“To your left, idiot!” came a loud scream.

“Whaaat? …where?”

“To yourrr left, b*#$#$%@!”

Boom! “Oh! Shit”

Welcome to the world that is dreaded and soaked with as much blood as the fury and rage that it draws. This is ‘Gaming tournaments’ at its best and above are the typical abuses that can be commonly heard and felt. If you are wondering if those word are for the opponents think again, the words galore is just for the teammates. So just imagine what’s in store for the enemy…!

Gaming as a sport draws a huge crowd of every species imaginable on this planet. There are the geeks, who always move with their pack i.e. in a group comprising of no more than six people, wearing the same colored (..Black) T-shirts with hugely printed “Geek” on their nonexistent chests. For reasons known to them they always carry their own hardware a.k.a the ‘weapons’ that is of choice ...of course! But don’t let their bespectacled look fool you; they are the ‘real masters of the game’, literally.

Then there are those, you know the big hulks that are found littered everywhere with big bodies that can put even a baby elephant to shame and a brain that they somehow decided to keep on the dusty shelf’s; that are rarely used. Attitude seems to be dripping from them as much as the drool they are unintentionally oozing. These giants are more of a loner which does works to their advantage. They spend freaking too much hours with their favorite game making them as much competitive as the species aforementioned. Ask them about the game they decided to compete in, you might probably get nothing more than a “huummm” like sound and yes some drool too.

Gaming tournaments also comprise of the usual crowd of people that are a mix of varied degree. From casual gamers to more of a spectator, you’ll find everybody here. The reasons they even made it to the tournament can vary from person to person. Some of them come to get the taste of what-its-like to be a gamer, so they can try their hands at the professional league. Then there are the others that visit for the love or hype of the games and even to check out ‘hot girls’. “Yeah, like you are ever getting to see one there. (…eyes rolling!!)

Huge speakers thundering at the highest decibel of human hearing tolerance add to that some pretty big cut-outs of the characters from the game pestered all around and you have one hell of a place for gaming rage. This is the usual setup of a decent gaming tournament, which is mostly held at places that are huge, area wise. For making everyone comfortable there are large enough chairs strategically placed in a number of rows facing the front of a huge projected screen. What is the use of screen you ask...Well that is for viewing the fierce battle that takes place inside the gaming arena. “But…???” Yes the ‘gaming arenas’ are separate sitting places or battle ground equipped with the entire arsenal* for the battles to draw blood. Actually a place differentiated from the main area comprising of a number of PCs for the gaming purpose.

Gaming is as ‘virtual’ as anything can get, but it the real people who play the games. That is why when two or even ten of them face each other, the competition is as fierce as in any other (real) game. Finding sweat in these places is much rare but tempers and anguish fly like the sparks from a metal cast against the other. Friends turn to foe and back again, it is those moments that make of all the difference. Cursing, abusing, screaming and bad words all come as standard part of the packaged deal. So, be it for the opponent or the one who is the part of the team it really doesn’t matter. Winning can seem to be the ‘everything’ here and for that the players can take to any length possible.

This can be a cool enough place for gaming aficionados. Where else do any gamer gets to see so many (real!) people! So if you are thinking of visiting any of the gaming tournaments don’t forget to bring some cotton buds for the ears and some tissues for you know what…?

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to go and finish that stupid lurking behind the door - “bang!”