Gamertell

Starting December 6, 2007, game fanatics worldwide will be able to watch the highly anticipated Championship Gaming Series. The nine-day event will be broadcasted on television via DirecTV in the US; BSkyB’s Sky One, Sky Two and Sky HD in England; ESPN STAR in Asia; SKY in Mexico and Brazil; DirecTV throughout the rest of the Latin America; and satellite carriers across mainland Europe through various broadcast partners.

CGS, headquarters in Los Angeles, Calif., is the only worldwide professional video gaming league launched earlier this year (January 2007) and features teams of the world’s best gamers from North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia, who will compete professionally in the inaugural CGS World Finals.

Gamers will compete for a chance to battle and win $1,000,000 total prize purse with $500,000 to be awarded to the World Champion team. The event will be a monumental first in the history of gaming according to CGS commissioner Andy Reif. will be televised from Sony Studios in Los Angeles.

“The CGS World Final represents a watershed moment in the history of pro gaming and we are proud to broadcast to more than 350 million viewers globally,” said Andy Reif, CGS commissioner and CEO. “Fans worldwide will soon find out which team will claim its place as the first CGS World Champion and take home the top prize of $500,000.”

In addition to the team-based competition, CGS will hold an Individual World Final tournament with top CGS league players from six different regions competing for individual championships as well as a World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Area featuring a premier event with American and European gamers battling for prizes up to $30,000 starting December 8, 2007.

During the tournament each CGS team, consisting of ten athletes who specialize in an official League game, will select five players for the five-on-five match of Counter-Strike: Source, two players for the mixed doubles tam for Dead or Alive 4 and Project Gotham Racing 3 for the two-versus-two competition; and one player to compete in the FIFA 2007 one-on-one match.

Prize distribution for the CGS World Final will be as follows:

Team World Final

1st place will receive $500,000
2nd place will receive $150,000
3rd and 4th place winners will receive $70,000
5th through 8th place winners will receive $30,000
9th through 12th place winners will receive $15,000
The tournament’s most valuable players will receive $25,000

Individual World Final

1st place winners for the Dead or Alive 4 competition will award $5,000 to one male and one female athlete
1st place winner for FIFA 2007 will receive $5,000
1st place two-player team in the Project Gotham Racing 3 competition will each receive $5,000
1st place five-player squad in Counter-Strike: Source will award $5,000 to each squad member

World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade two-versus-two world championship

1st place two-player team will receive $15,000 each

The total grand prize purse for the event is $1,075,000 and the CGS official teams participating in this event includes: Berlin Allianz, Birmingham Salvo, Carolina Core, Chicago Chimera, London Mint, Mexico City Furia, Rio Sinistro, Seoul Jinhwa, Singapore Sword, Stockholm Magnetik, Sydney Underground and Wuhan Dragon.

Beginning with the CGS World Final press conference on December 6, 2007, the World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and the Individual World Finals will be available via webcast on the CGS website. The game schedule is as follows:

December 6: First round day 1
December 7: First round day 2
December 8: WoW:BC 2v2 CGS Championship
December 8: Individual World Final
December 10: Quarterfinals day 1
December 11: Quarterfinals day 2
December 13: Semifinals
December 14: Final

For more information, to view the webcast or check on the status of your favorite team, login to the CGS web site. Please note the site may be off line or running slow while they prepare for the upcoming championship events.

Read [CGS E-Sports] Site [DIRECTV 101:Gaming Series page] Site [Championship Gaming Series]

With virtually everybody logging in and taking up residence in 3D virtual reality sites like Second Life it’s only natural that the media outlets like CNN want a piece of the action. Since Second Life developers opened the virtual community to the public in 2003, its inhabitants have grown by the millions and traffic on the site has more than 40,000 users logged in at any given time.

CNN is officially opening an I-Report hub in Second Life, a three-dimensional virtual world created entirely by its residents. The hub will be run in the same fashion as CNN’s real life news room featuring an I-Hub that allows the viewers, or in this case Second Life residents, to contribute any news happening in their area. Users can contribute by taking snapshots or video of the event and submit it to CNN. For example, if a user sees a fellow resident being attacked by a green dragon, they can take a snap shot of the screen, record a video or even write a report of the event and submit it to CNN.

“The thing we most hope to gain by having a CNN presence in Second Life is to learn about virtual worlds and understand what news is most interesting and valuable to their residents,” said Susan Grant, executive vice president of CNN News Services. “We looked at what are people doing (in Second Life) that is meaningful to what we do. I love that we don’t have to take things from the real world and force them in.”

Second Life contributions to the I-Hub will be selected by the CNN I-Report producers who will in turn post them back into Second Life for residents to view throughout the virtual world. Those taking a break from the virtual world can read Second Life news events on CNN’s I-Report Blog where they can not only view the story but discuss the topic in real life.

CNN held its first in-world training session for the news desk Tuesday (November 13, 2007) at the I-Report Hub. Contributors can visit the hub to meet resident reporters, visiting or special appearances by CNN news anchors and correspondents. Potential reporters can visit the I-Report kiosks to access free gear and tools they can use to gather or view in-world user generated news.

This is still a new move for CNN. While most news organizations (including mine) are experiencing budget cuts and minimizing staff, CNN is expanding virtually. The only difference is that unlike news service organizations such as Reuters, who embeds a real reporter in the online virtual world last year, CNN will rely on Second Life “residents” to do all the legwork and produce what they consider news.

Those users participating as reporters can take advantage of CNN’s journalism school which will offer guidance to contributing journalists via weekly “news meetings” directed by actual CNN.com staffers.

Read [Media Week] Also Read [CNN Edition] Site [Second Life]

Weta Workshop, a film production company which also specializes in high-end, intricate and highly realistic artifacts and replicas, has been helping to produce a live action Halo 3 short film. The first released and teased at E3 this week, is titled “Arms Race.”

The live action project was put together by Bungie Studios, director Neill Blomkamp, WETA Workshop and Origami Digital, LLC.

Click through to watch the video…

MORE »

G4 might be premiering its new animated series, Code Monkeys, this week but you can already watch it online. This online video will be available by Break.com until July 11, 2007, the day the episode will air on G4 (at 9 p.m.) so click through to watch the first full episode!

MORE »