Alisxta takes video gaming higher. Is gaming a sport btw?

Is video gaming a sport? Is it, really? Some people think so and others say 'of course not'. Whatever. Ghana has certainly embraced the gaming culture for many many years - I certainly have - but now it's being taken to a higher level.
It is estimated that $11.7 billion worth of video games were sold in 2008 worldwide. That’s almost the entire amount the whole of Ghana’s economy earned in that same year. So you wonder, why do the youth of Ghana play so many video games and yet we haven’t made any money at all from it?


All you see are young boys in street corner game centers and shacks playing their favorite console games like Xbox, PS3, Nintendo and so on. But last Saturday, a group of young entrepreneurs started what might just be the light at the beginning of Ghana’s video games revolution tunnel.


Alisxta Innovation put together the first ever National Qualifiers for video gaming in Ghana and the winner will play in the Electronic Sports World Cup 2010 (ESWC) in May at the Disney-Land in Paris, France.


My interest,- and this site of course - is in the football and it was just great to see the guys slugging it out like their lives depended on scoring the winning goal of FIFA 10.





According to Qwesi Amissah of Alisxta, the aim of the tournament series is to “use technology to bridge the gap between the Youth and National Development by cultivating their talents and competitive spirit. Our desire is to develop a professional E-sport environment which will cater for the future and well being of our players.”


Sounds good to me - anything to keep the kids off the streets and drugs.


Over a hundred enthusiastic young men thronged the Spintex Road for the first qualifier. Subsequent ones will be at Busy Internet (13 March and 17 April), University of Ghana (27 March). Alisxta also got help from the guys at Setmat, Vibe fm and LANTOUCH. Cool, really.


Games that are on to be slugged out include FIFA 10, Need For Speed Shift, Counter Strike, Virtua Tennis, Trackmania, Warcraft III, Street Fighter and so on. So. I ask you, is video gaming a sport and should it be recognized as such?



Do you consider video gaming a sport?(online surveys)

Who would get out of Group D?

The draw and the additional issues

Group A

South Africa
Mexico
Uruguay
France



Group B
Argentina
South Korea
Nigeria
Greece

Group C
England
USA
Algeria
Slovenia


Group D
Germany
Serbia
Australia
Ghana


Group E
Netherlands
Japan
Cameroon
Denmark




Group F
Italy
Paraguay
New Zealand
Slovakia




Group G
Brazil
Portugal
Ivory Coast
North Korea


Group H
Spain
Switzerland
Honduras
Chile


So what did you guys think of the draw? Especially for the African teams?


Did we put on a good show? Honest opinions please!


And how favorable/unfavorable was your country's group?


I think our group (Group D) is going to be so difficult for us.

South Africa 2010: Fifa has seeded, now we await the Draw

Pot 1 (seeds): South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, Argentina.

Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America) Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Honduras.

Pot 3 (Africa/South America) Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria.

Pot 4 (Europe) France, Portugal, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia.

There you are. The long drawn debate about whether France and Portugal deserved to be seeded in Pot 1 has been answered. But if the two nations had been seeded it would have created an uproar at a time when Fifa's name is not perceived in such a good light following Thierry's handball.

And the seeding of France and Portugal before that.

As it stands, the big guns are unlikely to meet anytime in the group stages with most of the 'juicy' games reserved for later.

Later today, Fifa would be meeting on Robben Island to deliberate on other key issues. More of that in a bit.

World Cup 2010 Draw: of 8 seeds and 32 nations

Friday would see the most anticipated football event since the world cup playoffs take place in South Africa. Six months before the blast of the whistle for South Africa 2010, 32 teams will be drawn in Cape Town.

Eight of these countries would be seeded and drawn into groups of four teams. Ah, that word 'seeded' again. In recent weeks the word has become taboo in some parts of the world (read Ireland)

Previously, earning a seed meant a country would avoid facing another seeded team in the first round. But the rules and procedures change from one tournament to the other. And that's why the Fifa World Cup Organizing Committee would meet later today is the rainbow nation to determine seeding and rules for this Draw.

At first, this Committee used a team's performance in previous World Cup rankings combined with its Fifa rankings to determine the seed. For Germany '06, 3 years of Fifa rankings (2006, 2005 and 2004) were also used in addition to performances in the 2002 and 1998 World Cups.

Crucially, no matter how the Committee seeds, it must use the Fifa rankings as part of its grouping process. The latest Fifa rankings, released on 20 Nov, put Spain as best in the world with Brazil in second. The Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France, Argentina, England and Croatia follow in that order, making the top ten.

Croatia, of course, will not be at the World Cup while hosts South Africa is also the lowest ranked team among the teams that have made it. They are 86th.

After all is said and done. I'm hoping that the Fifa meeting today would be devoid of any seeding controversies - God knows we've had too many of those in the last month already.