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Headshot! Energy bar for gamers
Mountain Dew and Red Bull just isn't enough for today's serious gamers. Now they need specially marketed energy supplements to keep them in the fragging zone. Enter Uncommon Loot and Headshot; the candy bar specifically created for gamers.With 100 mg of Guarana, Headshot could pack a serious punch considering that your average bottle of Bawls has approximately 80mg of everyone's favorite nervous system stimulant. Uncommon Loot will be releasing the product to gaming centers first and will eventually make it available on their website.We'll be sure to bring word of Headshot again after the first professional gamer is kicked out of competition for crushing and snorting his candy bar.[via Engadget]
Game champion commits suicide over gambling debts
Christian Sellergren, a professional gamer who led Team Eyeballers to the 2004 CPL Counter-Strike championship, apparently took his own life last November over massive debts accrued from online gambling. The news trickled down to us through a rough translation of a recent story about the death in Swedish paper Aftonbladet. According to the report, the 21-year-old Sellergren, who went by "divino" online, turned his competitive instincts to online gambling after retiring from the eSports scene. Sellergren lost his job and accrued over $13,000 in debt to fuel his addiction, which he kept from parents and friends. While stories about pro gamers with six figure salaries and major sponsorship deals may make you think the scene is all about glitz and glamor, this story shows that is not always the case. Our sympathies go out to all of Sellergren's friends and family. If you think someone you know may have a gambling problem, please don't wait until it's too late. Get help. [Thanks Will]
World Cyber Games looking for gamer input
Interested in contributing to the World Cyber Games? The WCG is searching for gamer feedback on the rules and regulations of its tournament games, so if you have a burning desire to see a particular ruleset put in place, now's your chance.Looking for gamer input like this is useful, although part of the WCG organisers' job is to be, or seek out, experts on individual games to advise on rules. However, if enough players contribute their thoughts, there should be less contention over minutiae during the tournament itself.
World Cyber Games '06 titles announced, Halo 2 dropped
The World Cyber Games, an international professional gaming competition, has announced which titles will be used for this year's competitions. With the advent of a new platform, it's been interesting to see where the focus of professional gamers will lie.A return to Counter-Strike 1.6 (last year's competition used Source) and upgrades for FIFA Soccer and Dead or Alive are all on the cards, but the surprise switch outlined is the removal of Halo 2 from the line-up; it's being replaced with Project Gotham Racing 3. Console FPS players will be disappointed.[Via Gamespot]
Pro gaming more attractive than pro tennis
A Scottish gamer has traded in his racquet for a railgun, with a change of career from professional tennis player to pro gamer. David Kinnaird, a new recruit for UK pro gaming team 4Kings, comments in this BBC article that "pro-gaming is bigger than tennis in a way" thanks to the sponsors involved.Whether David's decision was a wise one will become clear in time, but comparing professional gaming to traditional sports throws up interesting parallels. The abundance of sponsors available to the top players, the hours of training and the fact that many people see it as just a hobby are all common factors, yet people are more likely to take tennis players seriously than those who play computer games all day. This could be thanks to the accessibility of games -- anyone can pick up a racket, but quickly realise they have no skill, whereas video games are designed so that the player eventually wins.
