Nvidia gears up for block gaming party

Nvidia is putting the finishing touches on a little party for its local fan base this Tuesday in San Francisco, where the company will unveil its newest GeForce 7800 graphics processing chip and related graphics cards.

The all-day networked computer gaming event at will include the world's first ever Battlefield 2 tournament, co-hosted by video game manufacturer Electronic Arts. The contest should be a real melee as there will be 64 players per game split up into two sides.

In addition to Battlefield, there will also be a five-on-five Unreal Tournament using the 2004 CarBall modifications, a scoring system similar to the rules in soccer.

Last year's inaugural event brought in more than 300 gamers from around the world and this year's party is expected to be just as big. Like last year, Nvidia said it can only accommodate a limited number of people registered at the event. The good news is that the space will be a bit larger to accommodate additional spectators.

Those in the virtual trenches will receive two raffle tickets, a place to game all day, the chance to play in unofficial tournaments and a competition with four categories to see which player has the best tricked out PC.

"These are gamers who try to super cool their computers with water and other liquids to make them run faster," graphics chip research analyst Jon Peddie said. "You see them strip off the sides of the box and replace them with clear plastic so you can see what's inside and then add in lights. It's very exciting to see."