Remember being yelled at by your mom when you stayed up all night playing videogames? “What are you doing in there, with all the shooting!?” she’d shout to a locked door. “Playing Counter-Strike, mom!” we’d scream back, eyes never straying from the screen. “What for? Playing games will never get you anywhere! Why don’t you read a book?” she’d yell one more time before being met with a blast of Sum41 from our computer’s speakers.

Well, it’s time for prove her wrong, once and for all! To celebrate the October launch of DICE’s Battlefield 3, EA and Virgin Gaming have announced what they’re calling the “largest console videogame competition in gaming history.” Players from around the world are going to be able to compete in an online tournament in Battlefield 3, blowing apart other gamers to reach the grand finale, in which they’ll be able to take a shot at their share of the $1.6 million prize at a live event. See? And she said gaming would never make you a millionaire – you’ll show her yet!

“We’re always looking to raise the bar for our members, to give them truly epic gaming experiences they won’t find anywhere else and Battlefield 3 hits the mark,” said Zachary Zeldin, Co-Founder of Virgin Gaming. “This partnership with EA and DICE is exactly the kind of relationship it takes to deliver on that goal, and we can’t be more excited to be working with them to host the greatest competitive gaming event I’ve ever seen.”

We’re not too sure that it’s the largest console videogame competition in history, but it’s still pretty big, and pretty damn cool. You can check out the official website for more information and to get further prepared for the start of the competition – that $1.6 million isn’t going to win itself.

Posted: Sep 28, 2011 12:25 pm

Source: http://www.gamesradar.com/ea-and-virgin-gaming-announce-16-million-battlefield-3-competition/