THE World Cyber Games (WCG) kicked off on Friday amid a carnival-like atmosphere, with everything for game enthusiasts and even professional game creators.

This year, WCG has been combined with a local gaming convention called Games Xpo, which has mini gaming tournaments and panel discussions on gaming developments.

The public can watch the WCG competitions that go on from 10am to 8pm through the weekend, buy new gadgets and even try out the games themselves.

Apart from hot games like Blackshot, which has been included in WCG for the first time, visitors can also try out arcade and mobile games at the convention.

Popular arcade games from Japan such as Blaz Blue, Street Fighter IV and Tekken 6 have also been brought in.

There are even various mobile phone competitions which give away iPods as prizes.

Gadget junkies can also check out stalls which hawk new gaming laptops, three-dimensional computer monitors for gamers, and even phone security software. There is even a stall displaying extremely life-like replicas of guns.

Another highlight is a new scheme, iGAMe, launched by Singapore research agency A*Star - an initiative which aims to help game creators develop next-generation gaming technology, such as those which employ motion sensitive sensors.

This year, WCG is moving further into snaring casual gamers for the first time, including casual online games by a local games company. The series of Viwawa games are usually played online.

These, however, will not be included in the official WCG finals held in Chengdu, China this year from November 11 to 15. Other new games included the popular Left for Dead and Team Fortress 2, which will be played in the Singapore National Finals only.