Olympics of e-sports, Electronic Sports World Cup goes to East Malaysia!

KUALA LUMPUR, Saturday 31 May 2008: Electronic Sports World Cup TM (ESWC), the 'Olympics' of e-sports (video gaming competitions) is having its fourth and fifth qualifier rounds at cyber cafes, Gizmo Gamers in Kuching, Sarawak today and Cyber X in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah tomorrow at the above times and places.

Meanwhile, West Malaysian Counter Strike 1.6 © Valve top gamers prepare for the upcoming Orange Box party on the 5th and 6th June 2008 at Subang Parade Shopping Centre. This will be the first ESWC qualifier for the Counter Strike first-person-shooter (FPS) game.

ESWC-KLANG-WINNING-TEAM-RS

Next weekend, on the 7th and 8th June 2008, we invite enthusiasts to watch Selangor's top teams of Defence of the Ancients (DotA) © Blizzard will challenge each other for a spot at the sixth DotA ESWC Qualifier round at cyber café, FTZ Asia.Net Subang. Spectators can expect fantastic performances from renowned teams like AliBaba aka MKVL, TBUN aka w4si, Cybertime aka GOV and many more!

Penang's FTZ will host the next round of ESWC qualifiers on the 14th June, and Melaka on the 21st June followed by the final DotA and Counter Strike qualifiers at 1 Utama Shopping Centre on the 4th July.

ESWC-JB-WINNING-TEAM-KINGSURF

The 64 slots for single player games - Trackmania © Nadeo and 32 slots for Warcraft III TFT will be open for registration on a first-come-first-serve basis on the 5th and 6th July at 1 Utama. Registration costs RM20 per person.

All ESWC qualifiers will culminate in a grand play-off at 1 Utama Shopping Centre in Petaling Jaya, from 4th to 6th July in conjunction with the 'Independent Youth Festival 2008' themed 'Celebrating Digital Culture'.

All top gaming teams will gather at 1 Utama for the ESWC National Finals on the 5th and 6th July, where the winning teams of DotA, Trackmania and Warcraft III TFT will move on to the sixth Grand Finals, held in San Jose in California, USA from Aug 25th to 27th and compete amongst the best on this planet for the RM800,000 (US$250,000) prize pool! Winners will receive an all-expenses paid round trip with travel and five-star accommodation. The organisers are still seeking funding to send the winning team of Counter Strike to the USA.

'It's been an interesting couple of weeks as we travel from state to state, watching gamers queue up as early as 8am just to register for a chance to play. It doesn't even seem to be about the prize money or anything else apart from wanting a healthy challenge. I've witnessed the camaraderie amongst team members, their 'secret' code language, their close bond - the game is an excellent communication tool amongst youngsters!', said Jasmine Low, National Director of ESWC 2008 Malaysia.

Team Malaysia will then head to ESWC's Grand Finals to battle for the prestigious title, plus cash prizes. For the first time ever, ESWC will be held outside of France at NVIDIA's NVISION 08 – a three-day adrenaline-pumping visual computing event which includes the 5th annual iGames expo and a Guinness World Record Breaking Attempt for the largest LAN-party. More online: www.eswc.com/malaysia.