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Chess cheater's Bluetooth scheme sniffed out
It's no surprise to hear of someone using mobile / wireless technology to their advantage, and in the latest case of cleverness slapped down by the law, a scandalous Indian chess player was banned for a solid decade in order to "send a message" about how serious they took his act. Umakant Sharma had reportedly logged rating points at an alarming pace in the last 18 months of play, and even qualified for the national championship. But alas, racking up such insane numbers was bound to attract an investigation, and it was discovered that Sharma had been communicating to outside accomplices via a mobile handset and a miniscule Bluetooth earpiece stitched inside a cloth cap, which allowed an external computer to direct his each and every move. While we fully understand the wrongness of such a ploy, we can't deny the humor in envisioning seasoned chess players becoming enraged at their sudden misfortunes, but we'd highly recommend ditching the headgear (and any devious thoughts) before entering a tournament yourself.
Frag Dolls pwn Rainbow Six CPL tourney, first pro win
The Frag Dolls won their first pro-circuit event last night, beating "The Unknown" to earn first place in the 4v4 Rainbow Six Vegas competition at Winter CPL. Aside from being the Frag Dolls' first big victory, it appears that this is also the first time an all-female team has won a (co-ed) pro-circuit tournament. Valkyrie, Seppuku, Calyber, and Psyche (all pictured) proved to be the winning combination for the Ubisoft-sponsored team.
Californians can celebrate Veteran's Day with Medal of Honor
If you live near Alameda, CA, you may want to check out GamePro's Medal of Honor: Heroes tournament. You don't need to have a copy of this well-reviewed PSP-exclusive WWII FPS, but you do need to bring your system. All participants will get a free copy of the game and a t-shirt, making this event totally worth your time. If you're able to survive the 32-player multiplayer matches, and make it to the end of the tournament, you'll find yourself winning a subscription to GamePro (boo!), Shure E2-cn earphones (yay!), and more. If you're interested, head over to the registration page.
Cavegirls use Halo 2 to fight cancer
We love it when gamers use their hobby to promote a good cause. Popular Halo 2 clan, the Cayote Cavegirls, is hosting a special tournament this weekend. Anyone can enter and all proceeds will go towards breast cancer research. You'd better hurry though, there are only seven spots left as of this posting. Of course, donations are always accepted. If you'd like to donate, click here and follow the instructions. If you'd like to learn more about the Cavegirls, we'd suggest you read this interview on Gamertag Radio. See more details after the break
FIFA, NBA Live tournaments launch, Madden ongoing
EA Sports is launching two tournaments to go alongside the currently running fifth Madden Challenge: the third FIFA Interactive World Cup and the first ever NBA Live Challenge. Gamers can compete in football/American football, soccer/football, and basketball, known outside of the United States as "boring."The FIFA Interactive World Cup begins November 18 with a series of international qualifying matches across Europe, in addition to Sao Paolo, Brazil, and Johannesburg, South Africa. More qualifying contests in the U.S., U.K., Russia, and other locations will be announced. For this and the other tournaments, gamers can register in advance or onsite. Gamers without a host city nearby can qualify on Xbox Live; more information and registration options should be available on November 1.While the FIFA champion will score $20,000, the NBA Live winner will net $50,000. (We take that to mean that FIFA is more popular and doesn't need as big a prize to attract soccer-mob-style enthusiasm. Who ever heard of a basketball mob?) Beginning this Friday, NBA Live competitors can play in eight American cities to qualify for the Las Vegas finals.This year's in-progress Madden Challenge includes dates in Germany, China, the U.K., and Mexico, in addition to dozens of U.S. locations. Madden tackles the biggest pay-out for the winner, with a $100,000 final. That ruins our theory about needing to pay a bigger prize for a game with less exposure. Maybe the prize money increases with the degree of annoying commentary audio.Read - FIFA Interactive World CupRead - NBA Live ChallengeRead - Madden Challenge
McDonald's to host game tournaments in Dallas/Ft. Worth
McDonald's -- in what must have been pitched in a meeting full of McSynergy -- is sponsoring a series of "midnight" gaming tournaments in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. McDonald's has recently tried to attract gamers through DS Wi-Fi, Happy-Meal giveaways, and an ad campaign that looked a little too familiar to some. Of all of these things, we give McDonalds the most credit for hosting these game nights, speaking to gamers directly through controllers.Players can register online now to play each Saturday night in Tekken 5, Guitar Hero, and NCAA Football '07. The weekly tournament begins tomorrow and runs through mid-November, with single-elimination play between 9:00PM and 4:00AM. Weekly winners will net McPrizes totaling a few hundred dollars, including Best Buy and McDonald's gift certificates. They will also compete in the November 18 championship, where three players will win a thousand-dollar Best Buy gift certificate, Xbox 360, and more.Dallas and Ft. Worth gamers, represent Joystiq, and tell us how it goes. Just consider bringing gloves and/or bleach; those guitar controllers are going to be pretty McGreasy by the end.[Via: Adrants]
Rock out with Guitar Hero tournaments
Last month, RedOctane teased visitors to the Guitar Hero MySpace page with a graphic cryptically promoting something called G.H.O.U.L. Earlier this week, they revealed the project as the Guitar Hero Organized Underground League, a set of sponsored tournaments where you provide the organization and promotion and RedOctane provides the banners and prizes.We were totally stoked about this, until we saw that RedOctane is only taking "a limited amount of sponsorships" for the time being. But why should that stop you? Here's a quick checklist of things we recommend to have on hand for your own rocking Guitar Hero party/tournament: PS2, Guitar Hero, two guitar controllers (consider investing in wireless) A good speaker system (crank it to 11!) Plenty of alcohol (or grape juice, if you're under 21 *cough*) Non-greasy finger food (don't want any slippery frets) Atmosphere (Disco ball, strobe light, smoke machine, etc.) Costumes (fake wigs, top hats, mascara, etc.) Plenty of floor space (for tricks/excessive rocking) How to Play Air Guitar (to peruse in between rounds) Plenty of beginner and expert players (for two tourney brackets) Massive whiteboard/poster board (to display results) Anything to add, Joystiqers?
