Goodbye gym class, hello eSports. Nintendo has just teamed up with PlayVS, an eSports league where students can play competitively with others across the United States. Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate are set to be added to PlayVS's roster of regional game leagues for high-schoolers, alongside the pre-existing likes of Rocket League, League of Legends, and SMITE. PlayVS explains that it considers eSports to be varsity sports, and Nintendo's Bill Trinen states that Nintendo is partnering with them to bring that "team-based atmosphere" that competitive gaming leagues provide to kids across the country. Smash Bros. and Splatoon 2 will be added to the high school bracket varsity league for participating schools this Fall, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe will be officially added in the 2022 school year. Nintendo will also be sponsoring the program by providing Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions and the games to 3,000 different schools.

As the premier provider for students in the ever-growing world of competitive gaming, PlayVS enables high school teams around the country to compete against each other through online matches and seasonal leagues. In this partnership with Nintendo, PlayVS becomes the home for high schoolers to compete in officially sanctioned Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Splatoon 2 leagues.

As part of the PlayVS and Nintendo partnership, we will provide a Nintendo Switch™ system to hundreds of select qualifying schools, and 3,000 select schools will receive either a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or Splatoon 2 game and a Nintendo Switch Online 12-month Individual Membership*. (More details to come!)

Source

 

[gamesquest1]

"Nintendo will also be sponsoring the program by providing Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions and the games to 3,000 different schools."

Giving away games and subscriptions to 3000 schools is a horrible way to turn a profit

don't worry the first hit is always free, and I'm sure they will be digital copies and the subscription is basically nothing to them in terms of costs, and once the kids are hooked they will need to buy their own console, game and subscription to keep playing at home

 

[x65943]

The thing is it's not really costing the schools anything as Nintendo are providing the Switches and games and online membership free of charge.

Hm, after looking more at the source it seems Nintendo is providing games and PlayVS is providing a few hundred switches.

So the vast majority of the 3000 schools will still need to somehow get ahold of a switch or two.

 

[AmandaRose]

Hm, after looking more at the source it seems Nintendo is providing games and PlayVS is providing a few hundred switches.

So the vast majority of the 3000 schools will still need to somehow get ahold of a switch or two.

I guess most people that are at the schools who would be interested in taking part will probably be able to provide their own switches anyway.

 

[Deleted member 546149]

What school would actually implement Esports
it would be nice but why?

 

[x65943]

What school would actually implement Esports
it would be nice but why?

Some schools literally have anime clubs, also - it could be really cheap

 

[Deleted member 546149]

Some schools literally have anime clubs, also - it could be really cheap

wtf what

 

[x65943]

wtf what

You realize it's pretty simple to make a club right?

At most schools you just need a supervising teacher to agree to work with you.

 

[Deleted member 546149]

You realize it's pretty simple to make a club right?

At most schools you just need a supervising teacher to agree to work with you.

In my day we had school

 

[x65943]

In my day we had school

School club?

Sounds like a boring school.

You guys didn't have extracurricular activities?

 

[Deleted member 546149]

School club?

Sounds like a boring school.

You guys didn't have extracurricular activities?

No, I'm just surprised some schools allowed for anime clubs

 

[Pikm]

There's no health benefit, wich I believe is the main reason schools care about sports.

It's not about the health benefit lmao sports cause all kinds of injuries and football gives people irreversible brain damage. Playing video games is unironically healthier than playing football. School sports is about offering entertainment to parents and families and seeking to squeeze as much revenue out of them as possible all while using tax dollars to pay for it.

 

[McPringles]

I mean, we can debate the merits of school-sponsored esports all we want, but I think we can all agree that the existing Smash community will be ecstatic about an influx of fresh young players to train and groom.

 

[Ampersound]

The thing is it's not really costing the schools anything as Nintendo are providing the Switches and games and online membership free of charge.

No they're only providing games and NSO, at least that's what the title says

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I mean, we can debate the merits of school-sponsored esports all we want, but I think we can all agree that the existing Smash community will be ecstatic about an influx of fresh young players to train and groom.

I mean more people interested in smash is nice, but I don't see esports being a valuable way of spending time in school.
Subjects like cooking, chess, accounting, and generally things with real-world application are more important.
And it's obvious by now that Nintendo only wants to hook them on buying their games, Nintendo doesn't care about competitive esports, they've shown time and time again. So students who pop off and are looking to become professionals will be left with blue balls.

 

[AmandaRose]

No they're only providing games and NSO, at least that's what the title says

You are wrong.

 

[DoctorBagPhD]

Good initiative, maybe that can help those tards quit fortnite and some other shit.

You really want the sort of people playing Fortnite to play the same games you do instead? Seems kinda masochistic to me.

 

[chrisrlink]

This explains the netplay Melee crackdown back in November. The had a project to profit from it.

I'
I'm supprised switch lan play isn't getting any heat despite giving "online gaming" to banned consoles

 

[ZeroFX]

You really want the sort of people playing Fortnite to play the same games you do instead? Seems kinda masochistic to me.

i can take it, if it means those poor souls will play something that's not awful. Also i'm very far from their region so whatever.