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Microsoft crowns Halo 2 king

King Tuur of the Netherlands beats 50,000 others for title of Halo 2 world champion. Aussie gamer Cabel stands proud and lands fourth place.

Tim Surette
2 min read

Once the SMG rounds were emptied, plasma grenades had exploded, and corpses were removed from the battlefield, only one competitor was left standing in the first-ever Xbox Live Global Halo 2 Tournament. King Tuur of the Netherlands took home the grand prize, besting 50,000 others in a double-elimination competition spanning 24 regions around the world.

The 17-year-old from Geldrop defeated runner-up Aimitux of Japan in the finals to take home a 50" Samsung DLP HDTV, a Samsung DVD player/recorder, cash totaling US$1500 (AU$1964), and a half-size statue of Halo 2 hero Master Chief, among other prizes. The final match was played over Xbox Live on the map Warlock.

Australia was well represented at the games, with Cabel finishing fourth overall. Sweeping up bagfuls of frags, Cabel ensured he was one of the tournament's stars with a mammoth eight-kill outright victory margin in round two, and by beating champion King Tuur by a full 10 frags in the penultimate round.

The first tournament of its kind on a console, this contest included players from each of Xbox Live's 24 regions worldwide, with the competition played entirely online via Xbox Live. In Australia the event was held late Friday night and early into the hours of Saturday morning. Cabel was surrounded by supporters at the Australian Xbox Headquarters in Sydney including his brother, another one of Australia's top Halo 2 players.

King Tuur, which is a shortened version of King Arthur, left the tired life of being a paperboy after realising he could have more fun (and hopefully money) gaming.

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