Internet gamers battle it out

Shielded from the hot rays of the sun by the sheer thickness of walls of a 16th century war machine in Valletta, 60 Internet gamers yesterday battled it out trying to annihilate each other while playing virtual reality war games.

The Internet gamers were huddled in groups at the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity that the Knights of St John had built to protect the gallant city from landward attacks.

No blood ran at the cavalier unless it happened virtually, but the players sweated it out, at times with frayed nerves as they grappled hard to snuff the candle on their opponents.

The three-day battlefield event which started on Friday is organised by www.di-ve.com after the owners realised how popular Internet gaming was becoming over their Website.

Moreover, a number of gamers who met over the di-ve Website to try out their skills had been lobbying for the holding of such an event.

Jes Camilleri, brand executive for www.di-ve.com, said that there are about 200 Internet gamers in Malta and the number was on the rise.

Although his firm has not looked into the bio details of the gamers who visit their site, the age group is somewhere between 14 and 25 and among those who visit there is so far only one female. Members of the public will have the chance to see the Internet gamers using their brains if not their brawn at St James battlefield today between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The organisers said that the players had become so immersed in their duels on Friday that they had to be "pushed out" of their seats at two in the morning.

Beginners would find that Internet games are much more complicated and mind-rattling than console games.

"One would need to practise to reach a certain level but with the anonymity that the Internet provides, one can change one's name as many times as one can and enter the fray again.

"The gamers at St James are among the creme de la creme on the island," Mr Camilleri said, adding that six of them were Chinese.

Over the coming months the company will continue to develop this area and hold other activities. Anyone interested in joining this growing community should get in touch with www.di-ve.com, which is operated by Terranet Ltd, a subsidiary of Maltacom plc.

A special network infrastructure powered by Sirap has been set up at St James by a team of gaming enthusiasts. The gaming fans took their own PCs to the cavalier.

The other sponsors were Datastream, maltaNET, Go Mobile, Kinnie and Visage.

Anyone surfing the net can open a window on how things are moving at St James by visiting the di-ve Website.