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CPL Announces $1,000,000 Gaming World Tour

Posted by simoniker on from the a-meeeleeeion-dollars dept.

George Kaspiris writes "It seems the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) has announced a 2005 'CPL World Tour' with one million dollars in cash prizes, the largest cash prize ever for professional videogaming. The tour will include ten worldwide stops." There'll be more information revealed at the CPL World Championships (which includes Counter-Strike, Unreal Tournament 2004, Call Of Duty, Halo PC, and Painkiller tournaments) in Texas this July, and over at independent eSports site Gotfrag, reaction has been largely positive, with commenters arguing "competitive gaming could become kinda like the PGA Tour", although another commenter worries: "Right now, there are far too few teams and players... that have the [financial or scheduling] ability to follow this series of tournaments around."

19 comments

  1. I'd compete... by Dizzle · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...if Minesweeper was one of the games.

    --
    -Dizzle
    "I most likely AM so interested in myself."
    1. Re:I'd compete... by Lanzaa · · Score: 0

      Yes me too. I would be a great minesweeper. Or galaga..

      --
      Never Smoke A Banana.
  2. Interesting thought by Tobias+Luetke · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Right now, there are far too few teams and players... that have the [financial or scheduling] ability to follow this series of tournaments around."

    Well thanks for sharing this thought.
    This is really a huge problem and there is no solution in sight.

    Except that there is : I heard the CPL is gonna have cash prices worth 1,000,000$ this year !

  3. Me too! by Asmor · · Score: 1

    I should qualify as a cyber athlete. I mean, granted what I do is really more of a solitaire than a competitive activity, but I guarantee you I work up more of a sweat than some 1337 c4mp1n9 5h0ck wh0r3

  4. Surprise surprise... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Everything is a fucking FPS.

    1. Re:Surprise surprise... by Tetrad_of_doom · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I agree. There should at least be an RTS or a sports title in there.

  5. This Stuff NEEDS to be Televised by superpulpsicle · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Alright, if world poker tour makes ESPN, video game CAL tournaments has got to at least make tech TV. There needs to be a channel dedicated to gaming.

    1 pm wolfenstein hour
    2 pm UT2004 hour
    3 pm Call of Duty madness

    Look at that.... this channel will be a hit. They can take all the server battles and enhance the taping with a ridiculous graphics card and play it on TV.

    1. Re:This Stuff NEEDS to be Televised by Tetrad_of_doom · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There was a network dedicated to video games, but they only had about 2 hours of new programming a week, and it was almost all fluff.

      They even had regular gaming competitions with their Arena program, but it turned out most of it was faked and they treated the contestants horribly.

      The problem, I think, was that the executives in charge (who are most likely older than 50 and probably have played few video games themselves) spent all their time pushing an X-Treme Ultracool format with almost no regard for actual content.

      Now they've merged with TechTV they've got a change to f-up a second network.

      One day, we might have some good video game television shows, but it is probably about 10 years away. Only then will we have some network executives that actually grew up with video games and can think of good ways of protraying them on TV.

  6. Why just the latest games? by StupidKatz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One of the most interesting FPS games of all time (IMHO) is Aliens vs. Predator (and its somewhat improved sequel).

    There haven't been too many games derived from movie(s) that get it about 90% right. In this case, though, the wall-walking aliens are the Coolest Thing Ever.
    I'm sure there are many other examples of perfectly good, yet aging, games that are far better in terms of gameplay and uniqueness that could take the place of the latest and "greatest". Aside from vehicles, there is not much difference between the four mentioned titles in terms of mechanics and/or gameplay, is there not? At the least, they could have included Chrome, so that there would be a few maps' worth of trying to hunt foes down on an island covered in five foot high grass...

    Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm in the mood for a pred face sandwich. Rawr.

  7. Is Painkiller any good for a tournament? by happyhippy · · Score: 1

    Granted Ive only played the demos, but is it much different than the slow pace of the demos single player game?

