By Janelle Brown
Hey, if golf counts as a legitimate sport, then fragging certainly should. Or so argue the creators of the Professional Gamers' League, the association launched by Total Entertainment Network and heavily sponsored by Advanced Micro Devices. With help from Commissioner Nolan "Atari" Bushnell (left) and an advisory board of gamers and industry execs, the PGL aims to standardize the fragmented realm of competitive gaming, turn top players into stars, and earn gaming a mass audience.
Anyone can join the league, but only the top 128 players in each category (action and strategy) qualify for the quarterly championships, which will be broadcast live over the Web and, PGL officials hope, on ESPN or MTV. Thanks to more than US$1.5 million in big-name sponsorships, the élite gamers can start paying their rent by annihilating pixel opponents. As id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead puts it, this could be the Super Bowl of Quake.
ELECTRIC WORD
Pixel Pros
