Australian fighting games league Couch Warriors will be teaming up with the Australian Cyber League (ACL) in Melbourne this weekend to showcase one of the biggest fighting game events of the year.

The two communities will host a special event in Melbourne this weekend to live stream the EVO 2012 fighting games championships taking place on July 6-8 in Las Vegas.

The Melbourne event will also feature a Smash Brothers tournament, as well as casual tournaments. (The casual tournaments will be running with alternative rules to the normal tournaments to mix things up a little.)

Prizes include a Qanba Q4RAF Arcade Joystick, as well as vouchers and DVDs courtesy of Madman Entertainment.

The event will take place from July 7-8 in the Celebrity Room, Moonee Valley Racecourse, McPherson Street, Moonee Ponds, Melbourne.

Entry will cost A$20 per day or A$30 for the whole weekend (fee includes entry to any tournament, save the Smash Brothers tournaments).

For more information, check out the official Facebook event page.

Tonight the ASUS Starcraft II Pro Am kicks off in partnership with GameSpot AU. But, who's taking part you ask? Here are the final four of 16 professional players who will be vying for cash and prizes. Be sure to tune into to the tournament from 7pm tonight AEST.

Gamecom Nv.YoonYJ

Name: Yojun "YoonYJ" Yun
Team: Gamecom Nv
Age: 23
City: Sydney

Yojun "YoonYJ" Yun is one of Australia’s very few competitive Terran players, with several appearances at national championship events over the last two years. By training almost exclusively on the Korean server, YoonYJ takes a lot of pride in regularly beating Code S GSL stars.

Like his fellow Gamecom Nv teammates, he enjoys playing Terran vs Zerg more than any other match-up, not only because of the excitement factor, but because most of South East Asia’s best players are Zerg, and he enjoys the intensity of playing such challenging opponents.

GoSu.tgun

Name: Bradley "tgun" Seymour
Team: It’s Gosu eSports
Age: 21
City: Sydney

Bradley "tgun" Seymour is a 21 year old Zerg player from Sydney, and is one of very few Australian players to have competed abroad multiple times. With experience in South Korea’s Global StarCraft League and America’s Major League Gaming, Brad has unique insight into competitive gaming.

Brad is also one of very few Australians who also represents an international team, with the rest of the its-GoSu roster hailing from Canada, America and Korea.

Eve.Techtron

Name: Lucas "Techtron" Tan
Team: Eve
Age: 17
City: Melbourne

Lucas "Techtron" Tan is a 17 year old Zerg player from Melbourne, and although being relatively new to the scene, boasts some impressive results.

Having attended numerous Melbourne events, Lucas strives to defeat his friendly rival deth, as the two pair regularly face each other in the final rounds of local tournaments. The most recent of these was the Australian Cyber League Melbourne Regionals, where both players were awarded invitations to participate in the Blizzard World Championship Series for Australia!

xGKING.Light

Name: Zi Ray "Light" Wang
Team: Xeria Gaming
Age: 24
City: Sydney

Zi Ray "Light" Wang is widely regarded as one of the best Protoss players in the country, despite several periods of inactivity. With numerous appearances at national championships--including the SEA 2011 Battle.net Invitational and WCG Australia 2011--Light has made a name for himself, especially after taking a game from StarTale's Ace and landing himself in second place at the 2011 NRG Hardcore Gamer tournament.

With a hardcore record of 108 games played in a 24 hour ladder session, Light is looking to take it easy when Heart of the Swarm is released.

That's the full roster of pros joining this weekend's ASUS Stracraft II Pro Am. Tune in to GameSpot AU from 7pm AEST to watch all the action.

This week the ASUS Starcraft II Pro Am kicks off in partnership with GameSpot AU. But, who's taking part you ask? Here are the next four of 16 professional players who will be vying for cash and prizes. We'll be revealing four each day leading up to Friday's kick-off.

SQL.delete

Name: Daniel "delete" Li
Team: Sequential Gaming
Age: 17
City: Adelaide

At only 17 years of age, Sequential Gaming’s Daniel “delete” Li has really demonstrated a breakthrough performance lately, taking down some of the heaviest opponents in the recent Australian Cyber League Sydney 2012 Nationals. He also recently won two of the wT weekly events.

