Eric “Zuik” Wackerfuss of Chicago, Illinois, achieved a strategy gamer's dream -- or perhaps it was a cold-sweat nightmare -- Thursday afternoon when he sat down for a quick game of Rise of Nations with legendary designer Brian Reynolds. Ultimately, Wackerfuss was defeated, but walked away with a $500 gift certificate to shop.microsoft.com.
Wackerfuss scored the honor of challenging Reynolds at his own game when he won Microsoft Game Studios' "Lunch Hour Challenge." The challenge was simple enough: E3 attendees were invited to sign up for the tournament Thursday morning, and four contestants were randomly selected from that pool. Wackerfuss and Francis "Angel Draco" Cermak, also of Chicago, Illinois, defeated their opponents in the first round of competition, going on to face each other in the second round. Wackerfuss soundly defeated Cermak to take the grand prize and square off with Reynolds.
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