Side-by-Side Sports Events Represent Great Coordination--FPS's beat out RPG's by 8,641 points

As those of us who eagerly participate in sports--

electronic or real-world, active or passive--know, the

splitscreen broadcast of the Electromarathon and the

first annual Gamer's Ultimate Tournament (GUT) was

a huge, huge success. Due to the broadcasting style,

it's hard to tell which was more successful, but we do

know that there was a longer line for the

Electromarathon--mainly due to the lack of available

machines.

For sports fans, the Great Retreat was a very dismal

event. Because there is rarely a large stock of

electricity, events involving mass spectators over a

wide geographical area--especially if they're watching

on an electrical apparatus--must be sparse, otherwise

electricity keeps running out. This spelled death for

video game tournaments, for the already sparse

sporting events (like the Olympics) are only for

entrenched sports. The fact that gaming equipment

use the precious resource in great amounts means

that even casual, private tournaments are regulated

to avoid power drains.

The solution? Create the electricity as they use it! The

sweat-intensive Electromarathon produced a

whopping 9,000 kilowatt-hours over a measly 8-hour

competition, with the winner making 52 kw/hrs with

one 30-minute triathalon. This electricity was piped

(partially) from the Electromarathon in Istanbul to

the GUT taking place in Anchorage, Alaska.

The Gamer's Ultimate Tournament had similar

successes, as champions from both sides of the Pacific

convened to represent their gaming genres.

Unfortunatly, an inordinatly small turnout by the

Racing competitors meant calcualting average score;

something helpful for the Brawl community but

problematic for RTS fans--so problematic, the

announcers speculated--that they would have placed

otherwise.

This event was not only a good day for the VEGC

lobby, but wonderful news for those who can't wait

for sports leauges to start broadcasting again. If a

sports industry that has yet to go professional can do

it, so can a sport with hordes of fans bored to tears

with their casual leauges around the dome.

--Arctica Chemit, NMD news