Robot golf tournament underway in Italy
Over a hundred robots from 28 countries are in Italy this week for the annual World Robot Championships, this time pitting battle-hardened bots against each other in a fierce game of golf -- the crowd has gone deadly silent, a Cinderella story outta nowhere. Former door assembly unit, and now about to become the masters champion. But this game of golf seems to be slightly modified rules as well, with robots playing in pairs, simply having to score points by putting colored balls into same colored holes, losing a point if they hit the ball into the wrong hole -- kinda like robo-goofy golf. So it looks like we won't be treated to the spectacle of robots trekking across the golf course, human caddies in tow; we're not sure if mechaNicklaus going to be in attendance this year, but he's gonna have a helluva time taking out Top Swing this year.
PGR3: There can be only one
Globalists, start you engines. Verizon and Lamborghini are sponsoring a world-wide PGR3 tournament on Xbox Live beginning April 17. The top four gamers in each region (Europe, Asia and the Americas) will be hot wheeled all the way to the Lamborghini factory in Sant' Agata Bolognese, Italy to compete in the finals on automotive holy ground. Qualfiying action takes place on the Tokyo Nishigushi Short route track, so start practicing. Here's the full list of prizes for the European region: (4) Regional Tournament Grand Prize Winners An invitation to compete in the PGR3 Xbox Live Final taking place at the Lamborghini factory in Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy A trip for winner and a guest to Sant’ Agata, Italy departing on Sunday June 11, 2006 and returning on Thursday June 15, 2006 A limited edition PGR 100 Xbox 360 console An official Xbox Live PGR3 Lamborghini Jacket (10) 2nd Place Prize Packages (places 5-14) Limited Edition PGR 100 Xbox 360 console Official Xbox Live PGR3 Lamborghini Leather Miura Racing Gloves (10) 3rd Place Prize Packages (places 15-24) Limited Edition PGR3 Faceplate Official Xbox Live PGR3 Lamborghini Gallardo Spyder T-Shirt (10) 4th Place Prize Packages (places 25-34) Official Xbox Live PGR3 Lamborghini Cap For some reason, American grand prize winners don't get the console. There's also no special prize specified for the overall winner. That sucks because if I beat the entire world, I'd expect a late model Diablo at the very least. Sign up early because registering doesn't guarantee a spot in the qualifying round. Fulfilling Microsoft's promise to turn obsessed basement dwellers in to global celebrities, the finals will be viewable on Gotham TV. Those sick days seem so worth it now.
How was the National Championship game broadcast?
We know how the game went, with Florida in control almost the entire time and winning the NCAA title easily, 73-57, but how did it look? I had some of the same issues noted in this thread at AVSForums, the picture was great for most of the game, but whenever they went to the floor cameras or behind the backboard shots, blurriness and pixelization were in full effect. Here is a link to a press release by the company, Vyvx, that provided the transmission for both the broadcast and the advertisements that aired during. The first high definiton broadcast I ever saw was the first time Final Four was shown in HD, and it had the same issues with blurriness and pixels. At the time, it convinced me HDTVs weren't worth the money. Last nights broadcast was better, but still not up to the quality we often see now in NBA and NFL productions. Who is to blame and what can be done to make the games even better to watch?
THQ Superstar Challenge in Chicago tonight [update 1]
WrestleMania 22 may still be 3 days away, but that isn't stopping WWE Superstars from taking to the virtual squared circle tonight in Chicago.The fourth annual THQ Superstar Challenge will begin in less than an hour at 6 PM at the House of Blues. It'll be SmackDown vs. RAW on SmackDown vs. RAW with reigning Challenge champ Shelton Benjamin defending his gamer title in a 16-player bracket-style tournament.If it's too late to snag $20 tickets to the opening WrestleMania weekend event, perhaps you can hang around until tomorrow, when THQ will "announce the next addition to the WWE video game family." Would a next-gen announcement be too much to hope for before E3? And will the Undertaker continue his undefeated WrestleMania streak? Answers to your manly soap opera questions will be coming at ya this weekend.[Update: It turns out that the new game's already been confirmed--WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 will hit the PS2, PSP, PS3, and even (a non-Sony system for once on) the Xbox 360. 10 "next-gen" screens of the game to hit later this year are also available via the Update link. Thanks, Master X 24!]See also: Official WWE page for WrestleMania 22 Load time from HELL! PSP game takes its sweet time [SD! Vs. RAW] WWE sues THQ Rumble Roses XX promises hot girl-on-bear action
Continents clash in transatlantic tournament
A $100,000 gaming tournament is taking place from today until Sunday in New York, hosted by the Global Gaming League. The "AmeriCup vs EuroCup TransAtlantic Showdown" pits the winners from the European EuroCup tournament against the AmeriCup champions across three games: Counter-Strike 1.6, Quake 4 and Warcraft 3.There is live streaming media from the GGL website, and it's entertaining to watch, especially if you're interested in competitive gaming. If you're not, the seriousness of the event and its commentators may surprise you, but there's big money at stake for the champions--no laughing matter.
