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The Gaming Nation to host tournament at MeadowView

Published January 21st, 2007 | 2 Comments

Adam Hawkins, Wes Rogers (back), Ben Amyx and Charles Atkins play Halo 2 together at Amyx's home. The Gaming Nation will host an XBox/Play Station 2 tournament on Feb. 24 at the MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center to help raise funds for the Make a Wish Foundation. Erica Yoon photo.

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KINGSPORT - Halo, Madden and Gears of War fans will soon be able to "Play for a Purpose" during a one-day video game tournament to be held in the Model City next month.

Adam Hawkins, event director for The Gaming Nation, said the organization plans to host the one-day event at MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center on Feb. 24. Dubbed "Play for a Purpose," the event will include Free for All and Team events on Halo 2, Madden 07 and Gears of War with the proceeds going to the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Hawkins said TGN was contacted by the Make-a-Wish Foundation about hosting a charity event to raise money for a Sullivan County teen who underwent a kidney transplant. Hawkins said they immediately agreed.

"We just have a big heart really. We would have felt horrible if we said no," Hawkins said.

However, the teen has already received his wish - a computer geared toward gaming - and according to Elise Allen with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, TGN will be raising money to fund future wishes.

"(The teen) asked for a gaming computer, a high-end system with several games. During this time his older computer crashed, so we went ahead and granted his wish," Allen said. "He was raised by his grandparents, and his grandfather died a few years ago. This was a big deal. This is something he would not have been able to get."

Allen, who coordinates for the Make-a-Wish Foundation in the 13 counties in Northeast Tennessee, said she learned of TGN from her son, who plays in video game tournaments.

"We were looking for a different, unique sort of fund-raiser to hit a different group. My younger son plays in gaming tournaments, and I thought it would be a neat way for kids to come together to help other kids," Allen said. "I went online and found The Gaming Nation. They jumped right in and said they would do it for us."

TGN is headquartered in Kingsport and is run by Hawkins and two friends - Ben Amyx of Kingsport and Andrew Savage of Johnson City. Hawkins, 26, is a licensed electrician, and half of the workday is spent coordinating the tournaments.

"It all started about 18 months ago. A friend and I were looking to enter a tournament, and we found there was none," Hawkins said. "We held one in Knoxville, and the turnout was pretty good, almost 400 people, which was enough to get us going. So then over the course of time we've purchased about 50 televisions, 20 console systems and we've gotten lucky."

TGN deals solely with console systems (PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360) and has held video game tournaments in the Model City, Knoxville, Detroit and Chicago, with plans to hold events in Hackensack, N.J., and Miami.

Hawkins said in Detroit, TGN was sponsored by a local radio station, WRIF, and in Chicago the Tribune ran an advertisement for TGN free of charge because it donated some of the proceeds. In Hackensack, TGN was contacted by a company that wanted to hold a video game tournament at their theater, while a company out of Miami wants the group to hold a Madden 07 tournament on Super Bowl Sunday.

"We're rolling really fast," Hawkins said. "We have over 12,000 people that follow us, and we get a lot of calls from people wanting to hold tournaments."

For the MeadowView event, Hawkins said TGN plans to have around 30 of their TVs and charge a $25 entry fee for players. Prizes and trophies would be awarded to the winning players and teams.

TGN plans to host a national tournament in Kingsport next year and open a gaming center in Johnson City.

For more information on TGN and the February tournament visit www.thegamingnation.com or call 1-800-655-1982.

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Yea good Job.... following this event they scammed people out of money both in TN and Atlanta...

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Watch-Out-for-Tournament-Scam-You-Can-Lose-Real-Money-79031.shtml

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/lake/120332714850490.xml&coll=2

steven sampson | 6/18/2008 - 4:25 PM - ( Comment

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I think this is an excellent idea, would like to see more events like this in our area.

Sam Freeman | 1/27/2007 - 8:23 AM - ( Comment

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