Phillips Electronics and World Cyber Games announced a three-year partnership and the creation of the WCG Philips amBX Cup Challenge. The World Cyber Games is one of the top international gaming competitions on the planet. The amBX hardware will now be integrated into select gaming stations at the many WCG sites worldwide and gamers will now have a chance to put their skills to the test in this new Challenge.

Unfamiliar with the amBX hardware? Designed by Phillips, the hardware is a collection of peripherals designed to add to the sensory overload of today's increasingly intricate games. The amBX PC gaming peripherals enhance light effects, sound effects, as well as vibration and air effects. If the experience of virtually beating the hell out of your opponents was not enough, now it is going to look, feel, and sound even more amazing.

I am sure critics of the gaming industry are thrilled that games with violent content are now going to feel even more real, and feel more real in head-to-head competitions. However, responsible gamers with double-digit IQs capable of distinguishing between reality and make-believe have got to be excited. Not only will this hardware make playing the game more intense, it will up the intensity of the competitive aspect of the WCG.

The Challenge will be held at WCG sites all over the world and players will compete on systems armed with the amBX hardware. The winner takes home the Phillips amBX Cup.

More than one million players from more than 70 countries participated in last year's WCG and more than 24 million people watched the WCG finals, the first-ever live satellite broadcast of such an event.

I'm not surprised that one million people around the world competed against one another. I have been known, on occasion, to boost the self-esteem of strangers by allowing them to destroy me at Madden. What I can't imagine is watching people play video games on TV. Think about it. My XBox 360 is connected to my TV. I could just play instead. Granted, the amBX Challenge is about PC gaming, but I think you can follow my logic. Then again, were I a network executive, I would have laughed at and fired anyone suggesting I televise poker tournaments. I guess it shows it what I know when it comes to the entertainment tastes of the world.