By Patrick Avenell

SYDNEY: ASUS has confirmed the prizes that will be on offer at the 2008 World GameMaster Tournament (WGT), set to be held in October.

ASUS, Microsoft and Intel are the three major sponsors of the gaming competition, which will be staged at Sydney’s Olympic Park on 18 October 2008. Games that will be contested that day include Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, Counter-Strike: Source and Quake IV.

In total, 44 competitors will take part, either in teams or as individuals, to win the “love and respect of their peers,” according to an ASUS spokesperson. More tangible prizes are also on offer, with winners and finalists set to receive a selection of computer electronics equipment as a reward for their years of indoor training and shunning of natural light.

The winning team of five in the Counter-Strike competition will each receive a gaming LCD monitor, P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi, EN8800GT/512 and $500 cash. The losing team of five will each get a 24-inch LCD monitor.

The winning individuals in the Quake IV and Warcraft III competitions will receive a gaming notebook; the losing finalists, two for each game, will each receive a VGA EAH3870X2/1G.

With the prizes for this competition being so heavily centred around computers, one can only assume that the people who play these games don’t already own one.