Edmonton teen wins gold World Cyber Games

[XXXSNOWMAN]

From Yahoo News

Ryan Ward went to Italy and brought back a big cheque. Literally.

The 18-year-old from Edmonton won gold at the World Cyber Games in Monza, Italy. That was good for US$15,000, a medal and something else. "I got a really cool, huge novelty cheque," an enthusiastic Ward said Wednesday. Bringing the cheque home wasn't much fun, however.

"I had to carry it through the airports, and in the plane I had to ask them to store it in the front for me," he said.

"It's massive, nearly as tall as me," added the 5-11 Ward, who plans to hang the cheque on a wall.

Playing the character of Ein in "Dead or Alive 4" on the Xbox 360, Ward beat up the opposition en route to last weekend's final where he defeated Mexico's Israel Navidad 2-0.

"That one was probably the toughest, I'd say," he said of the championship match. "Just because there was a lot of pressure and I didn't want to screw up. I wanted to make sure I played everything right."

Ward probably hasn't seen the last of the Mexican. He's headed to Mexico on Thursday for the Pan-American Gaming Championships, which run Friday through Sunday.

"I have a feeling it's going to be me versus him in the finals again," Ward said. "He's really good."

Ward, who is taking time off before going to college, says he might bank his winnings.

He's been playing the martial arts fighting game since "Dead or Alive 2" on the original Xbox. The new version of the game came out in December and Ward spent as much as five hours a night honing his skills.

Now he can tell his parents it was time well spent.

"Exactly, they're always telling me I play games too much. I guess it finally paid off."

His character Ein is a karate expert.

"He's not very fast. You have to . . . kind of wait for an opening," said Ward.

Ein has fewer moves than other characters in the game, but Ward reckons he still has 50 to 60 in his repertoire. He knows every one. And he knows what works best against each character.

The trip to Italy was the first outside North America for Ward, whose gaming handle is OffbeatNinja - a moniker that was randomly generated by his Xbox 360.

More than 700 gamers from 70 countries attended the World Cyber Games this year. Ward was one of 13 Canadian competitors.

Canada's best performances at last year's Grand Final in Singapore were a second (with "Halo 2") and third ("Counter-Strike"). In 2004 in San Francisco, Canada had one second ("Halo").

I will remember to avoid this kid if I ever see him on Live.

[Peench]

Cool!

[KEEZY]

Why didn't they pay him with a check? I don't know what I would do with a cheque. Do you exchange it for food or something?

Sorry, had to. That is awesome though. To be good at a fighting game is pretty damn hard. $15 large is a great reason to game so much!

[Jon Liu]

hahahaha keezy. I don't think I'll ever be good enough at gaming to make it worthwhile...