Yeah, so the last article I posted didn’t actually say Part 2, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t!

In part 3 of our WCG 2007 (and definitely our final article on this event, we bring you an interview with one of the WCG participants - Ajay Chekalia. We also interviewed another gentleman who pretty much kicked ass at Counter Strike : Amitoj Duggal, however, due to extremely fucked up audio, there’s no way we can put it up here.

We spoke to Ajay about the event and what he thought about it. He shared some interesting insights with us and explained the advantages of using a wheel for racing games, the super-quantum flux theory and why Freud dreamt of trains going into tunnels.

An interesting (but we found amusing) point he made, was the fact that once you’ve played 1 racing sim, you’ve played them all. Ajay came 2nd on day 1, in PGR3, considering that the only other contender was his friend, but overall he ranked 4th in the Delhi leg of the tourney - but this was the 1st time EVER, he’d played the game. So all his practice hours were pretty much spent with NFS Carbon. Yeah - you got it. NFS Carbon is the shit!

Overall, this guy pretty much knew what he was talking about and we found it quite a delightful experience talking to him. Good luck in Mumbai, old chap. Have a jolly good time and bring us back some goodies. Perhaps we’ll invite you over to a cup of Earl Grey, lad!

Download the video here.

Sorry for the delay folks - but finally my internet connection is back up and I can show you guys the video interview TAP did with Cyril Ferry - Head of Marketing; Indiagames.

We asked Cyril a bunch of questions ranging from the absence of CS : Source in the WCG to the current state of gaming in India. We also spoke about the lack of console based multi-player games and also about a certain game magazine that (no-surprise) wasn’t invited to cover the event!

So sit back and watch. Our apologies for the poor audio though. As you’ll see, we got an all access pass to everything backstage, and that’s where we ended up - backstage - so there was a lot of noise to be had. Therefore, video best watched with a pair of headphones on. To preserve quality, we haven’t uploaded it on Youtube or similar, but provide it as a direct download from this space exclusively.

And if you like the intro tune, remember to download Frets on Fire.

Download the video here.

When Krishnan informed us that the World Cyber Games preliminaries were about to take place in Delhi last Saturday, Reggie and me felt it was necessary to get our asses over there and start some brouhaha with the participants - in a strictly sociable manner, of course. With its seventh official year already under way, the WCG, much like a young apprentice trained in the mystical arts of audio-visual maiming, has certainly come a long way in promoting competitive gaming here in India. Despite having some confusion with the time schedule (all we knew was that on-site registration would start from morning till noon), getting to the National Science Centre where the tournament would take place at didn’t prove to be much of hassle for us. After all, nothing burns expensive petrol gas like the AP-Mobile, baby. Roll out!

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Well, its that time of the year again, when a dozen greasy teens with super fast trigger fingers and a thirst for virtual blood start beating the crap out of each other online, in a bid to rise to the top of the annual World Cyber Games competition. Indiagames, the Indian franchise owner of the WCG has announced that it will conduct the India national qualifiers in 7 cities starting August 11, 2007. With a total of 6 official games (see below for details) and a total prize money of INR 1,500,000 (~USD 37,500), the ten finalists will be flown on an all expenses paid trip to Seattle, Washington, USA to represent India in the finals.

Here’s more details from the official press release:

The theme selected for WCG 2007 is “Beyond the Game” – which means the WCG is not just a world game tournament but also combines the world to create harmony and enjoyment through the shared emotions. This will be the seventh time Indiagames will hold the WCG in India. Corporate partners for the WCG 2007 include worldwide Sponsor Samsung Electronics, Microsoft’s X-box 360, Kingstone and media partners Bindaas and Radio Mirchi. The event is also being supported by NASSCOM - the largest software and IT trade body and CII - the leading industry and trade association in India.

Vishal Gondal, CEO, Indiagames said, “The World Cyber Games is the premier blue chip global video game tournament and culture festival. We are proud to be associated with WCG year-on-year. WCG has over a period of time promoted global harmony through e-sports, and has grown steadily ever since. With international exposure Indian gamers have honed their skills quickly and the competition is getting more intense every year.”

Hit the jump for the official games list and the schedule.

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