Trans Tasman rivals face off in new arena

The Australian round of the World Cyber Games series cranks up a notch this weekend. The inaugural Trans Tasman Challenge sees traditional sporting rivals Australia and New Zealand face off on the digital battlefield.

The rival teams converged for a face-off in Sydney at the City Hunter gaming venue. The national team finalists will play Davis Cup-style rounds of Counter Strike: Source and Warcraft 3 on PC, as well as Halo 2 and Dead or Alive: Ultimate on Xbox.

The finals will be webcast live via the official site www.worldcybergames.com.au , using custom software designed to provide a better sporting service to spectators.

Tournament organiser Russell Hanna said: “Gaming is not underground – it’s a mainstream culture, but with no TV, it’s not a sport. TV is king, so we developed webcast technology to get it out there.”

At the Trans Tasman launch in Sydney, the teams were spurred on by appearances of honorary team captains. The Super 12s Waratah Mat Rogers led the Cyberoos, while former All Black captain Joe Stanley fronted up for the NZ eBlacks.

Finalists from 64 participating WCG countries will meet in Singapore for the World Finals in November.