Sport or sellout? Debate rages over medals for video games

Forget swimming goggles and running cleats. As athletes gather for Asia’s biggest sporting event in Jakarta this week, much of the attention is on computer mice and chunky headphones.

For the first time, the Asian Games — the Olympics equivalent for the world’s most populous continent — will include video game competitions as a demonstration sport alongside swimming and track and field. Contestants from Saudi Arabia to Japan will battle for national pride and bragging rights across six titles, including “League of Legends” and “StarCraft II” in a huge marketing coup for publishers like Tencent Holdings and Activision Blizzard.

Yet the move is generating furious controversy.