RIYADH, 23 April 2005 — Tamimi Mall parking lot had a lot more than parked cars this past weekend. There were spotlights, video games, and a whole lot of people gathered for the city’s PlayStation 2 Gran Turismo 4 Challenge, the biggest gaming event held in the city this year. “It was a big success,” said event organizer Mohammad Masoud. “The police showed up at 1:30 a.m. to close us down because there was still a big crowd outside at that time.”
The two-day event, which concluded Thursday night, gathered city gaming and racing enthusiasts to compete on the new PlayStation2 (PS2) Gran Turismo 4 (GT4) driving simulator. Competitors took three laps each. The fastest lap was logged, and the fastest driver, 18-year-old Abdul Razzak Abdul Malek, was invited to participate in the grand final to be held next month in Dubai.
Malek won an all-expense paid trip to the Emirates capital where he will compete for the Middle East championship and win a new Nissan 350Z sports car. The winner also will get a chance to compete in the world championship at Le Mans, France, in June.
A total of 610 participants showed up at Tamimi Mall, with nearly two thirds of them arriving on the second day. Masoud attributes the first day’s low attendance of 240 people to two things: Star Academy 2 winner Hisham Abdul Rahman’s visit at Faisaliah mall and a televised soccer match. Nevertheless, these circumstances didn’t stop video game enthusiasts from enjoying an evening of PlayStation outdoors.
Ibraheem Al-Dhahee, a 17-year-old Gran Turismo aficionado, was one of the first people in line to take part in the challenge Wednesday evening. “I just came here to play Gran Turismo and maybe to see if I’d win. I have GT1, 2, 3 and 4. I’m not sure of winning, but maybe.”
Hassan Baroudi, 18, was another Gran Turismo devotee, owning the game’s earlier editions. “I actually bought the demo version two months ago, and I’m looking forward to buying the original after this event,” he said while patiently waiting in line on the first day. He said he wished he could have practiced more, but he has been studying for exams.
“I was walking around here and found the PlayStation signs, so I decided to sign up for the challenge,” said Ahmad Al-Saed. He was one of the few to pre-register for the event. Most other participants interviewed learned of the challenge the same day. Eight-year-old Mirna was practically the only girl to take part in the challenge. She was accompanied by her parents. They signed her up while they were shopping at Tamimi on Thursday.
The game’s popularity is still growing. Masoud said with each Gran Turismo release, sales have actually doubled.
“For this newest edition, the sales have reached more than 8 million worldwide,” Masoud said. “GT4 is one of the longest racing simulators PlayStation has. It gives one of the most realistic racing experiences you can get.”
“It would take more than 120 days of playing 24-hours nonstop just to sample each car on every track for just five minutes,” said Nicolas Torloting from Stallions Home Video, Sony’s software distributor in Saudi Arabia.
Interestingly, not everyone at Tamimi’s parking lot knew about the video game. Hussein Ibrahim and his friend, Abdurrahman Al-Nouri, were curious about the crowd and asked Arab News for information. We explained and they were excited.
“Wow, a trip to Dubai,” Ibrahim said. “I don’t know how to play GranTurismo, but I will try.” The event was only held outdoors in Riyadh.
In almost every other participating city it was held in shopping malls. However, as shopping centers in Riyadh are restricted to women and family groups on weekends, organizers said it would have hindered teens from taking part.
The GT4 challenge already wrapped up in Jeddah, Oman, and Qatar. It will be held at Alkhobar’s Rashid Mall April 27-28. The video game challenge also will be held in Abu Dhabi, Manama, Dubai and Kuwait City before the end of the month.
The Riyadh winner has a good chance of becoming the Middle East champion as his speed time, 35.6 seconds, was the fastest one recorded in the Gulf area so far.
