TORONTO - A crowd of several hundred cheer wildly as a Nik Shish whips the guitar behind his head, careful not to miss a note as he screeches through the thrash metal hit "The Light that Blinds" by Shadow's Fall.
Prancing around the stage in jeans, a T-shirt and barefeet, the bespectacled 25-year-old gives a nearby camera a Gene Simmons-like close-up before diving backwards into the hands of his adoring fans.
But this is no ordinary concert. In fact, it's not a concert at all. And while the Minneapolis, Minn., native isn't even playing a real guitar, there isn't a person in the audience who would say he hasn't got talent.
The miniature white plastic guitar with multicoloured buttons and a tiny whammy bar is actually a game console and Shish was among the finalists wowing spectators during the Guitar Hero II competition at the World Series of Video Games in Toronto over the weekend.
"It's fun to get up there and just rock out with a bunch of people watching," Shish said after an American Idol-style panel gave him a score of 23 out of 30 - thrusting him into the top eight.
"I'm a little rusty even just playing right now so I'm just trying to get some good scores."
Shish, who goes by the game name Kov, went on to win the competition.
The professional gamer who holds a chemical engineering degree and hopes to one day become a doctor said while he does play guitar for real, he's far better at the video game.
As for the rock-star antics, that's "kind of fun," he said, adding he "likes to try to put on a show for the crowd."
WSVG commissioner Matt Ringel said there were about 250 competitors taking part in the largest three-day gaming event ever to hit Canada. Another 50,000 fans came out to watch them square off in three different games including Guitar Hero II, World of Warcraft and Quake IV for cash prizes totalling $75,000, he said.
One of seven stops during the 2nd annual WSVG circuit, Ringel said he hopes to make Toronto's event an annual one given the success of the inaugural run.
"There's a really good competitive gaming community up in Canada. It's a great gaming market," he said, noting it's also convenient for many Americans and Europeans to fly to. "We are really enthusiastic about the future of Toronto as a hub for competitive gaming."
Professional gamer Johan Quick, a.k.a Toxjq, came all the way from Sweden to win top honours for outplaying more than 60 opponents at Quake IV.
"I'm really satisfied with winning this event," the 23-year-old said. "It's one of the toughest events I've been playing because every player in the world was here."
Quick said he practices on average four hours a day in the weeks leading up to a competition and works out regularly to keep his body and mind in top form.
He plans to save his $5,250 prize and is looking forward to a much needed month-long rest back home before heading to his next competition in Los Angeles in October.
"It has been a very stressful summer so I am looking forward to going home and having a holiday."
Barrie, Ont., resident Andrew Ryder, a.k.a Gellehsak, was the top ranking Canadian at the Quake IV competition placing 9th overall.
"I'm a bit disappointed but it's mostly due to me not being prepared for this tournament. I've kind of been doing a lot of things coming up to this tournament, so I haven't been able to get the practice time in," he said.
Ryder said he's been competing professionally for two years and enjoys the competition, meeting interesting people and travelling to different places.
While U.S. and European competitors swept up most of the prizes at the Toronto competition, Canadian team Evil Geniuses placed third in the World of Warcraft competition.
The WSVG was one of the many highlights at this year's Fan Expo Canada which draws all kinds of colourful gaming, comic book, sci-fi and horror flick fans for a variety of events from celebrity meet-and-greet's to a masquerade.
