Bowling Green, Ky. - The Western Kentucky University Advertising Program is presenting a regional video game competition to draw attention to the program and to generate funds for AdFED, the student advertising organization. The WKU GAMEATHON is scheduled for Saturday, March 5, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST in Mass Media & Technology Hall on Western's campus.

WKU students and area high school students are invited to compete. Participants for GAMEATHON can register online at http://www.gameathon.org and they will be checked-in on the day of the event at which time they will pay an entry fee of $5 per game series.

Participants will be able to choose one of three video games to play competitively. The games include Halo 2, Project Gotham Racing 2 and Madden NFL 2005. Participants will be paired based on their game selection. Paired teams will play on one of five stations for each game series, for a total of 15 stations equipped with a TV, game, X-Box® and two controllers.

Depending on the number of participants, elimination heats will occur throughout the day until one final winner exists from each of the three games. These three final super-players will then be asked to play a fourth mystery game competitively. The final elimination round will be held in the auditorium in Mass Media & Technology Hall on the massive projection screen in front of a live audience. The winner of the final heat will be declared Game Master and awarded cash and prizes.

"The connection between advertising and video games surprises some people. But, the facts are that advertisers are looking for unique and effective ways to deliver their ad messages and video games offer some terrific benefits compared to more traditional media," said Cliff Shaluta, coordinator of the WKU Ad Program. "It's estimated that there are over 100 million gamers 13 and older and that these gamers average 15 hours weekly interacting with video games. This is quite an opportunity to develop special advergames or to insert real products into the game play. It is estimated that video games will generate $260 million in advertising revenue by 2008."

Sponsors for the WKU GAMEATHON include Bowling Green area Blockbuster® locations, Rent-A-Center, the Coupon Mint Magazine and the WKU University Bookstore. The WKU Ad Program is part of the School of Journalism & Broadcasting and has nearly 200 majors specializing in account service, print advertising design, interactive design or broadcast advertising. More information on the WKU Ad Program can be found at http://www.wku.edu/Journalism/Ad.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For more information, contact Cliff Shaluta, (270) 745-5833.