World Series of Videogames by 4Kings

Let the games begin

The curtain was raised for 4 days hard gaming for those competing in the tournaments. The tournaments on offer included Counterstrike 1.6, Quake 4 and Day of Defeat for the PC fans, whilst in the Console arena there were Halo 2, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Project Gotham Racing. After some concerns and criticisms from teams and players about seeding, things finally got underway and the next two days would be almost non-stop carnage as each competition progressed and the combatants were whittled down to the final few.

There were a few gripes from the press at the event who were finding it hard to get close to and interact with the players, which is surprising given that the event was more to focus on bringing gaming into the mainstream by focusing on the media rather than the gamers. Denying the press access seems a funny way of achieving this objective but after a few discussions here and there things seemed to sort themselves out.

When Sunday came around it was down to the Championship Finals for each of the games, and the main Intel stage saw the Quake 4 finalists sitting in front of a packed stand of a few hundred people. Gamers watched the action on the big screen and various other displays setup around the venue.

Granted, it wasn’t on the scale of the ESWC finals a week earlier in terms of spectator friendliness, but it did still create a certain atmosphere and with the added colourful commentary from TsN allowed you to feel involved in every frag and every move.


For the Counterstrike tournament it was a different affair, with the teams having to be seated in the tournament area rather than the stage due to space constraints. Fans watched the action on the screens provided instead of being face-to-face with those vying for the championship title as in Quake 4.

In the end the finals were completed and champions were crowned, awards given, speeches made and things started to fizzle out with players packing up their equipment and preparing for the trip home to whichever state or country they had descended from.

You can check out the results and winners at TheWSVG.com.

The aftermath

With coverage in the community constantly being updated throughout the event, the general feedback in terms of organisation, community support and the level of things to do at the event on the whole have been positive. For me the event seemed to focus more on the sponsors than the gamers with a little slice of emphasis placed on the media but perhaps this is the way to move forward. With the sponsors altering their offerings to cater to families and general attendees rather than the gamers we may begin to see a continuous increase in foot traffic at the events. Likewise as the media value and media participation begins to increase and become more widespread, people will begin to recognise these types of events even if initially they don’t fully understand them.

Perhaps when we get to this stage the focus can once again move slightly back to the players and gamers as we work to create superstars and personalities for those people that are new to this phenomenon and want to see how it all works and what variety is on offer. For now though, it is a case of many small steps to ensure the world of competitive gaming progresses nicely rather than makes huge leaps. Onward and upward to WSVG China in September.

Phil Wride is team manager for 4Kings Intel.