Once Daniel is finished with the Heart of the Swarm single-player campaign, he’ll be keeping an eye on professional Protoss players from around the world to see exactly what clever and powerful strategies they can engineer before standing trial before the Blizzard balance tribunal!

cR.SenSei

Name: Andrew "SenSei" Carmichael
Team: Carnage
Age: 23
City: Brisbane

Andrew "SenSei" Carmichael is a 23 year old Protoss player from team Carnage, with a long-standing rivalry with Nv’s deth. He's looking forward to inventing new and unique strategies when Heart of the Swarm is released, and using them to dominate the ladder.

With a top eight finish at the Australian Cyber League’s Gold Coast event, and having taken second place at their Brisbane Regionals, Andrew has made it clear that he’s one of the strongest Protoss players in the scene.

xGKING.iaguz

Name: Ethan "iaguz" Zugai
Team: Xeria Gaming
Age: 22
City: Sydney

Ethan "iaguz" Zugai is one of Australia’s most outspoken and charismatic Terran players, with a striking resemblance to James Raynor's Engineer--Rory Swann!

Nicknamed the “Gimli Terran”, Xeria Gaming’s 22 year old star is no stranger to competitive play, having represented Australia alongside his fellow Sydney player PiG at the Intel Extreme Masters event in Guangzhou, China. He also took 3rd place at the NRG Hardcore Gamer 2011 tournament in Sydney, where he took a game from StarTale’s Ace.

Gamecom Nv.Rossi

Name: David "Rossi" Rossi
Team: Gamecom Nv
Age: 20
City: Sydney

David "Rossi" Rossi is a 20-year old Terran player. As one of the late-comers to the scene, David is really looking forward to the release of Heart of the Swarm so that he can be a part of the phase where everyone is establishing new build orders and pioneering brave new strategies.

Last year David found himself representing Australia on the world stage, when he went up against the best-of-the-best in the IPL4 Oceanic Qualifiers in Manila. Most recently, he proceeded to play over 34 tournament games in a single weekend, where he took first place in a World Championship Series Australian Qualifier, followed by second place in a Masters Cup!

Check back soon for the next four pro players taking part in our upcoming Starcraft II tournament.

The EB Games Expo has announced Project Gamer, an opportunity for those who like being in front of the camera to appear in a film reel for the company's upcoming event.

To participate, fans will need to answer the question, "What gamer are you?" on video. EB Games is compiling a collection of responses to screen at the EB Games Expo happening on October 5-7 this year.

Those interested in participating will have the first opportunity to record their thoughts when film crews visit EB Games stores on June 16 at Albert St, Brisbane, and June 23 at Westfield Parramatta, NSW. The best entry in each state will receive an A$100 gift voucher.

Participants who are unable to make it to the stores also have the opportunity to submit their video online via YouTube. Full details are available from the official EB Expo website.

Previously hosted on the Gold Coast, this year EB Expo is heading to a new venue: the Sydney Showgrounds. There, it will cover more than twice the floor area for vendors and exhibitors.

In addition to a range of games to see and play, a variety of attractions will be offered, including freestyle motocross via the EB Arena Spectacular, laser shows, Cosplay, and an on-site EB Games store.

For the first time in four years, Australia will be sending a team to compete at the Super Battle Opera (SBO) tournament taking place in Japan. SBO is an annual tournament that invites qualifying teams from all over the world to compete in various fighting games.

Last Sunday, a qualifying tournament was held at Timezone Sydney to determine which pair would be victorious in claiming the spot as Australian representatives in Tekken Tag Tournament 2. The event saw 38 hopeful players sign up, but it was Mario "MMT" Theodorus and Andrew "Lucky Strikes" Kim who emerged as the winning side, fighting their way through the tournament undefeated.

"This is my first time representing Australia at SBO. I can say whatever happens at the tournament in Japan, it has been my dream fulfilled in terms of Tekken," said MMT.

His teammate Lucky Strikes added, "I'm looking forward to it."

Tournament organiser Youssef "FaYd" Faddoul thanked all supporters, and commented, "I'm really happy with everything that went down."

The team will be battling other international players at SBO, which will occur in Japan on August 4-5 this year.

Astro Gaming has announced Bluemouth Interactive as the local distributor of gaming accessories for the Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) region. Self-dubbed as being at the "forefront" of North American video gaming lifestyle, Astro Gaming produces gaming peripherals targeted at the hardcore gamer who seeks "hardcore" gear.

Previously, Astro Gaming equipment was only available to ANZ customers who purchased directly via the company's website.

"We are proud to be partnering with Bluemouth Interactive for our AU/NZ distribution," commented Jordan Reiss, founder and vice president of Astro Gaming. "It marks a real milestone that Astro Gaming gear… will soon be available to Australian and New Zealand retailers, through Bluemouth Interactive."