  8. What about turn-based strategy on the list? by Nomihn0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What about a turn-based strategy game for those who don't have the dexterity required required for RTS and FPS titles. I could imagine that turn based would be much more easily commented on as well. I propose that Civilization III be one of the games. That way, geeks that do not have the money to invest in heavy-duty hardware can compete. Besides, a cerebral competition is what geeks have been looking for for ages. Hasn't chess survived? With Rome: Total War being shown on the History Channel, who knows what popularity gaming would gain if a good match of Civilization III made it into mainstream media.

    1. Re:What about turn-based strategy on the list? by EngineeringMarvel · · Score: 1

      You will never see this happen. The CPL generates most of its money from the spectators that go there to watch or go there to play at the BYOC. An RPG or turn based game would be very boring to spectate and therefore would never bring people into the massive LAN. You will always see FPS games in the CPL because of their high appeal to spectators. If you have ever been to a LAN like the CPL you would agree that FPS are by far the most fun to watch. People like to watch CS, and as long as they do, CS will be the major tournament at the CPL. I'm not sure you will see this tour thing be much of a success. The top gamers in the world can average out about $40k a year, which is a lot to most 17-22 year olds, but after that, you can't make a living off of it, which in turn makes it near impossible to participate in a world tour like the CPL is suggesting for too long.

      --
      I couldn't think of anything witty to say, so...you're stuck with this.
  9. No more Counter-Strike by AvantLegion · · Score: 1
    Can we please retire Counter-Strike?

    Give it a rest. Let it fade into memory, so that we can be fresh and ready for the next Counter-Strike. If you love it, set it free. Set CS free already, dammit.

  10. Bot it! by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

    Minesweeper is ideal for botting!

    --
    Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  11. Or even an RPG. by Trejkaz · · Score: 1

    Or hey, an RPG where you have two teams of 4 or 6 players on a level where the teams encounter a certain number of creatures until encountering each other. Run over a whole week of gameplay. Mmmmm...

    --
    Karma: It's all a bunch of tree-huggin' hippy crap!
  12. That is part of the problem... by zerocp · · Score: 1

    One of the reasons that I think that the CPL hasn't gained in popularity is the fact that they are only playing FPS Games. What about me, the console gamer? I'd seriously like to compete, but there need to be console game categories. I don't have exact figures, but I would think that there is a larger market of console gamers in existence. If they had categories for say Soul Calibur 2, SSBM, F-Zero, Gran turismo, etc. I think you would see more interest. I remember when Nintendo used to have the nintendo world championships. I went to such and event (and ended up 3rd regionally) and there were literally thousands of people participating. They need to have more varied game genres and some console games more people should gain interest.

    --
    Standards... then technology...
    1. Re:That is part of the problem... by Iason+Baldes · · Score: 1

      The thing happens to be CS is the most played online game at the moment. I believe other competitions have RTS games. Consoles themselves and the games they support don't allow for as intricate teamplay which imho makes the game interesting.

  13. So... by tabo_peru · · Score: 2

    Where is Quake 3?

    1. Re:So... by SolarCurve · · Score: 1

      q3 is dead on a competitive gaming scene. Or at least it is in the limelight. Games like Call of Duty have gained alot of momentum and are on the q3 engine. Everything has just shifted for the most part to team based shooters. Painkiller might bring back that 1v1 action of old though. I love it all. I would love to see more rts, and other types of gameplay. I think it would be a better balance. I Would actually really like to see Natural Selection or Savage in game play on a competitive level. With that mix of FPS and RTS it can be at least a little more diverse. I like games that play out like a movie rather than something that is a round after round rehash. I will be at the CPL to check to compete with my teams, and I will be running a Natural-Selection tourney in the BYOC. I am afraid that it is going to be hard to trump the giants who already have a huge following or deep pockets. The CPL is headed in the right direction, but they can't make everyone happy at once. At least they let us do our BYOC tourney's to give things a try. Thats pretty cool of them and afterall its what got CS it start to dethrone q3. Scary eh? :)