World Cyber Games: The tech that powers the show

Atomic goes backstage and beyond to look at the hardware behind the event

Lightsaber sound effects from the demo stand were muscling in on the ambient dance tracks in the exhibition hall, where the finalists were getting some last minute practise time in under the throbbing lights above the stage. Gamers were huddled together, some with their clans, idly chatting about the finalists and how they had been knocked out earlier by the unsettlingly good teams that had made it to the finals.



Even though the turnout could have been better, the World Cyber Games was still a success in the eyes of the gamers, spectators and sponsors. But what makes an event like this? Sponsors of course, and a fearsome venue, but at the heart of it all were the gamers and the hardware that made it all happen. Powering the World Cyber Games was theoretically simple, but very well planned.

The players duked it out on identical PCs supplied by ProGamer, which comprised an Athlon 64 3200+ (2GHz) on a MSI K9N motherboard, 512MB of RAM, a Geforce 7600GS, 80GB HDD and Samsung 931C monitor. The Gamers provided their own keyboards, mice and headphones, but pointed out that the 2ms refresh rate of the monitors wasn’t as fast as the CRT refresh rate they were used to.



The PCs on the stage were all set to clone the image the players were watching, each displaying the player’s view on a Samsung monitor that was facing the crowd. Three projectors above the stage were fed with signals from computers that joined the game as spectators, which were controlled by the organisers.

Instead of using really long VGA leads to connect the projectors to the spectator PCs, the signal was sent over Cat5 network cable with Kramer Tools VGA to Cat5 drivers. The event was also simulcast online through Half-Life TV and the commentary streamed via a Shoutcast.



There was a lot of talk about games driving technology at the WCG. The organisers were adamant that it was a proving ground for upcoming technology such as Blue Ray, and pointed out that the 1080p output of the Xbox 360 is a driving force behind the uptake of HDTV.

Demonstration units were on hand at the Harvey Norman stand, showcasing a smorgasbord of Xbox 360 games and peripherals. “You want to make sure that once the gameplay is over there’s something to do and keep the event running” said one of the promoters. They believe that with each major event, gaming becomes more appealing and acceptable, but admit there is a long way to go before professional gamers are revered like Korean Starcraft professionals.