Gaming gladiators battle it out to be crowned Scottish champ

GAMING fans will battle it out to be crowned Scotland’s first video game champ.

The Scottish Gaming Championships are being held for the first time during the massive PLAY Expo 2019 event at intu Braehead, on Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9.

A trophy and a bundle of video gaming prizes are up for grabs for the winner of the hi-tech tournament. But whoever becomes the top gaming gladiator will have to beat off competition from scores of other contenders over a series of different video games.

This year’s PLAY Expo – the country’s biggest and longest-running gaming event – is almost twice the size as previous shows and the Scottish Gaming Championships are being held over two days during the event.

Described as an Olympic Decathlon of gaming, the tournament is open to everyone and the final will be streamed live around the world on Twitch and the internet.

The first rounds take place on Saturday, June 8 with contestants taking part in five classic retro games at any time during the day, with points scored being shown on a giant leader board.

The games are Nintendo NES’s Balloon Fight; PC Engine’s Super Star Soldier; PlayStation 2’s Burnout 3; Playstation’s Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo and the Sega Megadrive Super Hang On.

The top 16 scorers will then take part in double elimination knockout round the following day, with contestants going head-to-head playing from a list of ten randomly chosen video games.

Event organiser Andy Brown, of Replay Events said: “There are many talented gamers in Scotland, but we want to find out who really is the best.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge and if you pardon the pun, the winner will really need to be on their game.”

Andy added: “It’s a bit like an Olympic Decathlon event because contestants will need to excel at different types of video games to win and not just the particular one they favour and play all the time.”

“As well as being intense for those taking part, the tournament will be an exciting spectacle for the audience watching the gamers battle it out.”

Anyone who reckons they are good enough to be crowned Scottish Gaming Champion should register for the tournament on the opening day of the show.

As well as filling the giant Arena at intu Braehead, the event this year also takes over the site of the adjacent curling rink at the retail and leisure destination.

For the first time, this year’s show also features live entertainment with Australian comedian, John Robertson hosting his hilarious game show, The Dark Room, which sees members of the audience being trapped inside an imaginary retro video game.

Log on to www.playexpoglasgow.com for more details and to buy tickets that start at £16 for adults and £10 for youngsters.