Gamers dominate athletes in sports game competition

Gillette and EA recently pitted pro gamers against athletes in video games of their own sport, with the pro gamers proving their dominance in the digital realm.

Check out exlusive interviews from Gillette-EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming throughout the week on GP Arcade!

Surreal. This one word response came from Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09 global champion Steven Ward (Gamertag: mixie1316) to describe his experience in Orlando, Fla. at the Gillette-EA SPORTS Champions of Gaming Global Finals last Tuesday. After an around the world trip from Australia, the 52-year-old Ward beat two other regional winners to get a shot against Tiger Woods in the finals. I feel at the moment I am about 22 again, said Ward. He and the other four gamers all beat sports stars in their respective titles to show who the true gamers are.

Gamers dominate athletes in sports game competition

Three regional winners from five different sports were invited to compete in the finals in Orlando. The winner of that group had the chance to face a sports legend. The opening rounds of the competition took place exclusively over Xbox LIVE, with more than 350,000 participants. NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin took on Michael Loyd (GT: Mix311) of Texas. Oddly enough, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter tried his luck in FIFA Soccer but proved to be no match for Jose Miguel Morales Herrera (GT: CAPELLOOO) of Mexico. Before the match started, Jeter was asked if he was ready to begin. No, I just learned how to play this game five minutes ago, Jeter joked. Herrera said he would have rather played Tierra Henry but had a good time anyway. He let Jeter score in order to make it seem closer than it really was.

Recently injured Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson tried to win one for the athletes in NBA Live but came up short against Steffon Dunlop (GT: noffets89) of New York City. Finally, in Madden NFL 2009, New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush could not defeat Paul Glasgow (GT: OOPS SQUAD UP) of British Columbia. Bush went with his team, the Saints, and Glasgow chose the 0-16 Detroit Lions to try to even the playing field. This attempt in fairness did not result in a victory for the athletes.

Gamers dominate athletes in sports game competition

Just because these sports stars lost in their respective matchups, doesnt mean they arent gamers. Tiger Woods and John Cena said they grew up on video games. Cena said he loved 8 bit Nintendo growing up. His favorite games included Tecmo Super Bowl, Bases Loaded, RBI Baseball, Ninja Gaiden, Urban Champion and NBA Jam. He said he would have loved to be in Red Alert like his mentor Ric Flair. Tiger also was a big gamer growing up. His favorite systems were Atari 2600 and 5200. He also thoroughly enjoyed Donkey Kong and Galaga.

Athletes did not offer specifics on what developers are working on for their next iteration but all said realism and accuracy are two main goals going forward. Make sure the bounces, the wind, the gallery and the movements are correct, Woods said referring to his game. "When I first started in 99 with this, EA didnt have the technology they have now. To see the advancement of the game over the last 10 years have been pretty remarkable."

Gamers dominate athletes in sports game competition

Emceed by Major Nelson of Xbox 360 (shown above) and scheduled to be broadcast on Spike on February 18, Gillette partnered with EA Sports to create an unforgettable night for five talented gamers. Gillette kicked off its new product line, Gillette Fusion Gamer. The gaming community is enormous enough for Gillette to name their razor after it, Cena said, referring to the new razor.

The champion gamers could not believe they were crowned the best in the world. I was at Disney earlier and they said dreams can happen and I thought I could do this and I made it happen, Loyd said. Ward, from Nhill, Australia, a small town with only 2100 people said he will be a local celebrity when he returns home. I probably wont have to buy a drink at the pub when I go home, he joked.

Check out GameProArcade throughout the week with complete interviews from athletes and gamers!

Comments [8]

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Toneman

Yeah... but how about putting those gamers in a real sports competition and see how they do!

SilentGhosteye

sports games suck, why play a video game of something you can do in real life. Sports game sare also a waste of money, buying the same one every year. They don't really have any changes in the every year. The only good sports games are the non realistic ones, or extreme sports games, like SSX Tricky.

The12P

I would have liked to have participated in this. Too bad I don't play sports games.

solidcheif

I went there. It was pretty cool. I didn't see anybody from GP though. All those athletes sucked at the games they were playing. Denny Hamlin almost beat that one guy but other than that, they sucked. Reggie Bush got his ass beat in Madden. He played as the Saints and kept handing the ball off to himself. And the dude he was playing against was playing with the Lions. Before he got on stage, he was talking to someone and he didn't know his mic was on and he said "damn, I'm so bored".

Existential_11

Playing a Wii version of TIger Woods agaisnt Tiger Woods, would probably be a little more challenging than the other matches. Not that TW 09 is accurate or anything (I wouldn't know, I have super swing), but it at least more accurately reflects the sport than is possible with other sports.

denveraic

This is supposed to be impressive? Pressing buttons is a lot like playing an actual sport huh? Close, but not quite. Afterward a sports tournament was held, 137 gamers were taken to the emergency room.

Pincho

It must've been awesome getting to meet Tiger and playing against him, im happy for Mr. Ward, congratulations sir. Oh, and its Thierry Henry BTW

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