GameSpot vs. CGW: Star Trek: Armada Battle

On January 14, 2000, in the offices of Computer Gaming World, the editorial staffs of GameSpot and Computer Gaming World will be facing off to see who holds the title of "Gamer of the Year." The contest, sponsored by Activision, will pit the two teams against each other in a 60-minute battle royal of Activision's real-time strategy game, Star Trek: Armada.

The winning staff will receive a US$5,000 donation to the charity of its choice ($2,500 from Activision and $2,500 from the losing team). And to be fair, Activision will also be donating $2,500 to the losing team's charity.

GameSpot has chosen to use its gaming skills to fight for Guide Dogs For The Blind Inc., a charity that matches Seeing Eye dogs with visually impaired people. It also manages facilities to help owners train their own dogs. Since its opening in 1942, Guide Dogs For The Blind has paired 7,500 dogs with visually impaired people. Computer Gaming World will be fighting for CompuMentor, the nation's largest nonprofit computerization-assistance organization that provides its consulting staff, low-cost software, and volunteer mentors to more than 6,000 US nonprofit organizations and schools.

Place your bets as GameSpot's Elliott Chin and Greg Kasavin take on CGW's Robert Coffey and Tom Price. And to make it even more interesting, none of the four participants have ever played Armada.