Gamers of the World Unite

Remember when we were little kids, and our parents succumbed to the nagging cries and pressure to buy this new 8-bit nintendo gaming system that was supposed to be revolutionary compared to the atari? Well i remember it...hours of time went into Double Dragon, Duck Tales, Tetris, Zelda, Mario Bros... all the classics. My mom would constantly bitch that i was wasting time... video games led to nothing.



Aha! finally i was right about something.... video gamers are now winning lots of cash around the world. This week, there is a global video game competition. Now i know it sounds nerdy. it is. but to someone who gambles money on the roll of the dice, the cards that flop, and a little white ball dropping into one of 37 slots on a wheel, i think it makes sense that you can get money for your video gaming skillz.

This week in san fran is the World Cyber Games. 5-days, 700 people, 64 countries, and $400,000 up for grabs. God damn thats a lot of money. The USA had a mini-competition to see who would represent us... the games are: Starcraft(pc), WarCraft III, FIFA Soccer, Need For Speed, Project Gotham Racing, Halo, and Counter Strike. Ahh yes, Halo. The game i can usually smoke people in....

So i may as well confess right now. At the age of 22, i entered a video game tournament. (if you google my full name, thats the first thing that pops up) Me and 50 other people threw in $20 to play at this 'gaming station' in dunwoody, ga. The age range was from 16-26 and people actually came from NC, northern GA, anywhere in a 150 mile radius to test their halo skills and compete for cash, prizes, and a chance to play regional and nationally against others. the first day i came in first place. it was all for one and i stomped people. little kids were crying. moms were upset. asians were enraged. and curly headed ix just laughed it up. the next day a black guy with the handle 'Hitler' asked if i wanted to team up since only 2 people qualified. i knew he was good, and yet for some reason i just couldnt team up with a guy named hitler.... i dunno, just wasnt in me. of course he just asked someone else and Hitler and his Goebbels cohort won 1st and 2nd the next day. oh well, so much for that.

Dont underestimate the gaming industry... since back in the days of nintendo, video gaming has become a multi-BILLION dollar industry. People even purchase cell phone games nowadays. And there is even a video game tv network, where people just watch other people play video games. EA Sports is challenging EVERYTHING. As long as Halo 2 is as badass as people say, and Madden keeps pushing new NFL games each year, i will be more than happy to devote countless hours and hours and hours of my life to being a nerd.