  |
         |
|
|
|
|
 |
||
 |
First All Women Quake Tournament Total Entertainment Network and Slam Site to Co-Host First All-Women’s Quake Tournament More than 150 Female Fraggers Expected to Compete for $$$ and Grrl Gamer Bragging Rights SAN FRANCISCO - July 15, 1997 Total Entertainment Networkä (TEN), the leader in online multiplayer gaming, today announced that it will co-host (along with Slam Site) the first-ever All Female Quake Tournament, sponsored by id Software, Ritual Entertainment, Rogue Entertainment, and the Imagine Games Network. The international tournament, which will be held via the TEN service, will begin on July 26, with the eight finalists squaring off at the Slam Site location in Los Angeles on August 30. Registration for the tournament will continue through July 18. More than 100 female Quake players have registered for the tournament, including entrants from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the Phillipines, Canada, Hawaii, and throughout the continental U.S. More than US$10,000 in prizes will be awarded to the top finishers, but the tourney’s organizers are stressing that this is an event more than a competition, and all female Quake fans should participate, regardless of skill level. The Clan Ring will also assist in administering tournament. “Given that the contestants are spread as many as 7,500 miles apart in some cases, the All Female Quake Tournament needed a solution beyond mere regional and local Quake servers,” said Anna (aka NabeO), the tournament’s founder/coordinator and leader of the Quake clan “666.” “TEN was the only service capable of handling such a case, not to mention the only service with an automatic ranking system and extensive tournament tools and experience. The combination of reach, performance, and track record made TEN an easy choice. And holding the championship rounds at Slam Site, the premier retail location for interactive network gaming, is the icing on the cake.” As part of the tournament activities, TEN engineers are working with Clan Ring and Slam Site to support a special Quake “mod” (software extension) created by artist Kenneth Scott. This mod will allow participants to appear in all final-round games as female, amazon warrior characters, rather than the usual Quake male mercenary figures. Tournament Rules Qualification rounds will be conducted on the TEN service in the form of single-elimination, 1-on-1 deathmatches, with eight finalists proceeding to the championship rounds, to be held live at the Slam Site location in Los Angeles. Participants’ gender will be confirmed in advance via photo identification and phone conversations with tournament officials. For complete rules and to sign up for the tournament, visit the All Female Quake Tournament web site (www.slamsite.com/aft). Proceeds from the event will go to the National Tuberous Sclerosis Association (www.ntsa.org). “Many women are no doubt waiting for computer games tailored to the female audience,” said Willem Knibbe, Quake producer at TEN. “Other women, like the 150 - 200 expected to participate in this event, just want equal billing in ‘guy games’ like Quake. We’re pleased and proud to provide a venue for them to showcase their formidable deathmatch skills.” Total Entertainment Network is the premier entertainment network for game playing consumers on the Internet. TEN has online rights to more than 30 games more than half of which are TEN exclusives by leading software publishers including 3D Realms Entertainment, Apogee, Blizzard, Bungie Software, Eidos Interactive (formerly Domark), id Software, GT Interactive, Maxis, MicroProse, Sierra Online/Papyrus, SSI and Westwood Studios. Based in San Francisco, TEN was formed in 1995 from the merger of Outland, Inc. and Planet Optigon, Inc. TEN received its initial funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, with subsequent investors including: Ameritech; Goldman Sachs; Robertson, Stephens & Co., Vertex Management, and Wasserstein Perella. |
 |
 |
||