The Amateur Gamers Association South Africa (AGASA) launched the league in March 2006, motivated by the belief that a competitive gaming league in SA was the only way to take local gaming to the next level.

AMD believed in the concept from the outset and has been extremely supportive," says AGASAs Johann von Backstrom. Like us, AMD is highly enthusiastic about gaming and the global community that it fosters. AMD has brought significant resources to the league, he says, which will assist both parties in their vision of providing access to computer gaming which they hope will result in access to technology in general.

The AMD Opteron-based servers will allow competitors to enjoy the highest level of gaming possible, says Von Backstrom. Furthermore, AMDs technology will make a larger variety of games available to the community as well as serve towards AGASAs development goals of making games more accessible to all South Africans.

AMD will also be involved in AGASAs school and university league, which is due to launch later this year, and will run in the same fashion as the professional league, giving school and university students the opportunity to compete in the same way as their older counterparts and become members of school and university national teams.

In addition, AMD is offering strong support to AGASAs Digital Teammate Development Programme, which is intended to allow AGASA to plug in to SAs Digital Village communities and offer skills development to underprivileged communities.

AMDs regional vice-president for Africa and the Middle East, Gaith Kadir, says while AMD is synonymous with gaming, the companys support of this venture extends far beyond the obvious synergy. AMD recognises SA as a market where access to ICT is limited and where we believe that we can make a difference in enriching peoples lives through technology. And gaming opens doors to technology.

Kadir says the league also provides AMD with exposure to computer gamers, which AMD recognises as a small but important audience that understands the benefits of AMD's technology.