Australians shut out computer-game ace

By MICHAEL FOREMAN

Computer-game enthusiast Neal Thompson believes his skill at the cult "shoot-em-up" Quake has caused him to be barred from a key Australian competition.

The 20-year-old Riverhead computer technician is dubbed the "Jonah Lomu of Quake" after winning tournaments in Britain and Ireland.

He must compete in the Melbourne Big Day In event next month to qualify for sponsorship to the Quake World Championships in the United States, with a $US100,000 ($203,300) prize pool.

Three winners from Melbourne will receive an expenses-paid trip to Dallas, Texas, courtesy of the American organisers, the Cyberathletics Professional League, and a shot at the world title and a top prize valued at $US40,000.

But his plans have hit a major snag: the Australian organisers do not want him in their competition.

Mr Thompson says the Big Day In is his only hope of getting to the world championships.

While his past victories have already earned him an automatic place at the Texas event, he cannot afford the airfare and his attempts to find sponsorship have been largely unsuccessful.

If he can compete at Melbourne, he reckons he stands a very good chance of going through to the United States and possibly becoming world champion.

"I am playing to win," he says. "Trust me on this, I take Quake very seriously."

He says that when he contacted the Big Day In organisers they made it very clear he was not welcome. "I've been uninvited."

Adelaide-based Steve "Trixter" Trickey, head of the team organising the Big Day In, says the tournament is open only to Australian residents.

"In my opinion we should keep this as an Australia-only event and the Kiwis need to look at funding one of their own," he says.

But Mr Thompson maintains that "they only changed the rules when I asked if I could come. It was originally open to anyone."

He sent the Herald a copy of an e-mail from Mr Trickey which stated: "It would be great to have you along ... but I can't see any way of doing it without upsetting the guys over here.

"Granting you entry into the competition just for practice is also dicey. The main issue really is - what happens if you win? It would kind of suck to say we're sending the guy that came second."

Sharon Tumbridge, principal of Auckland-based entertainment company Showtime, which is acting as Mr Thompson's agent, says she approached several computer retailers for sponsorship but "they could not understand the concept."

However, a chip manufacturer offered him a T-shirt, cap and bag.

"They want me to wear their clothes but they don't want to give me their money," Mr Thompson says.

Quake, a three-dimensional computer game in which players can fight animated representations of real players over the Internet using weapons ranging from guns to grappling hooks, is starting to attract large amounts of sponsorship money because of its growing popularity.

At a recent US competition the first prize was a Ferrari sportscar.