High-Flying Gamers Compete In-Flight

A team of top European video gamers is competing in a real-time wireless online gaming exhibition onboard a Scandinavian Airlines flight.

The team is traveling on a trans Atlantic flight from Copenhagen Wednesday, in a warm up for this week's TransAtlantic Showdown gaming championships in New York.

"We believe this is a first, having online video game champions playing live while a mile-high above the earth," said David Friedman, vice president of marketing and direct sales for Connexion by Boeing, in a statement. Connexion is supplying its high-speed Internet access on the SAS flight for 24 of Europe's best video game players.

During the in-flight exhibition, the gamers will be honing their skills for their meeting with top gamers from the U.S. Once in New York, they will participate in the Global Gaming League's AmeriCup vs. EuroCup competition, which has established prizes totaling more than $100,000.

Using Intel Centrino Duo Technology laptops, the two teams will compete in online games including Counter-Strike 16 (5v5), Quake 4 Team Deathmatch (4x4), Quake 4 Dual (1x1), and Warcraft III: Frozen Throne (2x2).

Connexion, which provides high-speed Web access on 133 planes daily, said the in-flight exhibition event is being covered online with video, blogs, photos, and text.

Boeing has been offering broadband services on international flights since it inaugurated the Connexion service with Lufthansa in May 2004.