Beat
the World and the Stereotype
They say computer
users are nerds and geeks. We live in houses piled high with stale
pizza and empty cola bottles, with little time for social life.
Oh, and we don't like girls – unless they too are computer
users…
This past weekend I have been to a place called
Groningen. It's a university town in Northern Holland –
just an hour's flight from the UK. I was representing my country
in the World Cup of Kick Off 2.
The players (author – middle
row – ninth from left).
Kick Off 2 is not a Simulation of Football.
It's a highly tactical game that looks a bit like football it
but plays like nothing else. Thirteen years ago, it was ground-breaking
stuff, and it’s still seducing people with its simple charms.
I was twenty years old when it was released,
and, for the first eleven years, I never played it against anyone
else. In May 2001, I came across a wonderful website and forum
devoted to Kick Off 2. A few months later, we had arranged the
first Kick Off 2 World Cup – in Dartford, Kent, the town
where Kick Off 2 was written, and so a sort of spiritual homecoming.
After that, we got serious – world rankings, other smaller
tournaments – and a real community rose out of our enthusiasm.
The heady, somewhat overcast,
pleasures of Northern Holland.
The Groningen event was the third World Cup
– organised by the Kick Off Association (KOA) – with
thirty-two participants from six different countries competing.
It lasted three days and after well over a hundred games, we crowned
a new World Champion – Gianluca from Rome held his nerve
against Martin from Wolverhampton to claim the crown in a thrilling
two-leg final decided by just one goal.
As this was the third year in a row we'd held
a World Cup it was a chance to meet old friends seen only once
a year – and also to meet new players from new countries.
It’s this social aspect of the event which will probably
shock non-believers. Over the course of three days, we easily
spent more time down the pub than we did playing KO2. Let's face
it, after a hard day’s intense competition, what you really
need is a cold beer, music, good friends and a great night-time
atmosphere to help soothe the soul and remind you what life is
all about.
Having fun in a pub. Geeks do
this, too, y’know.
The Saturday night in particular will always
be a fond memory. We set up residence in Groningen's largest collection
of bars (The Three Sisters) and it was packed to the rafters with
lots of tall Dutch people. Some of us stayed in there until 4am,
and if they hadn't kicked us out we might still be there now.
Much beer was consumed, we talked about almost everything you
could think of, and of course, the rather beautiful Dutch women
made our stay a bit more pleasant.
And then the cold light of Monday morning saw
fifteen of us head off to the airport (probably the smallest one
I have ever seen). That one-hour flight over the channel soon
passed and as we parted, I couldn't help but be a bit overcome
during the saying of goodbyes. Next year (in Italy) simply cannot
come soon enough…
See that bunch of blokes in the pub having a
good time? They're computer gamers and very proud of it.
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More
details and pix.
Even more!
Groningen
website
Some Dutch girls
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