Video-gaming strives for respect. Is it a sport?

Attention will be riveted on the Olympic torch Friday during the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympiad, but in cyberspace, another torch relay is under way to promote visibility of a “sport” not yet ready for prime time in Beijing. It is the digital torch of the World Cyber Games, being passed from country to country, ultimately to land in Cologne, Germany, on Aug. 11.

World Cyber Games? That’s right: pro video-game play.

Before anyone snickers, remember that sports channel ESPN routinely showcases poker tournaments, which arguably involve even less athleticism than video-gaming. Indeed, competitive video-game leagues have contracts with ESPN, MTV, and DirecTV, draw as many as 80,000 paying fans to arena events, and boast dozens of formal teams that pay salaries of up to $90,000 a year, putting video-gaming on the cusp of mainstream competition.

“Video games are only getting bigger and more pervasive,” says Michael Kane, author of the book “Game Boys: Professional Videogaming’s Rise from the Basement to the Big Time.” “So the question is, what about the kids who are the best at it? Will they be rewarded for their ability? That’s the attempt being made now, and they are moving forward with baby steps.”

As recently as two years ago, he says, some 15 young aspirants were making roughly $20,000 each. Today, as many as 90 full-time professionals make as much as $90,000 a year, he says.

The World Cyber Games (WCG), which get under way in Cologne Nov. 5-9, is one of three international leagues devoted to promoting, showcasing, and ultimately profiting from video-game competition. (The Championship Gaming Series and Major League Gaming are the others.)

Every sport has its Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. But a young sport may need a superstar just to let the world know it exists. Enter Johnathan Wendel, aka “Fatal1ty,” the top professional video-game player, or “cyberathlete,” in the West and the first to be considered a full-time pro at the sport.

He began his career in 1999, at 18, when he placed third in a tournament and took home $4,000. His parents had hoped the high school tennis player (a state-ranked player) would go on to college, but once he began to earn real money, Mr. Wendel says, “it was all about the freedom of leaving home and doing what I really wanted to do – and being able to make a living doing it.”

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