"The evolution from direct-to-consumer selling via our own website to also offering our products through retail is an exciting opportunity," he continued.

Distributor Bluemouth Interactive currently operates as a leading supplier of video game accessories throughout Australia and New Zealand and already partners with several local retailers, including EB Games, Target, and JB Hi-Fi stores.

In signing on as Astro Gaming's distributor, managing director of Bluemouth Interactive David Provan said, "Like Astro, our company lives at the epicentre of gaming lifestyle. The products we've always brought to Australian and New Zealand retailers have been specifically designed for the gamers. Astro Gaming products perfectly fit this philosophy."

Australian Tekken players are about to get the chance to represent their country at the Super Battle Opera (SBO) taking place in Japan this year. SBO is an annual fighting-game tournament, which invites selected teams from all over the world to compete in various fighting games.

The Australian qualifiers for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 will be held in Sydney on June 10, and will be used to decide which duo will head to the international stage. The winning team will have the opportunity to battle it out against the world's top players at SBO in early August.

Earlier this year, Australian players took out the top three spots at international fighting-game tournament Shadowloo Showdown, knocking out fighting-game household names, such as Ryan "Prodigal Son" Hart, Justin "JWong" Wong and Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi.

Entry to the local qualifier costs A$10 per competitor, and can be registered in advance or done on the day of the tournament at Timezone George Street, Sydney. Spectating is free.

When: Sunday, June 10. Sign-ups finish at 6:30 p.m.; tournament begins at 7:00 p.m. Where: Timezone, shop 5/505 George Street, Sydney (next to Event Cinemas)
Cost: A$10 per person; spectating is free.

Rules
- One game is first to three rounds (best of five)
- All characters are permitted
- You can not change characters on a game-by-game basis
- Both teams must state their first player before the match
- Before the match, players will compete in scissors-paper-rock, and the winning team gets to choose 1P or 2P or to choose the stage (after the first match, stage selection is always done by the losing team)
- Raven-specific skills in solo mode (such as gauge increase) are prohibited
- All other settings are factory default
- Each team of two can share only a single common character (Eddy/Christie and Kuma/Panda are considered different characters)
- Identical teams are not permitted, but duplication of up to one character will be accepted (Paul + Kazuya and Paul + Heihach" is permitted. Paul + Kazuya and Paul solo mode is also acceptable).

Melbourne-based fighting community CouchWarriors is kicking off its regular Fighters Festival tournament from tomorrow. The event will run from midday until late, and will include popular games, such as Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, SoulCalibur V, and more.

Sega will be bringing Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown along for a pre-release tournament, with prizes including early copies of the game.

Proclaiming itself the "catalyst for the modern fighting game scene in Melbourne", CouchWarriors has been active since being founded in 2006. Players and spectators of all ages and levels are encouraged to participate in the social event.

A stream of the event will be aired live. Full details are listed below.

Schedule

1 p.m. - 4 p.m. - Street Fighter x Tekken

1 p.m. - 4 p.m. - King of Fighters XIII

1 p.m. - Late - Super Smash Bros Brawl and Melee

3 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Soul Calibur V

3 p.m. - 6 p.m. - Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

4:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. - Skullgirls

5 p.m. - 8 p.m. - Virtua Fighter 5

6 p.m. - 9 p.m. - Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition

When: May 26 - 12 p.m.-9 p.m.

Where: the Mason's Hall

6 Davies St, Brunswick

Cost: spectating is free; $10 to play all games; tournament entry $2.

EB Games Australia has confirmed that tickets for its EB Games Expo 2012 event are now on sale to the general public.

In response to feedback provided by visitors at last year's show, this year, EB Games will be offering a variety of passes to tailor to each individual's needs. Ticket types include general admission, Sunday family pass, gamer pass, express gamer pass, and ultimate gamer pass, the last of which provides exclusive access to special areas. Prices range from A$40 to A$500.

The event was previously hosted on the Gold Coast, but the new venue of Sydney Showgrounds will provide more than twice the area for vendors and exhibitors. Last year's expo showcased demonstrations from publishers such as 2K Games, Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Codemasters, Disney Interactive Studios, EA, Konami, Logitech, Microsoft, Namco Bandai, Nintendo, Plantronics, PlayStation, Razer, Sega, Square Enix, THQ, Turtle Beach, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros.

In addition to a range of games on the show floor, a variety of attractions will be offered, including freestyle motocross via the EB Arena Spectacular, laser shows, and an on-site EB Games store.

The expo officially opens on October 5 and runs for three days.