World Cyber Games 2006, perhaps the biggest event in the world of cyber games, was on its peak on 26, September 2006, with the India finals being held in the commercial capital of India, Mumbai. The event took place at World Trade Centre, where the best of the best gamers from every nook and corner of India participated, competed and spelt out the true spirit of computer gaming in every way. The World Cyber Games (WCG), sponsored by Samsung India, has been promoted on the lines of the International Olympic Movement.
This is India’s Sixth year of competing at the WCG competition and it’s ready with its eight finalists who will fly to ‘Autodromo National’, Monza, Italy between October 18 – 22, 2006, for the championship trophy and coveted award of USD 3, 50,000. The WCG 2006 India Finals has Preliminary round winners from 6 cities – Chandigarh, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai.
Now let’s get on to the main event. WCG India finals kicked off as per as its schedule at about 9:30 a.m. The venue had been aptly set, bringing about an entire feel of hardcore gaming not only amongst the participants but also amidst the visitors and audience. With life-size posters of the 4 main games, namely Counter Strike 1.6, Warcraft III, FIFA Soccer 2006 and Need For Speed (which are the games the participants competed in) the mood and the spirit was aptly charged. The main arena was divided into two sections, one for the gamers and the other for the spectators. This was done especially to let off the gamers from any external noise or disturbance. In the spectators region, there was a huge projector that displayed the details of the games being played. Alongside there was an array of monitors, printers and various hardware, which were being displayed as part of Samsung’s special discounted offer during the WCG 2006 fever.
WCG India 2006 was being hosted by Sunny Khandelval, who was the official India WCG 2006 host. Sunny gave the spectators constant updates about what was happening within the gaming arena and also kept ranting the various Samsung discount offers at regular intervals. At times it did get a little unnerving and there came a point when one felt that we probably were in a Samsung exhibition rather than a gaming event. Guess Sunny was perhaps a little too worried about not getting his cheque on time, and thus the repetitive (please read ‘Boring’) advertising.
As per the schedule there was a press conference to be held at 3 P.M, which got a little delayed thanks to the cut throat competition being held amongst the clans in everybody’s favorite FPS Counter Strike. But around 3:30 p.m. the press conference did begin with the likes of Sanjay Sharma, VP-IT Business, Samsung India, followed by Samir Bangara, Senior VP, Corporate and Business Development, Indiagames and special guest (I’d rather say eye-candy guest) Bollywood actress Rimi Sen addressing the reporters. The WCG India press conference was compared by a lady (whose name I honestly can’t recollect) and began by Sharma presenting an AV on Samsung’s new products. During the main press conference there weren’t many questions asked, apart from a few like the stereotype ones like Samsung’s next move and the likes of it. This was followed by the presentation ceremony. And with that the WCG 2006 India Finals came to an end.
I’d have to say that the event was organized pretty well, but for some reason there weren’t a lot of spectators and gamers (apart from the participants) present. Blame it on the rain, on the constant schedule changes or perhaps on the ignorance that India still has towards the gaming sector. But at the end of it an event like WCG is truly a treat for all enthusiastic gamers in India. As Dhruv Modi, WCG India participant who event went on to represent India at Singapore in the WCG 2005 competition aptly puts it, “It is a community where like minded people meet and unite. Infact one feels himself when he’s there. And it is always a pride representing India.”
The list of winners is as below:
Counter Strike 1.6 was won by the five member clan ATE (Accuracy, Teamwork and Experience) comprising of Ben Varghese (19), Amar Ratnam (18), Hasnain Sayed (16), Ritesh Atul Shah (18) and Mikhail Mehra (21). Mehra from ATE leaves for China as a Counter Strike finalist for the Kode Five competition. He surely has a lot of shooting to do.
Sixteen-year-old Reuben Pereira was the winner of FIFA Soccer 2006. Besides being the youngest gamer to qualify for WCG, Pereira is also the fourth FIFA Soccer game champion in the world and extends his passion on the real field aswell by being an avid footballer.
The winner of Warcraft III was Sagar Vaishnav, a lad of 20 years, whose strong determination got him to this level. He participated but failed to qualify for both the WCGs since 2004. But with his sheer dedication and perseverance he’s made it to the top this year. Vaishnav has also represented India in the Electronic Sports World Cup finals in Paris.
Arjun Singh Ravi (19) was the proud winner of Need For Speed who practiced rigorously to come up to this level.