In this episode James and Ian introduce the book Sport 2.0, written by author and sports researcher Professor Andy Miah. The worlds of physical and digital games are converging, and that's forcing us to have some important conversations with one another. What is a sport, anyway?

We talk about how sports games challenge us while promoting accessibility and participation for all, and how games previously only possible in our imaginations are being created by studios around the world. The Oculus Rift makes a rock climbing video game, The Climb, Xbox releases games with dual joystick control, all in an effort to make the user experience the sport as if they were there in person.

We also talk about how stereotypes play a big role in how gamers sometime view sports, or sports culture. Probably in the same way as those that identify as 'sporty' people might not play video games for one reason or another. As the physical and digital sports experiences converge, players of both are forced to critically examine their own biases and stereotypes and realize that perhaps defining their identity based on what they are not, rather than what they are or what they like, may be counterproductive.

Thanks for listening. New episode will be out on Sept 6.

Later player.