BENGALURU Thursday 8 January 2009
DC
40
TRIVIA: It took the movie industry about 100 years to develop to maturity, but it took video games only 36 years, from the first game Pong (1972) to Grand Theft Auto IV and of course, it’s still growing.
sport Taking
gaming to the next level
BY MAXIN MATHEW BENGALURU
T
hey are the most unlikely foes one can pit against each other. While one is a master of the square cut the other is the lord of the uppercut. Far away from cricket pitches and boxing rings, Rahul Dravid and pugilist Vijender Kumar were the cynosure of all eyes as they settled in front of their laptops, all ready to burn rubber, albeit on the cyber front. Screeching tyres and shifting gears engulfed the atmosphere inside the conference hall as Rahul’s red and white Ford Mustang scorched past Vijender’s black Lamborghini in Need For Speed: Most Wanted, a friendly, multiplayer sprint race held during the launch of India Gaming Championship ’09, billed as the country’s largest ever gaming tournament. Both Dravid and Vijender looked exuberant after their round of gaming and praised the efforts undertaken to popularise gaming. “I’m not a regular gamer but it’s been fun playing online and brings out the spirit of competition. I hope the tournament generates a lot of talented gamers and I wish it all the success,” Dravid said. Organised by Zapak.com and Gillette, the tournament has already drawn a big response from gaming-crazy youngsters all over with mass registrations having already begun, claim organisers. According to Zapak’s chief marketing officer, Arun Mehra, the tournament will provide opportunities to avid gamers to compete with the best in the country. “Gaming has been an upcoming hobby for the Indian youth in recent times and its popularity has been on the upsurge. Our main aim is to get at least one crore entries for the tournament, encourage gaming and help in its propagation,” Mehra said. “India hardly sees any participation at the World Cyber Games and this is our chance to organise an event at almost the same magnitude,” he added. Over 5.3 million gamers are currently registered with the Zapak portal and recent surveys have shown that out of every three persons on the Internet, one is hooked onto Zapak. If these whopping fig-
WHAT’S IN STORE Visit www.igc09.com and register to test your skills against the best in the country.
THE FORMATS: Online (Jan. 7 to Feb. 9): Superbike racing, tennis, cricket and street soccer. Hardcore (Jan. 20 to Feb. 6): Fifa 08 and NFS: Undercover. Venue: Zapak Gameplex ures don’t speak for themselves, then perhaps nothing will. The championship is divided into two formats — online and hardcore. The online preliminaries, which began on Wednesday, will run till February 9 and will feature games such as Superbike racing, tennis, cricket and street soccer. Participants have to log onto www.igc09.com, select their city and start playing. Based on the consolidated scores from all the games, the top 60 gamers from each city will contest in the online city finals and the final 32 will meet in Mumbai for the mega finals on Feb. 9. The hardcore preliminaries will see actual gaming in action as interested gamers can contest in FIFA ’08 and Need For Speed: Undercover after downloading the contest form from the website and submitting it at the nearest Zapak Gameplex. This event will kick off on January 20 at all the 51 Gameplexes in the country and the top-scorers from each city will play in the National final at Mumbai on Feb. 6. Apart from getting to play your favourite game against others, attractive prizes worth Rs. 1 crore are in store, including X-Box consoles and an all-expense paid trip to the Electronics Arts Centre in Hong Kong. So what are you waiting for? For all you gamers out there, it’s time to prove your mettle.
Vijender Kumar and Rahul Dravid during the launch of India Gaming Championship ‘09 in Bengaluru on Wednesday. (Below) Fifa 08 and Need for Speed: Undercover will test the skills of the country’s best gamers. A PHOTOGRAPH BY R. SAMUEL