America's Army
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Think you're the best gamer in town? Get ready to put your money where your mouse is. Two Web sites, Ultimate Arena and YouPlayGames, let you wager on your pixel-popping prowess. If you're the bomb, you'll be in the black. If you've been fooling yourself, blood won't be the only red you see. We logged in, ponied up, and blasted away. Here's how the two services cashed out.
It's perfectly legit to wager on skill-based videogames - if you live in one of the 39 states that allow this type of online gambling. But players who reside in Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Tennessee, Vermont, and - surprise! - even high-rolling Nevada are prohibited from collecting prize money in fee-based tournaments. The penalties vary from state to state.
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]
Wager on how fast you can pump your trigger finger and hit your targets in your fave first-person shooters.
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]
Earn chump change for every kill. But watch your back: If you get shot by an opponent, you'll lose respect and bank.
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]
Deposit at least 5 bucks into an account (www.ultimatearena.com) via PayPal or a credit card. Players trolling for action arrange tournaments, personalizing the battle right down to entry fees and reward structures. Invites are posted in the site's lobby.
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]
Lay down cash via PayPal or plastic ' limits are set by your payment method ' then log in (www.youplaygames.com). Your copy of Return to Castle Wolfenstein connects to the server that tracks scores, kill ratios, account balances, and payouts.
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]
Chart-toppers America's Army and Tom Clancy's Raven Shield hit the tables first; Ultimate says more games are on the way.
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]
The site already has rights to id Software's Wolfenstein ' and may have you making a killing with Doom III in the future.
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]
Prior to battle, the player hosting the game sets the parameters, such as number of kills and team scores required to win. Payouts are automatically transferred to the victor's account.
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]
Frag a player to earn dough; get fragged and lose some. Life costs ' how much you win or lose per kill ' are decided by the site or the hosting player before each round.
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]
This brainchild of former Quake champion Dennis 'Thresh' Fong collects a handsome 15 percent processing fee a la eBay on every transaction.
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]
The site pockets up to 5 percent from the winning side of each kill, depending on the game's level and your ranking.
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]
Comprehensive ranking systems, user feedback, and company supervision keep fledgling felons in check. Especially cautious contenders can always fall back on the buddy system and only play against familiar foes.
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]
YouPlay uses Even Balance's PunkBuster Anti-Cheat system to make the game nearly impenetrable: Spies inside the cheat community look for hacks and plug loopholes on an ongoing basis. When a problem is reported, all winnings related to the game in question get reversed while YouPlay investigates. That means sore losers can easily, but unfairly, call foul play.
[ ULTIMATE ARENA ]4
[ YOUPLAYGAMES ]2
PLAY
Soldiers of Fortune
