Columbus-area gamers might now have a way to test their skills.
The Video Athletic League held their first Columbus tournament at Dave & Buster’s in Polaris Saturday. The tournament, which accommodated more than 60 participants, included competitions in “NBA 2K10,” “Madden 2010,” “Halo 3” and the very popular “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” released Nov. 10, 2009.
“Right now, this is the hottest game anywhere,” said Travis Kelly, the Video Athletic League’s commissioner. When the tournament ended at 7:30 p.m., Modern Warfare 2 had consumed the majority of the tournament’s five-hour run time.
The League had 10 teams register for Modern Warfare 2 and placed them into a 16-string bracket, said Craig Young, the League’s regional vice president for Youngstown. Team Envious from Youngstown placed first and Calling All Captains, a Dayton-based team managed by Young, came in second.
“We’re in what we call our ‘preseason’ or ‘scrimmage’ season,” Kelly said. “It lasts from January to April. Teams receive points for showing up, and points for placing. The top teams receive $15 GameStop gift cards, and the top six teams receive extra League points. At the end of the preseason, the team with the most points wins $1500.”
For Michael Kerr, team leader for Calling All Captains, the main objective of the preseason is to win money and improve his team’s skills.
“Shooters are what I’m about,” Kerr said, “and ‘Modern Warfare 2′ takes a lot of skill. Not as much as the first, but it is still a lot of hard work and dedication. Our team practices and enters tournaments so we can get better and win money.”
Anyone was eligible to play, but the registration price was free for League members who pay a $25 membership fee to the League every month.
“We’re going to have a lot of venues so everyone can come out and game,” Young said.
“Right now, we’re only in Ohio. We’re moving into Pittsburgh next month, then hopefully the Akron-Canton area and Toledo.”
Currently, the only Ohio cities with an active League are Youngstown and Columbus.
“Up in Youngstown, we have 200-300 people show up at every event,” Kelly said. “Depending on how the VAL members in Columbus continue to promote and get the League bigger and bigger, we’ll be back. I mean, it is a business, and we’re about having everyone have fun, but there have to be enough people to sustain each area. We just have to keep building down here.”
Young said that the League has been a grassroots movement, but funded most of the Columbus tournament on its own. When asked how much the tournament cost the League, Young declined to name a dollar amount, only that it was “quite a bit.”
“Our next phase is to get local businesses to commit to sponsor our events,” Young said. Young hopes that the businesses will advertise through the League and some of the money will be put back into the community via non-profit charities.
Kelly said that the League also hopes to expand the number of games it offers for competition to include “Gears of War 2,” “Rainbow Six,” “Fight Night” and “Tekken.”
“We just want these kids to actually play in person,” Kelly said.
“They’re all playing video games online and the competition level is incredible. We want them to display it, and we’re giving them the format to do that.”
The League plans to hold another tournament Feb. 6 at the Dave & Buster’s in Hilliard.
