Let the cyber games begin

Local PC/console gaming enthusiasts are currently priming their paddles and getting ready to do battle, as the countdown to the National Taiwan Cyber Games Championship and the chance to represent Taiwan at the 2005 World Cyber Games (WCG) in Singapore this November begins in earnest this weekend.

First held in Seoul in 2001, the WCG has grown to become the world's largest celebration of video gaming. An estimated 800 players representing 70 countries are expected to turn out for this year's event and in so doing make the 2005 WCG the largest ever PC/console gaming event to be staged outside of South Korea.

Participants from across Taiwan have until June 30 to register for the first of the regional knockout stages of the contest. Divided into northern, central and southern zones the first round heats are all online-gaming based and will run from July 17 through July 31. The winners of the online knockout stage will go on to compete in the

national championships to be held at the Taipei World Trade Center in late August.

According to a spokesperson for the local computer

manufacturer who is sponsor of this year's Taiwan Championship, Shuttle, an estimated 400,000 people are expected to register to compete in the first phase knockout round. In order that Taiwan fields as large and as an adaptable squad as possible at the WCG, Taiwan's WCG committee has chosen to enter teams for four PC games and one console game category. The PC games chosen by organizers of the Taiwan Cyber Games Championship are Star Craft: Brood War, Counter Strike, WarCraft: The Frozen Throne and Need for Speed: Underground 2.

The sole console game is the X-box version of the popular Street Fighter-styled Dead or Alive: Ultimate.

Whoever is chosen to represent

Team Taiwan at the 2005 WCG in Singapore in November will, no doubt be looking to repeat the nation's 2003 successes when Taiwan's Wu Yu-jen (吳右任), Huang Yu-kuei (黃裕貴), Liu Kai-hsun

(劉凱勛) and Huang Cheng-pin (黃政彬) returned home triumphant after winning gold in The Age of Mythology and War Craft: Reign of Chaos game competitions.

Gamers interested in participating in the first leg of the National Taiwan Cyber Games

Championship can register at http://tw.worldcybergames.com. The Web site and all gaming and championship information is in Chinese. For an English language guide to the 2005 World Cyber Games, log onto www.worldcybergames.com