Exclusive Interview with the WCG Organisers

August 10, 2007 by eddyhan

When there is a cyber gaming battleground, gamers are usually the ones involved in the war. But not many people really knew the real team of soldiers whom made all of it happen for us.

Also knows as the nations “Largest Cybergaming Tournament”, the inaugural World Cyber Games 2007 Malaysia is set to happen next month in MVEC, Mid Valley. An event at this scale involves a lot of planning, coordination and extensive manpower to be realised.

If you do not know yet, Multiplay is also listed in WCG’s pool of sponsors with the title Online Media Sponsor this year.

From left: June Chan, Lisa Chong and Jessica Tan.

Despite the hectic schedule by the organisers, Multiplay had the opportunity to interview with Lisa Chong. She leads the team that realises WCG in Malaysia this year.

Multiplay appreciates the time given by In2 for this interview.

Interview with Lisa after the jump.

twenty06:
Good afternoon Lisa. How about briefly introducing yourself to our readers in Multiplay?

Lisa:
Hi, good afternoon. My name is Lisa Chong. I’m currently leading a team of 3 from In2 Marketing & Consulting Sdn Bhd. This year, we are involved in planning and organizing WCG 2007 Malaysia that is set to happen on the 8th and 9th of September 2007. This will be my 3rd year I’m handling this project.

twenty06:
Well you mentioned that you are leading a team. How many team members do you have to get WCG happening and can you briefly introduce them as well?

Lisa:
Believe it or not, the team only consists of 3 girls. Yes that’s right, female power. Other than myself, I have Jessica who’s involved in the gaming portion of WCG. This ranges from registration all the way to the execution in the tournament area. June however is involved in sponsorships and public relations.

We do have a technical and support team to help us as well.

twenty06:
So is Jessica and June pretty? LOL.

Lisa:
That you gotta see for yourself. To me, pretty is an understatement. LOL!

twenty06:
This year marks the 7th year WCG has been held in Malaysia. Can you give our gamers a brief of what they could expect this year on the WCG 2007 Malaysia?

Lisa:
Well, we are introducing the new addition to the pool of official games in the championship. Thanks to GamersDotCom, we have Command & Conquer for all those RTS gamers in Malaysia. The winner for these official games will get to represent Malaysia in the World Finals in Seattle on top of the cash and prizes that they will walk away with them.

We have a section for console enthusiasts as well; the Xbox 360. The “Gaming Experience” zone will also feature Intel’s latest processor, the Core 2 Quads or better known as “C2Q”. For those who want to try the rawring power of the processor, they should come and check this section out.

Ah, let’s not forget that we are GIVING away 1 unit of the official WCG.my PC each day.

twenty06:
Woah, serious s***. 1 unit of PC? I want, I want! How can I win it?

Lisa:
You will need to participate in our daily PC DIY contest. The fastest participant to assemble a working PC will walk away with one.

twenty06:
Can I cheat?

Lisa:
No.

twenty06:
Dayum. But it does sound interesting though. Hopefully no one destroys the hardware on the actual day.

Anyway, In2 has been organizing WCG in Malaysia since the first year in 2001 with 2 “Best Strategic Partner” awards under its bag. Can you give us your views regarding the evolvement of cyber gaming scene particularly in Malaysia after so many years? Did you see any improvements or any particular area that needs to be improved?

Lisa:
I would say that the community is starting to understand and accept cyber gaming as not just a time-wasting activity but a competitive sport by itself. We are getting numerous support from parents who encourage their kids to participate WCG. Some are so enthusiastic that they called us up to register their kids.

The action really motivates us very much. We feel worthwhile when we gain support from not just parents, but many other parties as a whole. Although I have to admit that we are far off from our target, In2 is striving to educate the people in Malaysia on gaming healthily.

However we look forward for even more support from many parties particularly the government.

twenty06:
Speaking of the government, we all know that the Singapore government is heavily promoting cyber gaming as an industry in its country. How is the support level in Malaysia?

Lisa:
Unfortunately although we get the support from the Ministry of Youth & Sports, the people still perceives cyber gaming as a negative influence among children. It would take a lot of effort to change the perception of people first. And later then only we could garner the support we need from the Government.

twenty06:
When you mentioned support, what type of support are you looking at?

Lisa:
In2’s personal ambition is to host the World Final in our very own local ground. At present, we definitely have the manpower and capability to host a world class event. To have this materialize, we will definitely require tremendous infrastructural support and endorsement from the Government.

twenty06:
Hmmm I agree. What is your perception on Online Games?

Lisa:
Online games are definitely a different entity from competitive gaming. On what grounds they are different, I will leave it for you to ponder. But there’s definitely a synergy between online and competitive gaming.

twenty06:
Alright, back on WCG. I noticed that this year the registration fee is waived. Previously, gamers were charged a sum of fee. Why the waiver?

Lisa:
We decide to waive the registration fee because of our intention to find an undiscovered champion. Not all gamers can afford the expenses to participate. Who knows we might just find a potential champion out of nowhere. This decision has encouraged a lot of new gamers registering for WCG 2007 Malaysia. The response has been tremendous as some of our games slots are already filled up and the rest are going like hot cakes.

twenty06:
But what happens if the gamers doesn’t turn up for the competition since it’s free and it would be no loss to them?

Lisa:
We did consider about this issue when we decide to waive the fee. So for those who register and does not turn up on the actual day, we might impose a penalty of banning them from competing in future competitions.

twenty06:
What will happen to his slot? If he doesn’t come will In2 give an automatic walkover?

Lisa:
No of course not. Participants are required to come one day earlier (on the 7th September 2007) to complete their registration process. That includes collecting their own name tags and maybe even to test the WCG.my PCs.

Registration slots for games like FIFA and WarCraft 3 is already filled up. If a participant did not complete his registration, we will open up his slot for the next immediate player. In other words, we encourage those who did not manage to register on Multiplay to try your luck on the actual day; 7th September 2007 AFTER 7.00pm.at the registration counters in Mid Valley Exhibition Center.

twenty06:
Interesting. You’d better hire some bouncers just in case it goes frenzy. Anyway there’s this mystery that I’m sure a lot of people would like to know.

Who is this August? She sounds very nice. Is she pretty?

Lisa:
Well, that you have to come to MVEC on the actual day to find out! LOL

twenty06:
Grrrr. Ok then. Stupid question time! What is your teams favourite food?

Lisa:
June is a chicken rice fan. Jessica eats anything but pork. As for me, I don’t have anything particular.

twenty06:
In your team’s HONEST opinion, who is the best looking gamer in Malaysia?

Lisa:
Let me ask Jessica.
(A couple of minutes later…)
Jessica says there’s this FIFA player called Ah Loon.
(Another few more minutes later…)
June says Ah Loon as well. So Ah Loon it is!

twenty06:
VOMITS! WINDS LOON4TIC? OMG KEPUIK KEPUIK!

Lisa:
LOL!

Handsome meh? OMG OMG!!1

twenty06:
Ok before I end this, any last words for all the gamers out there?

Lisa:
Yeah. Malaysia needs a gold medal in the World Final. So you gamers better train hard! See you there in WCG 2007 Malaysia!

twenty06:
On behalf of Multiplay, thank you for sparing some time with us. We wish you the best of luck!

Lisa:
My pleasure.

Posted in Events, Interviews