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There is tension in the air as the e-athletes are trying to fiercely compete against each other. Adrenaline runs high as many are eliminated. Who will win this competition? Who will proceed to the world tour to compete with athletes from all around the world? Who will win the Million-Dollar pool?
Well, this is no ordinary competition nor is this an ordinary sport tournament. This was the scene at the Grand Hyatt in Dallas, TX. The event was the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) tournament and the competitors were not your average athletes. They are gamers who spend the majority of their life in front of a monitor and have turned a geek obsession into a spectator sport.
So, what is CPL? Launched June 26, 1997, the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) was one of the first video game sports leagues in the U.S., and having hosted final tournaments on five continents and official qualifying tournaments in over 50 countries, the CPL is considered one of the most recognizable professional computer game competitions in America. Over seven years, the Dallas-based league has awarded about $2.5 million in cash prizes at tournaments.
Fatal1ty competed in PainKiller at CPL Winter this year. While he was hard at work advancing to the top 3, a Fatal1ty Time Trial was hosted at his booth, which was presented by Creative and ABIT. The Time Trial gave gamers at the tournament a chance to compete against each other in a free for all, speed frag Unreal Tournament 2004 test. Four competitors at a time competed to reach a defined number of frags (normally 5) in the fastest time. Many gamers and spectators lined up to get the highest score. Creative, along with other partners, offered hardware as prizes to the 4 fastest finishers. Each of the top finalists took home the award-winning Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound cards and/or the very popular Creative Inspire multi-channel speaker systems. The 1st 500 competitors also took home Fatal1ty-ABIT-Creative bags, Fatal1ty T-shirts, and Fatal1ty dog tags. The Time Trial was a fun gaming challenge for the gamers and spectators at CPL Winter!
As for Fatal1ty, he along with 5 other cyber athletes proceeded to the world tournament which will debut in Istanbul, Turkey on February 10, 2005. There are confirmed stops in Spain, Brazil, Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Sweden, China and Chile. A $500,000 Grand Final is planned for late November 2005. Stay tuned for upcoming events.
Photos from the event:
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