If you're anything like us, you probably fancy yourself a bit of a paragon in your video game of choice. We've lost count of the amount of times we've proclaimed ourselves 'champion of the world' to a fuming online foe. (This usually results in us being permanently muted, but there can be no glory without sacrifice.)
However, there comes a time when you need to put the trash talking aside and prove your worth in an official capacity - which is exactly what we'll be doing at the Australian World Cyber Games Championship this weekend.
The World Cyber Games (WCG) is the largest e-sports tournament in the world, boasting 90 countries and over 1 million active competitors across the globe. The first Australian round kicks off this Saturday, April 30, in a "festival-style extravaganza" at Parramatta Riverside.
Gamers will be able to compete in Fifa 11, StarCraft II, WarCraft III, Counter Strike 1.6 and Tekken 6, which will be offered across various formats. In addition to the games themselves, the tournament promises to offer plenty to see and do including jetskiing, fireworks, live DJs and something called "roving entertainment".
There will also be gaming stands placed throughout the festival where non-competing gamers can have a go.
The tournament is being organised by events specialists tls in association with Samsung. "Australians love competition and we love gaming. WCG brings together the very best social aspects of gaming together with a healthy dose of competition," Blake Harris, Director of tls said. "Over the course of our program this year we will be finding the best gamers in the country to take on the best in the world at the International Final."
Additional rounds will be held in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, culminating in a Gold Coast final to find Australia's best players on both consoles and PCs. The finalists will then be flown to Seoul to compete in the international final. Do Aussie gamers have what it takes to reign supreme? Only if all of Asia decides not to compete, we're guessing.
The first round will take place from 4:30pm at Parramatta Riverside. For those who wish to compete, registration will be handled at the event. Entry to the Australian WCG Championship is free, and open to all ages.
