make a living out of this,
but she wanted me to study, to finish school and go to university.
[man] It was a bit embarrassing for us.
We said to each other, "There's something wrong with him."
Because when he broke keyboards and I got new ones,
and Luz told me, "No, don't get him a new one.
You are always solving his problems." And so on.
His mother didn't know what to do, and asked me to take charge of him.
When, 30 years ago, I told my parents I wanted to study advertising,
they said, "Why not become an architect or a doctor?"
So, with that in mind, I wondered,
"What if there's something behind this that I may not be realizing?"
So, when Jero told me,
"This is how it works, there are leagues and you get paid for it,
and look how many subscribers I have on YouTube."
So I started to encourage him.
Without telling him, I started to give preference to his training over school.
But, it's a decision a parent has to make.
When I understood what this is all about,
I saw it was like a football club.
[Jerónimo] He always supported me a lot. And I always thought I didn't deserve him,
because he always supported me, and I felt I couldn't say thank you.
Jero says it was difficult for his mom, but, when she finally understood it,
she became one of his most important supports.
And when you see that person's changed and congratulates you, you feel relief.
[Fernando] Being able to create content, and distribute it,
is a chance the digital media allows, which the traditional media didn't have,
and which a lot of traditional sports clubs can't do.
[Antonio] Football isn't my rival, Netflix is. Why?
Fans want to have constant content.
If I'm able to give them contents 24/7 through my own team,
my own content creators, my players, the club itself,
I will have those fans unconditionally.
The relationship with players is similar to the one in football;
they are sports people, with a contract and a salary,
but, in this digital environment,
they need to look after their image a lot more than in soccer.
You need to be both a player and a content creator.
For a professional player, playing well isn't enough. It is for his team,
but to reach a bigger audience, he needs to entertain.
That's when we step in.
We, YouTubers, help people have fun, but we don't have enough level.
[Jorge] I used YouTube and esports a lot.
I managed to have a voice, and realized I could use the voice I have.
My voice, my audience on YouTube, and take it to esports.
[Ibai] I started in YouTube with friends from class,
and through that I became interested in the world of the internet, of esports.
Back then, they weren't called so.
I went to a casting and they chose us.
[inaudible]
[in English] What I do is talk about video games, sometimes anime,
about maybe top 10s, about favorite aspects of certain games,
and make them interesting, like skits.
[speaks in German]
-[speaks in German] -So we are told this ended up
in the YouTube career. You can learn it, you can choose it basically.
[Daniela, in Spanish] I became famous with perseverance, that was very important
and creating content people were interested in.
If a new game came out, I would buy it and I filmed myself playing it
so people could also enjoy it.
[Aritz] I was home playing, watching YouTubers,
and, one day, I thought, "Why not me?
I'm playing all day.
Why shouldn't I show them?"
Because many people say that, taking into account my difficulties,
I play better than other people with no handicap in their hands.
I made a video on my channel, because they wanted to know how I played.
And then my channel started to get off the ground.
My parents were puzzled, and asked, "And what is all this for?"
and I said "I don't know, dad. I'm having fun. I don't know. I enjoy it."
You have fun with your garden, and I play games, record it and upload it.
[Daniel] The biggest celebrities are not actors.
They're not the face of media.
These are just individuals, mostly online.
You look at Youtubers and Instagrammers, these people have more influence
than some of the biggest actors.
[in Spanish] Some of us with a voice
are setting up the collective imagination.
And the children listening to us
don't need teachers, or to be told what is right or wrong.
But I think if we transmit values
and a way to understand life, social life
we're helping set up tomorrow's society.
[narrator] Technology will change the world as we know it,
improving our quality of life,
but also presenting us with new challenges.
We are living through a revolution like never seen before,
in which communications and connectivity are not only letting us play in new ways,
but also transform the way we used to play.
[Jake] VR and AR allows you to have a natural interaction with the world
rather than having a console or display or some sort of wearable,
it'd just be there. It'll be transparent. You won't even be thinking about it.
[Brennan] It's leveraging the ability for the computer to understand
the world that's around.
And there's this threshold in terms of data transfer that 5G gets passed.
[Chema] In real time,
we'll be able to have VR, Augmented Reality, HD gaming,
which will break all the barriers,
and will allow children all over the world to become close friends,
thanks to the virtual worlds in where they'll live.
History is being made in front of us, but also disappearing at the same time.
Something we just got used to is already gone
by the time we've documented and gotten used to it.
[in Spanish] What will happen in the future?
Will they leave a mark in humanity?
Or is this the culture? A culture of the ephemeral.
[Roy in English] That unites us more than ever.
We're in a very hostile environment for community, for faith in others…
And when you play these games, all of that sets aside.
It makes sense to be skeptical or fearful of something new.
[man] The industry has to get involved, but we need the support of governments
and the parents.
[Marcos] It's very easy to blame video games.
We need to know we're responsible for our children,
and we can't avoid that.
[Michal] At the end of the day, if you're worried about your children,
pay attention to what they're doing.
Take interest, talk to them about it. They would love for you to listen
about what they love. And then you can make a judgment.
[man] Society always has a problem with a new medium.
Why don't we learn from that?
[Roy] When you're gamer or you play
They tell you, "Get outside."
"Go, go have a life."
But you are having a life.
[atmospheric music playing]