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BBC News Online: Sci/Tech


Wednesday, 5 December, 2001, 08:58 GMT

Gamers go for gold


Fifa 2001
Who is the top cyber footballer in the world?
More than 400 computer gamers from 37 countries are competing in the biggest gaming tournament in the world to find out who is the best cyber warrior.

They are attending the first World Cyber Games, which is taking place in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and which the organisers hope to develop into an annual gaming Olympics.

Unreal Tournament
The finalists had to battle through national qualifiers to make it through to the final.

On offer is more than just prestige. During the five-day tournament, gamers will be competing for prizes worth a total of $300,000.

The games selected for the Seoul competition were chosen for their worldwide popularity.

They include the first-person shooter Quake III, which places players in a futuristic world of graphic violence where they have to kill monsters and opponents, and Starcraft: Brood War, which pits three imaginary races of the future against each other as they build armies and destroy their enemies.

Fast growing sport

Networked gaming, in which people compete against each other, is one of the fastest growing cyber sports in the world.

South Korea has one of the world's largest computer games markets, with millions of people online.

There are about 20,000 such cafes in South Korea alone, and World Cyber Games participants can expect to be treated like media stars while they are there.

Counter-Strike
The event is sponsored by Samsung, which is aware of the value of the games to the computer industry.

Computer games often require large amounts of memory and fast processing speeds, and are one of the main reasons people buy the latest and most powerful machines and sign up for high-speed internet connections.

Another games tournament is taking place at the same time in Dallas, Texas. The 2001 Cyberathlete Professional League World Championship Event is organised by the Cyberathlete Professional League.

The organisation describes itself as the leading professional computer gamers league in the world.


Related to this story:
Gamers zero in on top prize (07 Oct 00 | Entertainment) Emotional future for video games (14 Nov 01 | New Media) Games set sights on the future (01 Nov 01 | Sci/Tech) Happy 40th, computer games (30 Jul 01 | dot life)


Internet links: Age of Empires II | Starcraft: Brood War | World Cyber Games | Fifa 2001 | Quake III: Arena | Half-Life: Counterstrike | Unreal Tournament | Cyberathlete Professional League |
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