Kiwi Gamer Scores Intel Sponsorship

News Release

Kiwi Gamer Scores Intel Sponsorship

Unreal Tournament* Reaps Rewards For Top Local Gamer

Nicholas McCabe may not be as well known as Sean Marks or Michael Campbell, but to his peers, especially those in the US, Europe and parts of Asia, he’s a star. He’s world class, widely recognised, and fans regularly ask for his autograph…

Competing under the name eVeNfLoW, he’s one of New Zealand’s leading gamers and he’s secured a sponsorship from Intel, the world’s largest computer chip maker.

Recently, Nicholas has achieved top placings, both locally and abroad, in ‘Unreal Tournament,’ and now its sequel ‘Unreal Tournament 2003’. It is an action packed game, depicting elite warriors in combat – and requires intense and prolonged concentration, rapid reaction skills and fast twitch reflexes.

“A lot of people still think of computer games as purely a leisure activity. However, gaming is rapidly gaining acceptance as a professional sport,” said Nicholas.

Like his peers in more traditional sports, Nicholas looks to his sponsors to provide the tools to fine tune improve his performance. He trains with, relies on and fully endorses Intel’s advanced mircoprocessors. That means trialling the latest technology and providing feedback on performance in a gaming environment.

As part of the sponsorship Nicholas will train and compete on equipment utilising an Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading technology† running at 3.06GHz.

“The sponsorship will help me get to tournaments throughout the year, but just as importantly will give me a competitive edge over other gamers,” said Nicholas. “It’s a bit like Ian Thorpe getting a ‘fastskin’ swimsuit from Speedo*. In a game where the difference between life and death can be milliseconds, the Pentium 4 gives me the edge I need.”

“Sponsoring Nicholas was a natural fit for us,” said Phillip Dows, Intel Marketing Manager – Australia and New Zealand. “Gamers, by definition, require the best performance a PC has to offer. As technologies continue to evolve, gamers at the forefront are demanding more power and better reliability from their computer systems.”

A former Liston College student, Nicholas has been playing computer games since the age of 5, but only started getting serious about the sport when he was 13, winning three championships in quick succession.

Nicholas recently beat New Zealand’s leading ‘Unreal Tournament 2003’ players at Equinox – the newest and biggest LAN-based gaming event in New Zealand. He rates his third placing at World Cyber Games (Korea) in November last year, beating the current world champion of Unreal Tournament along the way, as his career highlight to date.

“The competition, televised to parts of Asia, involved about 500 computer gamers from 45 countries, with 9 from New Zealand,” said Nicholas.

Nicholas was the only competitor from the southern hemisphere to win a medal and also received a cash prize of $US5,000.

And Nicholas’ next goal…..“well to be world champ, of course!”

ENDS

Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

† Look for systems with the Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor with Hyper-Threading Technology logo. Hyper-Threading Technology requires a computer system with an Intel® Pentium® 4 processor supporting HT Technology and a Hyper-Threading Technology enabled chipset, BIOS and operating system. Performance will vary depending on the specific hardware and software you use. See http://www.intel.com/info/hyperthreading/ for more information including details on which processors support Hyper-Threading Technology.

© Scoop Media